President’s Message

By Eric Langenbacher, president@burleith.org

After a warm December and cold January, it seems that spring is arriving soon. And there are hopeful signs that the Covid-19 pandemic is also coming to an end after two years. The lingering restrictions will hopefully cease and normal activities can resume soon. That being said, the BCA will not be holding any in-person events until the late spring at the earliest. But, we are going full steam ahead with preparations for an in-person summer picnic scheduled for Saturday afternoon, June 11.  

We will be busy over the course of the year, preparing for Burleith’s centennial in 2023. The BCA Board envisions at least four initiatives and has convened subcommittees to pursue each idea. First, we will work on revising and updating the story of Burleith’s history, perhaps with a republication of a brochure. We will also consider applying for a DC grant to fund some oral histories. Linda Hall, Ann Carper, and Dwane Starlin will be involved with this. Second, we will explore an environmental component, working on some of the initiatives from past years. Linda Hall and Francine Steininger will lead this subcommittee. 

Third, we are looking into hosting a centennial gala in March or April of 2023. Sarah Wetzel and Meryl Chertoff will lead this effort. We are taking inspiration from the winter picnics of yore. Oldtimers like me remember these fun events held at venues like the Embassy of France and Dumbarton House. Fourth, we will look into designing, producing, and installing some welcome signs around entrances to the neighborhood. John McGeary and Lenore Rubino are heading this initiative.  

All of this will require the support of neighbors like you. We are considering convening another sub-committee that will just be devoted to fundraising. The Burleith Community Fund has agreed to be the conduit for donations, so everything that you give will be tax deductible. We will also need all sorts of volunteers. Please email bca@burleith.org if you are interested in any of these initiatives. 

As noted before, the city council has voted to leave Burleith in Ward 2. But, the redistricting process will continue until April with the reconfiguration of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) and the single-member districts (SMDs) within these bodies. I am currently serving on the Ward 2 redistricting taskforce. There are many constraints for the 6 current commissions, not the least of which is the requirement that each SMD have 1,900–2,100 people. My basic stance is to make as few changes as possible. I believe that there will be only a couple tweaks to our ANC 2E because our population figures are in the range and we have well-defined natural boundaries with Rock Creek Park. Our local SMD 2E01 should also be good because our population, counted at 2,094, is exactly right—although down from 2,264 in the 2010 census. There will likely be major changes elsewhere in the ward due to population increases and the return of part of the Shaw neighborhood from Ward 6.  

This process is completely open to all residents of Ward 2. Please feel free to contact me with any opinions or ideas. The weekly Zoom meetings always begin at 6:45 pm and are open to everyone. There will be at least two community forums, including one tentatively planned for February 17. Email announcements will be forthcoming. More information including the schedule of meetings can be found here (scroll down). 

In other news, the issue of bike lanes on 37th Street has popped up again recently. There was some old or erroneous information circulating. As of now, there are no active plans for these lanes in Burleith. We are proactively monitoring the situation and will respond if necessary. The Department of Parks and Recreation has announced that they want to finalize plans and commence construction in the fall on Ellington Field. I will urge them to step up their outreach efforts to achieve a modicum of community consensus on issues like usage, lighting, parking, and traffic impact. Finally, there have been good initial conversations about dealing with the rodent issue by the Tot Lot boardwalk between 35th and 36th. There should be some resolution soon. On that note, please be cognizant of the state of your garbage bins and consider buying a new one or asking the city to replace the lid. The DPW website outlines options.

Please feel free to contact me or other members of the BCA Board with any issues or concerns at bca@burleith.org. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of the winter and hopefully an early spring! 

Stay well.