Nelson Avenue Gang

A few weeks back we were subjected to another rude solicitor from Environment Virginia. Paul posted a comment about it here and two other neighbors told me about his rude and illegal behavior. You need a permit to do door to door soliciting in the fair city of Alexandria – something which no solicitor from Environment Virginia has been able to show us.

So I called Environment Virginia (434 979 9825). They put me in touch with JR who is the head of Environment Virginia. After playing phone tag a bit JR and I had a nice conversation. He apologized (again) for the rude solicitor without a permit and told me it would not happen again. I asked why I should feel reassured about this because that is what he told me the first time I called when we caught this rude miscreant on our street soliciting without a permit. He assured me (again) that he would take action and that I should send him an email.

Well, that pesky thing known as a job got in the way for a week or two but today I was able to finally write the email to JR and thought you all might like to see what I wrote:

JR,

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me a week or so ago.

On two occasions, June 10 and August 27 we have had solicitors from your organization, Environment Virginia, illegally disturb us. On both occasions the solicitors were quite rude and did not have the required permit from the City of Alexandria. On both occasions we called the police. We have been documenting things like this on our neighborhood blog and you can read about both events here:
http://www.nelsonavegang.com/?p=56
http://www.nelsonavegang.com/?p=43#comments

We would prefer that your organization (and all others except for those selling Girl Scout Cookies) not send solicitors to disturb us. I am sure you will understand why canvassers such as those who have been coming to our street are neither welcome on our street nor are they helping your organization and its cause.

I contacted you after the first incident and, from what you told me, I assumed it would not happen again. If we continue to have this problem we will begin working more closely with the City of Alexandria police department so they recognize the ongoing nature of these illegal acts and we will pursue other communication avenues to hopefully send a stronger message that we do not want solicitors on our street and especially rude ones who are breaking the law.

Thank you for your time,

EZ

Last week and this week have been banner weeks for all of the trash people leave in and around our doorsteps. Last week we received some sort of phone book which I promptly lugged to the trash can. Who needs phone books anymore? We also received (in no particular order) flyers from Tsim Yung, City Masonry, Cerro Verde Restaurant and Domino’s Pizza (I forget which branch but they all taste like cardboard). I’ve dutifully added them all to our Do Not Patronize page. Today (Monday) I also received one of the worst produced flyers yet – Ray’s Maintenance. But you have to hand it to Ray – he’s ambitious. According to his flyer he’ll do just about anything – drian snaking, gutter cleaning, house painting… you name it, he does it. But the bonus comes with how he dedicated one side of his flyer to welding. Instead of some fly-by-night guy by the name of Ray, I’d recommend you go to Flaherty Iron Works because, oh, I don’t know… they’re the best in the region?

So don’t forget to visit our Do Not Patronize page…

A hord of political canvassers descended upon our fair neighborhood this evening.

OK, it wasn’t that bad as there was only one on our block but I asked to see his soliciting permit and he didn’t have one. Not sure if political canvassers need a permit, I didn’t make a big deal about it to him but I did call Alexandria’s finest. The officer on the phone commented “why do they always have to come around at dinner time?” Yes, I too wonder why – they are likely to get an even cooler reception than usual if they interrupt someone’s dinner.

Officer Johnson responded and asked the young man to perhaps go canvas a different area of Del Ray since he clearly was not welcome on our little piece of paradise. After the young man went away Officer Johnson commented to me that there is a whole lot of them in the area this evening – that perhaps they brought a bus out or something like that. Officer Johnson did not cite the youth because he is not sure if political solicitors need a permit or not. I checked the city code and, sadly, as best as I can tell political solicitors do not need a permit – see Section 9-10-21 3(c).

But, of course, there is the question of why the DC Democrats feel the need to come ‘a knockin’ on our doors. I don’t think there can be more than one or two non-Democrats on our block and, Alexandria as a whole is about as blue as you can get. Democrat solicitors coming around here is like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo.

OK, not real high drama but we had yet another solicitor this evening on our block. I asked to see his permit and although he claimed to have one, he was unable to produce said permit. Since he was rude to me I called Alexandria’s finest (using the non-emergency number of 703 838 4444) and they sent not one but two cars within only a few minutes. I don’t know if they caught the guy or not but I’m sure he won’t be back.

This latest miscreant claims to be a representative of a group called “Environment Virginia” – I’ll contact them tomorrow to explain how we don’t want solicitors and that the man claiming to represent them was quite rude. I took pictures of him and they’re kind of funny. Take a look:

For the record, we here at NAG maintain a list of organizations we do not like because they send solicitors and leave trash on our porches. This list is here.