On Tuesday I had the opportunity to testify about economic development at the Ward 5 Economic Development Roundtable Hearing, sponsored by Kwame Brown on behalf of the Committee of the Whole. I was thrilled to see the overflow turn out and to hear resident after resident implore the council member to focus their efforts on Rhode Island Avenue. I focused my testimony on my vision for RIA – not an H Street replica, but a place where there are some restaurants open past 7. A place where there are amenities like dry cleaners that keep my hard earned dollars in the District instead of PG county. I remarked that we didn’t need any more meetings about this topic, what we need is action.
And it sounds like we were heard loud and clear. Chairman Brown promised to put funding behind the RIA Small Area Plan that has been collection dust on a shelf for months. He charged the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development to put together a plan to bring restaurants to RIA. It is now up to us to make sure that they are held accountable for their promises. We need to see a dollar figure in the actual 2013 budget for the SAP. We need to see a tangible plan for encouraging businesses to open up on the Avenue. The time for talk is over.
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