I come bearing gifts.

Any opportunity to chat with the oh so talented (and witty) Mike DeBonis is a good one and any opportunity to share my enthusiasm for Ward 8 is an even better one. Check out this article by Mike DeBonis where I share my thoughts (and hopes) for Anacostia and Ward 8. My good pal Stan Voudrie of Four Points, LLC also weighs in.

Go HERE to read the full article.

Excerpt:

That Dasher, 36, now stands implicated in a major drug-distribution scheme had Peele, who writes the well-read blog Congress Heights on the Rise, feeling nauseated as she read the news this weekend — not  Uniontown, not  drugs. “Those of us who live here, we feel like we’ve taken one step forward in terms of improving the image of our community,” Peele said. “Now it feels like we’ve been drop-kicked four steps back.”

So Peele and a group of neighborhood residents did their best Monday to separate their reactions to the Dasher allegations from their allegiance to her business — the only bar or sit-down restaurant in the neighborhood. Peele brought a load of Anacostia buttons to hand to patrons. Another local resident hosted a birthday party. The news had forced a political candidate to postpone the scheduled kickoff of his D.C. Council campaign, but he stopped by anyway.

It’s easy to understand why Anacostians are standing by their restaurant, if not its owner. It represented the first step toward the kinds of community amenities residents of redeveloping neighborhoods west of the river take for granted.