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November 28, 2001

Decoding the Double Talk

Dear Decoders:

Set your decoder rings to deep doo-doo, and read the policy statement that Stan Jackson, the acting director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, issued on November 13 (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/dhcd011113.htm). Reading between the lines, this statement reveals that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is finally beginning to put pressure on DHCD to make the Community Development Corporations responsible and accountable, and it has at last forbidden DHCD from illegally funding the CDCs' staff salaries and organizational expenses with federal funds that are specifically intended for development projects. Furthermore, federal Neighborhood Development Assistance Program funds, which DHCD had previously given only to CDCs, will now be available to all community-based groups, and CDCs will have to compete for them.

In addition, under Jackson, DHCD has continued a policy begun by deposed director Milton Bailey, and is still demanding that CDCs file their required financial reports. However, the CDCs are striking back. They have been accustomed for decades to the city government's turning a blind eye to their wasting and misusing city funds, and they will not change their ways without a fight. Even though Jackson's statement seems to promise that DHCD will reform the CDCs as little as possible, that little is still too much. Having forced Bailey out, the CDCs have now turned their considerable political power against Jackson. Jackson's confirmation hearing as permanent director of DHCD was scheduled to be held this morning before Harold Brazil's Committee on Economic Development, but it was canceled at the last minute -- or, as the Council prefers to say, it was postponed until an undetermined date. The snag was heavy lobbying against Jackson's nomination by Robert Pohlman, head of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, which represents the CDCs. The CDCs are continuing to protest having to report their finances and detail their projects, and it remains unclear whether the City Council or the administration has the backbone to stand up to them.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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In Annual Capitol Tradition, DC Gets Held Up by Congress
Mark Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

DC's fiscal year ended the last of September, two months ago. In these extraordinary times, perhaps we should forgive the Congressional leadership for holding up DC's budget by not scheduling a meeting to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the DC Appropriations bill. But, unfortunately, this tardy behavior is a habit. In 1996, the budget was delayed seven months; in 1998, 2000, and 2001, it was delayed a month and a half; and in 1999 it was delayed three weeks. The DC government keeps picking up your trash and answering the telephones because Congress passes Continuing Resolutions to extend the prior year's funding. Considering that DC officials must start annual budgeting nine months in advance in order to allow Congress time to go through the massive bureaucracy, delays only exasperate the lag time between planning and implementation. The delay costs District taxpayers lost interest, and new programs, grants, or funding can't start until the bill passes. So what's the hold up? Partisan politics. Don't expect the actual conference on the DC bill till at least the end of next week. Just in time for the Mayor and Council to start all over again for next year's budget battle.

For those who want to make calls to Congress, there is time — the more calls the better. There are significant differences between the Senate and the House version, and in most cases, the Senate version is better from a DC Home Rule point-of-view. The House seems to be better to DC on funding for emergency preparedness. In case you wondered if anybody in the fifty states cares about DC's local budget, have a look at the following selection of items that fall into the “culture wars” category. Domestic partnership seems to have dominated the "activist alert" circuit this year. Many of these groups failed to mention that this is already a DC Law that has been blocked by Congress — it is a Home Rule issue. That's a difficult concept to grasp, I realize. Some of these notices make for interesting reading and could offer some clues to why Congress is sitting on DC's money.

AIDS Action Council: http://politics.yahoo.com/issue_watch/organization/aac/CA62573aac/
American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org/action/dcapprops107.html
Concerned Women for America: http://www.cwfa.org/library/family/2001-09-25_letter.shtml
Family Research Council: http://www.frc.org/gov/l01i011.cfm?CFID=215051&CFTOKEN=88013730
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance: http://www.glaa.org/
Human Rights Campaign: http://www.glinn.com/news/polact1.htm
InJesus.com: http://www.injesus.com/ViewMessage.cfm?MessageId=AB0062OI&GroupID=ZA003TZR
Log Cabin Republicans: http://www.lcr.org/press/20010925House.asp
Religious Freedom Coalition: http://www.rfcnet.org/legislation/rfcaction/092801_rfcalert.htm

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Citizen Input
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

This Saturday morning, December 1, Mayor Williams will host a Neighborhood Action Forum in the Grand Ballroom of the J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The forum is a follow-up session to the October 6th Citizen Summit II. It is supposed “to increase citizen involvement in creating the city we want,” and to secure citizens' input into the Mayor's citywide strategic plan. The cost of the four-and-a-half hour session will exceed $153,000. The Mayor's call for citizen participation and input, however, conflicts with other recent actions by the Williams administration.

At the newly renovated Wilson Building, only two offices are either locked or inaccessible to citizens. The only locked office is, ironically, the Office of Community Outreach, Religious Affairs, and Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Affairs, Room 211. If you knock on the locked door, the Office's policy is for someone to come to the door and block access until the visitor explains what he wants. Larry Hemphill, the Director of the Office of Community Outreach, explains that the door is locked for security reasons, but the Wilson Building offices of the Council, City Administrators, Deputy Mayors, Corporation Counsel, Chief Financial Officer, and so on, aren't locked. The inaccessible office is the Mayor's office. In the renovation of the Wilson Building, a six-story addition was constructed, filling in the building's former interior courtyard. The top floor of the addition, designated as the penthouse, houses the new office of the Mayor. The average citizen shouldn't expect to drop by the Mayor's new digs anytime soon, however. The public elevators go only to the fifth floor, and only those with a special elevator key or invitation will get to the penthouse.

It remains extremely difficult for citizen, community, and civic groups — as opposed to business organizations and political donors — to get meetings with the Mayor or members of his cabinet. A recent example: yesterday evening David Clark, the new Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, was the scheduled speaker at the monthly meeting of the Federation of Citizens Associations, an umbrella group of about 35 community associations that has been highly supportive of the Mayor. Neither Clark nor any representative of DCRA showed at the meeting, despite an affirmative response to a faxed letter of invitation and repeated confirmations from the Department. At his press conference today, Mayor Williams's reaction to Clark's no-show was to dismiss it with the assurance that he was sure Clark had a good reason not to come.

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A Modest Request to Readers of themail
Harold Foster, Harold.Foster@ppd.mncppc.org

I am trying to get either of the cable operators in DC -- Comcast and StarPower -- to pick up the SpeedVision channel. I am a big road racing fan and, until about a month ago, was able to get SV on what has been turned into DC Comcast out of our old, much-maligned District Cablevision.

The only reason I subscribe to cable in the first place is because I am (still) one of those odd ducks who actually believed the original spiel about cable being a niche market-oriented service for those of us who were interested in topics and programming — like Formula One motor sports — that almost inherently don't generate the numbers to justify coverage by the over-the-air broadcast networks. Worked fine, at least for a “cylinder head” like me, until October 20th, when I turned on my new Comcast channel lineup to discover that SpeedVision — which carries about 85 percent of the programming I am watching whenever I am using my TV for something other than a video outlet for one of our VCRs — had been dropped. Not only dropped: Comcast made it clear it won't be restored when(ever) this great in-town system upgrade of theirs is complete.

So I am on my way over to StarPower in hopes I won't have to have holes drilled in my house walls to accommodate a satellite dish, just to get about 30 weekends worth of grand prix and sports/prototype racing. So, I would very much appreciate it if all here would do me a favor: please E-mail StarPower and ask them to pick-up SpeedVision in their cable channel lineup.

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Getting Smelly
Paul Penniman, mathteachingtoday@earthlink.net

I have finally concluded that my plumber, Joseph H. Bauer, has no interest in installing a new shower stall in my basement, after three phone calls over the past two weeks have produced no reply. Is this a job that a plumber would not do? I would pick up the stall myself at Atlantic Plumbing downtown, but it is too big and fragile for any vehicle that I or any of my friends own.

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Cars in the City
Phill Wolf, NE, pbwo!f@bellatlantic.net (not !, l)

Gary Imhoff wrote, “now that I live in the inner city I find that I need a car in order to get to the suburbs.” Anyone tried car-sharing? Zipcar says it offers its members by-the-hour access to cars stashed here and there around town; Flexcar promises to do the same, and has announced a deal with Metro. (All this from their web sites.) Metro's Flexcar press release: http://www.wmata.com/about/Met_news/200109/pr_carsharing.htm

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Red Lights Mean Go
Gary James, Washington DC, jamesgang@worldnet.att.net

What I find interesting here is the number of times I sit behind drivers who “sleep” through the green lights, talking on their cell phones, reading, doing make up, talking to the person next to them, yelling at their kids in the back seat, studying maps, changing CDs, slurping drinks . . . then run red lights! Hey. How about watching what you're doing, going when it's green, then not having to make up for it when it's red.

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Cameras and Speeding
Dona Lenkin, lenkind@od.nih.gov

Does anyone have information concerning the ticketing of cars for speeding via a camera?

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More Red Lights
James Treworgy, jamie@trewtech.com

I did not intend to trivialize the problem — as I said previously, I wanted to point out that the "solution" as implemented is costly and problematic.

The $7 billion in property damage, medical bills, etc., that is caused annually is, on a per capita basis, $11.7 million per year for DC. This is in total less than Lockheed Martin expects to earn now, and for only an incremental improvement in the red-light running problem citywide. According to http://www.redmeansstop.com, violations are down 60 to 90 percent at the intersections in question. What about the rest of the intersections in the city? What is the citywide reduction in property damage and casualty we are seeing now? For only a few billion a year we could probably monitor every intersection in DC, and achieve this reduction in red light running citywide that you say is currently seen at monitored intersections. Of course if red light running is actually reduced 90 percent citywide, I assume that we'd be paying Lockheed Martin out of the tax base, rather than out of the fines, which would no longer cover the cost. While this reduction would be quite an accomplishment, how much would it cost us to see such significant benefits citywide? Would it be worth it, compared to other concerns that face us in DC?

This is without discussing problems with the idea of having cameras at every corner, but just simple economics. There are many concerns raised by this kind of policing in general, which I'm sure could be argued endlessly, so I'm simply pointing out that this solution doesn't seem to make much economic sense, unless you're Lockheed Martin.

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Red Lights and Lights in General
John Noble, johnnoble46@hotmail.com

I don't have a problem for cracking down on red-light runners, in fact, I am a former offender. Last year, I thought I was going through a yellow and could not really see the light change, as there was a truck in front of me blocking the light's final change to red. A couple of weeks later, there was my Jetta photographed, sure enough, going through the light. I am totally OK with this. Now, I take my time and find myself driving more cautiously and much less aggressively, especially at intersections. My complaint with traffic lights here in the District has nothing to do with cameras but with the overall lack of timing of the lights on our major thoroughfares and traffic circles. Is it just me, or are these things completely out of synch? Maybe this has been covered before in themail, and maybe it has something to do with security, but it really is frustrating. It seems most cities (I hate to cite New York, but . . . well . . .) I visit seem to have a stream of subsequent green lights contributing to a much nicer flow of traffic down the major corridors. Does anyone know if there is something being done to correct this, or is it something done purposefully that I have to learn to live with?

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Safety?
Ralston Cox, Strivers' Section Historic District, Dupont Circle, ralstoncox@earthlink.net

What's the deal with the ugly yellow "yield to pedestrians" markers suddenly appearing in the middle the road at many intersections in my area? I know that the safety of pedestrians (myself among them) should certainly be of concern to drivers (myself among them) when approaching intersections, but why do we have to ugly up the streetscape — and create yet another visual distraction — with these ghastly little rubberized signposts?

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Disadvantage Cars?
Danilo Pelletiere, dpelleti@gmu.edu

Few would argue with Gary's assertion that for the foreseeable future cars and other modes of transportation, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians will have to coexist on the city's streets. The idea, however, that in Washington “We've gone through three decades of urban policy aimed at making owning a car increasingly inconvenient and expensive, in order to discourage private cars and encourage mass transportation,” requires a little substantiation. What are these policies to discourage car use? Higher gas taxes, parking, registration and residential parking permit fees? Have parking impact fees been implemented or toll roads? Or how about decreased parking opportunities, pedestrian and transit right-of-ways that decrease automobile lane capacity?

In the nearly two decades I have lived here I have seen registration and residential parking fees and gas taxes remain nearly level, indeed they have likely declined in real terms, while I have experienced a number of Metro fare increases. I have seen the number of pedestrian-only areas decline (recent White House actions aside), the amount of parking in my neighborhood increased and the enforcement of neighborhood parking regulations decline. I have seen massive rebuilding projects of the SE-SW freeway, the Whitehurst freeway, and other major commuter roads. Even as neighborhood roads deteriorated, bike paths and sidewalks crumbled and in many places even disappeared completely. Many neighborhoods in the Eastern portion of the city, particularly east of the River, still don't have sidewalks, and after road construction crosswalks are repainted haphazardly if at all. It is true that during five decades of urban policy encouraging car use through freeway construction, urban renewal projects where every house had two parking spaces, and downtown malls with adjacent parking structures, there have been limited policies to encourage transit, due in part to air pollution concerns and now to private urban development interest. But there have been no policies that I am aware of to discourage driving in D.C. To date, DC employees receive free parking but no Metro subsidy, Federal workers only started receiving the subsidy in the past few years. So I issue a challenge, what are these policies you refer to?

I think you'll find that neighborhood streets and traffic may be put at a disadvantage to commuter traffic, but cars have not been disadvantaged relative to transit. (In the way of full disclosure, I am the current chair of the DC Sierra Club.)

[I was hoping not to reopen the old drivers versus anti-car activists debate, but to see whether anyone has any new coexistence strategies that aren't aimed at making life harder for either group. However, since Danilo has issued a challenge, I'll mention just two anti-car policies: as a result of lobbying by environmentalists and, more importantly, political donations by private parking-lot owners, DC hasn't built a single municipal parking lot; and car fees and faxes are significantly higher in DC than in surrounding states, which is why so many DC drivers register their cars illegally in Virginia. — Gary Imhoff]

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DC Maternity Wards
David Pansegrouw, dpansegrouw@atpco.net

Both of my children were born at Columbia Hospital for Women. My wife and I are very positive on the place. From the experience of our first child's birth, we didn't want to be anywhere else for the second. As someone who is occasionally skeptical (and frequently critical) of "modern medicine," that is not said lightly.

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Chinese Vegetarian Cooking
Ellen Compton-Tejera, eacompto@erols.com

As a non-vegetarian who likes good vegetarian cooking, I recommend the Vegetable Garden's creative Chinese menu. You'll find it in the strip mall directly across Rockville Pike from the White Flint Metro Station. Enjoy.

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Locally Produced Documentaries and Films at Studio 650
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

If you're a fan of the documentary and independent film form, one of the best showcases of local producers here in the DC area is at Studio 650, 650 Massachusetts Ave., NW. (subway stop, Gallery Place/Chinatown). Best as I can recall, the screenings are free, although a $5 or $10 donation is accepted. Seating capacity is about 300, so you need to arrive early if you want a good seat. Parking is ample. Further info at http://www.studio650.com. I was so inspired by one of the films I saw at Studio 650 two years ago that I put it up on the web for free as a volunteer service to the nonprofit organization in DC that produced it, the Earth Conservation Corps (with their permission). This film, about the return of the bald eagle to the Anacostia River and the city youths that made this happen, can be viewed in streaming RealVideo format at http://storymakers.net/endangeredspecies256.ram. You'll need a cable modem or DSL connection to view it. The documentary is about 40 minutes in length. After watching the video, visit the Earth Conservation Corps web site: http://www.earthconcorps.org. These folks are doing incredibly positive things for our community in DC. They deserve our support.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Oyster Elementary Bilingual Holiday Book Fair
Nialle Condensa, NCondensa@aol.com

Oyster Bilingual Elementary School's annual bilingual holiday book fair will be held December 3rd-8th. Don't miss this exciting bilingual book fair coming to Oyster Elementary School (2801 Calvert Street, NW) just in time for the holiday season. It features wonderful books in English and Spanish from over 100 publishers. Hours are Monday, December 3rd, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday (December 4th through 7th) from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, December 8th, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 671-3111, and ask for Laura Kleinmann.

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Holiday Book Sale
Jill Bogard, jill_bogard@ace.nche.edu

The Friends of the Cleveland Park Library will hold a mini-book sale on Saturday, December 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Newark Street entrance (in front of the first floor auditorium). (Take Metro red line to Cleveland Park; walk one block south.) We have lots of beautiful, pristine art and picture books (coffee table variety), brand new cookbooks, some new children's books, and assorted fiction and nonfiction. All are suitable as gifts. Do your holiday gift shopping early! You'll get high quality and low prices. As always, the proceeds go to support our local library. For more information, contact Nathalie Black at 362-3599 or nvblack@earthlink.net.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Wonderful Cleveland/Woodley Park Apartment for Rent
Andrew Mack, amack@visionsdc.com

I have this wonderful apartment on the border between Cleveland and Woodley Park. It's beautiful -- two bedrooms, large bathroom with both bath and shower, solarium, breakfast room. The building is a classic 1929 Aztec Art deco with 24 hour security plus doorman, fountain out front, park to the side, laundry room, small workout room, just a short walk to the red line. 2737 Devonshire Place is the address, about 1 1/2 blocks north of the zoo (Devonshire dead-ends into the Kennedy Warren, if people aren't familiar). It's a real nice place, quiet but centrally located, really nice staff and neighbors. Easily comfortable for two at almost 1500 square feet. The apartment is actually available as we speak (the renter moved out early). Rent has been reduced to $2,250, which is what other similar apartments in the building have been going for. It is a lovely place and you will love living there! Please contact me at 256-1077 for more info if you are interested.

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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED

Looking for a 19" Rack Mount Cabinet
Vernard R. Gray, nsagi@interchange.org

Nonprofit technology organization (DC-based) seeks a 19" rack mount cabinet to house its audio equipment. Although we have a small budget for this item, donations are tax-exempt and are always welcome. If you know where we might acquire such an item, please contact Vernard R. Gray, ConnectDC2000, 347-6330 office, 262-7571cell, nsagi@interchange.org.

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