Over the years, I have become a home owner and have embraced the unique character of our neighborhood. When the Marx Café opened, I started bringing my friends from other parts of the city to visit. I met my girlfriend at the Raven. When it was open, we ate at the Red Bean every week and actively campaigned to assist them in getting their liquor license. Even though Frank and Mike were more than willing to agree to the MPNA demands, their license was delayed to a fatal extent. While we're sorry to see it go, we're glad to have such great pizza at Radius and to have such a great restaurant as Tonic. We get brunch at Dos Gringos, we get take out from Don Juan's, Burritos Fast, China Town, Adams Express. We do our grocery shopping at Bestway, Super Save Mart, 7-11, the Argyle. I cannot tell you how much money I have spent at Heller's Bakery, Sportsman Liquors, or Pfeiffer's Hardware.

Not too long ago, a wonderful retail space right on Mount Pleasant street turned into Laundroland. This space had been a restaurant for years! Why now did it turn into laundromat? The owner told me several resturanteurs had walked away from the deal because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to get a liquor license. They saw what happened to Red Bean and they didn't want it to happen to them.

I fear that we are on the precipice of decline. In Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan they are putting in new restaurants, new retail shops, and all kinds of amenities. We are getting Laundromats. If our retail and business corridor isn't as atractive as those other neighborhoods, our property values will decline. I would like to see Mount Pleasant live up to its reptutation as a haven for artists, activists and independent businesses. Leave the corporate schlockery to Columbia Heights, leave the crowded dance clubs to Adams Morgan. But we've got to step it up and provide venues for serious artists to share their work. We need to provide attractive and hospitable locations for activists to gather and relax. We need to give independent businesses the freedom from restrictions so that they might thrive in the face of brutal competition from national chains. What is the alternative?

I just want to end my testimonial by remembering a quote from the late Kurt Vonnegut, "Look no further for proof of God than music."

Phil Lepanto, is a young profesional who moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1998. He owns a condo on the 1700 Block of Lamont Street and desperately tries to give away the most candy every Halloween. He is also a small business owner in the District of Columbia.

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