Re: Would somebody just get Barry Very good. After the stadium apears we can make all kinds of statements ex post facto. Just settle for e pluribus funk. The only sentence I remember from two years of Latin (incl. Caesar's Gallic Wars) is 'agricola in villa est' which translates to 'the farmer is in the house' It's not the most useful phrase, to be honest. You can't really get around town with it. Hmmm, maybe if I lived in Latin America...
Don't disturb yourself. The guy who coined (no pun intended) more verbs from nouns than anyone else was none other than Willy Shakespeare.
Let me start by saying that I love my black people. Having said that, in typical brotha fashion, the 6pm forum began promptly at 6:45. Then, after an hour of backpatting and posturing by all of the civic leaders (and a great interlude by the Ballou Marching Band), DC began their presentation at 7:50, and the entire program ended at 8:30. If there was ANY doubt that Marion Barry is on board, put them to rest. He spent 10 minutes talking about how great DC United is and how he first opposed it but had been convinced that they were committed to improving Ward 8, and his full support is behind the project. The guy is still there ..... without a doubt. He even joked about how he didn't have money right now because of his tax issue .......... and got raucous applause. It WAS a pretty funny joke, actually. Anyway, here is what Payne said: 27,000 seat stadium. Hotel built into the structure of the stadium. Estimating a BILLION dollars of investment to go into the area if the plan proceeds. 8,000 temporary construction jobs as the project goes on (of which Ward 8 residents will will essentially have first crack). 2,500 permanent jobs created thru the stadium. A permanent career training center to be established in conjunction with the trade unions (of which a representative attended and spoke). Up to 15% of new homes that are built in this project will be set aside for 1st time home buyers (condos/townhomes). A soccer program will be set up for Ward 8 kids, and will be operated by JUDAH COOKS. Only 40 acres of the 110 acres there will be used for DCU ......... the other 70 will be for parks, etc. DC plans on helping build and establish the Fredrick Douglass Memorial and Gardens. Preference to Ward 8 businesses in contracting. Parking will be either below ground or in structures ......... there will be no massive expanse of concrete like at RFK, so as to maximize usage. Lastly, as we all know, the fields will also hold concerts/festival/events. I hung around for a bit to listen to what people were saying about it. They had food and gave away a free soccer ball to everyone. Most people were pretty happy about it. There were questions about whether the jobs would truly go to Ward 8 folk, and whether people would be displaced. However, most people seemed pretty open to the idea that someone would come in and use the land in a way that would get the youth off of the street and into something productive, while simultaneously creating a few jobs. The players who were there were DeRoux, Stokes, Rimando, Walker and Esky (who eerily seemed like the token white guy). LOL Overall, I would say that things went VERY well.
Thats great to hear. Hope everything works out and everybody comes away happy. Some of the things you said are very new and will be off-season bs fodder for a while. Good report, rep given.
LOL I don't want to be a jinxer, but the forum almost seemed like a formality. Really, despite whatever wranglings I see bandied about from this point on, I'm going to be assuming that the stadium is coming ........ period.
I'm sorry, but I just assumed that you knew that we ALWAYS have that. There were actually TWO ministers and 2 prayers, if you really want to know ......... one man, one woman (Reverend James Coastes of the Bethlehem Baptist Church and Pastor Wanda D. Cleckley of New Beginnings Ministry).
Just so you can understand what the program was like, I'll print it out for ya: Welcome: Arrington Dixon, ACC Chair Presentation of the Colors: Ballou SHS Honor Guard National Anthem: Christina Fields, Ballou SHS Student Invocation: Reverend James Coates Introduction of Moderator Sam Ford, Reporter WJLA-TV Musical Selection: Ballou SHS Choir Greetings: Karen Smith, Ballou SHS Principal Greetings: Kendra Hardman, Ballou SHS Student Government Association Greetings: Thomas Byrd, President of Ballou SHS PTSA Remarks: Board of Education Member William Lockridge Greetings: Robert James, President of Ward 8 Business Council Greetings: Brenda Richardson, Women Like Us Musical Selection: Ballou SHS Band Remarks: Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner R. Calvin Lockridge Skit: Ballou SHS Extreme Models Remarks: Ward 8 City Councilmember Marion Barry Ballou SHS Cheerleaders -------- Did Not Perform Retiring of the Colors DC United Presentation: Kevin Payne, Owner/CEO Questions and Answers Benediction/Blessing of Food: Pastor Wanda D. Cleckley Adjournment Buffet Dinner in Cafeteria
There was "some" media presence, but not a whole lot. I wouldn't be surprised to see a clip of something on the news ........ most likely from the dinner afterwards. As for Goff, I honestly don't know what he looks like, so I couldn't tell you if he was there or not.
Did he said three sides? (i.e. in some future when soccer is more popular, seats go into the fourth end and it's a 33,000 seat stadium?) A billion? Did he elaborate on this at all? Was he referring to their entire development project, which presumably includes retail and residential and so on that they wanna build? Or was he referring to something else? (since obviously he's not referring to just the stadium itself) A billion seems like an impossibly large number. That's one job for every 11 seats in the stadium. What would those jobs be? I like this. Was Rev. Motley, from the Anacostia Community Land Trust, there? From what I've read, he's one of the Ward 8 community leaders who's fairly opposed. Curious what his reaction to the pitch was. Thanks for all the details! Repped.
Well, I'll just run through your list of questions. Payne never addressed how many sides it was, nor did anyone ask. He simply stated in his initial presentation that "United NEEDS a 27,000 seat stadium". As for the billion dollars of investment, he was not asked to elaborate on the figure. I assume that he was throwing together the retail and residential sides of this into the stadium project itself. I don't think it makes sense otherwise. As for the jobs, again, noone specifically asked for a breakdown on the jobs. He alluded to the jobs that would be established through the various programs and through the new career training center that would be established through the trade union partnership. Others would be in the stadium itself, the hotel that was part of the stadium, and through the other retail endeavors that would be part of the whole shebang. Lastly, if Reverend Motley was there, I wouldn't know. Sorry I can't help you with that one.
Thanks for the write up onefineesq. You've been duly repped Im curious to see if any media were there - if Goff was there, Im sure we'll read something soon enough.
LOL I assumed that he was of that persuasion, but there were a few white people there ......... and gosh darn it, some of them even lived in Ward 8. I made my comment about Alecko because of his prominence in the videos, when almost everyone else that was shown in all of the video presentations were black. It was actually a little funny. Before the forum started, they had a projection on, in a continuous loop, that showed some "did you know" facts over and over again. And it was like .............. black kids, black kids, black kids, Nigeria wins Olympics in 96 in Atlanta, Cameroon wins Olympics in 2000 in Australia, Freddy was the youngest America pro ever, South Africa has the next WC, Nelson Mandela cried when he heard that they got it, more black kids .............. gratuitous 3 pictures of Esky with black kids .......... continue loop. LOL It was great.
By the way, for all the Stokes fans ............... I talked to him real briefly and asked him about his leg. He said that he is feeling very good and that he is just now running full out about 2 weeks ago. He expects to be good to go for the future.