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March 17, 2002

Time for Some Good News

Dear Washingtonians:

Depressing news about our city, day after day, gets us all down. Read through this issue of themail, and you'll find plenty to get you down. What we need is some good news about the city government and the direction of the city, but the administration has lost any vision that it ever had about what good news is. Good news isn't a major boxing match, or a marathon race that paralyzes the city, or a new sports stadium, or a second new sports stadium, or a third new sports stadium, or any of the circuses with which the city's administration hopes to distract attention from the fact that it still don't know how to deliver basic services, hire good managers, and keep within a budget.

Give us some good news, please. Announce for the twentieth time that police are going to start walking beats in neighborhoods, and this time really do it. Announce that a manager has been fired for wasting taxpayers' money and going over budget; that several CDCs (not just one) won't get any more city projects or grants because they can't account for the money they've been given for decades; that somebody who faked his resume to get a job has lost his job; that one agency — any agency — has decided that it's there to serve the public, and that the public isn't there to serve it. Surprise us.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com 

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“Spending Pressures”
Shaun Snyder, shaunsnyder@erols.com 

I keep hearing the term “spending pressures” coming out of the mayor's office and from Natwar Gandhi. I really don't care what the spending pressures are, but I do care about the budget. Spending pressures won't bring back the Control Board; unchecked spending by the mayor's agencies will.

If you've ever seen the movie “Falling Down” with Michael Douglas, you might remember the part where he explained to the road crew how government spending really works. Basically, if you don't spend all the money they gave you this year, they won't give you more next year. It takes a responsible executive to tell his agencies that we can't afford to live like that right now. Where is that responsible executive?

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Allegations about the Fire Chief and Others
Keith Jarrell, ANC 6A, keithndc@starpower.net 

I am not sure if these allegations are true or not. I've heard them now for months and frankly think that it is time they be addressed. I've heard Chief Few speak in public and was not impressed. I, too, am wondering about his credentials and the credentials of those he has chosen to surround himself with. The people of the District of Columbia deserve to know the truth about the backgrounds of these people, especially in the wake of September 11th.

I've forwarded an E-mail to Councilmember Patterson's office to ask if they think these outstanding questions are of a major concern or not. I am confident that we'll hear something from them soon.

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Parking Enforcement
Richard P. Schmitt, seabsct@smart.net 

Additional parking enforcement officers have been hired, according to the Washington Post (March 13, 2002). An issue not mentioned is whether the new and current enforcement officers will be required to write a quota of tickets each shift. After years of denial, the District admitted some time ago that the officers had quotas. Does anyone know if this is still true?

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Safer in Afghanistan
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com 

It's required reading. Anyone who lives or works in DC should read Colby King's column on yesterday's op-ed page of the Washington Post (“Safer in Afghanistan,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35820-2002Mar15.html). The article, on crime and police deployment in the District, may be especially interesting to those of us who live in the more violence-plagued neighborhoods of this city, but it speaks to everyone who is frustrated by the slow pace of change in the District's government. Can someone in the Wilson Building, and someone at MPD Headquarters, and someone in every department and agency of the District, photocopy this article and deliver it to the desk of every manager, up to and including the Mayor?

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Celebrate Taxation
Victor Chudowsky, vchudows@yahoo.com 

Regarding responses to my post on property tax assessments, two points: first, these annual assessments make it impossible, especially for older people with fixed incomes, to do any basic financial planning. For example, a place where I used to live in Connecticut did property tax assessments once a decade. Then the increase was phased in over ten years. Therefore, you could predict precisely what your property tax bill would be eight, nine, ten years into the future and plan accordingly. Such a system also allows for spikes and valleys in the real estate market and makes prediction of the revenue generated far easier.

Second, of course I accept that the value of my property has gone up. I'm happy about that. But I neglected to mention that the assessment I received in the mail totally overvalues my house. I searched on real estate pages to examine the prices of similar houses in my neighborhood, and my assessment is far higher. If this is true in my case, then it is probably true of thousands of other home owners. So now we have to go through some appeals process where “OK, I go low, you go high, and we split the difference,” like we are haggling over a used car. There are surely better ways.

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Tyson Fighting in DC
Lyla Winter, mrscalabash@worldnet.att.net 

Greed wins again! It's running rampant — is anyone really surprised?

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Boxing and DC
Paul Penniman, mathteachingtoday@earthlink.net 

Sanctioning any major professional boxing match is a mistake. Professional boxing has long been the most corrupt of all the major sports, and to profit from such a match is akin to taking a contract with organized crime. This is probably our esteemed mayor's biggest lapse of judgment since he has been in office, considering the time he has had to consider his options and how easy the decision seems. This has nothing to do with what I look like or what the participants in the boxing match look like.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Final Meeting on Draft Master Plan for Reservation 13
Karina Ricks, Karina.Ricks@dc.gov 

There are a final opportunity to review and comment on the Draft Master Plan for Public Reservation 13 (DC Jail/DC General campus) before the plan is transmitted to DC City Council. Wednesday, March 20, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Eastern Senior High School, 1700 E. Capitol Street, NE, Stadium/Armory Metro. Formal presentation of final Draft Master Plan as it will be presented to DC City Council. For questions or comments about these meetings please contact: DC Office of Planning, 442-7600 or E-mail karina.ricks@dc.gov. For a wealth of background information please see the web site http://www.publicspace.justicesustainability.com. Binders of information are also available for those without web access at the main MLK DC Public Library downtown in the Washingtonian Division and in the Eastern High School library.

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Seven Steps to Powerful Presentations: Saying More with Fewer Words
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org 

Do you need to make presentations? At this workshop, led by Bob Bailey of eBiz, attendees can learn techniques that will enable them to achieve their presentation goals. Attend this workshop and learn how to open your talk and connect, close and get action, and use stories and answer tough questions. Bring your concerns and questions to the Saturday, March 23, 1:00 p.m., meeting of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (SIG).

Meetings are free and are held the third Saturday of each month at the Cleveland Park Library (Second Floor Large Meeting Room) at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, just a block south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail station and half a block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theater. (Note: in March we are meeting on the fourth Saturday because the Cleveland Park Library book sale is scheduled for the third Saturday of March.) For more information about the workshop, the speaker, and CPCUG, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, and to register for the meeting, visit http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/302meet.html

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DC Democratic State Party Political Organizing Conference
Peter O'Toole, Peter_O'Toole@was.bm.com 

The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee (DCDSC), chaired by Norman Neverson, and the DC Democratic State Party Function Committee will hold a political organizing conference on March 23 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., entitled “Advancing Democracy: Sharing the Dream, Accepting the Challenge, and Making It Happen.” The purpose of this event is to impart information, foster dialogue, and encourage coalition building through ten 50-minute concurrent workshops, led by local Party activists and strategists.

In recognition of the Democratic Party’s commitment to engage more young people in the democratic process, the conference will be held at Hine Junior High School, 8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Speakers at the conference, the first of its kind in nearly a decade, include DC Mayor Anthony Williams, Councilwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Donna Brazile. Other participants in the conference will include elected Democratic members of the City Council as well as former Mayor Marion Barry, Jr. and Party operatives. Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. High school students are particularly encouraged to attend. For more information and registration to the conference, contact the DC State Party Office at 554-8790 or access us online at http://www.dcdemocrats.org

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Part-Time Literacy Teacher
Sylvia W. Keene, mdalc@erols.com 

Metropolitan/Delta Adult Literacy Council is seeking a part-time teacher for its family literacy program. Hours are from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon on Monday through Thursday and 1:00- 3:00 p.m. on Thursday (12 hours weekly including plan time). Location is the Parent Child Center at 13th and R Streets, NW. Training is required. Salary range is $12-$15 per hour depending on experience and education. Please fax resume to 234-1511 or call Thomas Blanton, Executive Director, at 234-2665.

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CLASSIFIEDS — PETS

Kitten Needs a New Home
Paul Silva, psilva@catholicsforchoice.org 

Help! I'm an 8-month old kitten desperately seeking a new home. Some call me scrappy, but I think I'm adorable. I have gray and black tiger stripes with undercurrents of amber -- how can you beat that? I have perfect manners, and I come with my own litter box, scratching post, and toys. If you think you can take better care of me than my selfish owner who's abandoning me for NYC, please E-mail p.silva@starpower.net. You won't be disappointed!

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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS

Older Palm PDA’s and Logic Puzzles Needed
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com 

I'm involved with volunteer work putting donated technology into the hands of needy children here in the DC area. One facet of the project is teaching kids about some free logic puzzles for Windows, Macintosh and Palm PDA's. For details about this software see http://www.his.com/pshapiro/sokomindarticle.html, http://storymakers.net/sokomindvideo.mov, and http://www.his.com/pshapiro/about.ss.html

I recently found out that the free logic puzzles I designed for the Mac several years ago can now be played on Palm PDA's. If you happen to know of anyone with an older Palm they'd like to donate, I'd love to install this logic puzzle software on the Palm and pass it on to a child who could enjoy figuring out the puzzles. If there's anyone out there interested in learning how to design logic puzzles of this sort, I'm happy to offer free trainings, too. You don't need to have strong computer skills to be a great puzzle designer. What's the benefit? Help children develop a hearty appetite for figuring things out.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES

Government Contracts for Your Business
Alphonso Hatcher, ccadadc@aol.com 

The AHJ Group and its business/community partnerships will host a series of workshops on government contract certification for small, minority and women-owned business during the month of April. More than $200 millions will be awarded to these business in the nest six months. We will discusss how your business can bid on Federal and District contracts. For information E-mail the AHJ Group at ahjgroup@earthlink.net

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