Having successfully completed a months-long campaign to shutter Philly Pizza, neighbors and community leaders got a bonus gift today: a visit from Mayor Adrian Fenty, who rolled up in front of the restaurant’s former home in his Smart Car a little after 11 this morning for brief remarks about the drunk food hot-spot’s closure.

“They did a fantastic job, didn’t they?” Fenty said as he shook hands with neighbors gathered to hear him speak, in reference to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners’ efforts to shut down Philly Pizza after its license had been revoked.

Flanked by Attorney General Peter Nickles and Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs Director Linda Argo, his podium positioned near where tipsy freshman used to sit down to enjoy their pizza with ranch, Fenty congratulated ANC Commissioners Bill Starrels and Ed Solomon for their work to “shut down a nuisance business … causing havoc in the community.”

He likened Philly Pizza’s closure to other illegal businesses that the City has targeted, like used car lots and nightclubs. Later, in his remarks, Nickles volunteered brothels and used car lots that the City had closed as a comparison.

“We listened to our Georgetown residents and it was clear this business was not being a good neighbor,” Fenty said.

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Last Thursday, the Burleith Citizens’ Association held its annual meeting.  Yes, annual.

“One per year? I love it!” exclaimed guest of honor Mayor Adrian Fenty (D). “That’s unprecedented, at least in D.C.”

With only one meeting per year, the agenda was pretty packed, with Burleithers (Burleithians?) discussing everything from 61-D citations to the University’s ten-year plan, parking changes, D.C. Public Schools and cracking down on neglectful landlords.

MPD and 61-Ds: Lieutenant John Hedgecock, who has been in charge of West Georgetown and Burleith since early August, talked about the neighborhood’s crime stats and how the Metropolitan Police Department has been using 61-D citations.

When Hedgecock announced that issuing 61-Ds has been “very effective in quelling parties,” the crowd broke out in applause.  According to Hedgecock, once MPD receives a call, they assume that there’s been a breach of the peace.  If they observe a party and the noise “is too much for a residential area,” they will issue a 61-D citation to the person on the lease of the house or in charge of the party.

Hedgecock says while last year there were six “problem houses” in the area (four in West Georgetown and two in Burleith), this year there is only one.

“When we see a party starting, we put an end to it or advise them what will happen,” Hedgecock said.

One neighbor voiced concerns about the citations saddling students with a criminal record; Hedgecock replied that those who receive 61-Ds can contest them in court.

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Tuesday night’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting came after a very happy morning for the organization and the neighborhood, in which Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) visited Georgetown to announce that the Circulator’s service on Wisconsin Avenue would not be discontinued. In this spirit of goodwill, the ANC unanimously approved a thank-you letter to Mayor Fenty for his sympathy to residents.

Apparently that goodwill did not translate into holiday spirit, though, as Commissioner Charles Eason criticized the Georgetown Business Improvement District’s plans for its 2nd annual “Merriment in Georgetown” celebration.

Planned for Sunday, December 6 at the corner of M St. & Wisconsin Ave., “Merriment in Georgetown” will feature free photos with Santa, hot chocolate and cider and strolling carolers. Sounds delightful, but Eason was concerned that the celebration is too disruptive to traffic and that not enough residents will attend. Thankfully, that didn’t stop the ANC from approving “merriment”.

The tensions over the new Philly Pizza location on Potomac St. are boiling over. The late-night hot-spot has been a thorn in the side of neighbors since it opened.

At last night’s meeting, Potomac St. residents shared eye-witness accounts of “intoxicated teenagers,” Commissioner Bill Starrels provided photos of the “mob scene” present early Saturday morning and referenced reviews on Yelp.com glorifying the pizza’s particular appeal to drunken folks. According to the ANC, Philly P’s lack of space, liquor license and general chaos separates it from other late-night establishments.

An important meeting regarding the fate of Philly P’s will be held next week, involving the ANC, Metro, Councilman Evans’ office and Georgetown President Jack DiGioia. Although the details seemed a bit hazy at the meeting about what can actually be done, it’s clear that nobody from the ANC is a fan of thin, tasteless slices of pizza doused in ranch sauce.

Adrian Fenty, bus savior

Cheap, reliable transportation fans rejoice: The Wisconsin Avenue portion of the Georgetown—Union Station Circulator route that was slated to be discontinued this Friday has been saved, according to The Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock.

According to the Post:

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is scheduled to go to the D.C. Circulator bus stop at Whitehaven Place NW on Tuesday morning to announce that the extension of the route up Wisconsin Avenue will be preserved.

Huzzah!

On Monday at about 5 p.m. two Red Line trains crashed into each other near the Fort Totten station, resulting in the deadliest crash in Metro’s 33 year history.  Nine people died, including Jeanice McMillan, the operator of one of the trains, Ana Fernandez, a mother of six, and Retired Major General David Wherely, Jr. who led the D.C. National Guard and his wife Ann.  Although investigations are ongoing, it’s looking like the accident was probably caused by a malfunction of the computerized control system.

D.C.’s Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi announced that his office is projecting a $340 million budget shortfall over the next two years due to the recession.  In light of the dire news, Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) discretely ordered 40 government agencies—including the police department—to cut more than $35 million from their budgets.  It probably doesn’t help that the city can’t find thousands of dollars it collected in fines from misdemeanor cases..

On Thursday, June 18th, a gunman opened fire outside the Columbia Heights Metro station, shooting and injuring two.  This week it was revealed that the gunman was actually working as an intern for a D.C. Councilmember, Jim Graham (D—Ward 1).  Graham himself took the young man, Devyn Black, to the police station to turn himself in.

After the jump: taxi fare increases, how Twitter can help you get fired from your D.C. government job and more!
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In the interest of keeping you informed about the fine city we live in, Vox is starting a new feature, the District Digest, which will be a quick-and-easy guide to the most interesting and important D.C. stories of the week.

The big, sad, awful story of the week was the shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday.  James von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist, opened rifle fire at the museum, killing security guard Stephen Johns.

Plans for the District to get a voting representative in the House were derailed on Tuesday when Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton announced that she had decided to kill the D.C. House Voting Rights Act due to the Ensign Amendment, a provision tacked on to the bill that would have all but eliminated the District’s gun control laws.

The Board of Elections and Ethics will decide whether or not opponents of same-sex marriage will be able to hold a referendum vote on the D.C. Council’s decision last month to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.  D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said he doesn’t believe the same-sex marriage measure should be subject to a referendum, but the final decision lies with DCBOEE.

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Yes we can (recover from this economic shitstorm)!

After more than an hour of sitting patiently, contemplating whether or not the guy sitting next to you was really a secret service officer, a thundering voice came over the speaker, announcing, finally, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President…

…of Georgetown University, John DeGioia!”

The crowd tittered and Jack walked out and apologetically and spent a few minutes on flattering set-up. Then Obama took the stage, smiling and waving and charismatic as ever.

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Last week, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles jointly testified before Councilmember Phil Mendelson’s (D – At Large) Judiciary Committee on the “Omnibus Anti-Crime Amendment Act of 2009” and the “Public Safety and Justice Amendments Act of 2009,” two hefty crime bills originating from the Mayor Adrian Fenty’s office and Mendelson’s office, respectively.

Fun facts! Out of their testimony, City Paper’s Jason Cherkis reports, comes some startling estimates of how many gang members there are in the District, and not-so-startling reports as to where they are not:

“I am not sure if this is an overwhelming number. But here’s what Lanier and Nickles stated: ‘At the present time, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) estimates that there are approximately 1,730 active gang members in 87 gangs in the District.’ …. Looks like only 2D (of course) is gang-free turf. Hey kids: Georgetown is yours for the taking!”

Will Georgetown University best GWU? It begins.

What’s in those bills anyway? Mendelson’s bill and the mayor’s Crime Omnibus are sometimes at odds, but they both seek to (among other things) curb gang activity using harsher sanctions against gang members. The mayor’s bill seeks to give judges the right to issue gang injunctions against juveniles in addition to adults. The Crimnibus also broadens stalking definitions and would put the lockdown on police records concerning violent crimes to protect witness and victim information. Cherkis notes it “beef[s] up the penalties associated with gun charges.”

Delicious

Washingtonian has a great profile on DC’s new mayor-for-life (knock on wood) Adrian Fenty. He’s basically incredible: running laps before dawn, then bouncing around town with his head sticking out of his Smart car. How does Fenty do it all?

What’s the source of his energy?
“People, especially kids,” says Phil. “He grabs their energy, stores it, uses it.”

Creepy! Almost makes you long for days when DC mayors got their energy in less sinister ways.

Photo from Flickr user KCIvey used under a Creative Commons license

The mayor’s interns have a blog that he likes so much it’s linked on his office’s front page. Most of the stuff is general earnest “government helps people!” boosterism, but you have to see the interns’ terrible ideas for DC’s new slogan:

• Washington DC, a city with integrity
• Washington DC, a chance of a life time
• Come, enjoy, and be fascinated
• We represent ourselves (not as bad the others, but it makes about as little sense. Every representative lives in their district.)
• Social harmony, economic development, Innovative political atmosphere is our forte
• DC, the head of a giant

Head of a giant, eh?