Nothing More to Say

Nothing More to Say in themail, November 14, 2001

Dear Honest Assessors:

I don't have to write anything to head this issue. I just have to quote Anne Heute, below: “The last thing that any citizen can expect is honest assessments of realities from any governmental source. To do so would belie the modus operandi of bureaucracy: face-saving trumps the public welfare every time.” After that, what is left to say?

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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George Washington Doesn’t Sleep Here Anymore
Janet Hess, hessj@ix.netcom.com

I've been with the George Washington University Health Plan for many years, through more diseases than I'd care to list (including two battles with breast cancer). Suddenly I and 70,000 others no longer have the option of GWUHP coverage, because GWUHP has had enough of us. As most people probably know, GW has decided to get out of the health insurance business (even though they were solvent and running a Metro advertising campaign at the very time that they kissed us off). This after operating as an HMO in DC for nearly thirty years.

I'm a retired fed. As such, I miss the benefits of water-cooler talk about health plans, open season, etc. I'm interested in knowing more about a handful of HMOs : CareFirst BlueChoice, Kaiser Permanente, MD-IPA, and Aetna U.S. Healthcare. I have their brochures, but what I'd like to hear is firsthand experience. Have you been covered by any of these? Do you love them? Hate them? Although GWUHP had its drawbacks, it was there when I really needed it. I'm not looking forward to breaking in a new HMO, and I'd love to hear what you've encountered.

By the way, I understand that individuals who were covered by GWUHP but not as part of a group are potentially in a real bind; they may face waiting periods and exclusion of preexisting conditions. It seems to me that the disappearance of GWUHP is more than a minor pain in the ass for many people in the area. How are others taking it?

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Unclear on the Concept
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Inspectors General in the federal and state governments are supposed to investigate public corruption, including the misuse of government funds for private purposes, and to increase the accountability of the government and its employees. In the US, state and local Inspectors General are organized in an association, the Association of Inspectors General, which is meeting this week in DC in a conference with the theme, “Sharing IG Innovations that Work — Helping Stakeholders Improve Government Service.” The office of DC's own Inspector General, Charles Maddox, is sponsoring and hosting this convention.

When I went to cover the convention today, I was denied access and told that the meeting was closed to the public and the press. When I asked what the rationale for closing the meeting was, I was told that it was a private professional association, and that they didn't have to open their meetings to the public. Yet Maddox's office, according to his chief of staff, Gloria Johnson, has spent months working to plan the meeting, and the IG's office staff, including the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Director for Medicaid Fraud, and members of the Office of Investigations are spending the week working at the conference.

Public funds cannot be spent for the operation of a private association. Public employees cannot spend their time on the public payroll working for a private association. If the Association of Inspectors General is a private professional association, it can hold private, secret meetings, but it has to fund those meetings with private, not public, funds. If the Association of Inspectors General is funded by government funds and staffed by government employees on government time, then it can't hold private meetings that are closed to the public. If Charles Maddox flouts the law in the operations of his own office, how can he enforce it on other parts of the government?

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AIDS Accountability
Wayne Turner, Actupdc@aol.com

The DC HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA), and its predecessor, the Administration for HIV/AIDS (AHA), have a history of being notoriously unresponsive to public inquiries, particularly when it comes to budget and finances. ACT UP/DC has sent three letters to Ron Lewis requesting follow up information regarding audits of DC area AIDS service providers that receive tax payer funds. The only response has been a letter dated August 15, 2001, promising a full reply by August 20. We're still waiting.

Many of us have increasing questions, and deepening concerns, about exactly how millions of dollars allocated to combat HIV/AIDS are being spent. For example, last spring at the Mayor's Town Meeting with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trangendered communities, Ivan Torres, the head of HIV prevention with AHA (now HAA) promised that by July 2001, HIV information and materials would be distributed at DC's intake centers for social services. As of today, there is still not one HIV prevention poster, flier, let alone free condom, at the Income Maintenance Center at 645 H Street NE, where thousands of at-risk, low income DC residents routinely apply for food stamps, Medicaid, and other social services. I encourage the readers of this list to learn more about the growing demands of activists for accountability in the spending of HIV/AIDS funds. Visit http://www.glaa.org to review that organization's request for basic budget information on local and federal funding in DC to combat HIV/AIDS. These federal programs include the treatment services funded by the Ryan White CARE Act, prevention efforts funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), homelessness programs under the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS Act (HOPWA), and the funding for minority populations under the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Please also visit the DOH website, http://www.dchealth.dc.gov, for the most current, complete DC HIV/AIDS epidemiological report. It's from 1999! Also, the April 2001 issue of The Washington Monthly features a comprehensive article, “AIDS Inc.— Why does federal money fund psychic hotline calls, flirting classes, and Copacabana conferences?” It is available online at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0104.turner.html.

Finally, although the DC HIV/AIDS Administration may not have resources to reveal their full budget, respond to other public inquiries, or provide free condoms in Gay bars and the Income Maintenance Center, they do have time to organize a conference. You might not have this information, since its not on the DOH/HAA website, but Mayor Williams is convening an AIDS conference (I only learned the details because my late partner, Steve Michael, dead for three years, received his invitation in the mail last week). Here's the conference info: DC HIV/AIDS Conference, November 29 - December 1, the Washington Marriott Hotel, 1221 22nd Street, N.W. To register go to http://www.mayatech.com/dchaa, or call Judith Grant in beautiful Maryland at (301) 587-1600.

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Infant Mortality and Other Health Care Issues
Rene Wallis, rwallis@dcpca.org

DC's infant mortality rate does not include abortions. Rules regarding health statistics gathered by DC and all states are determined by the federal government, states do not have the freedom to gather them differently so they can get more money. If only your E-mail friend were right and that all we had to do to improve infant mortality was to change the way we are counting the numbers. Sadly, it is, like all system reform, complex with no quick fixes.

We (the District of Columbia Department of Health) receive $8 million in Child and Maternal Health grant funds, which is a federal block grant giving DC tremendous control over the use of the funds, but our organization has had little luck in finding out where exactly the money goes. Our high infant mortality rate (which has come down considerably) and high HIV infection rates are caused by issues directly impacting the moms and HIV folks, high rates of addiction in DC (one of nine residents is addicted to a substance, with alcohol dominating as the drug of choice); high rates of poverty (30 percent of our community is living in poverty; poor outreach programs to reach and support women who are living in crisis; high rates of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse; lack of educational achievement for lower income community (health statistics can be directly tied to educational achievement); lack of high quality primary care in low-income communities (we have a lot of hospitals and a lot of doctors, but the distribution is very poor, with lower-income communities hit hard by a lack of facilities; a high percentage of minorities (like racial profiling in the police and the achievement gap in schools, minorities remain shut out of the mainstream in health care. While this is especially true for low income people, it is true for all nonwhite populations, even the well off and well-insured); lack of coordination of services (like many DC agencies, clinics serving the poor were developed over the last thirty years in response to the tremendous unmet net for primary care services, but due to an historical lack of government planning, which is true all over the country, but intensified by a number of complicating factors here in DC, there is no central planning for primary and preventative care.); lack of standards regarding both facilities and treatment (while there are many very high quality safety net providers, these providers operate in silos with no way to connect their services and work together to improve the health of the entire community.

[In the next issue of themail, Rene Wales's message will continue with governmental issues impacting health care providers — http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2001/01-11-18.htm#wallis. — Gary Imhoff]

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DC AIDS Rate
Richard Urban, richard@urbangrocery.com

One of the main problems with stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in DC is that it is treated as a political issue, not a deadly communicable disease. Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis are carefully tracked to prevent spreading, but not AIDS, which, of course, is more deadly. Why not? Also, in DC, HIV cases that have not yet developed into AIDS are only reported anonymously, as far as I know, making it impossible to track partners. How is this in the interest of the public's health?

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Smile at a Visitor — “Good Energy” is Contagious!
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Following a really great and relaxing visit to Rio, Brazil, I’m happy to be home again. Brazil has a similar federal system modeled after the US one, but they modified their constitution to give the citizens of Brasilia, in their capital, the same rights as citizens living in their states. Although I was mugged by three teens with a gun when I wandered onto a side street without pedestrians at 6 p.m., a woman immediately came to my assistance, took me into a church, cleaned me up, and prayed that angels would protect me. I lived to tell the story, though now I nearly jump out of my skin if anyone as much as brushes my shoulder on the sidewalk! I will go back for another visit -- most of the people are just wonderful, and many expressed anger and sorry that this happened to me in their country. I was mugged in DC in a similar situation about fifteen years ago.

According to Bernard Brown in the office of Senator Paul Strauss (DC-shadow), "the leadership for the House and Senate DC Appropriations has tentatively scheduled the conference committee to meet Thursday, November 15, 2001 around twelve noon to negotiate a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill." He said the appointed House and Senate conferees for FY 2002 DC Appropriations are: House: Rep. Randy Duke (R-CA), John Doolittle (R-CA), Chaka Fatah (D-PA), Ernest Istook (R-OK), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Alan Moll (D-WV), David Obey (D-WI), John Olver (D-MA), John Sweeney (R-NY), David Vitter (R-LA), Bill Young (R-FL). Senate: Mike Dewine (R-OH), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Kay Hutchinson (R-TX), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ted Stevens (R-AK). Hopefully they will go with the Senate version, which is somewhat better than the House one. Kudos to all who worked to defend DC's right to self-government — there were many letters and interactions with the Congress from the Mayor, Council members, and other elected officials this budget cycle, and I hope that continues. It would be nice to see a list of all individual in DC who took some action. Here is Eleanor Holmes Norton’s press release about the Senate bill: http://www.house.gov/norton/20011108.htm.

I was told that attendance at the annual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Nov. 16-18 appears to be holding steady, although some apparently changed their flight plants to drive instead — kudos to organizations and individuals who visit the District! Having experienced the many warm smiles and friendly gestures in Rio, I hope DC residents do the same for visitors -- it really makes a difference when someone engages you as a visitor. The educators will be undoubtedly sharing experiences about how to teach about tragedy -- see the program: http://www.ncss.org. Here is one item on the program related to DC: “Democracy Denied: The Struggle for Self-Government in the District of Columbia” (Saturday 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., Marriott Wardman, Delaware A) Charles Wesley Harris, a political scientist from Howard University and eminent scholar and author from Washington, D.C; Rebecca Kingsley, a documentary filmmaker who is producing the DC Home Rule Film Project; and Mark David Richards, a sociologist who has done nationwide polling on people's attitudes about voting rights for D.C. residents, will discuss the District's unique Constitutional status, and how that status affects the citizens of the nation's capital, and explore alternatives to the status quo.

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US Mail in themail
Anne Heutte, heuttea@earthlink.net

I am with Joan Eisenstodt on this one. I figure we will never see the mail that was quarantined at Brentwood and will never be told that that is so. My situation is not as difficult as it is for many, but it does cause some inventive solutions. I am mailing in Maryland these days, just out of pique, perhaps. When I purchase from catalogs, as I do frequently, I make sure the order can be sent by some carrier other than the USPS. For the first time, I am glad that most of my regular bills are sent to out-of-city addresses. I'll bet more businesses will find ways to establish out-of-city payment locations. On the other hand, I am not donning my mail survivor's suit by changing all of my usual behavior.

The last thing that any citizen can expect is honest assessments of realities from any governmental source. To do so would belie the modus operandi of bureaucracy: face-saving trumps the public welfare every time.

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Hometown Neighborhood Tourism
Jane Freundel Levey, DC Heritage Tourism Coalition, leveyjf@home.com

As we consider our patriotic duty to go downtown for culture, entertainment, and sustenance, I'd like to recommend that readers go first to http://www.dcheritage.org, the web site of my employer, the DC Heritage Tourism Coalition. The Coalition is a nonprofit consortium of 90-plus off-the-mall sites dedicated to bringing economic development to the city's neighborhoods through tourism — especially by inviting some of the 21 million visitors who come to the Mall in a normal year to also visit the city beyond the monuments. We are also the organization behind the new heritage walking trails that are going up around the city. See you downtown.

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Italian Food Redux
Oscar Abeyta, orabeyta@hotmail.com

John Whiteside and Willie Schatz have been lamenting the dearth of good, cheap, homestyle Italian food in the District. However, they neglect to mention the only two Italian restaurants that fit that bill in the District. AV Restaurant on New York Avenue and Fifth Street and Fio's inside the Woodner Apartments on 16th Street are — in my humble opinion — the only Italian restaurants worth eating at in the District. If you don't mind decor that is somewhat less, um, sophisticated than the typical trendy Washington eatery, the food was always knock-your-socks-off great and at a price that fit my always-over-budget budget.

Now what the District really lacks is decent Mexican food. I suffered ten years without ready access to even the bare essentials necessary for a satisfactory gastronomic existence. I learned to stop being fooled by all those signs in front of restaurants promising "authentic" Mexican food. It was usually the same bland, tasteless stewed meats and tortillas buried under a blanket of melted cheese. Had it not been for Mixtec in Adams Morgan or Mi Rancho in Silver Spring, I might have forgotten what real red chili sauce tastes like. The shortage of decent Mexican cuisine became tangible when I moved here to Tucson a year ago. The worst Mexican food I've had here is still better than the best most restaurants can muster. I've nearly doubled in size since I arrived. I do miss the saltimboca at Fio's, though.

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November 2001 InTowner
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the November, 2001 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the community news stories, crime reports, editorials (including prior months' archived), restaurant reviews (prior months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to January 2001) also is available in .pdf file format by direct access from our home page at no charge, simply by clicking the link provided. The next issue will publish on December 14, and the website will be updated shortly thereafter.

To read the lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Police Chase and Club Revelers at Impromptu Block Party on P Street”; 2) “Barney House Use as Latvian Embassy Gets Zoning Board Go-Ahead; Sculpture of Barney Daughter, Nude, Back on Lawn”; 3) “U Street Heritage Trail Celebrates Shaw's History; to Open for Residents, Tourists in late November.”

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InTowner Web Site Update: Heurich Mansion
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

The following item has just been added to the “Community News” section at http://www.intowner.com: “Historical Society Puts Heurich Mansion Up for Sale.”

The Historical Society today announced that in light of its planned relocation from the historic Christian Heurich Mansion just off Dupont Circle to the new City Museum which will open in 2003 in the totally rehabilitated and reconfigured Carnegie Library building at Mt. Vernon Square, the Society will no longer have use of the Heurich Mansion for offices, library or exhibitions, including the original rooms which have served for many years as a window on the domestic life of the Heurich family from the time it originally occupied the mansion in the late 19th century until the death of Mrs. Heurich in the mid-20th century.

According to the Society's public relations and marketing director, Laura Brower, “In June 2001, the board of The Historical Society of Washington, DC. voted to find an appropriate buyer at an appropriate price. . . . To that end, the Society has engaged the services of Pardoe Real Estate. Thus far, interested parties have included non-profits, foundations and an embassy.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Free Concert
E. James Lieberman, ejl@gwu.edu

The Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, conducted by Sylvia Alimena, invites you to a free concert at the French Embassy, 4101 Reservoir Road NW, next Sunday, November 18th at 3:00 p.m. The concert will feature pianist Christie Julien performing Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3 in E, Schubert's Overture in the Italian Style, and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World").

Important: the full names of everyone who plans to attend (please spell) must be must registered on the FMMC's office voice mail (333-2075) no later than Thursday, November 15th. Due to heightened security, cars will not be admitted to the embassy grounds. For handicapped access and those who must be dropped off at the gate, please include that in your message along with the name of the vehicle driver. The French Embassy is located across the street from Georgetown University Medical Center, and parking is available along Reservoir Road or in the hospital's parking areas, which are convenient, but not free. We hope you will be able to attend and we look forward to seeing you there!

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2001 Takoma Park Alternative Gift Market
Jason Beatty McCray, jbmccray@hotmail.com

Tired of the holiday commercial bonanza? Wish the holidays didn't bury you alive in more stuff? Want to give your loved ones presents with real meaning? The Center for a New American Dream, Alternative Gifts International, and the local community invites you to the 3rd Annual Takoma Park Alternative Gift Market this Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa season, where you will find an abundance of "gifts" that empower people in crisis, protect our endangered planet, and help your loved ones have more joy, less stuff! In the first two years, The Takoma Park Alternative Gift Market gave DC area residents the opportunity to give hundreds of non-material gifts to their relatives and friends during the holiday season. Honor your family and friends, while supporting programs that benefit people, communities, and the environment both locally and globally. Saturday, December 1st, 12-4 p.m., Presbyterian Church, Maple and Tulip Street, Takoma Park. Two blocks from Takoma Station Metro on the red line. Featuring live music, refreshments, and hand-inscribed gift cards. Contact Jason Beatty McCray at 301-891-2746 or jbmccray@hotmail.com for more information, directions, or to volunteer. For general information about the Center for a New American Dream's Simplify the holidays campaign, visit http://www.newdream.org/holiday or call 301-891-3683.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Dishwasher and Bike Rack
Kimberly Larson, klarson@pirg.org

If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested, please respond to klarson@pirg.org or call 462-6141. 1) Maytag rolling dishwasher. Purchased new May of 2000. No installation necessary — great for any kitchen currently without dishwasher. Since it's on wheels, you can put it in any spot in the kitchen, and also creating more counter space. When it's time to run a wash, just wheel over the sink and attach it to the faucet. Can get interested buyers the exact dimensions but it’s a standard size dishwasher. color: white front, wood-looking top. Asking price: $375 (was $675 new). 2) Floor to ceiling bike rack: holds two bikes one above the other. Great for a basement or garage tight on space. We had it near one wall in a dining room. Expandable to fit many heights, minor installation required (2 screws in the ceiling). $100 value Asking price: $60

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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS

Please Support the Bancroft Knitting Program
Peg Blechman, blechman@access-board.gov

The Bancroft Knitting Program is going great, but we could sure use your support. The Knitting Teacher is a certified Waldorf School Handwork Teacher. She is working with one 3rd/4th grade class for two hours once a week. The kids love it. Please consider making donations to this program; all donations go to pay the Knitting Teacher's salary and to buy supplies. Please make your check payable to the Potomac Craftsmen Guild. You can send your tax-deductible contribution to the Potomac Craftsmen Guild, c/o Gail Roehm, 8028 Fenway Rd., Beth., MD 20817. Gail will send you a receipt for your tax records. Contact me if you have any questions.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Seeking Commercial Real Estate Professional
Jon Katz, jon@markskatz.com

Please give me your recommendation for a good local commercial real estate professional. An acquaintance has an immediate need for a real estate professional who helps locate retail rental and for-purchase property in commercial and industrial zones in Maryland, and who has access to the commonly used commercial databases for doing so. All responses are appreciated.

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Repair Recommendations
Sara Cormeny, sara@paperlantern.com

I've become friendly with several of the members of this list through our shared need for home handyman and contracting services, and wanted to pass along the following resource to the list at large: Washingtonian Magazine maintains an updated list of recommended professionals for many, many homeowner services. For handyman/general house repair: http://www.washingtonian.com/etc/shopping/atyourservice.html#houserepairs. For more specialized professionals (licensed plumbers, carpenters, electricians, etc.): https://www.washingtonian.com/etc/shopping/homeownersguide/index.html.

I have only utilized the Washingtonian lists once but found a great electrician as a result. Prices are listed for many of the contractors, along with information on where their service operates (as we've all found, I'm sure, not every contractor will come into the city beyond upper Northwest), and what areas they specialize in.

Finally, some of you may have been considering Pepco's PowerChoice or Sears HomeCentral (both actually the same service, Pepco is just reselling Sears's service) for home repairs — these are services where you pay a monthly fee and then nearly all repair services for large appliances, plumbing and electricity cost you only $50/visit (most parts included!). I've had the service, and utilized it (especially for plumbing) several times over the last two years. I have saved a fair amount of money through the service over calling in a plumber or the appliance manufacturer directly, and by and large been visited by competent professionals who have gotten the job done well. But delay times are often unacceptable, and we've had a few bad apples. Pepco/Sears has always made good in the end, but usually after at least three finger-pointing phone calls (two incidents over a total of about ten uses of the service). So I would recommend the service with reservations, based on my experience.

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