Sadly, two of our six commissioners have resigned.  Jim Richardson (SMD 2F-02) leaves the ANC because he will shortly move out of the single member district he represents and loses his eligibility to continue as a commissioner.  Jerome Sikorski (SMD 2F-05), who was elected in a special election to replace Sandra Biasillo, has resigned due to ill health.  Both of these leaders will be missed.  Although Jerome was only recently elected, he willingly took on responsibilities as the Secretary of the ANC and had participated with great verve during the short period of his tenure.  Jim Richardson has served with great distinction, always willing to pitch in where needed and robustly furthering the interests of his constituents and of the community as a whole.

The loss of these two community minded men leaves their respective SMD’s without a voice on the ANC, and it deprives the whole ANC of wise and energetic participation. The ANC has acted quickly to commence the statutory process of filling the two vacancies. Fortunately, the timing is such that fully functioning replacements can be elected in accordance with the DC ANC Act. (While the ANC has a bylaw provision for informal, non-voting delegates, having official representatives is much more desirable.)

So, I urge—as I have often in the past—that those with the interest and aptitude to take on this public service to step up.  Your ANC is important to you and everyone else in this community.  We are the advocates who speak for the community with all elements of the District of Columbia—the Mayor, the City Council the administrative agencies, the police and with the business and other interests which impact our area.  The “job” doesn’t provide an income, but it carries immense rewards, and it is a vital force in building and sustaining our community.

Call me (202.262.5030) or email (creed@kgrmlaw.com) with any questions about being a commissioner or with your suggestions as to who within these two SMDs would make good commissioner.  It benefits us all!

Despite criminal laws which exist to protect the community, often our courts do not punish convicted criminals to the extent the law permits.  Given the crowded jail system and a sense of priority in which the more severe crimes get the closest attention, judges frequently hand down light sentences, particularly in misdemeanor cases.  Equally frequently, however, the misdemeanor defendants are in fact significant criminals who create enormous issues for the community, and who are charged with misdemeanors only because felony cases are more difficult to develop given the perpetual shortage of police and prosecutorial resources..

Today’s action in Superior Court was an exception.  Judge Melvin R. Wright handed a tough misdemeanor sentence on Deandre Kelly’s conviction for cocaine possession.  Kelly has been selling guns and drugs from his base of operations at 916 N Street, NW, for years.   He has terrorized his neighbors, maintained a perpetual nuisance, and added to the overall crime in the Logan Circle area by both arming people who shouldn’t have guns, and feeding drug habits which inundate the area with thefts necessary to feed those habits.

Today’s result came from good police work, the dogged determination of Lt. Mike Smith of MPD, and our own Crime and Public Safety Committee’s efforts in working with Smith to follow the many complaints that Kelly’s activities have engendered.  The haggard and overworked Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case was also helpful in getting the Judge to allow our ANC to allocate—i.e., speak at the sentencing to demonstrate to the Judge why he should not treat this as business as usual, and give Mr. Kelly time in jail.  The ANC had taken formal action at its April meeting to authorize allocution.

So, Deandre Kelly, illegal hand gun and assault rifle merchant, drug dealer and plague in our community received the maximum time allowed for the misdemeanor crime:  180 days in jail.  The judge suspended all but 80 days of the sentence, conditioned on good behavior and one-year’s probation in which Kelly is required to undergo weekly drug tests.  This is, assuredly, not a lot of time.  But it is significant in terms of what defendants typically receive and it basically follows the recommendation of the U.S. Attorney and the MPD.  Most important, it will keep this entrepreneurial criminal off the streets for a bit.

Our community will have a little relief.  Our Crime and Public Safety Committee will turn to expanding this victory.

Charles Reed