Now that the Navy Yard has evolved into a residential zone, some events held at Nationals Park disturb the local residents. Baseball Games, large concerts, and most events are able to contain the noise within reasonable limits. Summer Breeze 2017 kept residents in the local community awake until 1:37 AM with echoing, window shaking bass lines. The sound is pointed directly at the neighboring apartment buildings. I know events can be held at Nationals Park without disturbing this neighborhood. Simply redirecting the speakers for the event would have allowed the event to continue without disturbing the local residents.

Would be great to have a free place to drop off and pick-up wood-chips... it looks like there's supply and demand on both sides: https://getchipdrop.com/expectations/

I live on 16 and F ST NE, and I have been in the house for 10 years. I've noticed that during this past year, many drivers are not adhering to basic driving laws. Many do not stop at stop signs and roll right through. This past Saturday, someone drove the wrong way very fast on my one way street: on purpose. I have also seen a lot of aggressive drivers throughout Capitol Hill, especially along 17th Street as drivers from MD pass through to get to Penn Ave. And, I see aggressive drivers on Florida Avenue. There are never any police officers monitoring the roads for erratic or wrongful driving. As such, it will only get worst. I would like you to contact the DC police chief to speak to him about this ensuing problems.

This week I received a flyer from DC Water indicating results from their annual water quality report. The flyer was full of links to their report online. I went online to check it out. But it would have been way easier and cheaper for me to have just received an email and clicked on the link directly. I would love to opt-in to receive a DC email. Perhaps once a week or something... and in turn be removed from annual mailings. That may not be possible given that some federal statutes require hard-mail postings but when they do not, I would prefer an email. It would be great to get an email from you or the city one a month or week with any info that would otherwise be sent in the mail...

Consider adopting a "Ready Return" similar to that created by California where a prefilled tax return (essentially a bill) would be sent by OTR to taxpayers for payment by April 15th. This would make DC the only jurisdiction in the country with such a system and would implement a system in DC used by most other countries. A "Ready Return" would significantly reduce compliance costs on low and moderate income DC taxpayers. This model seems like a no-brainer, but the Council could provide taxpayers with the ability to opt-out if they prefer to do it the old fashioned way. For more information, see: https://priceonomics.com/the-stanford-professor-who-fought-the-tax-lobby/ and http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/03/22/521132960/episode-760-tax-hero

Hello Councilman Allen, I don't live in D.C. but I was born and raised there and my daughter and son-in-law bought the family home in Brookland. I think it is a great idea to support the opponents of congressmen who don't support DC's autonomy but why not start now by communicating with their constitutents using fairness as the hook. Ask them to put themselves in the place of DC residents. I would not mention statehood because that could be a turn off for some but just that DC residents pay taxes, don't have representation which is bad enough but they can not even control their own money. I would close by asking them to call their Representatives and tell them to keep their hands off DC. Thank you, Paulette Granison Savoy

The stop light on Canal Road causes more backups than before the light was installed. There is never that much traffic going across to access the boat house and when there was before the light, cars would yield when necessary. Now, the light causes backups in both directions often when there is not crossing traffic at all.

Councilmember Allen, I just wanted to make sure this was on your radar as I'm not sure if it's something you're aware of. The families from the Jefferson Academy feeder schools (Amidon-Bowen, Brent, Tyler and Van Ness) have created a change.org petition to express frustrations about the continuous delays to the upgrades and modernization plan for Jefferson Academy Middle School in SW DC. As an Amidon-Bowen parent I find this appalling, especially given the low-income student body this school is serving. Our children deserve the best and I know you agree with this. I hope that, if you haven't already, you will speak with Mayor Bowser about this directly. Summary from the petition: "With cranes and new development seen all around the city, Washington, D.C. is clearly doing well financially. The school system is making important gains year after year. Yet, modernization plans for Jefferson Academy (initially scheduled for 2006, then 2012) have been delayed again and are now scheduled for completion in 2022. As members of the community and parents of students at Jefferson Academy, Tyler, Van Ness, Amidon Bowen or Brent Elementary--this is completely unacceptable." https://www.change.org/p/muriel-bowser-begin-jefferson-academy-modernization-planning-in-fy18-and-construction-in-fy19?source_location=minibar

My husband and I have lived on E. Capitol since 1973. For our children, born in 1979 and 1982, E. Capitol was "Trick or Treat" heaven. As they got older, more and more neighbors participated, some creating elaborate decorations. Today, what started as grassroots fun, has evolved into a city-wide extravaganza. A number of years even the Obama girls came to our door. But traffic cannot continue to co-exist with the hundreds of children and parents participating. Traffic has always been a concern, but this year we witnessed a number of near accidents. One car, obviously annoyed at the traffic backup, gunned his motor at 4th and E. Capitol, must have reached 45 mph, and nearly hit very small children standing just off the curb waiting for the light. E. Capitol gets closed for Presidential mortorcades, for the Ringling Brothers Circus parade, for marches too numerous to count, for Hollywood film making, for marathons, and for construction. Surely the DC Police can close it a few hours on Halloween night for the safety of neighborhood children and all others who drive here for the fun. Officers at 1D1 were very aware of the problem but said the decision was above their pay grade.

With the rising commerce that is attracting people from outside the immediate area to H St, the rise in Uber/Lyft and typical passenger drop-offs has increased, increasing traffic and danger to a high number of passenger cars stopping dead in the right lane to either drop off or pick up passengers to a business along H St. Whether abrupt and unsignaled or signaled and cautious, these cars are stopping a heavily trafficked area where only two lanes may move in either direction and the left typically has left-turn hopefuls. With the opening and frequent operation of the DC Streetcar and consistent and reliable X2 bus-service, which also cause [more predictable and expected] stops along the right lanes, there isn't a reason this ban would be unfavourable by anyone except Uber/Lyft drivers. They should be made - along with any other taxi or typical driver dropping off/picking up - to pull up and stop instead on one of the cross streets and let passengers in/out at a corner. It would help allow for passengers to comfortably take their time getting out and help keep drivers from on and off braking while searching for passengers if they have a definitive corner to go to rather than a business name or address. This is true not just along the corridor between Benning and Union Station (up to the Giant at H and 3rd), but between North Capitol and Massachusetts, before the Wal-Mart especially. A pull-over ban on this area when there are not spots for a car to pull into and actually give the lane to traffic would benefit not only transportation, but safety for a) the stopped car, b) pedestrians who might attempt to cross in front of the car and be unseen by cars coming from behind the stopped vehicle, c) passengers getting in/out of a vehicle, and d) all traffic surrounding the would-be stopped vehicle. Currently, the entire strip is a risk for all.

My name is JoLeah, and I work at Community Connections in Eastern Market. We are experiencing a crisis as hundreds of our consumers are not being able to access case management services due to DBH mis-budgeting at the beginning of this year. People who are in need of mental health services are being turned away or severely limited on what they are able to access. These people are looking for help, and instead, they are being turned to the streets of Barracks Row. Please help!

To educate the public on civil rights heroes, a statue of Bayard Rustin near the proposed Chick-Fil-A on Maryland Ave NE will serve as a reminder that the district cares about the inclusiveness and equality for all its citizens whereas some businesses do not care about the same for their consumers.

TO whom it concerns, Traffic at the Southeast Blvd, on ramp and off ramp, are constantly being used against traffic signage. Lanes designated for straight only are constantly being used to make illegal turns which causes not only potential road rage incidents but also accidents themselves. Turn only lanes are just as constantly being used to go straight. This evening there was a traffic director who did absolutely nothing to enforce commuters and dump trucks from making illegal left hand turns from M St SE onto 11 St SE. This caused not only confusion but a great deal of back up for traffic running in all directions. The Southeast Blvd and M St SE/11 St SE intersections are a completely disaster when it comes to following proper road signs and road laws. There is absolutely 0 occasions where I have seen anything being done to deter driving in this way. Is there someone else who I should be directing these issues too? Regards, Scott

Along the lines of this proposal from a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors: https://medium.com/@MarkFarrellSF/press-release-supervisor-mark-farrell-to-call-for-economic-impact-report-on-san-francisco-s-zoning-e94235309222#.4vw0iqbn5

Greetings, We are in need of Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargers desperately in our Ward. The DDOT projects at Canal Park in SE & The Reeves Center in NW paved the way with very successful pilots. The number EVs as outgrown our test programs in DC. We are in need of additional green spaces to park and charge vehicles on our city streets. There is steady competition for use of the limited city provided spaces and chargers. SW has limited charging spaces at Smithsonian and L'Enfant Plaza only. Is there a plan with a current EV charge provider, local merchants or MBE contractors to install additional chargers in the near future please?

See http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/271/Office-of-Neighborhood-Safety

Newborns and their parents experience the same mobility challenges as a person in a wheelchair and therefore will benefit from being able to access parking in available spaces near a handicapped accessible entrance. For instance, like a handicapped person, a newborn in a stroller cannot enter buildings through non-handicapped accessible entrances and faces challenges (e.e., heat/cold exposure, bumpy/blocked sidewalks and construction detours) when traversing long distances downtown to reach a destination, maneuvering it along the sidewalk and into an accessible entrance. Like the handicapped, newborns and their mothers have numerous doctors appointments downtown. To boot, many of the mothers pushing these strollers in the early months are recovering from C-sections or other operations or simply from the rigors of childbirth. Newborns also need to eat frequently, which can delay residents from returning to a space to move the car or feed the meter. This would be easy to implement, e.g. by making available upon request at DC hospitals to DC residents parents of a newborn a handicap parking placard with a 3-month limited term, and would make the city more accessible and livable for the growing population of parents.

An annual program to implement traffic calming in residential neighborhoods, including curb extensions at intersections where feasible to: 1) reduce crossing distances for pedestrians, 2) slow down traffic, 3) prevent on-street parking up to and into the crosswalk, and 4) create an area for bicycle parking.

DC should join the growing list of municipalities around the country supporting early childhood literacy by making sure every child in DC receives a free book in the mail every month from birth to age 5.

Ohio recently made it possible for adult adoptees to access their previously sealed original birth certificates. DC should do the same.