****UPDATE****

I received the following from Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. this evening! Outstanding!

“I am requesting a suspension and immediate revocation hearing be held in this matter due to the continued disturbance of the peace and continued public safety concerns that the law should not permit under a month to month license.”

I hope this helps put us in the right direction on this issue!

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As many of you know already, the Masonic Lodge at 2245 Rhode Island Ave NE, has been the location of weekend parties hosted by out of town promoters. Residents of Woodridge have successfully been able to get them shut down each night due to the amount of youth (teens and 20s) urinating in their yards, being loud, hanging out in front, shootings, fights, etc etc etc. The MPD-5 have been great also as they have responded with speed. The problem still remains is how they have their Public Hall License in the first place. The last known record of a Public Hall License (seen with my own eyes) was listed back in 2006 (Public Hall License was revoked for this location). The promoters of these events have shown the police a license with a current date, but the DCRA claims that no license has been issued for this location.

Are the promoters forging DC Government paperwork? If so, why are they not arrested when they present it? Does DCRA not know what is going on in their own department? Is someone secretly issuing the license without the Director’s knowledge? Where is Harry Thomas, Jr on all of this?

I personally recieved an email from Harry Thomas, Jr a couple of months ago to give his assistant, Ayawna Chase, a call to discuss the issues at hand. I did so, and we had a great conversation about the Lodge and about speeding in the neighborhood. Ms Chase stated she would get back to me regarding these issues and as of today, she has not. Harry Thomas, Jr has not responded either.

So, we either need a new Councilmember who will actually be active for his/her residents or the Councilmember can give the impression he is actually doing something.