Parks and Rec

Dear Recreationists:

The big news over the past few days has been the performance of the Department of Parks and Recreation and its director, Robert Newman. For months, in themail at at neighborhood meetings, there have been many complaints about the Department's poor or nonexistent maintenance of local patches of grass and concrete, and these complaints finally reached critical mass. The Department has told neighborhood groups that if they want their parks maintained, if they want playground equipment or the grass cut, they will have to pay for it themselves. This raises the question of what the Department does with the money in its budget, the taxes we already pay to provide these things. The Administration's excuse is that all these problems are left over from the past administration, and they just haven't had enough time to correct them. Does anyone buy that? How does past mismanagement excuse a parks department that's surprised when summer arrives, and therefore isn't prepared to cut the grass or maintain the ball fields?

Robert Newman's lies on his resume raise two other problems. Mayor Williams's reaction to the hyperbole and inflation on Newman's list of prior jobs is that the solution is simply to have the City's Director of Personnel work with Newman to massage and rewrite his resume. But the resume counted when Newman was hired and when he was confirmed by the City Council. Mayor Williams either doesn't understand, or pretends not to understand, that the problem is that Newman applied for and got the job under false pretenses. Does anybody in the Administration check these things? How and by what process does the Administration hire its top managers and department heads? The Williams Administration's long string of personnel embarrassments could have been avoided if it had been doing a rudimentary screening of applicants. Then Mayor Williams wouldn't have to make embarrassing apologies for his appointees, such as claiming that Newman's lies aren't important, or that Ronnie Few's ongoing investigation by three grand juries is a trivial matter of no concern.

All right, it's time to place your bets. On what date will Robert Newman resign, be fired, or be reassigned? (For this purpose, we'll accept the date of the announcement, not the actual date that he departs his job.) How much will he get as a severance bonus? (Based on past experience, we'll start at a minimum of three month's salary, although if you're very naive you can even bet on zero.) More importantly, what about your local parks? Tell us your neighborhood horror stories or, better still, success stories.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Real Neighborhood News
Jon Desenberg, JonDes@hotmail.com

Couldn't agree with our fearless publisher more, DCWatch is full of endless constitutional, religious, and policy arguments, but where's the real neighborhood news? Personally, I like the block by block stuff. The rest? Bo-ring and way too long. On my own block in Adams-Morgan, we've recently had a string of big victories. In just two months we've: prevented a poorly run halfway house for convicts from locating across the street from Adams Elementary School, stopped the Washington Hilton from a huge and illegal expansion, gotten a moratorium on liquor licenses in the neighborhood, and worked with the owner of the new Epiphany restaurant to ensure that it becomes a good neighbor, not a new source for rats and noise.

As a neighbor of mine noted, in the last year there's been an unprecedented increase in local civic action and interest; whether it's due to the increased property values and prices we all are paying for our homes or some other reason is unknown, but it's great news.

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Welcome, Home Depot
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

Over 200 people came out to a meet and greet with the developers and the new tenant, Home Depot at the old Hechingers at Wisconsin Avenue and Albermarle in NW D.C. The folks who came out to the meeting are neighbors for the most part and unanimously expressed a welcome to the Home Depot visitors. Amidst the kind words of welcome were many concerns of those who live in the neighborhood about potential traffic/parking problems and the safety of the children who attend the schools in the immediate neighborhood.

There was little in the way of concrete plans for just how Home Depot will adapt the store to a modern day efficient and effective retailing hardware operation. It is clear, though, that Home Depot will eliminate the lower floor parking and convert that back (as it was in the old Sears store) to a retail space, leaving the parking to a single location atop the store (perhaps adding another level of parking, although that was not mentioned at the meeting). In all there was little to discourage the new tenant from moving forward with their plans. Home Depot will have to be creative in determining just what is the best product mix to produce a profitable operation in a store that will be a good deal smaller than those they operate in suburban areas.

A footnote: Ms. Eichenberger, who conducted an e-Mail survey at her own expense (hardwarestore@mindspring.com) received 365 responses. 97 percent of the respondees favored a hardware retailer and only 5 percent indicated that retaining the old building in its current (historical) external configuration was very important.

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Smart Card Problems
Chris A. Pabon, CPabon@FoE.Org

Like many Metro users, I was happy to start using the much-heralded Smart-Trip card, until I found out what happens when it breaks down. This morning, the gates at Tenleytown would not accept my smart card. I complained to the station manager, who gave me a number to call, and said she could do nothing else after that. I asked how I would get into the Metro system, and she told me: “Just buy a fare card.” I then went to Metro Center, thinking that the place where I purchased my Smart Card could help. They also told me to “call the number,” and that there was nothing else they could tell me to do since: “This office only sells the card.” I tried calling from Metro Center, but over and over could only get a busy signal.

I arrived at the office, and finally managed to get a call through. I was informed that I had to ask the station manager for a special form to fill out. I told the person on the phone that I had never been told of any form, despite talking to a station manager and their sales office. Nevertheless, he told me “they know,” and I had to return to the system to get this form. I asked when I could expect to get my card back, and his reply was that he could not tell me, but it should be in a few weeks.

One thing has become clear to me: maybe the paper fare cards are not so bad after all. At least someone could tell me what to do when they did not work. The new card may be smart, but the people behind it are not. Make sure to ask for this form from the station manager if your smart card breaks down.

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Room for More Benchmark Improvements in the D.C. Government
John Fanning, Johnfdc@cs.com

We have been reading about discussions lately regarding our city services and some of the improvements that have been occurring in DC government agencies. I agree that Customer Service should be one of management's top priorities. Unfortunately, there still are areas in our government agencies that have a direct impact on the quality of life in our neighborhoods and for the residents of our city that need improvement. First, the call center at 727-1000. I still strongly feel that the operators should have more excessive training in government agencies that directly effect service delivery, and not just the Department of Public Works. Have you ever tried to ask one of the operators at the call center a question regarding Business or Occupational Licenses at DCRA or information regarding the Department of Public Health Services, only to be transferred to a telephone that just keeps ringing? Do you know what it's like to get a nuisance property cleaned up, or to even to do the follow up and retrieve the status of the violation or citation process? Please. . . . Housing inspections at DCRA have been a major public health crisis for years. My neighbors and I have been trying for over a month to get a couple of alleys cleaned up because of illegal dumping. Nothing has happened after several calls, and now trash and sofas keep accumulating. We have decided to have a neighborhood clean up. Has anyone visited the 1300 and 1400 block of W Streets lately? If you plan on visiting, please bring a broom and shovel and a couple dozen trash bags. These blocks have a street cleaning schedule; however, you would never know it. I am aware that these are problem blocks, but please, we have to do better to deliver city services. Then we have Parking Adjudication and Services. There must be a better way!

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Is Our Speech Really Free?
Larry Seftor, Larry_Seftor@compuserve.com

This weekend I saw the movie Butterfly, which shows the brief window of freedom in Spain between the fall of the Monarchy and the rise of fascism in the late 1930's. In the final scene the characters find they must say the “right thing” or pay terrible consequences. If it sounds like a nightmare that is restricted to the past, pause and think for a moment about the concept of “political correctness” in our own time. While no one may be carted off in the back of a truck, there are terrible prices to be paid for saying the wrong thing or having the wrong opinion. Each of us should consider whether we have censored our own speech due to the threat of an impending firestorm of political correctness. I know I have, and I see it all around me. It is not supposed to be what we are all about.

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What Has Become of Customer Service?
Matthew Kessler, matthew@stand.org

I posted the ordeal that I had, and currently am still in with StarPower about a month and a half ago. Since then, things have gotten increasingly worse. I have now moved my business elsewhere. During my two month fiasco with StarPower, only one of my many, many, many calls was returned. When the situation with my cable was supposedly resolved I was told by a Ms. Maricela Aragon (assistant to the Director of Customer Service, Ms. Susan Rittenhouse, 703-321-8000, ext. 2306) that I was to call her if I had any further problems. Needless to say I ran into problems shortly after we talked. I left her countless messages and received no response in return. Finally I called Ms. Rittenhouse and she returned my call. On the telephone side of things I worked with a gentleman at the downtown DC office (Derrick, 250-7803). After our initial conversation he never returned any of my calls, even when I called him because they randomly shut off my phone and then when they turned it back on they turned my long distance off. Since posting back in April I have heard from many of you telling me that you have been in similar situations with StarPower. I do not understand how a company like that with the worst customer service practices I have ever encountered can stay in business. Please learn from my frustration and do not make the same mistake. Those of who subscribe to StarPower services I wish you the best of luck. You will need it.

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Charter Schools
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

Last Sunday's edition of the Washington Post Magazine had a very interesting article that promotes a real revolution in the educational system. The proposal is to evolve all public schools into Charter Schools. This is an even bolder step than what I have proposed — that the DCPS completely decentralize and allow each school to form a team comprised of the principal, parents, and teachers. Each school team would set the goals for their school and would determine just how those goals would be met. The beauty of the proposal to make all schools Charter Schools is that it frees the school system from the stranglehold of the Teachers' Unions, the oppressive DCPS bureaucracy, and the burden of tenure.

In an all-charter school environment, the parents of school age children would finally have the power to enroll their children in schools that meet their own requirements and there would be an element of competition to excel between the schools. Since the best schools would attract the most students, those schools would be the best funded. Principals, unburdened, could staff the school with qualified and committed teachers and get rid of those who do not measure up. In today's environment, short of an assassination in the parking lot, it is likely that you cannot get rid of bad teachers unless they are caught in a compromising situation with a student. Even then it is probable that they cannot be dismissed unless they have put in for overtime while committing this errant behavior.

To date the District has established and empowered about thirty charter schools. If the trend to start up the maximum number of charter schools in D.C. each year continues, then we eventually will have a decent number of schools which can provide a viable education to those students whose parents are willing to enroll them in these charter schools. But before we rush ahead and continue to create these charter schools there is an interesting question that needs to be answered, “Just how are the currently chartered schools doing?” Does anybody know?

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Contraceptive Fun
John Whiteside, whitesidejohn@earthlink.net

Tom Matthes complains that DC insurance law would prevent Catholics from free exercise of their religion. I don't get it. Where in the law does it require that Catholics use contraceptives? Or prevent the church from publicly opposing their use? There isn't a single restriction on anything the church does in the law — except requiring it, when it offers health insurance to employees, to meet the community's minimum standards for such insurance. Just as the church is required to follow labor laws, provide safe working conditions (as defined by law), and so on. Such a burden!

If we get to opt out of everything we don't like, I want my tax refund now to make up for offensive things like the tax-free status of churches (I have nothing against churches, but why should the rest of us foot the bill?) and the legal institution of marriage (designed to create special rights for one segment of the population and exclude another). Not to mention a rebate on my health insurance because I think that using precious health care dollars for voluntary fertility treatments that aren't a medical necessity is obscene when there are so many children in need out there.

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My Final Posting on the Contraception Bill
Tom Matthes, tmatthes@vais.net

Karl Eiholzer takes exception to my question to DC statehood advocates, in the wake of the Catholic/contraception debate: “Don't you think you ought to put your own Council in order before you ask the rest of the country to take your dreams of self government seriously?” He says, “I am certainly entitled to representation with my taxation, no matter how many boneheaded votes the Council takes.” It's a reasonable contention, and it deserves my final posting on this particular debate. Never, in my postings to themail, have I opposed his principle and Mr. Eiholzer and I agree that there are ways to achieve DC voting rights without statehood. I confess, however, that the City Council's arrogant disregard for the First Amendment gives me pause. Our freedoms stem from our constitutional democracy. The City Council has violated the most cherished part of the Bill of Rights. Without the most scrupulous respect for those rights, our Constitution is a dead letter and all legislative and judicial disputes become exercises in raw power and the tyranny of majorities. In that case, Mr. Eiholzer, why should the residents of the 50 states grant votes in Congress to a polity so contemptuous of individual rights? If every vote is a power play, why give any of that power to enemies of the Constitution? Wouldn't it make more sense for DC voting rights advocates to start demonstrating to the rest of the country that they support the Constitution? Over the past year, almost all of my submissions to this newsletter have sought to point out that advocates of DC home rule and voting rights have wandered off course. With the contraception bill, I'd say they have blundered off the roads and into a bog, further away from their destination than ever before.

Mr. Eiholzer also argues that the contraception bill dispute should be settled in the courts. That's not what the First Amendment requires. It doesn't say the courts shall enforce no law passed by Congress that violates the “free exercise of religion.” It says “Congress shall make no law” which does so. Congress is as responsible for making sure our First Amendment rights are upheld as is the Supreme Court.

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The Only Times They Appeared in the Paper
Lee Perkins, lperkins@cpcug.org

The Victorian adage referred to women only.

[Actually, it referred to ladies; that was one way to distinguish them from women. But the prescription that privacy was preferable to publicity applied to both sexes. — Gary Imhoff]

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Poetry Reading, July 28
Buck Downs, bdowns@columbiabooks.com

The second summer dcpoetry event that is sure to please! Fun for the whole family! Friday, July 28 at Signal 66 gallery, 926 N Street, NW, rear. Gallery opens at 6 p.m., performance around 10 p.m. Also 2nd Annual Juried Art Show.

From Lubbock, Texas, to Orono, Maine, and several places in between, Bill Howe is currently criss-crossing the country in his 1964 fire-engine red Ford Falcon station wagon. And oh, what glorious fortune and fate have timed his presence in Our Nation's Capital with the Signal 66 gallery's 2nd Annual Juried Art Show! Have you ever concluded your delivery of a paper at an academic conference by stripping to your boxers and making yourself a sandwich? Or tried to read a box of Alpha-Bits cereal that you've just dumped onto the floor, only to then give new meaning to the phrase “choking on your words?” I bet Damian Hirst and Paul McCarthy haven't. But Bill Howe has! He's also the publisher of Tailspin Press and co-editor of Essex magazine, which publish limited-edition books, journals, and book objects. No one is ever sure what a Bill Howe show will entail until it happens, but it will likely remind us that it's a big bad ol' fluxus world out there. http://www.geocities.com/~learnyeats/buff/boflobio.htm#100900 and http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~foust/A1.html.

Directions (a little tricky, so pay attention): Signal 66 is closest to the Mt. Vernon Square Metro, but you can also walk up 9th Street from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro. Parking available. Check out the cool and ACCURATE map at http://signal66.com/directions.html.

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World War II Memorial
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com

The DC Historic Preservation Review Board will hold a hearing on the World War II Memorial on Thursday, July 27 at 10 a.m. at 1 Judiciary Square in the Zoning Commission's second floor hearing room. This is part of the section 106 (of the National Historic Preservation Act) process which requires Federal agencies to carefully consider the effect on historic properties of any undertaking they authorize. It is very similar to the NEPA process and coordinates with it. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation oversees the section 106 process and its regulations are at 36 CFR part 800 and can be found on their web site (http://www.achp.gov), which also has a good explanation of the process. The proposed World War II memorial is being placed on the Rainbow Pool at the end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. It would destroy the Rainbow Pool for a monument of no content, but lots of granite and massive stone pillars, to be lit up like Disneyland, which would block views of the Lincoln Memorial and block any access from the west from the Reflecting Pool. In addition, new visitor facilities, driveways, busbays, etc. will be cut into the Mall just below the DC WWI Memorial. There are a lot of issues, so it should be an interesting hearing. For more information on the issues see http://www.savethemall.org.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Recliner
Geneva Overholser, Genevaoh@aol.com

Large, leather reclining chair (taupe) in excellent condition, $150. E-mail genevaoh@aol.com.

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Leather Love Seat
Stacey Patmore, DaisyPatmore@earthlink.net

Brand-new leather love seat, medium brown, treated, $400 firm. I purchased it as part of a three piece set but it turns out my condo is not big enough for all three pieces. E-mail DaisyPatmore@earthlink.net or call 265-7474.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Director for Parents United
Fran Dixon, fgdixon@aol.com

Parents United for DC Public Schools is searching for a new director — a savvy, committed, articulate DC public school parent advocate, an experienced grassroots organizer, and effective nonprofit administrator. Fax resume to Search Committee, 319-1010, or E-mail to pudcps@hotmail.com by July 30.

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Web Developers
Mark Tokay, nayland@interpath.com

Do you know anyone inside the Beltway who might be interested in this position? Streaming media web skills would be a plus! The position: HTML developers, Alexandria, VA. The company, a well funded seed stage pre-IPO start-up racing for first-mover status in b2b instant messaging space. This is NOT a me-too tired doomed or dumb idea dotcom company. The work: Web Wizard. 2+ years experience hands-on coding tightly designed HTML. Must be intimately familiar with individual browser quirks, light JavaScript helpful. Unix environment. Writing custom components for a dynamic database-driven, constantly improving web applications. Also need two 32-bit Windows developers with C++ experience.

Must be passionate, accountable, brilliant, adaptable, wildly ambitious, risk-tolerant, relentless, Internet-savvy, high-bandwidth, high-clockspeed. Internet veterans from all levels are a big plus. Compress many years of performance into 12 months. Glory in a year! Our client has developed proprietary technology that enables presence detection across all IM software (AOL, Yahoo!, ICQ and MSN). With presence detection, users can see who else is presently logged on to a site or chat environment via instant messaging. More importantly, the presence detection technology interoperates with all major IM services — a technological and e-business advantage currently not available anywhere on the Web. Call Mark Tokay, 828-686-7777.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Housesitting/Sublet
Thomas C Hall, thall@amcity.com

Fall housesitting/sublet opportunity available August-Dececember for visiting professional. Two bedroom bungalow in Takoma Park near hospital. Ride-On bus direct to Takoma Metro (Red Line). Quality furnished home $1,000/mo., negotiable for right person/level of services. E-mail thall@bizjournals.com

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Moving to Capitol Hill
Meredith Paige Davis, mpd6@columbia.edu

After listing my desire for a totally unsuburban domicile in DC in themail, I have ended up through a family connection with a great apartment/house on Capitol Hill. For a New Yorker, an affordable house on a nice block with real space is totally surreal. Since themail readers seem to know all about DC and actually like it, I thought I'd ask: what are the best things about Capitol Hill — where to eat, where to etc.? And I need a gym — any recommendations?

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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com

From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
GRAY MATTERS: Last Thursday night, a 47-seat bus pulled alongside the senior citizens' building at Greenleaf Gardens on Delaware Avenue SW. A throng of seniors filled the bus and left a gaggle of crestfallen stragglers behind. The bus dropped off its passengers at the Washington Plaza Hotel for a free chicken dinner, complete with complimentary beverages and other freebies. They sat around for a while, gnoshing and chatting and carrying on. Then they all got up and cast a ballot for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans.
The occasion was the quadrennial endorsement contest of the Ward 2 Democrats organization, an appendage of the city's Democratic State Committee and a proving ground for hopefuls in this fall's elections. As the two-term incumbent, Evans wanted to show his opponents — local businessman Pete Ross, activist John Fanning, and perennial candidate Ray Avrutis — just where the ward's rank-and-file voters stood on his tenure at One Judiciary Square.
Read the entire Loose Lips column here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html

From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early warnings for upcoming events:
SATURDAY: Cravin' Dogs, Last Train Home, Cecilia, 8:30 p.m. at the State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church. $10.
TUESDAY: Mark Caldwell discusses his book A Short History of Rudeness: Manners, Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America at noon at the National Archives, in Room 105, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html

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