Volunteering
Dear Volunteers:
We're normally a city full of volunteers, and the readers of themail
seem to be unusually generous donators of time -- see the message from
Sid Booth below. At this time many of us are looking for opportunities
to do something extra for our community, and this issue of themail has a
number of requests for volunteers. Have you worked at a particularly
satisfying volunteer position that you would like to recommend to
others, or do you know of a particularly worthy organization looking for
volunteers? If so, let us know about it.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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To Summit or Not to Summit
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
On Saturday, October 6, Mayor Williams will hold his second Citizen
Summit at the Convention Center. In materials distributed last week, the
administration states that, "at the first Citizen Summit, held on
November 20, 1999, more than 3,000 citizens came together to shape the
future of the District of Columbia and advised Mayor Anthony Williams
about the priorities they most wanted to see addressed." On the eve
of the second Citizen Summit, it's only fair to assess what was really
accomplished as a result of that exercise two years ago.
Many of the “accomplishments” being touted by the Williams
administration are the regular duties or functions of any municipal
government — cleaning streets, renovating recreation centers, abating
nuisance properties, and reducing crime. The one clearly unheralded
consequence of the first Citizen Summit has been the establishment of a
huge and duplicative bureaucratic structure in the executive branch that
is supposed to focus on neighborhoods. There is now the Office of
Neighborhood Action in the Executive Office of the Mayor (staff of
five), the Office of Neighborhood Service Coordinator in the Office of
the City Administrator (staff of twenty), the Office of Neighborhood
Outreach in the Executive Office of the Mayor (staff of fourteen),
Neighborhood Planning in the Office of Planning (staff of sixteen), and
the Neighborhood Stabilization Office within the Department of Consumer
and Regulatory Affairs (staffing not known).
Despite this new, large, costly, and redundant governmental structure
focused on neighborhoods, most citizens have not seen any appreciable
improvement in their neighborhoods, have not seen a real shift in the
administration's focus to residential neighborhoods, and have not felt
that this administration supports residents' interests against the usual
inside players. For that reason, many citizen activists who came to the
first Summit with hope and anticipation two years ago are not coming
this time around, and city workers are being pressured to attend to
plump up the attendance numbers.
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“Step Down,” and Other Memories from the
Record
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
In my Control Board file of clips, I found a lovely article from
February 20-26, 1998, entitled “STEP DOWN — Five reasons this
control board has got to go” in the Washington City Paper. The
five reasons were: Education, Police, Money, Reform, and Community. Here
are a few headlines of articles in my file: “Barry Demands Spot on
D.C. Control Board,” “A ‘Tough’ Texan’s Newest Tall Order,”
“A Jerry-Built Control Board,” “DC Board Pay Moves Broke Law, GAO
Says,” “Businesses hail outgoing board’s parting shot,”
“Becton Leaves the Fray, Eludes the Limelight,” “Top administrator
in D.C. makes $198,000; Mayor paid $90,700,” “Control Board Gets
Mixed Reviews from Officials and Public,” “Brimmer clears Barnett,
Finds no ‘cronyism’ in voided contract,” “And they call this
control??,” “N.C. Senator Seeks to Clarify Authority of Control
Board,” “Third member to leave D.C. control board,” “Control
Board in Limbo,” “Rivlin Wants to Aid Home Rule.”
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Control Board Wasn’t Lucky, the City Was
Paul Michael Brown, Eastern Market, pmb@his.com
Mr. Imhoff recently wondered whether the Control Board improved the
city's finances, or whether it just had the luck to exist during good
financial times. The answer is that it was the city, not the Control
Board, that was lucky. Revenues were increasing so rapidly that the
city's finances improved dramatically without any real reform taking
place. Sure, DC General was closed and there were some cosmetic
improvements in city services like the DMV. But the core beliefs of
those who run the District have not changed. Their primary goal remains
providing what are, in essence, no-work jobs to those on the city
payroll. Actually providing city services is secondary. From matters
large (like the scandalous foster care system or the massive Board of Ed
deficit) to small (like letting Dutch Elm disease run rampant) the lack
of commitment to public service is no different today than it was when
Mayor Berry sipped Super Bowl champagne while the snowplows stood idle.
Despite years under the thumb of the Control Board, the majority of
city employees continue to view the District government primarily as a
mechanism to effect the transfer of money from Washington's taxpayers to
a bunch of bureaucrats who decamp to PG County every night. Doing the
difficult work of municipal government has always taken a back seat to
the preservation of their middle class lifestyle. Until that attitude
changes, and major structural reforms are undertaken, we're one
recession away from the return of the Control Board.
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DC is an orphan city with no state-level oversight, but with an
“economic demography” that defies self-sufficiency. It will continue
to benefit from enlightened oversight, and the Congress is
constitutionally obliged to provide it. What DC sorely needs, even more
than a greater voice in the Congress, is oversight from a single
committee which excludes members with conflicts of interest clearly
detrimental to the long-term interests of the capital city. Further,
major DC issues should be addressed in the context of the metro area
that surrounds it, much as state oversight would. At the same time, the
Congress has no standing committee that addresses the evolving problems
of many US metro areas (in which almost 85 percent of all Americans now
live). It would be quite rational, then, for the Congress to establish
one Joint Committee on Metro Area Issues and the District of Columbia.
That committee should address the broader national issues of leveling
metro area playing fields, if you will. It should get out of the
insulting and inappropriate annual routine of multiple subcommittees
dabbling in the locally prepared , locally funded share of DC's budget.
Is DC out of the financial woods? Certainly not if it follows its
current path. The city is relatively recession-proof since its major
industries are government, government-lobbying, and government services.
But it cannot indefinitely support well over half of the region's poor
with well under one-quarter of the region's wealth. It is a formula for
relatively high crime, poor education, and decaying infrastructure. And
it cannot solve this problem through the romantic fantasy of simply
adding more middle-class neighborhood-friendly families that consume at
least as much in city services as they generate in revenues. Until DC
recognizes that businesses are more net revenue-productive than
residents per acre of scarce land, it will continue to compound its
long-term financial risk
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Hooray for the Airlines
Ed T, Barron, edtb@aol.com
The Feds have magnanimously signed up to give the airlines $15
billion to help them recover from their loss of income following the 11
September attack on the US. That's a great idea but the Feds have been
very stingy with those big bucks when it comes to Amtrak. That's too bad
because the rails are an ideal way for many of us to travel. It is far
easier, and much more comfortable, for me to commute once each week to
the Big Apple by train than to save forty minutes (pre increased
security time, and leaving from National Airport). The three hours on a
Metroliner are very relaxing with time to read, do some work, or just
doze in those big comfortable seats. Sure, flying only takes fifty
minutes. But there is also the hassle of getting to and from the
airport. I'll take that relaxing three hours anytime, with only a
fifteen minute Metro and subway ride at each end.
The Feds have been trying to put Amtrak out of business for years.
That's a huge mistake. They should, instead, be putting some money into
our rail system to make it viable and a better alternative to short haul
transport by commuter airlines. The energy efficiency alone of the
trains makes it important to use that method of transportation for both
passengers and freight in lieu of airplanes and trucks.
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In response to Diane Lee Schulz's query (does DC have tornado warning
sirens), I am guessing that the answer is no. I grew up in Michigan,
where (as in Kansas) tornados were a seasonal fact of life. In this part
of the country, though, they're nowhere as common. Indeed, last week's
events were really quite unusual (though maybe with global climactic
change coming on, we can expect more fierce weather hereabouts). Even if
they installed sirens, they'd have occasion to use them only every three
or four years at best, and people would soon forget what they were for.
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In response to the post about tornado warnings in the last issue of
themail, here are some options. There are several early warning services
that tell you if a tornado or other severe storm is on its way. I
subscribe to StormWarn, http://www.stormwarn.com.
StormWarn will send severe weather alerts to your E-mail address, cell
phone or pager. StormWarn costs between $2 and $5 a month, depending on
how you customize it. A second early warning network that's free comes
from Weather.com: http://www.weather.com/services.
Weather.com doesn't offer as many features as StormWarn, but you can't
argue with free. Another free service that offers a variety of emergency
notifications by E-mail is The Emergency Mail Network, http://emergencyemailnetwork.com/.
You can also buy a NOAA weather radio that warns about a wide range
of emergencies including severe weather, chemical spills, and flash
floods. NOAA bills these radios as “all hazards” radios, capable of
warning you of just about everything. If you get a NOAA weather radio,
be sure to buy one with “specific area message encoding,” SAME. The
SAME feature lets you receive weather alerts by zip code, so if you live
in DC and there's a severe thunderstorm over Fairfax County that's not
heading toward the District, you won't be disturbed. The radio stays
silent until called into action. The alarms on the NOAA weather radios
are very, very loud. Radio Shack and other stores sell NOAA radios with
SAME. There's more about NOAA radio at http://205.156.54.206/nwr/.
On the day of the tornado, my NOAA radio went wild — which I
appreciated.
Finally, if you want to view where in the United States there are
active weather warnings, visit http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/bigmain.html.
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I think themail's readers will be interested to learn of the response
to Ben Rigberg's request for volunteer readers last week. "I would
like to thank the volunteers who responded to my needs for assistance in
working with books and other written matter. One person, an engineer,
asked me to contact him after Dec. 1, when he will retire.
Unfortunately, my recording machine played a trick on me and I have only
the last four digests of his D.C. telephone number: 8595. I would
appreciate receiving a call from him again. Ben Rigberg: 966-5939."
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Slide Lecture — Washingtoniana Division/MLK
Library
Jerry A. McCoy, sshistory@yahoo.com
A slide lecture on “Truax's Century of Washington, DC Activities
from 1865” will be given by Lee H. Rodgers as he presents a slide
lecture of images from the collection of retired Washingtoniana
volunteer Robert A. Truax. The lecture will be on Wednesday, October 10,
at 12:00 p.m., in the Washingtoniana Division, Room 307, of the Martin
Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW (Metro: Red Line,
Gallery Place - 9th Street exit. Parking in the library's underground
garage will not be available.) The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call Jerry A. McCoy, Washingtoniana Division,
727-1213.
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The Friends of the Cleveland Park Library will hold their annual fall
book sale on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14, at the Cleveland
Park Library (Macomb and Connecticut, one block south of the Cleveland
Park Metro) from noon to 4:00 p.m. Most hardcovers will be $1.00, most
paperbacks $.50. Mysteries, romance, and science fiction paperbacks will
be $.10 each. We have thousands of books, from elegant coffee table
editions to out-of-print treasures to recent bestsellers. This time
around we have an unusually large number of science fiction books. For
more information contact Nathalie Black at 362-3599.
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“Art” depicts the impact, on a shaky three-way friendship, of one
friend's purchase of a pricey all-white painting. It ran for a few weeks
last year at the Kennedy Center to rave reviews and returns October 9
for a month at Olney Theater Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd.
(MD-108), midway between Georgia and New Hampshire Avenues in Olney, MD.
Footlights — DC's only modern-drama discussion group — has just a
few $19 tickets left for the 2 p.m., October 14 matinee, post-show
discussion included. Send your check, payable to “Footlights,” to
Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Court, Rockville, MD 20852 (301-897-9314 and rlarkin@footlightsdc.org).
Call Robin if you need a lift. For more information go to www.footlightsdc.org.
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Dialogue on Public Schools
Gloria Mobley, glomo_53@yahoo.com
Let your voice be heard. Come out participate in a community dialogue
about the history of public education in Washington, DC — significant
and still unfinished — on Thursday, October 4, from 4-8 p.m. at the
Sumner School and Museum Archives; 17th and M Streets, N.W.
DC VOICE and DC Action for Children are sponsoring the screening of
the fourth and final episode of “School: The Story of American Public
Education” and public forum on Thursday, October 4 from 4-8 p.m.
Entitled "The Bottom Line (1980 to the present): Challenges to the
Notion of a Common School," this episode features an overview of
standards and high stakes testing, alternative schools, vouchers,
charter schools and home schooling. Attendees will have an opportunity
to tour the historic Sumner School, visit with community based
organizations involved in education reform and advocacy. A light buffet
will be served. Space is limited and reservations are required. Kindly
RSVP to Carmelita Lacey at 986-8535 or E-mail dcvoice@dcvoice.org.
Come out and talk about ways to support the DC Public Schools!
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Arts for Health and Self-Development
Juliet Bruce, juliet@artsforlife.com
Institute for Transformation Through the Arts (ITA) is a nonprofit
based in Mt. Pleasant that uses arts-based programs to support the
health and well-being of people and communities. The following programs
are for adults. We also offer workshops for teens (please call to
arrange). October 13, Beads of Peace, a jewelry-making and writing
workshop. 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Suggested tax-deductible donation: $50
(includes all tools and supplies). With Elena Crusoe, jewelry artist.
October 27, Creative Recovery: Ghosts, Clowns, and Angels, 3:00 - 5:00
p.m. Suggested donation: $20 (includes all materials). Mask-making and
fairy tale. For people in recovery from addictions — their own or that
of a loved one, depression, life transition, or who want to feel more
joy in their daily life. Qigong for Beginners. Learn the basics of this
8,000-year-old Chinese movement meditation practice. Qigong reduces
stress; boosts the immune system; and dissolves blockages in body, mind,
and spirit that make us vulnerable to disease, anxiety, and depression.
It also strengthens our intuition and our connection to the intelligence
of our bodies. $10/session. $100 for 12 weeks. An ongoing weekly group
will begin soon at a location to be announced. If you're interested in
attending, let me know so I can determine the size of the space needed.
For more information about ITA's approach and programs, visit our
website: http://www.artsforlife.com
or call 667-3766.
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What You Can Do to Prepare for Biological and
Chemical Terrorist Attack
Shazza Nzinga, Washington Study Group, shazzanzinga@hotmail.com
The Washington Study Group will sponsor a community teach-in on
"Biological and Chemical Warfare in the United States and the New
Face of Terrorism." This informative meeting will teach citizens
about biological and chemical agents and how to protect themselves and
their loved ones against such terrorist attacks. Participants will be
given a copy of The Washington Study Group's, “Citizens Self Defense
Guide to Biological and Chemical Weapons.” US citizens have been put
on alert for future terrorists acts and the Washington Study Group is
committed to educating and helping the public prepare for these types of
terrorist acts. This meeting is free and open to the public and will
take place Thursday, October 11, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Sankofa
Bookstore located at 2714 Georgia Avenue, NW. Please come early! Limited
seating. For more information please call 986-9605 or E-mail us.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Dishwasher (built-in) available because of kitchen renovation.
Kitchen Aid 3-cycle, black, works perfectly. $100. RKaufmann@JacksCamp.com
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CLASSIFIEDS — SPACE WANTED
Parking Space Needed
John Hughes, jah@Radix.Net
I'd like to rent a parking space near the 1700 block of T as soon as
possible. Does anyone have anything available?
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
We are looking for a new cleaning person for our house in Columbia
Heights (our current one is retiring). Looking for someone once every
couple of weeks who does a good job, is reliable and honest. We have a
two story row house with only an adult couple living there (oh, and one
cat). E-mail recommendations or suggestions to timandann@aol.com
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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
National Run for Recovery Volunteers Needed!
Jay Jacob Wind, jay.wind@att.net
Vanguard Foundation's 6th annual National Run for Recovery is Sunday,
October 21, at 10 a.m., starting at the National Navy Memorial, 7th and
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, following the Pennsylvania Avenue Mile. For
full information, please see http://www.vanguardservices.org,
E-mail racedirector@att.net,
or call 703-920-0156 (short message) or 703-218-2726 (long message). The
5K run and walk is open to all participants and raises funds to build a
new addiction treatment center in Arlington and support similar programs
in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Vanguard manages 10 treatment centers and
has helped 27,000 clients over the past forty years to return to their
jobs and families healthy, clean, and sober.
Join in the run or walk with Senators, Congressmen, Presidential
appointees, radio and TV personalities, US and international Olympians,
and World Champions, as well as 1,000 other runners and walkers.
Registration is $18 through October 16, $20 on October 21. To make this
event successful, we need fifty volunteers to help in various ways: at
Vanguard Foundation, 2924 Columbia Pike (around back) in Arlington VA,
this week and next, to prepare pre-race materials; at Fresh Fields, 2700
Clarendon Blvd. in Arlington, for packet pickup on Friday, 10/19, 4-7
p.m., and Saturday, 10/20, 1-4 p.m.; on race day, Sunday, 10/21, 7:30
a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the start/finish at 7th and Pennsylvania, NW
(Archives / Navy Memorial Metro Station), for setup, registration, water
tables, hoisting banners, meeting celebrities, course marshals, finish
line, post-race picnic, post-race cleanup,
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I am program manager of a nonprofit called College Bound, and we are
very much in need of volunteers tutors/mentors. We are a nonprofit
mentoring and college-access program that prepares DC area public school
students for college. As you may know, the DC high school graduation
rate is approximately 50 percent. By contrast, College Bound's Class of
2001 graduated at a rate of 100 percent and entered college this fall at
a rate of 100 percent. If you would like more info., please contact me
ASAP at wendy@collegebound.org
or 842-4014. Please help me spread the word about this great
organization. The children and I look forward to hearing from you!
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National Building Museum’s CityVision
Program
Mike Hill, MHILL@nbm.org
The National Building Museum is seeking volunteers for the fall 2001
CityVision program, beginning Tuesday, October 16. CityVision is the
Museum's flagship youth education program, introducing many students to
the Museum for the first time. This is a twelve session program,
scheduled for Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The program begins on
October 16 and ends with a formal presentation on January 17, 2002 (a
Thursday). No sessions will be held during the Christmas/New Years
holidays.
CityVision participants work in small groups with volunteer
professionals and university students to identify a problem in the
community around their school and design a built-environment solution to
the problem. Youth participants are expected to attend every session and
get extra credit in their civics or social studies class for
successfully completing the program. This program serves between 60 and
70 kids each year.
Local professionals get credits for community service needed for
professional registration and a small stipend, university students may
receive three credits for independent study. All volunteers get Museum
member benefits for participating. Volunteers attend every other
session. The Museum is seeking sixteen volunteers for this program.
Training will be held on Saturday, October 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Applications must be returned by Tuesday, October 9.
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Prevent Child Abuse
Susan Russell-Smith, pcamw@juno.com
Prevent Child Abuse of Metropolitan Washington (PCA/MW) is dedicated
to empowering children and families to live in a safe and nurturing
environment, free from violence, and to reducing the circumstances that
lead to child maltreatment through public education, community
partnerships, and supportive services. PhoneFriend is a free and
confidential telephone support line for children in metropolitan
Washington, between the ages of 5 and 15, who are home without adult
supervision. It provides comfort and support to children who are lonely,
afraid, or just want to talk. PhoneFriend operates weekdays from 3-9
p.m. and Saturdays from 1-5 p.m. The Crisis & Family Stress Hotline
is Washington’s oldest 24-hour telephone counseling service, providing
comprehensive crisis intervention, support, referrals and information to
anyone experiencing a crisis or stress.
Since both of our phone lines are staffed exclusively by volunteers,
it is critical that we find conscientious, concerned Washingtonians to
aid us in providing support and counseling to the hundreds of needy
callers we talk to each month. Volunteers are provided with extensive
training in counseling, listening, and problem-solving skills, as well
as with supervised practical experience. The next training sessions for
both PhoneFriend and the Crisis and Family Stress Hotline will begin in
mid-October. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me
at 223-0020. Thank you for your support on behalf of the children and
families we serve.
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Volunteers Needed to Help Change City Council
Hearing Hours
Shazza Nzinga, The Washington Study Group, shazzanzinga@hotmail.com
The Washington Study Group is currently researching and developing a
“Citizens Request” including a petition, to have the current DC City
Council hearings changed from its current daytime hours to evening hours
after 5:00 p.m. We feel that the current hours do not give the majority
of citizens the opportunity to share their views on the decisions of
their elected officials. District residents already have limited rights
and we feel this is a local issue that can be handled locally to empower
the citizens in their government. We need individuals who are willing to
share their political expertise on the council and DC government, people
who can assist us with research and development on this issue. If you
feel this is something you would like to be a part of please call
986-9605 or E-mail us. We welcome all citizens and organizations who
would like to help on this project.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Taxi Service Especially for Children
Kathleen McLynn, kdmclynn@starpower.net
Does anyone know of a taxi service for children which is reliable?
There used to be a company called Kid Taxi which used a mini van and
picked up kids at private schools in the McLean area and then took them
to ballet, their tutor, or home. Kid Taxi isn't in the directory. My
query would be for the Bethesda/Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights/Tenley
area. Safety is a concern, of course.
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Does anyone know where a list exists that includes all DC public
schools ranked by their percentage of reduced and free price lunch? And,
I would like that cross-referenced by test scores. I know the Post
published something like that a couple years back, but I couldn't find
it on a search of the Internet or Post archives.
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