[UPDATE from our friends at Common Good: The Council has explicitly APPROVED the funding reprogramming for the Park at Gage Eckington. So we are back on track! Thanks to all who expressed your support.]
Common Good City Farm – featured often here on the DC Food For All, a key locus of the local urban agriculture movement – is located on a 3-acre site where the Gage-Eckington School once stood. For over two years the communities of LeDroit Park, Bloomingdale and Eckington have worked with the Mayor and his offices to make sure the site turns into a public community park space. It has been a true grassroots effort, with many people pitching in to overcome challenges and build a community center for health, recreation, and education.
Today it faces another challenge.
This morning, the community discovered that Councilmember Harry Thomas (Ward 5) added an item to the DC Council agenda to “Disapprove” of the funds for the park being as planned allocated to the Mayor’s office.
Such a resolution would essentially stall progress on the development of this site and support for Common Good City Farm. This action is in baffling contrast to Thomas’s own previous declarations — such as an assurance that he wrote to constituents, stating that “I will continue to support a contract process that moves this project forward and ensures its completion.”
Please help Common Good City Farm and our neighbors. As soon as you can, please write to or call the office of Harry Thomas, Committee on Libraries, Parks & Recreation (hthomas@dccouncil.us (202) 724-8028) (or the other committee members listed below).
Declare your support for the Gage-Eckington park development, and your opposition to Thomas’s resolution. Assure our leaders that we will hold them responsible for obstruction of positive community development such as this.
Committee Members:
David A. Catania dcatania@dccouncil.us (202) 724-7772
Kwame R. Brown kbrown@dccouncil.us (202) 724-8174
Phil Mendelson pmendelson@dccouncil.us (202) 724-8064
Yvette Alexander yalexander@dccouncil.us (202) 724-8068
Awful! Did he say why he opposed?
Why in the world would he oppose this? Please, call an outside “town hall” meeting on the site and invite people from Shaw, Bloomingdale,Eckington and LeDroit and have him answer us directly!!