You have asked, Mr. Chairman, that I speak briefly about our ANC's goals and plans for the coming year. That is not an easy task for a commission that by its very nature tends to be reactive rather than proactive. But trying to look ahead, let me list four areas in which I hope our ANC can take the initiative in promoting better policy for our neighborhood and our city:

‘ZONING–Enforcement of the zoning code in our neighborhoods has become a major problem as developers try to squeeze ever more, ever higher houses into plots that are restricted in size. Part of the problem is that the developers, with the consent of the permit grantors, are able to take advantage of ambiguities in the zoning code. We have established a special task force that has submitted recommendations to the Zoning Commission on clarifying the zoning code on permissible height and number of stories. Significantly, several ANC’s in Ward 3 have joined in endorsing those recommendations.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY–Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Ward 3 ANC's with the Department of Transportation and the Police Department, I think we have made significant progress in slowing down traffic on our residential streets. Our efforts in the coming year will turn to protecting pedestrians on our streets. Many of our streets do not have sidewalks. An example is Arizona Avenue, a heavily traveled street, where pedestrians are forced to walk in the street and around parked cars. A high priority objective for our ANC in the coming year is to see if we can get a sidewalk built on Arizona Avenue.

WEB SITE–We have finally established a Web site (the URL is ANC3D.org) with the help of Gottlieb Simon in an attempt to use the internet to improve communications between residents and the Commission in our exercise in grassroots democracy. Our efforts in the coming year will be focused on expanding that web site so it will be an information center for our community

ANC COOPERATION–In the coming year, I would like to develop a collaborative effort among Ward 3 ANC's on issues that are common to the entire Ward. For example, under the leadership of Anne Renshaw, we were able in a cooperative way to deal with traffic problems in our ward. As I suggested earlier, I hope the same common front develops on zoning. The use of our public playing fields is another issue warranting Ward-wide examination. And with the development of Web sites, the possibility emerges for cross-fertilization of ideas among the ANC's

Combined with the usual menu of dealing with citizen complaints and working with city agencies, that should provide us with a full plate for action in the coming year.

I want to thank your, Mr. Chairman, for your Godfatherly support of our ANC's. I would make only one request of you, Godfather: crack some heads in the District government so that we get our monthly allotment of cash to run our ANC's.