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May 16, 2001

Dump Them on the Streets of Our City

Dear Dumped Upon:

The wise and far-sighted and, most of all, powerful leaders of this city looked at the Brentwood Impound Lot, where wrecked and abandoned and illegally parked cars were stored, and saw that the real estate on which it sat was valuable. “An impound lot costs us money, and the land is valuable,” they said. “We should close this lot.” So they devised a plan for the city to close the lot, and they did so, and they were happy over what they had done. However, they were not wise and far-sighted enough to envision any workable plan for what to do with the wrecked and abandoned and illegally parked cars once the impound lot was closed. So they simply said, “Let us dump them on the streets of our city, and hope that no one notices.”

These same wise and far-sighted and, very much above all, powerful leaders of this city looked at DC General Hospital, where poor and uninsured and severely traumatized patients were hospitalized, and they saw that the real estate on which it sat was valuable. “A public hospital costs us money, and the land is valuable,” they said. “We should close this hospital.” So they devised a plan for the city to close the hospital, and they did so, and they were happy over what they had done. However, they were not wise and far-sighted enough to envision any workable plan for what to do with the poor and uninsured and severely traumatized patients once the hospital was closed. Now, a subtle and sophisticated story-teller would leave what happens to the patients unstated, for the reader to contemplate. But this is no time for subtlety. So the leaders of our city — showing exactly the same degree of wisdom and foresight that they showed over the far simpler problem of cars, for they had not become one iota wiser or more far-sighted in the interval — simply said of the patients, “Let us dump them on the streets of our city, and hope that no one notices.”

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

[Yolanda Woodlee told the car dumping story on the front page of the Washington Post yesterday, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26884-2001May14.html, and the DPW policy is outlined at http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/dpw0104.htm.]

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No Alcohol on Your Porch?
David Hunter, hunterontravel@hotmail.com

Three of us were sitting out on my brother's deck this past Saturday night in Woodley Park. About 10:30 p.m., we noticed one of DC finest approaching the front door. The officer said she had a noise complaint but had been sitting in her car fifteen minutes and said she didn't hear any noise from our house. We think the officer must have gotten us mixed up with the party that was going on at the other end of the block. However, as the officer left the front porch there was one two-thirds empty beer bottle left over from when we were BBQing earlier in the evening sitting on the porch. She stopped and told us that it was illegal to have alcohol on your front porch and she could write us a ticket. We apologized and she left. Then we got a bit peeved. What do you mean we can't drink a beer on our front porch? Is this really a law in DC? Aren't we on our own private property while sitting on our own porch? Anyone know of the DC law in the books that says we can't do this? Hmmm.

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Cop Nation
Gregory Diaz, Zaidmot@aol.com

The postings about the Nigerian Embassy and the Secret Service violating the law by ejecting a DC subject from a legal parking spot brings to mind another point worth noting about the District: it is bored Cop Nation. Not only do we suffer from a surfeit of police authorities, each of them has gradually accrued policing powers beyond its original grant and present need, and each is staffed by bored minions looking for “action.” It used to be that the uniformed Secret Service police had only authority commensurate with their actual function, which is essentially that of glorified building guards (as opposed to the real agents who serve in the Presidential protective details). It is my understanding now that they now have police powers concurrent with the DC Police Department, which is why one occasionally sees them making traffic stops and, as in the reported case regarding the Nigerian Embassy, exercising illegal police power to bully a resident.

But the picture doesn't end there. We have also the Park Police, who do a fine job of changing traffic direction twice a day on Rock Creek Parkway but apparently little else, the Metro Police, who wrestle teenagers to the ground for feloniously snacking, the Capitol Police, who yield to no one in abrupt and abusive yelling at mere visitors, and assorted others packing heat and power, such as the Pentagon police (remember the one who popped a passing pedestrian for no apparent reason?), and the former GSA building guard force, which has also transmogrified into a “police force.” This doesn't include other federal agents not in uniform, such as FBI agents (busy losing files), ATF agents, DEA agents, INS agents, and miscellaneous “security” agents.

The problem is that most of these people have precious little to do in real life other than drive around. They sure as hell aren't deployed in high crime zones. The result is boredom, which means that when a chance comes for some “action,” such as ejecting a hapless DC subject from a legal parking place . . . well, hey, there are only so many donuts you can eat in a day.

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Connecticut Avenue Street Cleaning Parking
Bernard Arons, BArons@samhsa.gov

Now, it may be that this issue has been around for some time, and I've been oblivious, but walking along Connecticut Avenue the other day I noticed some relatively new parking signs, indicating no parking for street cleaning. One example was Thursdays, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. First, is this something new? Also, would this be Wednesday night to Thursday morning, since most of the hours covered would be on Thursday, or Thursday night to Friday morning, assuming the Thursday indicates the start time? I read somewhere that street cleaning would not occur for awhile, so maybe this will not affect anyone, but when it does, I imagine there will be some surprised parkers some morning. Fortunately, I do not need to park there, but the signs made me start to wonder.

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Retrocession Bill, HR 810
Steve Leraris, steve_leraris@feinstein.senate.gov

Just in case you didn't already know about this: HR 810, “To provide for the retrocession of the District of Columbia to the State of Maryland, and for other purposes,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.00810 [or http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/voting02.htm]. Sponsored by Rep Ralph Regula, introduced 3/1/2001, latest major action: referred to House subcommittee, 3/9/2001. The co-sponsors are Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN), Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Rep. David L. Hobson (R-OH), Rep. Stephen Horn (R-CA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). I hadn't heard anything of this bill. How does Maryland feel about it?

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A DC Bill of Rights
Timothy Cooper, Worldright@aol.com

I have written an article, “A DC Bill of Rights,” that spells out in considerable detail my reasoning, both legally and strategically, for advocating on behalf of an equal constitutional rights amendment over outright statehood to remedy the continuing injustice. It has been published at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/voting03.htm.

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Some Questions Are Hard to Answer
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Status questions seem to be hard to answer, and the status quo seems to prevail as citizens divide along different lines — culture, class, race, etc. The District's unequal status has been the subject of discussion for over 200 years, but the more things change the more they stay the same. Puerto Rico has been discussing its status since it was conquered from the Spanish by the U.S. a century ago. The issue of status in Puerto Rico is an all-consuming one, and political parties divide along different status-option lines: statehood, independence, or on improving the current status, known as Commonwealth. Puerto Ricans voted on status options a few years back and choose “none of the above,” defeating statehood by a narrow margin. The public replaced the former statehood governor with the current Commonwealth governor. The White House recently issued this statement: “April 30, 2001. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary: Executive Order. Amendment to Executive Order 13183, Establishment of the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to extend by 3 months the time in which the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status is to report to the President as directed in Executive Order 13183 of December 23, 2000, it is hereby ordered that section 4 of Executive Order 13183 is amended by deleting 'May 1, 2001' and inserting in lieu thereof 'August 1, 2001.' George W. Bush.”

In 1760, the British and Anglo-Americans conquered New France, aka Canada, and it became the Province of Quebec. Historian Maurice Seguin describes the conquest of New France as a major historic disaster for French Canada,, since which time has been an ongoing status question. The Quebec license plate reads, “Je me souviens,” I remember. In eliminating the French military from the American continent, the Crown created a great opportunity for the British Americans in the lower colonies. At the time of the American Revolution, there was little interest in Quebec for joining the 13 republican Anglo-Americans along the Atlantic coast — the Crown offered to protect their French heritage and give them representation. After the American Revolution, many loyalists moved from the U.S. to Canada. In the treaty negotiation between the Crown and the republican North Americans, Quebec lost territory south of the Great Lakes. In the 1960s, Quebec writers reexamined the history and a movement in support of Quebec autonomy grew stronger. French citizens feel there are two Canadas — one English and one French. But there are nine English provinces, but only one French province. They are the minority and constantly fight federal intrusion into issues they believe belong to Quebec. The grafitti around Montreal reveals the ongoing conflict. In 1995, the public of Quebec voted by a narrow margin against becoming a sovereign nation. Quebec puts more into the Canadian treasury than is returned to Quebec, and have a strong economic argument for separating. The majority of French speaking citizens voted for autonomy. English speaking, commercial interests in Montreal and near Hull at Ottawa, and older citizens voted against. All areas have been somewhat stigmatized within their respective nations, called banana republics. Quebec and Puerto Rico have historic claims to autonomy. Puerto Rico and DC have claims to statehood. DC has voted on and requested statehood, but Congress didn't bite, preferring to leave the District in a state of limbo and even reduce its rights. All three areas are somehow divided among themselves, but have a large proportion of citizens who are willing to tinker with the current status, hoping perhaps to move incrementally toward their respective goals without locking themselves into a bad choice. Some questions are just hard to answer.

PS: In Montreal, next to the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) is a building just as large and impressive, with the sign: “Service des finances et du control budgetaire” — Service of finance and budgetary control.

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Sharing the Homeless
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

It's always helpful to have a straight man like Mike Livingston in themail audience. The homeless, like crack babies, many special ed kids, and the chronic unemployed, are tragic byproducts of our national way of life in general, and of our inner cities in particular. The fact that our cities have spread way beyond their city limits and left the disadvantaged behind is one of the prime American problems for this new century. Our most natural socioeconomic entity has become the metro area, and two thirds of us (even more of the poor) live in less than 90 of them. But the typical metro area has scores of local jurisdictions, little political coherence, few mechanisms for equitably sharing either its wealth or its poverty, and no clout in Congress.

NARPAC sees DC as an extreme example of the resulting inequities. DC now has less than 12 percent of this metro area's residents, perhaps no more than 10 percent of its taxpayers, and probably less than 10 percent of its gross domestic product. How, then, can DC be expected to have the resources in both tax revenues and government competence to take good care of 55 percent of the area's disadvantaged, and still enjoy a competitive quality of life (for rich and poor) with its free-riding suburbs? NARPAC believes that the area as a whole would be better off if some 5700 of DC's 7100 current homeless became the responsibility of our prosperous and caring neighbors beyond the Beltway. It would surely level the playing field and improve the odds of eventually reducing the homeless rolls!

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Retaliation: D.C. Public Works Strikes Back
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com

In an apparent retaliation for my note to themail, the trash collectors, who have refused to pick up my old and beyond repair Super Can, have really trashed the old Super Can. It now lies in a heap on my front lawn, the victim of a rather crushing blow which left it unable to roll and about two thirds its former size. Despite assurances from the DPW the can has not been removed and a follow-up call resulted in the issuance of a Work Order number (though I now have a Work Order Number, it has a very long number. Does this mean I am at the end of a VERY long line of work orders?).

I was told to leave the can along side the curb where it may become an icon of DPW retaliation for quite some time. Before long, though, I'll likely be cited for some violation or another by that same DPW for not removing unsightly debris from the property. If you'd like to see some before and after pictures of this, no longer Super, can then punch up http://members.aol.com/strategicu

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

ANC 3C Meeting, Monday May 21
Cliff Rohde, ANC 3C06, rohdec@onebox.com

ANC 3C will meet on Monday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m., Second District Police Headquarters, 3320 Idaho Avenue, NW, Community Room, First Floor. Topics will include D.C. property tax assessments, ABC License Applications/Renewals for Two Amys, Burka’s, and Rosedale update.

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Youth and Technology Meeting
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

A meeting of persons involved with youth and technology in the DC area is being held at the Cada Vez conference center, 1438 U Street, NW, on Monday, May 21, starting at 7 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to explore ways for individuals and organizations to be supporting each others' work. Thanks for passing along word about this meeting to folks you know who could benefit from attending.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EMPLOYMENT

ARRIBA Center
Sid Booth, SidBooth1@aol.com

The ARRIBA Center for Independent Living, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit serving the needs of physically disabled persons, is recruiting a capable Office Assistant for a position that can quickly grow into full time. Requirements: interpersonal skills, writing ability, sensitivity to needs of the disabled population, and, preferably, working knowledge of Spanish. Duties include assisting Executive Director in grant proposal writing and fund raising; office management and word processing. Available immediately. Salary competitive.

Also seeking a bilingual English/Spanish Social Worker. Run support groups, deliver training, perform case management, client advocacy. Light caseload. Must have MSW and DC license. Salary mid-30s. Send resume/cover letter to Dr. Cris Covelli, Executive Director, 1734 14th Street, N.W., 3rd Floor, 20009. Phone 667-3990. Fax 667-6977. E-mail:arribacenter@juno.com

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Exceptional Housecleaner Available
Jon Katz, jon@markskatz.com

Exceptional cleaning person is available Saturdays to clean your home. Excellent references available. (She does not have E-mail, so I'm posting this for her). Please call 301-408-2557.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

TV Repair Recommendation
Karen Schofield-Leca, wes@ethicalsociety.org

I can recommend DANCO Electronic Service Specialists, 929 Gist Avenue (just over the DC/Silver Spring line),Silver Spring, MD, 301-585-8844.

Dan Meijer, the proprietor, is very skilled, reasonable priced, and active in the DC/Silver Spring gateway community development concerns.

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

From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
NO WALK IN THE PARK: Neil Albert, the recently nominated director for the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), must have been experiencing a temporary loss of sanity earlier this year when he told a D.C. Council oversight committee eager to lay cash at his feet that his budget was sufficient, thank you very much.
Even now, as Albert sits for an interview with LL, he asserts that “the mayor's budget is a fair allocation of the resources that exist.” Which is yet another example of the DPR director-designee's masterful execution of the sidestep. Truth is, Albert needs money — googobs of it. His parks department is afflicted with old, deteriorating facilities, aging personnel in equally bad shape, and a reputation for poor performance.
“The whole department has been dysfunctional for a long time,” says Steve Coleman, head of Parks for People, an advocacy group credited with initiating the remarkable 1990 rehabilitation of Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park on 16th Street NW.
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:
FRIDAY: Police Chief Charles Ramsey performs in “Bard-a-Thon,” a round-the-clock reading of Shakespeare held by the Theatre Lab Inc. to raise money for its education and outreach programs. At 8 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church, 5312 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
TUESDAY: Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks, and Ben J. Wattenberg discuss their book The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000 at 7 p.m. at Olsson's Books & Records, 1200 F St. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html

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