The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) has indicated that all comments on the public-private project should be sent by e-mail to tenleytown@dc.gov. I suggest that you also send your comments to key decision-makers in both the executive and legislative branches, as well as a courtesy copy to ANC Special Committee Chair Anne Sullivan.
E-mail addresses are provided below. Based on recent experience, I have also provided some letter-writing tips designed to ensure that your statement will not be mischaracterized. And because DMPED seems to count letters rather than signatures, I’d encourage each adult member of your household to send a separate e-mail message, ideally from a separate e-mail account.
LETTER-WRITING TIPS
Letters can be short. Three paragraphs, each with a couple of sentences or bullet points, works well.
The subject header should clearly indicate the issue you’re writing on – e.g. “Tenleytown PPP.”
Your first paragraph should clearly state your stance on the Fenty administration’s proposed public-private redevelopment of the Janney/Tenley Library land. To avoid misclassification, if your position is that you are opposed to this approach, then it is imperative to have the word “oppose” somewhere in the letter’s opening sentence. It is equally important not to have the word “support” (regardless of what you say you’re supporting) anywhere in the first paragraph. Politicians and their staffers are not always close readers of texts! This paragraph might also include some background information about you and your stake in this project or this community – e.g. how long you have lived in DC (or in Tenleytown or Friendship Heights) and what has motivated you to express an interest in this particular project/controversy (e.g. I'm a Janney parent, library user, neighboring homeowner).
The second paragraph can simply elaborate on the concerns expressed in the first paragraph or briefly enumerate a number of concerns. If you would like to review or fact-check information about the various proposals, http://www.anc3e.org/minutes.html is a good resource. The developers’ presentations are all there, as are the ANC’s critiques. But there’s no need to do research to write a letter. The recipients are more interested in gauging the extent and intensity of public opposition than in your reasoning.
In the third paragraph, provide an action item. Tell the recipient what you want him or her to do (or not to do). One thing to think about in this context is if you are asking the Mayor (or other decisionmaker) to reject all three current offers, then what do you want to happen next? If you do not want the library project re-incorporated into a new Solicitation of Offers, now is the time to say so.
Your signature block should include your full name as well as your address.
E-mail addresses:
To be considered by DMPED, your letter must be emailed to tenleytown@dc.gov. DMPED’s deadline for public comments is April 9th. In any event, sooner is better than later. As previously suggested, it also would be extremely useful to send your comments to the mayor, other key executive-branch decision-makers, and several Councilmembers, with a courtesy copy to the ANC Special Committee. Here’s a complete list of the relevant addresses you can cut and paste: tenleytown@dc.gov, adrian.fenty@dc.gov, mayor@dc.gov, neil.albert@dc.gov, ginnie.cooper@dc.gov, michelle.rhee@dc.gov, mcheh@dccouncil.us, vgray@dccouncil.us,
schwartzc@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, acsullivan@starpower.net,
If you’d like to be more selective (and/or to customize your comments), here is the relevant contact information for specific officeholders:
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty: adrian.fenty@dc.gov and/or mayor@dc.gov
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert: neil.albert@dc.gov
Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper: ginnie.cooper@dc.gov
DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee: michelle.rhee@dc.gov
Council Chairman Vincent Gray: vgray@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz (chair of the committee that handles surplussing decisions): schwartzc@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown (chair of the Council’s Economic Development committee): kbrown@dccouncil.us
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh: mcheh@dccouncil.us
If you’d like to be more selective (and/or to customize your comments), here is the relevant contact information for specific officeholders:
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty: adrian.fenty@dc.gov and/or mayor@dc.gov
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert: neil.albert@dc.gov
Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper: ginnie.cooper@dc.gov
DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee: michelle.rhee@dc.gov
Council Chairman Vincent Gray: vgray@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz (chair of the committee that handles surplussing decisions): schwartzc@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown (chair of the Council’s Economic Development committee): kbrown@dccouncil.us
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh: mcheh@dccouncil.us
Councilmember Harry “Tommy” Thomas (chair of the committee on Libraries): hthomas@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember David Catania: dcatania@dccouncil.us
At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson: pmendelson@dccouncil.us
ANC 3E Special Committee Chair Anne Sullivan: acsullivan@starpower.net
