Promises, Promises
Dear Candidates:
Be careful about your campaign slogans and promises. Mayor Williams made a
big point about “accountability,” which he also chose as the slogan for his
campaign for the School Governance Charter Amendment, and now he's stuck with being
accountable. He's accountable for the conditions of the streets, since he's already
announced four or five major new initiatives to deal with potholes and street cuts. He's
accountable for his appointees and the work that they've done or haven't done at DPW,
DCRA, Human Services, and Parks and Recreation. By this time next year, he'll be
accountable for the conditions in our schools.
And it's all his fault. If he hadn't talked about responsibility and
accountability, and had instead campaigned with a slogan like, “I'm not Marion Barry,
and I'm not a sitting Councilmember,” he would still have been elected, and he
wouldn't have broken any campaign promises by failing to improve city government. So
choose your campaign slogan wisely. Make it something like, “At least I'm not the
other guy,” or “Look at my smile,” and cover yourself in case you're
actually elected.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
As far as City Council goes, we should all stop and think of the current
members that are seeking re-election. Three of whom need another life: Jarvis, Brazil, and
yes Evans. We need and deserve a better direction. It's not all about big business and
advances, it's about our neighborhoods, your street, my street. It's about the potholes,
the sidewalks, the disappearing trees, the lack of good solid city management in area such
as our parks and on and on and on. The focus on the three above mentioned, have been
primarily about things that will change due to change on the neighborhood level. But
they've left us out. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars on things that we could
have done without, or that would have developed after smaller, more neighborhood-related,
things were changed. They are changing the face of our city. They are wasting our money,
and none of these three is being responsible. We must now be and vote for the alternative
on the ballot.
###############
Martin Thomas for U.S. Representative
Mike Livingston, mlivingston@greens.org
The Statehood Green Party is appropriately proud of its Council candidates
(housing activist Arturo Griffiths at large, union litigator Renée Bowser in Ward 4 and
schoolteacher Tom Briggs in Ward 2), but I'd like to call the themail community's
attention to a less conspicuous race that deserves to be taken much more seriously than it
is: the office of U.S. Representative, nicknamed “shadow” or
"statehood" Representative. Our duly elected Senators and Representative, until
they are recognized as such by Congress, are elected lobbyists for our federal interests.
Since that's a pretty loose job description, the office is exactly what we make of it
— so it's important to elect committed and tenacious activists to these posts. When I
ran for shadow Rep two years ago, the question I heard most often (besides “what the
... is that?”) was “Why do we have that in addition to Eleanor?” No matter
what you think of Del. Norton, you gotta admit that she is in a very weak position to
advance the interests of our colony: as a nonvoting observer member of the House, she has
no way to amass political capital and cannot bring home any bacon (or pork) without
kissing up to other people's Representatives. Our elected congressional delegation, in
contrast, has the political freedom and mandate to be a more uncompromising voice in our
defense against the likes of Bob Barr and Ernest Istook. Ideally, the shadow Rep is the
"bad cop" to the D.C. Delegate's “good cop.” Martin Thomas, who hasn't
even been elected yet, was one of the "Democracy 8" arrested at the Capitol last
month for yelling “Free D.C.” during a rules vote on the annual evisceration of
the D.C. budget. He has, for his age, a long resume as a peace activist (his day job this
summer is coordinating the Summer of Nonviolence activities for the Fellowship of
Reconciliation) and he has written a book about energy efficiency in motor vehicles. He
coaches Little League. During the IMF protests, he performed a service of mutual benefit
to the District and the protesters: he served as housing coordinator, placing thousands of
activists in volunteers' homes so they didn't become vagrants at night. And Martin is
articulate, persuasive, fearless and charming — he can give a challenging,
rabble-rousing speech in such a friendly and disarming manner that you don't even realize
there are people who object to the things he's advocating: budget autonomy and full
representation for the District, social and economic justice, and citizen participation.
He's exactly the sort of person who should represent us — with a vote — in the
House.
###############
Five Council Candidates Excel in GLAA Ratings
Bob Summersgill, summersgill@yahoo.com
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, DC announced its
ratings for candidates in the Primary election for DC Council on September 12, 2000. Five
candidates earned high ratings, well above the rest. Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) received an
almost perfect score of 9.5 out of a maximum 10. Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) and Charlene
Drew Jarvis (D-Ward 4) each earned an 8. Challengers John Fanning (D) running in Ward 2
and Arturo Griffiths (Statehood Green) running At-large were the only candidates to agree
with all 18 questions. Fanning received a 6.5 rating and Griffiths received a 6.
“Jack Evans, Carol Schwartz and Charlene Drew Jarvis are three of our best friends on
the DC Council, and their ratings and questionnaires reflect their commitments to our
community and issues,” said GLAA President Bob Summersgill. “It is also
important to note that three Democrats, a Republicans, and a Statehood Green candidate
were all rated very highly,” said Summersgill, “Incumbents and challengers alike
rated very well.”
[The complete GLAA press release, as well as other endorsements and
ratings, will be available on the DCWatch site as they come in. — Gary Imhoff]
###############
How Do You Get Basic Services?
John Whiteside, Logan Circle, whitesidejohn@earthlink.net
The scene on my block, Friday night at 7: trash. DPW skipped our block on
both trash pickup days this week. No surprise; since I moved here two months ago, we've
had only one week in which trash was actually picked up on both scheduled days. One time
is the norm, not at all is not unusual. Not surprisingly, the block looks awful —
ripped trash bags, junk blowing around, and I hate to think about how appealing it
probably is for rats.
I've been on the phone to the city call center; that worked a few weeks
ago, but not this time. I've talked to a friendly and helpful fellow at DPW who returned
my calls, but no trash has actually been carted away. Tonight, when I got home from work
and found nothing had been done, I called the city call center again, and left a message
at Jack Evans' office. So, fellow readers, can anyone share some strategies for getting
the city to take care of these things? Someone else I should be calling? Or is it time to
take all the trash down to DPW and throw it in front of their offices?
###############
Street Signs — Missing, Stupid, and Hidden
Gabriel Goldberg, gabe@acm.org
What's led to the large number of street/road signs missing? Many major
intersections, sometimes many adjacent intersections, lack indications of street names.
Unless you're a native or frequent visitor to the locale, this makes navigation by car or
on foot a challenge. I notice this a lot in DC but it also occurs in VA/MD. If it's caused
by replacing street lighting or traffic signals on which signs were previously placed,
shouldn't a project checklist call for restoring signage to at least its former condition,
if not making it better? And what accounts for seemingly idiotic signage, where one sign
hides another or a sign can't be seen until you've already made a decision that would have
been helped by the sign's information? Finally, aren't jurisdictions supposed to trim
vegetation before it makes signage unreadable? With road rage increasingly making driving
an adventure, it would be nice if local governments strove to keep signs in place,
adequate in number, logical in placement, and unhidden by Logan's Run-like overgrowth.
(For non sci-fi fans, Logan's Run is a great movie, with a scene showing people emerging
from underground life to find a thoroughly overgrown Washington, DC.) Has anyone
successfully complained about missing, stupid, or hidden signage?
###############
Cutbacks in the D.C. Government
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
The likely result of cuts in D.C. Government. employment are likely to be
far less satisfying to mayor Williams, with far less cost savings, and reduced services to
the residents of D.C. Don't get me wrong. I think that there are many very good candidates
to be left out of the D.C. government in a very bloated and ineffectual bureaucracy. The
problem with cutbacks is implementing them in a union environment in such a way as to
eliminate those who cannot cut the mustard.
In a union dominated environment, layoffs occur only at the bottom layer
of the organization. Those with the lowest salaries and least seniority are the ones who
will be let go. Anyone with seniority has the right to bump someone lower in the
organization with less seniority. Thus the average salaries paid to D.C. government
employees rise, and those left in any organization are forced to do work that was
previously done by underlings — not a pleasant working environment, and one that
results in even lower productivity. The real way to cut an organization is to pare off the
same percentage of non-performers at every level in the organization. In this manner you
retain the morale of those who are left in the organization and the same average salary
structure, with the work performed at the level intended.
###############
Inquiry
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
Does anyone know the history of D.C.'s World War I Memorial on the mall
— how it came about, why D.C. built a WW I Memorial on the mall and the federal
government did not? Jan Scruggs wrote (Washington Post Outlook, Aug. 13, 2000):
“It was dedicated in 1931 by President Hoover and contains the names of District
residents who died in 'The Great War.'” He said one member of Congress is considering
legislation to make it the national WW I Memorial.
###############
Taxation Without Representation Plate
Shaun Snyder, NW Washington, shaunsnyder@erols.com
DC Vote has a bumper sticker available that looks like small a DC license
plate with the words “Taxation Without Representation” on the plate. However, I
noticed that if you cut up the bumper sticker, the words fit nicely over “Celebrate
& Discover” on the current plates. In case you don't want to wait for the DMV to
print up the real plates, take a look.
###############
Litigation Against Property Owners
Stacey Whitmire, swhitmire@att.com
Unfortunately I have nothing to add regarding litigation against
slumlords. However, I felt a bond with Mr. Pansegrouw and his housing issues. I lived in a
building just across from the zoo in Adams Morgan that was just barely kept up by our
slumlord. This building was built in the 20s and, apparently, there has been no
substantial maintenance against the aggressive deterioration of the building. We lived in
a unit for one and a half years and withstood broken windows that were broken before we
moved in, chicken wire security on our first floor windows, walls that didn't meet up with
the baseboards, ceilings that fell down, horrible power (using the iron would case the
lights to flicker), rats, roaches so big they had necks, leaks, and no air conditioning
(goes without saying). Occasionally we would catch our slumlord touching up the black line
of paint that lined all the walls in the building. And all this “luxury” came at
a fairly high rent. He was unresponsive to our complaints.
We moved out and later learned that a non-profit agency that places
homeless people in housing placed some of their clients in the slumlords buildings, and
these people complained about the condition on the building. Even people who have suffered
homelessness thought the conditions were unlivable! What is especially egregious is that
housing like this is often filled with low-income families that feel like they have no
alternative. I was lucky. I took a better paying job and could afford to move out.
Incidentally, I also know a few people who rented a house at 10th and O, NW, from a man
who, as they later learned, did not own the property (which explained why he always wanted
his rent in “cash money.”) Apparently he took over this abandoned house.
Whenever the water, electricity, or gas was turned off, he would take one of the residents
to the utility and get his friends at the utility company to turn it back on. Frightening.
###############
In response to David Pansegrouw's question about how to deal with nuisance
properties, I wanted to point out that DC has a program called Operation Crackdown, which
gives neighborhood associations the legal right to sue land owners of nuisance properties
for damages to the community. It also provides pro bono legal service to assist the
community association through the legal process. It has worked in my neighborhood and
could be a useful tool in other areas. To my knowledge, no land owner has actually gone to
court through this process. They all decide to settle outside of court! For more
information, you should call your City Councilmember and ask if they can provide details
on Operation Crackdown.
###############
In response to the query about whether sidewalks are required in the
District, here is the relevant provision of the DC Code. The bottom line: the Mayor has
the authority to decide if the public safety, health or comfort requires a sidewalk be
built, on his own or in response to a request. The abutting property owner pays half the
cost and the District the other half. As an aside, I am often concerned about the
speculation as to what the law is in messages in the mail — particularly the
speculative responses — when it would be quite simple to look up the answer in the DC
Code instead (it is on line free by link from the DC Council site, at least through March
1999 enactments.)
§7-607. Assessments for sidewalks and curbing. When new sidewalks or
curbing are required to be laid on streets being improved, one-half the total cost shall
be assessed against abutting property, in like manner and under the law governing in the
case of assessment and permit work: Provided, that abutting property shall not be liable
to such assessment when sidewalk and curbing have been laid by the District authorities in
front of the same under the assessment and permit system within 2 years prior to such
assessment. (Aug. 7, 1894, 28 Stat. 250, ch. 232; 1973 Ed., § 7-606.)
§7-608. Mayor to submit schedules of streets to be improved. The Mayor of
the District of Columbia, in submitting the schedules of streets and avenues to be
improved, shall each year arrange said streets and avenues in the order of their
importance, as determined by him after personal examination of said streets and avenues.
(Mar. 3, 1903, 32 Stat. 962, ch. 992; 1973 Ed., § 7-607.)
§7-609. Improvement and repairs of alleys and sidewalks; construction of
sewers and sidewalks. (a) The Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and
empowered, whenever in his judgment the public health, safety, or comfort require it, or
whenever application shall be made therefor, accompanied by a deposit equal to one-half
the estimated cost of the work, to improve and repair alleys and sidewalks, and to
construct sewers and sidewalks in the District of Columbia of such form and materials as
he may determine, and to pay the total cost of such work from appropriations for
assessment and permit work. (b) Said Mayor shall give notice by advertisement, twice a
week for 2 weeks in some newspaper published in the City of Washington, of any assessment
work proposed to be done by him under this section, designating the location and the kind
of work to be done, specifying the kind of materials to be used, the estimated cost of the
improvement, and fixing a time and place when and where property owners to be assessed can
appear and present objections thereto, and for hearing thereof. One-half of the total cost
of the assessment work herein provided for, including the expenses of the assessment,
shall be charged against and become a lien upon abutting property, and an assessment
therefor shall be levied pro rata according to the linear frontage of said property:
Provided, that no such assessment shall be levied against abutting property for the cost
of repairing alleys or sidewalks when the damage requiring such repair is caused by the
growth of roots of trees on public space or the cause of such damage is otherwise beyond
the control of the owner of such property. One-half of the cost of the assessment work
done under the provisions of this section shall be paid to the Director of the Department
of Finance and Revenue of the District of Columbia, as follows: One-third of the amount
within 60 days after service of notice of such assessment, without interest; one-third
within 1 year, and the remainder within 2 years from the date of such service of notice,
and interest shall be charged at the rate of 6 per centum per annum from the date of
service of such notice on all amounts which shall remain unpaid at the expiration of 60
days after service of notice of such assessment, which in all cases shall be served upon
each lot owner, if he or she be a resident of the District, and his or her residence
known, and if he or she be a nonresident of the District, or his or her residence unknown,
such notice shall be served on his or her tenant or agent, as the case may be, and if
there be no tenant or agent known to the Mayor, then he shall give notice of such
assessment by advertisement twice a week for 2 weeks in some newspaper published in said
District. The service of such notice, where the owner or his tenant or agent resides in
the District of Columbia, shall be either personal or by leaving the same with some person
of suitable age at the residence or place of business of such owner, agent, or tenant; and
return of such service, stating the manner thereof, shall be made in writing and filed in
the office of said Mayor: Provided, that the cost of publication of the notice herein
provided for, and the service of such notices shall be paid out of the appropriations for
assessment and permit work. Any property upon which such assessment and accrued interest
thereon, or any part thereof, shall remain unpaid at the expiration of 2 years from the
date of service of notice of such assessment shall be subject to sale therefor under the
same conditions and penalties which are imposed by existing laws for the nonpayment of
general taxes; and if any property assessed as herein provided for shall become liable to
sale for any other assessment or tax whatever, then the assessments levied under this
section shall become immediately due and payable, and the property against which they are
levied may be sold therefor, together with the accrued interest thereon, and the cost of
advertising, to the date of such sale. Property owners who request improvements under the
permit system shall deposit in advance with the Director of the Department of Finance and
Revenue of the District of Columbia an amount equal to one-half the estimated cost of such
improvements, and in such cases it shall not be necessary to give the notice hereinbefore
provided for. All moneys received by the Director of the Department of Finance and Revenue
of the District of Columbia for work done upon the request of property owners, as herein
provided for, shall be deposited by him in the United States Treasury to the credit of the
Permit Fund. Upon the completion of work done as aforesaid at the request of property
owners, the Mayor shall repay to the then current appropriation for assessment and permit
work, out of the Permit Fund, a sum equivalent to one-half of the cost of the work, and
shall return to the depositors, from the same fund, as application may be made therefor,
any surplus that may remain over and above one-half of the cost of the work. All sums
received by the Director under the provisions of this section on account of assessment
work, and in payment of assessments heretofore made prior to August 7, 1894, for
compulsory permit work, shall be credited to the appropriation for assessment and permit
work for the fiscal years in which they are collected: Provided further, that the costs of
service connections with water mains and sewers shall be assessed against the lots for
which said connections are made, and shall be collected in the same manner and upon the
same conditions as to notice as herein provided for assessment work. (Aug. 7, 1894, 28
Stat. 247, ch. 232; Feb. 20, 1931, 46 Stat. 1198, ch. 246, § 9; Sept. 25, 1962, 76 Stat.
598, Pub. L. 87-700, § 1; 1973 Ed., § 7-608.)
[The Internet address of the DC Code is http://www.lexislawpublishing.com/sdCGI-BIN/om_isapi.dll?clientID=2563@infobase=dccode.NFO&softpage=doc_frame_pg,
or you can always get the address from the DCWatch links page, http://www.dcwatch.com/links.htm. — Gary
Imhoff]
###############
My version of the legend of Mr. Clean differs from that of Emily
Piccirollo. Mr. Clean, introduced in the early 1950s, is indeed a sanitized male image.
However, the image is that of our then current president, Dwight Eisenhower who, at the
time, had a spotless reputation and was regarded as the savior of our world as we knew it.
I have a 1954 Mr. Clean film commercial in my collection, and that Mr. Clean looks a lot
more like Ike than the current version.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Preservation League Island Jim's Happy Hour
mjfanc6b03@aol.com
Most endangered happy hour, Thursday, August 24, 6:30 p.m., at Island
Jim's, 901 Monroe St., NE. To introduce preservation-minded people to the DC Preservation
League's Most Endangered Places (and one another), the League will (re)visit the sandy
shores of Island Jim's, across the street from the historic Brook's Mansion in Brookland,
for its August Happy Hour. Brook's Mansion has been removed from the most endangered list
because a tenant committed to its preservation has signed on, but the fight to save the
1905 McMillan Reservoir Sand Filtration Site has just begun. Newly named to the League's
most endangered list, the McMillan Reservoir Site is bounded by Michigan Avenue, North
Capitol, Channing and First Streets NW. Since its purchase by the District government in
1987, the site has deteriorated severely due to lack of maintenance. It is now threatened
by pressure for commercial and residential development. McMillan Reservoir was designated
a DC Historic Landmark in 1991. DCPL supports the McMillan Park Committee and other
community organizations that promote park and recreational use of the site.
The League will participate in the upcoming Community Design Workshops
being sponsored by DC Office of Planning. For more information on the most endangered list
check out http://www.dcpreservation.org.
Getting to Island Jim's: by Metro, take the red line to Brookland/Catholic University
stop, exit right from the station, cross parking lot; Island Jim's is on the far left
corner (next door to Colonel Brooks Tavern). By car, take North Capitol to Michigan Avenue
(east), turn right on Monroe, Island Jim's is on the right side of Monroe across from the
Metro station (next door to Colonel Brooks Tavern).
###############
Please join Liz Starrels and her friends Kathy and Nadine at Clydes in
Tysons Corner on August 16th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm for beer, wine, and hors d'oeuvres —
all for only $10.00! There are also raffle items including SPA packages, box seats at MCI,
etc. For information, call Liz at 338-1547 or E-mail DCNURSE@HOTMAIL.COM.
All proceeds benefit the Leukemia Society of America!
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To subscribe, to change E-mail addresses, or to switch between HTML
and plain text versions of themail, use the subscription form at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/subscribe.htm.
To unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to themail@dcwatch.com
with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. Archives of past messages are available
at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should also be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com, and should
be about life, government, or politics in the District of Columbia in one way or another.
All postings must be signed in order to be printed, and messages should be reasonably
short — one or two brief paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as
possible can be put into each mailing.
