Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia

JANUARY ASSEMBLY IS BLOCKBUSTER MEETING
MR. DAVID CLARK: CAPTAIN OF AN IMPORTANT GRAB-BAG AGENCY

A bad start does not mean that a good start can’t follow. Last month’s bollix at DCRA, which resulted in Director David Clark’s missing his engagement to address the Federation, can be rectified in short order, and stands to be. Intra-office coordination was the stated reason for the December mix-up. Virtually certain is that Mr. Clark will come to us January 29 loaded for all Q-and-A eventualities, and possibly with good news about city emergency preparedness and ongoing catch-up remedial activities.

Mr. Clark’s department is the one that touches most directly the lives and property of District residents. It has also been plagued over the years with chaos, underfunding, understaffing and lack of leadership. Mr. Clark has taken on a daunting portfolio, and must be admired for his sheer gutsiness.

As noted previously, managerial skills rather than specialization are demanded in the running of a diversified agency such as Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Mr. Clark came to the position of director by way of the U.S. Postal Service, where he started in 1977. He achieved senior civil servant status through excellence in managing nuts-and-bolts, practical issues. In September 1997 he received a "Hammer Award" from Vice President Al Gore for leadership in reinventing government.

Mr. Clark is in Gilford’s Who’s Who of Extraordinary Professionals, and in 1999 was named a member of the Marquis Who’s Who in America in Finance and Industry. Mr. Clark holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Regent’s College of the University of the State of New York, Albany, and received an MBA from George Washington University.

Mr. Steven Kral is a policy officer with the mayor’s team on emergency preparedness, as well as a hands-on disseminator for the program. By way of background, he is an environmental scientist, with the Marasco Newton Group, Ltd., based in Arlington. Mr. Kral’s message, plan and ideas are far-reaching and encouraging, and he will be requesting Federation assistance in getting out the message and organizing communities for preparedness at the local level. Such preparedness training and coordination is where the action is, and the Federation’s role in this can be a meaningful notes that the framework of civil preparedness — comprehensive plan, abundant funding and technical resources — are in place. What is required now is implementing preparedness at the working, neighborhood level.

Very few of our communities have any sort of effective arrangements in place. The Crestwood community is one partial exception, having at least had recent discussions on the neighborhood-specific implementation of city civil defense measures. It is virtually unique in this. The fact is, our communities are tabulae rasae when it comes to even basic preparedness awareness. The solution to this is in sight, and we will take a giant step in consciousness raising at the February 29 assembly and subsequently.

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CHANGE IN START TIME FOR ZONING COMMISSION MEETINGS

The Zoning Commission has announced that, effective December 1, 2001, all Zoning Commission hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m. Zoning Commission public meetings will continue to start at 1:30 p.m. Members of the public are invited to testify at Zoning Commission hearings. They may attend and audit meetings, but do not participate.

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CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC ROUNDTABLE ON BILL 14-373, "ANTITERRORISM ACT OF 2001"

On Thursday, January 24, Councilmember Kathy Patterson, Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, will hold a continuation of the public roundtable on the "Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001." This is a continuation of the Public Roundtable held on November 16, 2001.

Delegates and others who wish to testify at-the roundtable should contact Mr. Patrick Norton, legislative assistant to the Committee on the Judiciary, at 724-7808. Written testimony should be sent to Ms. Phyllis Jones, Secretary to the Council, Room 5, Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. The record will close on February 8, 2002.

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UPCOMING RIVER TERRACE DEMONSTRATION AGAINST EXPANSION OF TRASH TRANSFER STATION AND PEPCO ELECTRIC POWER PLANT

The River Terrace community organization will hold a mass demonstration on Saturday, February 9 at 11 a.m. at the PEPCO facility at 3400 Benning Road. The community is calling for closure of the purportedly cancer-causing major PEPCO electric plant in the residential area and for removal of a noisome and pest-attracting trash transfer station. Triggering the protest and subsequent action is a reported mayoral plan to expand the daily load of the trash transfer station from 250 tons to 1,250 tons. A reported 37 percent of D. C. trash passes through the pestiferous station. Regarding the electric power plant in the area, a recent community poll indicated that the cancer rate in the beset neighborhood is five times that in the rest of the city. A federal study has been mounted to verify the claim. The Sierra Club is assisting the community.

Demonstration participants will assemble at the Varick Memorial Church, 255 Anacostia Avenue, N.W. before 11 a.m. Interested members of other associations are invited to join this hands-on opening round of the transfer station expansion fight.

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Officers and Board

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AN EXCITING WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY
MaryAnn Griffin, Foxhall

The events of September 11, 2001 made all of us, everywhere, stop to think about the special importance of the men and women who tirelessly serve our communities as fire fighters. Throughout the ` city, these brave folks work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they are always there for us.

During the month of December, the residents of Foxhall Village in Northwest pulled together to honor as well as to thank our local fire fighters at Engine Company No. 29, by serving a series of home cooked holiday meals. With a little coordination, we were able to enlist the help of over 30 Foxhall families to plan menus and cook delicious dinners, which we delivered to the firehouse on four separate nights. The result was that all of the firefighters who work at that station benefited from the culinary delights, prepared by many loving hands.

Whether it is the firefighters, the police officers, the garbage collectors or the mail carriers, there are multiple groups on whom we depend for basic services, but who are rarely acknowledged. Providing these holiday meals was a way for us to say thank you to these "unsung heroes" and a wonderful opportunity to cone together as a community, to give something back. Other community associations may want to consider undertaking a similar project. It is a fun thing to do, and your efforts will be deeply appreciated.’

* * * * * *

In its January 10 issue, the Northwest Current adds: "Indeed, this is an unusual idea, although the sentiment is not new. In years past, neighbors of the Tenleytown and Cleveland Park fire stations have raised funds for needed items, such as .new mattresses and curtains. Other Northwest neighborhoods have rallied to keep their area stations oven in the midst of proposed budget cuts."

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FEDERATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At its January 10 meeting the Federation Board of Directors:

• Discussed the Federation Legal Aid Foundation
• Discussed and initially planned to assist the city’s dissemination of the new emergency preparedness program to Federation and other neighborhoods
• Decided to cosponsor a public forum on D.C. General Hospital, with the Federation of Civic Associations
• Decided to invite D.C. People’s Counsel Elizabeth Noel, Esq. to address the February assembly

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COOKING: "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION ACT"

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will be holding hearings in the spring on her bill, H.R. 1193, "The No Taxation Without Representation Act." Senator Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat, has introduced a similar bill in the Senate, which is currently in the Finance Committee. According to Mr. Lieberman’s office, timing of Senate-side hearings will be decided on in several weeks. The bills provide that until District of Columbia citizens enjoy full voting rights in Congress, they will be exempt from federal income taxes.

Educated speculation is that, if the law is passed, millionaires from all over would flock to Washington to avoid paying taxes. Dr. Don Williamson, an American University professor, is quoted as predicting, "The District would turn into Monaco." There are worse fates.

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D.C.-BALTIMORE OLYMPICS?

Lest we forget, the United States Olympic Committee has announced that D.C.-Baltimore together are one of four finalists to host the U.S. 2012 Summer Games. Competing cities are San Francisco, New York and Houston. The Committee will select the U.S. host city in 2005. Olympic D.C.? What a concept.

If selected, will the District receive Sarajevo treatment of former years, with a great new stadium, other new sports facilities and infrastucture upgrades? Or Tokyo treatment with all kinds of slick new urban and suburban additions and improvements? Let’s hope the daring bid for the games by the two city governments will win, especially after the economic pounding the area has taken since September 11.

Visions of sugar-bucks are already dancing in some neighborhood heads. Will universities cash in and rent out dormitory space? Can small row homes be rented out at huge prices to Olympics attendees, while owners go elsewhere temporarily to avoid the inevitable in-town hubbub? How about apartments in the inner city? It all makes for good dreaming — or constructive apprehension.

In D.C. Act 14-138 of October, 2001, the D.C. city council authorized establishment of the Chesapeake Regional Olympic Games Authority as a joint instrumentality of Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and the City of Baltimore, "to be activated if the region is awarded the 2012 Olympic Games." Indicatively, among proportionate undertakings of the bill, indemnification (beyond insurance) requirements for the partners are:

"(1) The State of Maryland shall be liable for 53%;
(2) The Commonwealth of Virginia shall be liable for 19%; and
(3) The District of Columbia shall be liable for 28%." Making one ask: How large a participation would D.C. have in the Olympics as a whole?

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D.C. MAJOR LAW FIRMS: PRO BONO, BILLING RATES ET AL.

For delegates who have heard and perhaps wondered about the fees charged by Washington’s high-rolling legal partnerships, the following billing rate sample may be instructive. It goes without saying that virtually no citizens association can afford such desirable legal help in major contentions, and that virtually none of the local law firms will consent to date to do pro bono work on merits alone for association-backed civic causes. The American Bar Association reportedly suggests 3% as a goal for pro bono work. However, so far such "give back to the community" efforts tend toward such activities as prisoner release for cause, immigration and asylum matters, international human rights work, broad civil rights work and, most recently, assistance to September 11 catastrophe victims. But there is more to the civic equation than such fields, however laudable. The key to commitment to pro bono is a firm’s stance on whether pro bono work counts internally as billable hours.

Law firm partners are ranked in terms of grade, ranging from senior to junior. The following is an interesting sample of four major District law firms by name, number of partners, and hourly billing rates by grade, as noted in the National Law Journal:

Covington & Burling (466)

Hogan & Hartson (824)

Patton Boggs (372)

Wiley, Rein & Fielding (217)

The existing, seemingly total lack of effective contact between powerful law firms and the Federation or associations — which represent the community at large and often necessarily contend with impacting institutions and corporations (and law firm customers) — is unfortunate. The asserted breakdown point to date is that, even if a law partner wishes to help out, he/she allegedly must obtain the consent of other, senior, partners, and that is routinely refused.

One possible, commendable solution, suggested by former Federation president Peggy Snyder, Esq., would be for the Federation to conclude a loose working arrangement with one of the great Washington law firms, to collaborate on goals of mutual civic interest. This opportunity is still waiting.

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WILL WASHINGTON GET ITS PROJECTED NEW K-MART STORE?

As everyone knows by now, the K-Mart corporation is in serious difficulties, to the point where it is expected to close from 200 to 400 stores. This throws in doubt prospects for construction of the eagerly awaited projected K-Mart store on Rhode Island Avenue in the District. In October 2001 the city council helpfully passed Resolution 14-227, to authorize up to $15 million in municipal bond support for the planned new K-Mart store.

In the very possible event that K-Mart must choose not to expand into the District, perhaps a comparable chain such as Walmart or Target could take up its option and build for the D.C. market. En passant, many of our states have commercial agents overseas solely for the purpose of securing foreign investment in their economies. Perhaps the District could do likewise on the domestic front, and proactively solicit in-country Walmart or Walmart-like corporations to assume any vacated K-Mart option to build and receive substantial city backing. This merits consideration, especially by the mayor’s office, the council’s Committee on Economic Development and the citizens associations in the Rhode Island Avenue area.

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CIVILIAN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TRAINING FOR OUR FEDERATION COMMUNITIES, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY
Jane McNew, Capitol Hill

BNICE AND ATTEND YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MEETING

This Federation is at the forefront in bringing you civilian defense programs prepared by the Department of Justice and delivered by representatives of the DC Emergency Management Agency (DCMA).

Our government forecasts a war of terrorism extending through the next decade. It will engage us citizens on our soil and elsewhere, as we all know. Terrorists have weaponized BNICE agents: biological, nuclear, incendiary, chemical, and explosives. Each requires a different response to save lives and health.

Citizens’ best defense is knowledge and resolve. Knowledge includes high tech (new) and low tech (old). It requires coordination, anticipation, teamwork, and smarts. Federation members can do all that with DCEMA training. The training is smart, quick, and absorbing.

WHY SHOULD YOU GET TRAINED?

To save the lives and health of yourself and of those for whom you care. As a community, what you do to share this information with others can reward you, by chance, by someone you brought to these training sessions, by saving your life and health. What you do to help others very often comes back to you as amazing gifts — expressions of love and caring, being compassionate, knowledgable, and quick-thinking.

Secondly, you need to know how the fire, police, and military will work a disaster site from the first moment until the last so that you can be supportive and take appropriate actions — never inappropriate reactions.

Our speaker will describe the programs, which are in a sequential order, and answer your questions. Emergency management experts will conduct the courses. You can ask for additional and/or customized course content as needed.

TIME: Not enough to pick a time many weeks out into the future. Washington, DC, is under the cross-hairs as our nation’s capitol. Scheduling will be set up as quickly as we can reasonably expect you to come. At our meeting, you must tell DCEMA the time to which you will commit your atttendance.

COST: None. These programs are federally funded. Place and time will be decided at our Federation meeting.

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FEDERATION ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

Everything was roses — well, greenery and candles — at this year’s elegant Christmas luncheon at the Diplomatic and Consular Officers Club. A great time was had by all. Pre-luncheon sherry flowed freely as usual and clubby seating at one point was SRO (standing room only).

The minor rub: who’s coming? Apart from duly reserved attendees in December, six persons with reservations could not attend, while seven persons came without reservations. Two attendees could not have the entree du jour — great roast leg of lamb — and required a substitute (in the event, also excellent).

The well-prepared, upscale club maintains a certain flexibility on numbers and menu selections, but this is limited, and the Federation must make prior arrangements as exactly as possible. Delegates and guests are urged to observe the following: 1) best of all, make reservations, attend, and have a great time, or 2) if unable to attend and having made reservations, advise the luncheon coordinator (who called you) of inability to come, or 3) absent reservations but able to attend at the last minute, alert the coordinator if possible, and 4) if special requirements are a factor (e.g., no red meat, vegetarian), please advise of this at the time of reservations.

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DISTRICT PLAN TO USE FEDERAL EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR MORE TRAFFIC CAMERAS?

The Washington Times reports that "The District wants to spend some of its emergency funds on more cameras to help nab speeders and red-light runners." If true, this would be akin to the Red Cross in its attempt to use September 11 Fund donations for internal improvements. The city has already opted to triple the number of meter reader/ticket writers operating throughout the District, from 79 to 260. Apart from $12.5 collected from parking meters in fiscal 2001, meter maid/meter men reportedly wrote 1.5 million tickets. If the 260 ticketers triple the FY 2001 performance, upwards of $100 million in fines would pour into city coffers.

Arguably, this is excessive, and serves to chill citizen interest in shopping, dining or otherwise using the hurting downtown business district, inter alia. A propos of the speeding tickets, many of these are based on an unreasonably low speed limit (25 mph). Feeling the pain, D.C. voters are likely to begin agitating this point in an election year. Far better would be a limit of 30-35 mph, with slower-zone demarcations and signs where necessary. The time is past when city officials can credibly cite the steadily growing traffic crackdown campaign as primarily a traffic safety and welfare effort. These considerations play a role, but excessive zeal changes the nature of the program. And the D.C. traffic situation does not constitute an emergency upon which to misapply federal emergency funding.

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BILLBOARD ISSUE: COUNCIL GRABS ONE HORN OF THE DILEMMA

On December 12 the city council voted to prohibit setting up of future large billboards or "special signs" in D.C. without council approval. This followed public outcry over an end-run by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs which ignored 70-year-old District prohibitions on billboards. The department simply, on its own, authorized the erection of 32 huge billboards (euphemistically termed "special signs") on commercial buildings, in perpetuity and with undefined transferability rights. Original impetus for the unusual DCRA action is unknown.

At the packed December council hearing, community advocates abominated the garish new billboards and called for, at a minimum, a five-year amortization of the 32 authorized signs (many in place or contracted for). Federation delegates and others argued that such amortization is in effect in many other jurisdictions, and supersedes potential billboard-purchaser claims against the city.

The Council took the cautious route and, while prohibitingfuture signs, declined to apply amortization to the existing or bespoken signs in D.C. Inside word is that the council caved on the issue for fear of takings lawsuits by billboard-space purchasers. This is a regrettable precedent, arguably, in a business and political milieu in which virtually anyone who doesn’t get his way and can pay a lawyer threatens to sue the city as a matter of course.

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GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR D.C. COMMUNITY GREENING PROJECTS

Garden Resources of Washington has announced the availability of grants of up to $1000 for community and youth greening projects. Funds may be used for such project expenses as plants, seeds, tools, educational materials, outreach and project documentation. Association projects such as some beautification efforts, street box planting encouragement, mini-park improvement or development, and spot landscaping with plants are all included.

Anyone can apply. Funds are available to community and youth groups, schools, garden clubs, citizens associations, churches, and ad hoc citizen groups for greening projects located in Washington. For additional information, interested associations or delegates should E-mail grow19@aol.com  (preferably), or call 202-234-0591.

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Federation Assembly Meeting Dates