Midnight in the Garden of themail
Dear Insomniacs:
It's late, and I have to get this issue out to you. We'll talk next time.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The issue of compartmentalization, or lack thereof, in the District
government, by Mark Richards, is certainly one which can't be overlooked. It's been
remarked in recent years that it was unfair that the District had to supply not only those
services one would expect of a city, but also those services which ordinarily devolve to a
County or State level. This has been somewhat remedied by the District Revitalization Act,
under which the Federal government assumed responsibility for many of the big ticket
items.
As to the issue of not having control over your own funds, that may well
change now that the District has seen fit to elect someone who's not an obvious charlatan
and criminal. I predict that if the District runs on budget and delivers an appropriate
level of services, not only will the DCFRA vanish from the scene, but there will probably
be an extension of voting rights to allow election of an appropriate number of voting
Representatives. As things are, District residents might reflect on how good it is that
the various subcommittees regulating the District are mostly staffed by regional
representatives. They, and their communities, have the most to win, and the most to lose,
should the District fail — they've seen the effects when the District turns into a
crime-breeding cesspool and they'll see the effects if the District is clean, safe and
prosperous.
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Ed T. Barron lamented that Arlene Ackerman's funding equalization proposal
would reward failure with more money. He also repeated the oft heard statement that DC has
one of the highest per pupil expenditures in the country. If I remember the figures
correctly that were in the Washington Post's article about Ackerman's proposal,
the dollar amounts per pupil currently are in the range of $2,800-$5,100 or so. The
proposal would set a base amount of $3,600 and would adjust it upward to as much as $4,500
depending upon a variety of factors. I would presume that these figures are the school
based costs per student and exclude the costs of the central administration of the school
system, which if added back in would raise the per pupil dollar figure. In any case,
though, these are significantly less than suburban systems spend per pupil. Private
schools (other than parochial schools which have some subsidy built in from church support
and low levels of teacher salaries) in this area cost anywhere from approximately $8,000
to $15,000 a year. Given that all of the District's school buildings are very old, many
over 50 years old, and require massive amounts of maintenance and renovation, it is no
surprise that our schools have problems that money can solve. Granted, there are lots of
administrative problems and a system that has become dysfunctional in many ways, but
doesn't change the fact that we are not investing much in our children's future. I agree
with Ed, though, that we need to get the strongest possible principals and best qualified
teachers, but it costs money to attract them and keep them. P.S. Check out Jonathan
Kozol's review of DC schools in his 1991 book Savage Inequality.
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Free Suburban Phone Books
Sarah Lanning, slanning@erols.com
Regarding David Sobelsohn's request for suburban phone books, whenever
I've dropped off my old phone books at the Montgomery County Transfer Station on Rte. 355
in Rockville, I've always noticed a nice assortment of area phone books, including many
current year ones looking brand-new. I usually pick up a DC phone book that way.
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Suburban Telephone Books
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
David Sobelsohn wrote: “Does anyone besides me have trouble getting
suburban telephone books from Bell Atlantic?” Ours come with our DC book, or soon
thereafter. I've received them regularly and am puzzled about why you can't get them. I
vaguely remember a card to check off which books I want and it must now be a standing
“order.” You might try to get it in your “permanent phone record” to
receive.
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Suburban Telephone Books
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com
I would like to tell David Sobelsohn that he is not the only one who has
difficulty getting a complete set of telephone books for the area. It could be a major
addition to regional economic development if everyone got the telephone listings for the
region. Surprise! People might find out that businesses (as well as friends) that they
want to patronize are located in all jurisdictions. (I'd also like to see all the white
pages together again. This splitting the residential and business listings up is for the
birds.)
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The zoo will turn old Christmas trees into mulch. There is a specific
place to drop them off — I don't know where, but Robert Frazier from the Mount
Pleasant Forum can probably tell you. (rf@juno.com)
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A Clipboard???
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Another of Mayor Williams' top aides (Whiz Kids?) has run into open
defiance of formal authority. Norman Dong asked an acting director of the Property Office
to correct an obsolete building directory sign. The acting director said he would get to
that in a couple of weeks. When the acting director refused to do it immediately he was
struck on the arm by Dong with a clipboard. Now that's escalation. Clipboards went out
with the bustle (or about that time). There are some of us throwbacks of a couple of
generations ago that still use them along with those breast pocket pen holders, but
today's whizzers use a Palm Pilot or other new technology pocket sized organizer to keep
track of their notes and appointments.
It is certainly, in today's climate, inappropriate to strike or touch a
fellow employee regardless of how angry a supervisor or other employee might become. The
acting director should have been pulled aside and told that he had better figure out who
he was working for and respond accordingly if he intended to continue receiving D.C.
paychecks. This is just another case of recalcitrant Barry leftovers in middle
“Management” that will have to be phased out if there is ever to be an evolution
to an effective D.C. Government.
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Mayor Williams and the N Word
Charlie Gibeaut, Sandusky, OH, gboat@accsandusky.com
Congratulations to DC Mayor Williams for accepting “niggardly”
David Howard back into the administrative flock. Those who caused such a pointless furor
ought to be ashamed of their educational shortcomings. Advice for those who want to be
racially correct: there are a couple hundred “ni...” words in the dictionary
besides the now famous “niggardly,” But be particularly careful who is within
“earring distance” if you use “niggle,” “niggler,” or
“niggling.”
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Words That Hurt
Jeffrey Itell, Story@intr.net
Readers of the departed “Northwest Side Story” know that the PC
Polizei could confine me to solitary and I would still (cliche alert!) call'm as I see'm.
Nevertheless, I would like to appeal to angels within us to strike a common word from our
vocabulary: “gyp.” Cheating, swindle, and fraud are all swell words. Just as I
wouldn't like to hear someone say they “Jewed down the price,” I'm sure that
members of the Gypsy lobby (if there is one) cringe whenever they hear the “G”
word. Our recent hysteria ought not let us become smug about our use of blatantly
offensive and commonly used words. (“OK, Mr. PC Police Man, may I now eat my
gruel?”)
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Lets face it — purely and simply, there are now two
“n-words.” Do I hear three? More are sure to follow, and the white community
will acquiesce. I heard this morning that one university has agreed not to use the word
“niggardly.” It reminded me that once upon a time the former word for black
people was “Negro.” Later that was changed, at their request, to
“blacks.” OK. We white folks got used to that. But wait! — then it was
“Afro-Americans.” All righty then, we can say that. No, no, stop the presses,
from now on we want it to be “African Americans.” Quite a mouthful, but, ok,
we've done that; we got used to it. In no case would any white person of intelligence or
sensitivity think of using that “O.J. Simpson Trial” n-word — negative. No,
the word is not “negative”; I mean, negative is the idea of using such a word
about or to a person of color. But now we've got to remember not to use a word or term
that could be, by a person of lesser intelligence, misconstrued as a derogatory (I would
say “denigrating,” but the “nig” means black and that would
automatically make it a forbidden term, a racial slur, if you will). Be careful who you
call a “nagger” — it better be a white person, preferably your wife, and
she better not be in racially mixed company when you do. Don't describe a go-getter, if he
is black, as “an eager man.” That could feed the gristmill of racial division
and misunderstanding. In other words, you must take the responsibility for another
person's limited vocabulary. Now to be fair, Julian Bonds, president of the NAACP, came
down on the right side of this issue, defending Howard, criticizing the mayor and saying
that the word was legitimate and an educated person shouldn't have to be limited because
of another person's lack of understanding. How true. But it's hard for me to say that when
somebody's about to kick my ass for uttering a racial slur when I was talking to a friend
about going on Nicorettes. I've gotta go home and lie down.
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Residential Parking Permit Program
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com
L. Burford asked how to get a street designated as part of the residential
parking program. The rules can be found in section 2411 of Title 18 of the DC Municipal
Regulations (DCMR). DC public libraries and ANC offices should have copies of the DCMR.
The most recent telephone number I have for getting petition to designate a block for the
residential permit parking program is 202-541-6030. This was the right number as of
November 1996, so I don't know if it has changed. Good luck!
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February Edition of NARPAC, Inc. Web Site Looks to
New Leadership and Old Problems
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
The National Association to Restore Pride in America's Capital has revised
its web site for February (see “What's New?” at http://www.narpac.org
) with new headline summaries; new correspondence (to Councilmembers with regional
responsibilities and to neighboring Governors with burden sharing responsibilities); and a
hopefully improved site indexing system. NARPAC provides a new analysis of the high costs
of poverty in DC — leaving only 2.6 DC taxpayers to pay for each welfare recipient
— and suggests that Maryland and Virginia use part of their newfound budget surpluses
to phase in state payments in lieu of (commuter) taxes. The implied message is clear:
“send DC some monetary assistance, or take some of those requiring it!” Other
items include: indications of rising suburban fears of “sprawl” which could
provide new motivation for regionalization; the continuing costs to DC of performing its
non-municipal functions; and cautious support for the notion of privatizing certain
failing DC services.
The site celebrates the installation of the new Mayor with: quotes from
his inaugural address; a summary of citizens' letters to him via the Post —
and the Mayor's corresponding short-term, high-visibility agenda; a summary of his (good
but incomplete) transition report on regionalism; the new Council committee assignments:
and excerpts from DC subcommittee chairman Davis's OpEd welcoming Mayor Williams —
after his fashion. NARPAC's latest editorial view reacts (from the bleachers) to this
changing political play in DC: offering cheers of encouragement to the Mayor; mixed claps
and catcalls for the DC Council and its seniority system; and loud boos to the Congress
for its preoccupations elsewhere, and inertia re DC oversight. Come on in and take a look
around.
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CLASSIFIED — EVENTS AND CLASSES
Library Book Sale
Martha Saccocio, MarthaNS2@aol.com
The Tenley-Friendship Branch of the D.C. Library will hold its semi-annual
fundraising book sale on April 10th. Donations of used books of all types can be dropped
off at the library any day during operating hours. The library is located at the Southwest
corner of Wisconsin and Albemarle Streets, N.W. Parking is available behind the building.
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On Thursday, February 11, at 7:30 pm, friends, fans, and musicians will
gather to share personal memories of Duke Ellington, arguably America's greatest composer,
who was born here in Washington on April 29, 1899. In honor of his centennial, the
Historical Society of Washington and the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church are
co-sponsoring an event called “Remembering the Maestro.” The program will take
place at the church, 4606 16th Street, NW — a fitting venue since Ellington was a
deeply religious man whose compositions included many sacred pieces. In addition, his
mother, Daisy Ellington, was a member of this historic congregation and took young Duke to
Sunday services there.
Among the participants February panel: Theodore Shell, president of the
Duke Ellington Society; Maurice Lawrence, the co-chairman of the Statesman of Jazz, and a
close friend of Duke’s; June Norton, who sang with the band in the 50s; Ellington
scholar Luvenia George; Howard Theatre conductor Rick Henderson, who played alto sax with
Ellington’s band; and veteran jazz musicians Keter Betts and George Botts. The
moderator is Reuben Jackson, archivist of the Ellington collection at the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Audience members with personal
stories about Ellington will be encouraged to participate, and the taped proceedings will
be turned over to the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History for inclusion in its
Ellington collections. Admission to the church is free. For more information call
Mychalene Giampoli, Historical Society of Washington, at (202) 785-2068, or Barbara
Matusow, Humanities Committee, Duke Ellington Centennial Commission, (301) 320-2058. The
panel is a presentation of the Duke Ellington Centennial Commission, a non-profit
community based organization that is coordinating and presenting Ellington celebratory
events throughout 1999. For more information about other centennial events, call
Commission chairman Charles I. Cassell at (202) 686-2816.
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A Smashing Assault on Chauvinism
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso@capaccess.org
Footlights — DC's only drama discussion group — meets monthly to
discuss plays from the modern theater. Membership is free; we pass the hat to make
expenses. At our meeting Wednesday, February 24, we will discuss “Andorra"
(1961), by Swiss playwright Max Frisch. A “smashing assault on chauvinism,” with
“the quality of a legend” (New York Post), “Andorra”
“achieves chilling pity and terror” (New York Times) in its tale of a
young man persecuted because of a prejudiced community's mistake about his ethnic origin.
Our discussion takes place from 7:30-9:30 p.m. (dinner at 6:30) at Luna Books, 1633 P St.,
NW, 3 blocks E of Dupont Circle, and will feature Frisch scholar Frederick Lubich of Old
Dominion University. For reservations e-mail skimmel@compusnet.com
or call (202) 638-0444. For general information about Footlights see our web site at http://www.footlightsdc.org .
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Mardi Gras Dance
Mike Hill, mhill@nbm.org
Saturday, February 20, 1999, at All Souls Unitarian Church, Pierce Hall,
2835 16th St., NW (at Harvard St.). Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Swing lessons being at 8:00
p.m. No partner needed. Dancing through 12 midnight. Admission $10. Drink Specials until
9:00 p.m., munchies, dessert buffet. Non-alcoholic beverages available. All proceeds
benefit All Souls Church. Mardi Gras attire encouraged!
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Statehood Day Forum
Matthew Gilmore, mgilmore@clark.net
In 1971, the D.C. Statehood Party was brand-new and the movement to gain
D.C. statehood was in its infancy. On March 6, 1971, the first Statehood Day was held to
provide information and rally support for the D.C. statehood movement and Julius Hobson,
the Statehood Party candidate for non-voting delegate to Congress. Statehood Day was
followed by a week of private parties, rallies, a block fair, and a marathon.
March 6, 1999, marks the 28th anniversary of the first D.C. Statehood Day.
The Washingtoniana Division of the D.C. Public Library presents a public forum on the
history of the D.C. statehood movement at 11:00 a.m. on March 6, 1999 in the main lobby of
the Martin Luther King Memorial Library. Early statehood supporters and leaders will
discuss their experiences in helping to form a new political party and a vital grassroots
movement. Forum speakers will include former Council Member and
Statehood Party member Hilda Mason, Progressive Review editor Sam Smith, community
activist Lou Aronica, and other leaders and supporters of D.C. statehood. The Forum is
part of a project supported by a grant from the D.C. Humanities Council for the
Washingtoniana Division to conduct oral histories of the movement. The project's oral
historian, Carole Kolker, and scholarly consultants, Howard Gillette and Charles Harris,
will also participate in the forum as moderators and commentators. Join panelists and the
public to discuss the issue and its history. An exhibit of photographs, memorabilia,
documents, and artifacts from the D.C. statehood movement will be on display in the
Washingtoniana Division (Room 307) for viewing at the time of the Forum. In addition, a
bibliography of resources prepared by library staff on D.C. statehood will be available to
the public. For more information please call (202) 727-1213, e-mail fhaskins@capaccess.org , or check the web site at
http://www.dclibrary.org .
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DC Collaborative for Educational Reform
NECADC@aol.com
Connecting Communities to Schools: Strategies for Public Engagement, with
Martin J. Blank, director of community collaboration programs, Institute for Educational
Leadership, and Jacqueline P. Danzberger, director of governance programs, Institute for
Educational Leadership. Tuesday, February 9, 5-7:30 pm, 2225 Georgia Avenue NW. Open to
the public, free of charge. This is one in a series of forums designed to help inform the
efforts of local school reform activists in general and our plans for the DC Collaborative
for Educational Reform in particular.
The DC Collaborative for Educational Reform seeks to promote sustained,
systemic reform that results in a high quality education for all children in the District
of Columbia. Our underlying assumption is that “a disengaged and uninformed public,
with a tremendous sense of fatalism and despair, is a major obstacle to school reform
because it prevents citizens from engaging in purposeful discussions and actions around
quality education and consequently from holding the system accountable.” Therefore,
during this planning year, one of our objectives is to learn how to increase public
engagement in D.C. so that we have a public which is informed, hopeful, willing to
“go to bat” for all children, knows what outstanding schools would look like,
etc. Call 202-238-2379 to RSVP or for more information.
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Infant Massage Instruction
Jenn Weed, jennwren@erols.com
Bring your Mommies and/or Daddies to Healthy Touch of BodyWise BodyWorks
for classes on infant massage instruction. Help them learn how to relieve colic and gas,
improve sleep patterns, learn how to understand your cues and cope with crying. February
21, 28 and March 7 in Cleveland Park. Call 202-966-6113.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Macintosh 6116CD with 14" color monitor, modem, CD-ROM, keyboard,
mouse; software includes PageMaker6: $1,000. Hewlett DeskWriter 660C, Color Printer: $200.
NEC Silentwriter 2, laser printer: $100. Computer desk: $100. Printer stand: $50.
202/966-1799.
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Section 100 Row R seats 5 and 6. I am a season ticket holder, looking to
sell approximately 8-12 games. There are 8 that I will not be able to go to and would be
willing to sell others if people are interested. The seats are three rows in front of the
owner's box at center court (perhaps five feet from the midline). They are $85 face value
or $170/pair. With Rod in the fold we may actually field a competitive team.
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Exercise Equipment and Kitchen Table
Gabe Goldberg, gabe@acm.org
Nordic-Track ski machine, exercises arms and legs simultaneously. Well
constructed, folds compactly for shipping, sadly low mileage on it. Was $500 new, $225.
Kitchen table, simulated wood, sturdy metal legs. Already disassembled for easy transport.
$45.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING WANTED, OFFICE SPACE FOR
RENT
Room or Apartment Wanted
Lisa Valentino, wocwlo@aol.com
Looking for a room or apartment to rent/sublet from Feb. 18 to March 18th
in the District, NW. Single female lived in the District for 6 years. References.
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BodyWise BodyWorks has 10X20, separate office space. Rent is reasonable.
One block to Cleveland Park Metro. Ideal for bodywork, analyst, writer. Call Jenn
202-966-6113.
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CLASSIFIED — SERVICES
Floor Plan Needed
Ralston Cox, rcox@achp.gov
I want to hire someone to create an accurate, high quality floor plan of
my 750-ish sq. ft. 1-bedroom condo. Nothing fancy or too complex here, mind you, but it's
proven to be beyond my limited skills on CAD-like shareware software I own. Students
(graduate or otherwise) welcome, as are hungry newbie architects looking for a little work
on the side.
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