Celebrate Taxation
Dear Taxpayers:
The DC government is quickly slipping back into its irresponsible
ways with massive overspending (in the slippery language of the
administration, "spending pressures") in several departments.
The Mayor and the City Council are fencing with each other over
responsibility for the overspending. The Council trying to pin the
administration down, and the administration's spokesmen are bobbing and
weaving to evade giving credible explanations for why departments can't
keep within their budgets. Even worse, there is no indication that the
administration is even considering managerial discipline as a solution
to overspending.
Instead, the government seems to be relying on a two-pronged solution
to future unbalanced budgets. The first solution is to repudiate a firm
deal that DC made with the federal government just a few years ago, when
the city government traded away its annual federal payment in exchange
for the feds assuming responsibility for financing DC's state-like
programs, like prisons and pension liabilities. Now the city government
is asking for a return of the federal payment, under other names and
guises. The second solution is to raise taxes through abandoning
scheduled tax cuts, increasing property assessments, and increasing city
income from sources like parking and traffic fines. The City Council is
considering property tax relief in the form of a cap on property
assessment increases of no more than 25 percent a year. That generous
offer would mean that for every $1,000 you pay in property taxes this
year, you'll pay no more than $2,285.16 five years from now, and no more
than $6,793.75 ten years from now. That is, of course, unless the
property tax rates rise, too.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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SHHH, Council at Work
Jonetta Rose Barras, rosebook1@aol.com
Once upon a time it was rumored that local elected officials took
their lead from the feds. DC Councilmember Kathy Patterson, head of the
Committee on the Judiciary and considered one of the hardest working
legislators, is returning the city to those yesteryears. The Ward 3
representative has introduced an amendment to the city’s Freedom of
Information Act that, if passed, could have media and watchdog groups in
pitched battle with their government, just as Congress is with President
George Bush over documents generated during private meetings of the
administration’s energy committee headed by Vice President Dick
Cheney.
Bill 14-524 allows the council to withhold from the public
information and documents gathered during its “deliberative
process,” which could include memoranda created and exchanged between
councilmembers and their staff, materials gathered in preparation of
public oversight hearings, and draft budgets. The executive branch
already has this exemption, approved in what was supposed to be stronger
FOIA laws. It appears that things just got better for elected officials
and harder for the public. “You know my support for an open
government,” Patterson says in her own defense, calling the amendment
“technical” and asserting that there is case law that already makes
it fair not to release such information. “I’m perfectly happy to put
on public record anything I do or say and to have every piece of paper
in my office opened to the public.” However, she says that some
materials may fall within a sort of “lawyer-client” relationship and
should not be available.
Maybe Patterson and her cohorts will look at federal Judge Gladys
Kessler's order to the Bush administration to turn over documents to
Congress as a clue that the Council shouldn’t introduce its hide and
don’t seek game. The public has a right to expect full disclosure.
After all, taxpayers are picking up the tab, they should expect an
opportunity to read labels and see a detailed receipt.
[Councilmember Patterson's assault on open, democratic government,
her attempt to gut DC's freedom of information laws as they apply to the
Council, is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/council14/14-524.
— Gary Imhoff]
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Tyson should not be allowed to fight in DC Allowing a convicted
rapist — a man who personifies the word violence — to headline an
event in the nation's capital is just wrong. This city already has a
reputation for violence and if it is ever going to overcome this image,
it cannot allow Mike Tyson to fight here. A Tyson fight would only send
a message to the young people of Washington that violence is accepted!
And that is exactly what we don't want to tell them.
Just look at Tyson's history of violence: 1) On January 23, during a
live televisions press conference, Mike Tyson went after Lennox Lewis
and threw a punch that triggered a melee, which knocked the president of
the World Boxing Commission, Jose Sulaiman, unconscious and landed him
in the hospital. He was treated for a concussion before being released.
The former heavyweight champion also shouted obscenities and made
obscene gestures at a reporter who suggested he be put in a
straitjacket. This happened after Tyson walked to the front of the
stage, thrust his arms in the air in triumph, and then grabbed his
crotch. According to ESPN, a source close to Lewis' camp speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the boxer reported that Tyson bit Lewis on
the left leg. Lewis' promoter Gary Shaw said he was also hit several
times. 2) On January 22, police in Las Vegas said they found evidence
supporting a woman's claim she was raped by Tyson in September 2001, but
the district attorney's office decided not to charge Tyson. Nevada
authorities also investigated rape allegations against him from November
2000. 3) Earlier in January, Tyson, angered by reporters trying to
interview him, shouted and threw glass Christmas ornaments at
journalists in the lobby of a hotel in Havana, Cuba. 4) Here in
Washington, DC, in 2000, two women accused Tyson of accosting them in a
local restaurant. They reached an out-of-court settlement. 5) In June
2000, Tyson fought Lou Savarese in Glasgow, Scotland. Tyson pummeled
Savarese for just 38 seconds before the fight was stopped. After the
bell sounded, Tyson threw three more punches, one of which floored the
referee. 6) Tyson was sentenced to a year in prison for assaulting two
motorists in a road rage incident in 1998. He spent that year at the
Montgomery County Detention Center. 7) In 1997, Tyson bit off part of
Evander Holyfield's ear during one boxing match, and in following
matches he tried to break South African boxer Francois Botha's arm even
after knocking him out, and he floored Orlin Norris after the bell had
sounded. Tyson also tested positive for marijuana following his victory
over Andrew Golota. 8) In 1991, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree
Washington, an 18-year-old beauty queen, for which he served three years
of a six-year prison term. 9) In 1990, Phyllis Polaner sued Tyson for
sexual assault and harassment. A New York City civil jury said Tyson
committed battery but that his behavior was “not outrageous.” 10) In
1989 Tyson was accused of slapping a parking attendant outside a Los
Angeles nightclub, but the charges were later dropped. 11) In 1988,
Robin Givens and her family accused Tyson of violence (spouse abuse),
which led to their divorce a year later. In one incident, police were
called to Tyson's home after he threw furniture out the window and
forced his wife and her mother to flee the house. In that same year,
Tyson broke his right hand in street brawl with former opponent Mitch
Green and was knocked unconscious after he drove his car into a tree in
a driveway. 12) In 1987, Tyson was charged with assault after allegedly
hitting a parking attendant who said he attempted to intervene when
Tyson tried to kiss a woman employee. Tyson settled out of court.
Texas, Nevada and Colorado have all denied Tyson a boxing license.
Georgia Governor Roy Barner opposed his state's boxing commission
granting Tyson a license and called Tyson a “sexual predator.” Frank
Warren, Tyson's former promoter, called for Tyson to be banned from the
sport. I know that a large number of hotel and restaurant workers have
lost their jobs during hard economic times, but a violent man like Mike
Tyson should not be portrayed as the hero for DC's laid-off workers or
for the young people of this great city. Please seek out less polarizing
and friendlier ways to bring revenue to the city. You must not turn your
back on the issue of violence. “The aftermath of violence is emptiness
and bitterness,” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a 1957 speech. Is
DC not empty and bitter enough? In a 1967 interview King also stated,
“Today there is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence.
It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” Let DC begin to exist. Do
not let Mike Tyson fight in Washington!
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Let’s Close the City, or a Satirical Look at
a Silly Idea
Tom Berry, tom@berrybest.com
This past week I received two interesting E-mails, one fer and one
agin. What the hell is this Bozo talking about, you say? A group called
People's Alliance for Rock Creek (PARC) wants to close sections of Beach
Drive during weekday non-rush hour periods — the same sections that
are currently closed to automobile traffic on weekends. This request was
made sometime last year and is now making some headway, because the
other E-mail I received was against this proposal, an obvious sign of
warring factions gearing up for some political dancing before those
whose powers they intend to sway.
For the record, I'm agin closing the Park to vehicular traffic during
non-rush hour periods. And those who want to close it had better, in
fairness, include all vehicles, including bicycles, scooters, tricycles,
wagons, pushcarts, wheelchairs, prams, skateboards, and roller blades,
to name a few other vehicles. That way the roadway will be truly safe
for all the aged amblers who'll be the nearly only ones using the park
during midday hours. By the way, isn't there an asphalt
bicycle/walking/jogging/roller blading, etc. path currently in existence
for the purposes proposed by PARC? Aren't there existing horse and
hiking trails? Isn't this an existing roadway already closed on weekends
(when most folks are able to use it for recreational purposes) to
fulfill these recreational needs? Do we need to close yet another road
in the city to satisfy the wants/demands of a few? As strongly as PARC
says this would open the park for more recreational activities, I'll
claim that this is an effort to get a foot in the door to eventually
permanently close the roadway for what it was put there for —
vehicular traffic. Klingle Road looks like it will become what PARC
seeks. The Secret Service has closed Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the
White House and E Street behind it. Now it's being suggested that we
close a major (and don't even try to tell me it isn't major) north-south
road through NW DC. In conclusion, let me simply suggest that we not
dismantle the city's infrastructure piecemeal, but immediately go all
the way and hire the glass pyramid Louvre architect, E.M. Pei, to design
a glass dome to cover the entirety of DC, remove all vehicles from the
city, and turn it into a pure walking city. Ah, then we could breathe
fresh (filtered) air whilst watching the birds crap on the dome, stroll
across streets without bumping into those proliferating crosswalk signs
in the middle of roads, and tax commuters as they walk into our fair
Utopia, appropriately renamed, what else, Ronald Reagan Washington, DC.
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Hey, Big Spender
Jonetta Rose Barras, rosebook1@aol.com
The cash-strapped District government might save some money if it
capped its use and pay of consultants. A review of contracting by the
Office of the Chief Financial Officer serves as example of the spending
that occurs but frequently is out of sight and not monitored by the
media or so-called good government groups. The sums aren’t large, but
they suggest a pattern of spending, uncontrolled even by the
“independent CFO.” This fiscal year, Gandhi’s operation is paying
$900 for Frank Milligan, Chief of Internal Security, to attend an ethics
conference. Milligan’s operation handles plant security for CFO
offices and background checks on potential employees. Yes, his group did
the background on Sam Kaiser, the man who pretended to be a lawyer and
an Oxford graduate; he fooled the Control Board’s general counsel and
later the CFO with his fraudulent credentials, long enough to pick up a
nice piece of change from taxpayer financed coffers. CFO spokesperson
Clarice Nassif Ransom says Milligan's team did just fine, thank you very
much. “They discovered the problem.” But how long did it take? Maybe
Milligan needs a tad more training in background checks than in ethics.
What do you think?
For serving as a panelist reviewing mini-subgrants to small
nonprofits, Sylvia Elain Joice received $2,400. How large were the
grants to the organizations? Then there is Thomas Cosgrove, hired to
perform consulting services in the Office of the chief Information
Officer (OCIO; if all these acronyms are causing your head to spin, you
aren’t alone.) Cosgrove is being paid $342,160. Maynard Gambrell, head
of the information office, says that Cosgrove knows the District and was
one of a few people who also knew the applications for the financial
management and payroll computer systems used by the operation. He says
Cosgrove is being used full-time, and that he hopes to eventually hire a
regular staffer for the job. In the meantime, however, the CFO has made
hiring at a lower salary almost impossible. He isn’t making things any
better with the cash he’s paying out to Doneg MacDonough, “contract
administrator for Medicaid submission from various DC agencies and
facilitation of transition of DC General”; he is being paid $220,800.
Much of the school system’s current projected deficit of nearly $80
million is directly related to Medicaid. In all fairness, MacDonough
didn’t come on until September 30, 2001. Let’s give him until June
to see if he can earn his keep. The Greater Washington Research
Center/Brookings Institute, in the person of former District government
employee Carol Meyer, received $5,402 for providing “budget review and
analysis services to the CFO.” Don’t think tanks receive grants for
doing this kind of work? Isn’t that the nature of their business? Is
this the place in the story where someone reaches for the CFO's
checkbook?
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Government in the Sunshine
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
How about a little sunshine into the darkness of our current
administration. I'd surely like to see a listing of all the Departments,
the amount that they have overspent their budgets during the current
fiscal year, and what their excuse is for overrunning their budget. Here
are my suggestions: any organization that exceeded their budget for this
past year would get only what the budget amount was last year; any
organization that overruns their budget next year will have the
following year's budget debited by the overrun in the following year.
This is not intended to be a Draconian oversight process for the
budget. Budgets should not be cast in concrete. There should be room for
any department to make a request for a budget adjustment when that
department can show that the benefits of spending more on an existing
initiative, or adding funds for a new initiative have a higher priority
than other, lower priority, initiatives of the District. This takes a
cooperative form of alliance among the Departments in adjusting budgets
to keep the total in balance. Perhaps that is too much to ask for. In
the meantime I'd like to see the over-runners exposed. What are we
getting for our tax dollars?
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Give me Barry.
[The March 6 issue of themail asked which mayor you would prefer as a
candidate, Williams or Barry. — Gary Imhoff]
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I hold Barry personally responsible for the murders and poverty that
have been (and will continue to be) experienced by generations of young
black men in our city. He did unbelievable and inexcusable harm. What's
truly unfortunate is that those most adversely affected by his actions
are often those most willing to support him . . . and he cynically and
pathetically preys upon them.
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Marion Berry
Mark Richards, West of the River and East of the Park, mark@bisconti.com
If anyone is interested in the really tasty Marion Berry, you can buy
it from Behrendsen Farms, 37204 NW Pacific Hwy, Woodland, Washington,
Tel 360-798-8946. My sister brought me a bottle of this deep purplish
and textured delight. She discovered it while visiting her husband's
family out that way. At the dinner table, her mother-in-law commented
that Marion Berry is unique to their region and a favorite of Washington
State. (My sister was surprised to hear this comment until her
mother-in-law produced the goods. She decided right then and there to
bring me a bottle.) That was months ago. Today, March 9th, something
inspired me to open my bottle of Marion Berry, and now I can see why
they love it. It is GRRRR-E-A-T!!!! An entrepreneur really should
consider importing it to DC, cause you're going to love it.
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A Permit to Speak?
Art Spitzer, ACLU, artspitzer@aol.com
Gregory Diaz, Zaidmot@aol.com,
writes [themail, March 6]: “One might question why a permit is even
needed to stand up in a public place and vent one's views (we used to
call it 'Freedom of Speech' in the old days). . . .”
In fact, no permit was required if all the man was doing was standing
up in Dupont Circle and venting his views. Dupont Circle is National
Park Service property, and the NPS regulations provide that no permit is
needed for demonstrations by groups of 25 or fewer people. 36 CFR
§7.96(g)(2)(i). (If the man were using a podium or other structure,
that would require a permit.) The Park Police generally know this rule,
so I wonder what was going on?
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Taxation and License Plates
Victor Chudowsky, vchudows@yahoo.com
I agree with Zinnia's post about property tax assessments [themail,
March 6]. It is outrageous the way they have gone up. I've also been
nailed with two consecutive increases of more than 20 percent, and my
nice but modest house is now worth the same as a suburban mansionette.
I'm paying almost $2,000 more than two years ago with little
corresponding visible improvement in any city services I “enjoy.”
Now I have to go through an appeals process to revise my assessment,
which I suspect will be a nightmare. In addition, Mayor Williams'
backtracking on the tax cut means a small cut out of my pay as well.
Which brings me to “Taxation without Representation.” True, we
have no representation before Congress, but on the other hand the
federal government isn't slamming us with 20 percent increases every
year like the District's. Perhaps the license plate motto can be
shortened to merely “Taxation,” which is both accurate and
nonpolitical. Or we can combine the old “Celebrate and Discover”
with the new motto, resulting in “Celebrate Taxation.”
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Code Words on District License Plates
Paul Michael Brown, pmb@his.com
I read with amusement the efforts by some to convince us that
“Taxation Without Representation” is not a political statement,
whereas “NO Taxation Without Representation” would be a political
slogan. A slogan is a slogan, even if couched in an abbreviated form
that leaves it up to the reader to supply the missing words. Suppose one
of the states in the former Confederacy decided to put “Traditions of
the Old South” on its license plates. Does anybody seriously contend
that those code words would not cause an uproar, merely because the
language wasn't “Preserving the Traditions of the Old South”? The
DMV should not be in the slogan business.
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Katie Hodges argues that some in the city do not feel that they lack
representation, transforming the factual observation that we have
“taxation without representation” into a political slogan. The basis
for this belief is the concept that all members of Congress are supposed
to “represent” the District by overseeing its affairs. Well, with
all due respect to those who feel that way, that's nonsense. One can
argue that the situation is reasonable, desirable, or ideal, but one
can't argue that it's anything but what it is. Are we taxed? Yes. Are we
represented? Not by any reasonable definition of the word. If you think
the license plate slogan is not a fact, you've got to go back to
revolutionary times and correct the history books to mention that the
American colonists did, in fact, enjoy representation in the British
government — after all the British government was responsible for
looking out for the colonies' affairs!
I'm not saying that there's no room for different viewpoints about
the proper governance of the District — just that those arguing
against representation need to at least be honest and admit that we
don't have it and that they believe we shouldn't. And as for the
statement being political because it elicits a strong response, well,
that is true. Just like “Your house is on fire,” “Whites Only”
signs on restrooms, and “President Bush didn't win the popular
vote.” Sometimes reality has that effect.
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Did you see the recent article in the Washington Post's Home
section? It offers some resources in the city government for tree
maintenance: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11798-2002Feb27.html.
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This is to advise that the March 2002 on-line edition has been
uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com.
Included are the lead stories, community news items and 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. Here you will be able to
view the entire issue as it looks in print, including the new ABC Board
actions report, all photos and advertisements.
The next issue will publish on April 12. The complete PDF version
will be posted by early that Friday morning, following which the text of
the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded
shortly thereafter. To read this month's lead stories, simply click the
link on the home page to the following headlines: (1) “Mt. Vernon
Square Baseball Stadium Plan Strikes Out With Neighborhood Residents”;
(2) “Orange Hat Patrol Targets Prostitution, Video Store”; (3)
“Re-development Reaching Critical Mass East of Logan Circle, Along
11th Street.”
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Public Reservation 13 — Additional Meeting
Date
Karina, Ricks, Office of Planning, Karina.Ricks@dc.gov
Thank you to everyone who participated in last weekend's Reservation
13 planning workshop and any of the previous planning meetings. It was,
by most accounts, a very successful event that moved us a significant
step forward in developing a Draft Master Plan that becomes a framework
for future use of the site. Several people indicated, however, that they
wanted an additional opportunity to review the rough draft plan and
principles that evolved from the workshop, previous research, and other
information.
We want to provide that opportunity on Saturday, March 16th from 10
a.m. to noon at the DC Armory. This is not an additional meeting --
several other people also indicated they were “meeting-ed out” —
but an open-house period when the architect/designer consultants, DC
planners, and other resource people will be available to discuss the
plan and process. A composite plan, the “planning principles”
diagrams from Sunday, and the issue-area plans participants drew up on
Saturday will all be available to review. The final presentation is
still scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, from 6:30-8:00 p.m.
(tentatively located at Eastern High School).
Also, as a reminder, the web site http://www.publicspace.justicesustainability.com
has a tremendous amount of information regarding background on the site,
documentation of the previous meetings, and discussions. For more
information contact DC Office of Planning, 442-7600, karina.ricks@dc.gov.
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Community Information Forum on Interim
Disability Assistance
T.J. Sutcliffe, tjsutcliffe@some.org
Service providers and consumers will not want to miss this
opportunity to learn about the District's new Interim Disability
Assistance (IDA) program, which provides short-term financial support to
DC residents with disabilities who are applying for federal SSI
“disability” benefits. Cosponsored by So Others Might Eat (SOME),
Washington Council of Agencies, and Washington Legal Clinic for the
Homeless. Call T.J. Sutcliffe at 797-0701, ext. 107 for more
information. Wednesday, March 13, 2002. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the
Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5. Free.
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CHIME’s “Music Around the World” series of free programs at DC
public libraries continues in March with the following not-to-be-missed
programs featuring opera and Arabic music. On Saturday, March 9, at Mt.
Pleasant Library (16th and Lamont Streets, NW), from 7-8 p.m.,
Washington Opera Docent Betty Byrne presents a multimedia program for
older children and adults on the history of opera, in which she traces
the history of opera from its baroque beginnings to the modern day.
Enjoy an hour of opera politics from Caesar to Nixon!
Educator and saxophonist Grant Chamberlain presents music of the Arab
peoples on Saturday, March 16 at Lamond-Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota
Avenue, NE, near Kennedy Street) from 2-3 p.m. Grant formed an
Israeli-Palestinian jazz band when he taught music in Ramallah. In his
performance-demonstration he will convey a sense of the diversity of the
music and cultures of the Middle East as well as characteristic
similarities. He will demonstrate the basic sounds of Arab music,
explain when and why they perform music and what instruments are used,
and give a basic overview of the history of music in the Middle East.
For a schedule of the complete series of 19 programs or for more
information about these programs or CHIME (Community Help in Music
Education) visit our web site, http://www.chime-dc.org,
or contact us at info@chime-dc.org.
We are an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to promote and
provide music education for DC youth, during and outside of school. We
welcome volunteers and donations of money and instruments.
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Gala Theater
Agate J. Tilmanis, atil@loc.gov
In the last themail [March 6], Cynthia Benjamin asked people to come
watch her make an utter fool of herself at the Gala Theater. I saw the
production of “The Truth Can't Be Trusted” last Saturday. Go, see
it! It is beautifully done in that little theater. And you can place
your name in a raffle to win a chair decorated by an Uruguayan artist.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Tutor for Nikon CoolPix 995
Barbara Bode, bb@cashcares.com
Digital Diva Wannabe just bought a Nikon CoolPix 995 that requires
skills well beyond my knowledge base. How undereducated am I? I needed
help figuring out how to put the camera on the tripod! I'm looking for
someone whose tutoring I can afford, who will spend several hours over
he course of a week or two teaching me how to use this wonderful camera
easily and effectively. Please E-mail me at bb@CashCares.com
or call 588-9598.
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DC ACLU Seeks Paralegal
Art Spitzer, ArtSpitzer@aol.com
The ACLU of the National Capital Area invites applications for a
full-time paralegal position beginning in or about May 2002. The ACLU of
the National Capital Area is the local office of the American Civil
Liberties Union for Washington, DC, and its Maryland suburbs. The
American Civil Liberties Union is the nation's oldest and largest
organization devoted to protecting civil liberties and civil rights for
all Americans, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom
from discrimination, and freedom from police brutality. More information
about the ACLU is available at http://www.aclu.org. The paralegal will
work under the supervision of the Legal Director and staff attorneys,
assisting them with factual and legal research on incoming requests for
ACLU legal help and ongoing legal cases and legislative matters, and in
preparing court papers for filing, maintaining Legal Department files,
responding to telephone inquiries, interviewing potential clients and
witnesses, and other assignments at the request of the Legal Director
and staff attorneys.
Some familiarity with legal concepts and materials is a plus, but no
prior legal or paralegal training or experience is required. Applicants
must be willing to work hard and learn, must be well-organized and
attentive to detail, must be able to handle many tasks at once, work
well under pressure and meet deadlines, and must care strongly about the
quality of the work they produce. Applicants should have strong research
and writing skills, computer literacy, good telephone manner, and the
ability to work well with others. Applicants should also be committed to
assisting the ACLU in protecting civil liberties and civil rights, which
may sometimes include working on controversial issues or on behalf of
unpopular clients. Compensation will be set according to experience, and
includes the standard ACLU benefits package.
To apply, please send a letter explaining your interest in the
position, a current resume, a transcript from the highest educational
institution you have attended (this need not be an official transcript),
the names and telephone numbers of two references, and a nonfiction
writing sample, to Sarah Ghani, ACLU of the National Capital Area, 1400
20th Street NW, Suite 119, 20036-5920. Review of applications will begin
on March 18. The position will remain open until filled.
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The DC Preservation League is looking for a part-time office manager.
The person will work directly with the President of DCPL, Board members,
grants administrator, development consultant, committees, members and
volunteers. The position requires someone who can work with minimal
supervision, has good organizational and telephone skills, and
experience with MS office programs and use of the Internet. Also
desirable would be acquaintance with FileMaker Pro, QuickBooks and web
site maintenance. Responsibilities include all aspects of the office's
administrative functions, which encompass support for fundraising
projects, correspondence, media relations, accounts payable, and
mailings. Opportunity to work directly on activities involving historic
preservation plans and activities in DC and related work of DCPL in
reviewing proposed development affecting historic sites, research on and
consideration of the landmarking of historic places, assisting
communities in their historic preservation plans, and informing and
educating the community about historical aspects of our neighborhoods
and downtown area. Resume and letter of interest to be sent to
President, DC Preservation League, 1815 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 200,
20006 or by E-mail to dcpreserv@aol.com.
Questions, call 955-5616.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Furnished Apartment for Rent, Adams Morgan
Irina Livezeanu, irinal+@pitt.edu
Charming fully furnished 1 bedroom apartment available in Adams
Morgan (near Calvert Street and Adams Mill Road). Prefer one year lease,
would consider shorter; cat allowed; no smoking please. $1400/month.
Pet-friendly 1910 redone Deco period building, very well maintained,
great location, close to restaurants, ten minutes to Metro; balcony off
bedroom, sunny exposure, track and mood lighting, CAC, and fan,
washer/dryer in unit, cable TV/VCR, great customized closet space, bike,
and other storage. The rent includes all utilities and local phone,
voicemail, cable TV, VCR, furnishings, sheets, towels, etc. The unit has
a small balcony, A/C, carpet, washer/dryer, basement storage area, two
custom closets (6' and 10'), mood lighting throughout, and mounted
speakers. More importantly, the building allows small pets. Centrally
located, near Woodley Park/Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro, easy access to Rock
Creek Park, located across from a neighborhood park. For more scoop
please contact Lynne Mersfelder-Lewis or Don Lewis at home at 362-9494;
or Lynne at work at 301-563-1174 or cell 257-1730 or via E-mail at Lynne.Mersfelder@noaa.gov.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — ASSISTANCE
To Be or Not to Be a State
Sameer Sheikh, spsheikh@hotmail.com
I am a high school student and I am writing a paper on the District
of Columbia's fight for Statehood, which I will later present to the
rest of the school. In the paper I try to describe the competing
arguments in the policy area, discern what divides the Democrats and
Republicans on the issue, and assess each competing claim. I would
appreciate any assistance or direction you could give me. If all turns
out well, as I imagine it will, I will get to present my findings at
Harvard University, as I did once before. Thanks in advance.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — PETS
Kitties Looking for New Home!
Sven Abow, sabow@boo.net
Please take a moment and think about giving two lovable cats a home.
Our names are Mikah (white/brown/gray tabby) and Tashirah (gray with
beige markings), and we're as sweet as can be. Our current owners, Katea
and Sven, need to find a new home for us and we thought you or one of
your friends might want us. We're two four-year-old females, we're
spayed and perfect ladies, always using our litter box.
###############
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