Shopping for a Government

Dear Shoppers:

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, part of the Center for Tax Justice, is a liberal organization that advocates "progressive" taxes that weigh much more heavily on upper-income people. But, even given that that is their bias, ITEP's study comparing state tax systems, “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States” (http://www.itepnet.org/wp2000/text.pdf), is bad news for DC. As Albert Crenshaw summarizes it in today's Washington Post (“City Taxes, High and Uneven,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40931-2003Jan10.html), “If Mayor Williams wants to attract 100,000 new middle-class residents to the District during his new term, or ever, he may want to give some thought to the city's tax structure, a new study suggests. Currently, the District is relatively kind to the poor and to the truly rich, at least measured by the share of their income that is consumed by DC taxes, the study by the liberal Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found. But it socks the middle class hard, the study said. Maryland and Virginia are similar in their treatment of the wealthy but are harder on the poor, the study found. Indeed, in Virginia the tax burden declines quite consistently with rising income. But at every income level, except the lowest 20 percent of incomes, DC residents pay more of their income in taxes than do residents of the states next door, the study found. The pattern is the same both before and after, allowing for the fact that state and local income and property taxes are deductible at the federal income tax level.”

Socking the middle class hard is something at which the District is expert, and there is little hope that the situation will change soon. While a group of Councilmembers has advocated tax breaks over the past few years, greater power lies with the Mayor and those Councilmembers who believe that DC residents should pay a premium for the blessings of the city's government. They believe that during good times, taxes should be raised because prospering residents can afford them; and during bad times, taxes have to be raised because the government must maintain the spending level it reached during the good times.

I'm a tough shopper, always looking for a bargain and for value for my money. That doesn't mean that I always go for the cheapest option. I'll gladly spend more if I get a better value. But what does the DC government provide that is a better value than what is available from suburban governments in Virginia and Maryland? Schools? Public safety, either police or fire protection? Road maintenance? Government responsiveness? If Mayor Williams wants those 100,000 people who will be shopping for a government to choose DC, he either has to answer that question and provide that value or he has to lower taxes. Or, better yet, both.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post reported on January 11 that Rep. Tom David (R) of Virginia, the newly appointed chair of the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives (DC's “federal mayor”), plans to abolish the Government Reform Subcommittee on DC (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40609-2003Jan10.html). If so, the number of Congressional subcommittees overseeing DC affairs would be reduced from four to three. The Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the Committee on Appropriations of the House (http://www.house.gov/appropriations/) will remain in place and will be chaired by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ).

For a bit of DC Congressional committee history, visit The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Center for Legislative Archives — a valuable resource for original records (http://www.archives.gov/records_of_congress/house_guide/chapter_08.html). The following is from NARA's web site: “Until the 10th Congress (1807-09) specific matters relating to the District of Columbia either were handled in the House of Representatives by select committees or were referred directly to the Committee of the Whole House. On January 27, 1808, however, the House adopted a resolution proposed by Representative Philip Barton Key of Maryland to establish a seven-member standing committee for the District whose duty was 'to take into consideration all petitions and memorials relating to the affairs of the District of Columbia, and referred to them by the House; and to report, from time to time, to the House.' ... [T]he House sought 'to simplify the District business, to save the forming of many committees, and to promote consistency and uniformity in the laws relating to the District.' ... Shortly thereafter a North Carolina Congressman proposed that the committee be instructed to report to the House on whether housing could be found in the District for Federal institutions located elsewhere. [Maybe the committee should take this issue up again today!] Although the House failed to vote on the resolution, the committee took upon itself the expanded mandate of overseeing and recommending legislation regarding the development of the District of Columbia. ... In 1880 the House adopted a rule which gave the committee jurisdiction over areas other than appropriations relating to the District of Columbia. ... streets, schools and teachers, railroads, police and fire departments, claims against the District Government, insurance, taxes, health and safety, liquor sales, incorporation of organizations and societies, and other matters that were the normal concerns of city and State governments. Since its creation the committee has shared jurisdiction on District concerns with other committees, and in particular with the Committees on Education and Labor, Interior, Banking and Currency, Judiciary, and Public Works. ...”

I recently discovered an original version of the Acts of the Councils of Washington City from 1802 to 1806, bound in a single volume, printed by order of the Council, Washington, Printed by A. and G. Way, 1803. It lists all officers of Washington City for the first five councils — including addresses (it would be interesting to know how many of their addresses can be identified). The budget approved July 20, 1802, was included in the volume. My estimate of the total 1802 budget for the City of Washington (this would not have included Georgetown, Washington County, or other areas originally in DC) is just under $4,000, which seems to be about $40,000 in 2001 dollars. I sorted the line items into categories, as follows: Personnel, management, and elections, $1,319 (34%); poor relief, $950 (24%); fire and water, $750 (19%); streets, $550 (14%), weights and measures, $360 (9%). The first act of the Council was to establish a seal for the City of Washington. From the first year to the fifth, the list of government officials (hired or appointed by the elected officials) grew from few in the first year to forty in the 1806. Official jobs in 1806 included Directors of fire companies, pump repairman, hay weighters, vendue masters, board of appeal, coal measurers, supervisors of markets, sealer of weights and measures, inspector of flour, inspectors of measures and lumber, trustees of the poor, city constables, a high constable, register, treasurer, and an unknown number of secretaries.

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When is a lottery not a lottery? When it is being held by the District of Columbia Public Schools. Yes, it is back. Those very same people who paid for the advertisement “Go to class, It a Blast!” have revised the definition of a lottery. A lottery, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, is a game of chance where tickets are distributed or sold, the winning ticket being predetermined or selected in a random drawing. In other words, gambling. (Which means to bet on an uncertain outcome, as in a contest or to take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.)

However, according to Mrs. Wright of the Student Services Division, the lottery, where you place your child's name on “the chance that it will be selected during a random drawing for a predetermined number of empty slots,” is not gambling. Even though the parents are taking “a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit” for their children by getting them out of the neighborhood schools. Who cares what the dictionary says? According to the Board of Education, the lottery isn't gambling either. Now what about people who for religious reasons cannot participate in a lottery? No provisions are made for those who object to gambling. Where is a lawyer when you need one? This lottery ain't gambling like the Pope ain't Polish.

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As James Treworgy says in the latest themail, the District's residential permit parking (RPP) system is terrible. It's supposed simply to prevent commuters from using neighborhood streets as free all-day parking lots. But the District's poor attempt at RPP has four severe flaws. First, RPP zoning is not neighborhood-wide, but is done block by block, so that the non-permit people just drive to the unzoned blocks and walk from there. The problem isn't solved, but is merely shoved onto adjacent blocks, and intensified, as the number of unzoned blocks dwindles. Second, the decision to zone a block is made by petition, not by vote, so only the pro-RPP side of the story is heard. The petitioners don't gather signatures with RPP opponents alongside. Besides, people will sign petitions just because it's hard to say no, and to get rid of the petitioner quickly. This stacks the deck heavily in favor of RPP advocates.

Third, residents of unzoned blocks are denied RPP permits, as if they are commuters, and not legitimate, taxpaying residents of the neighborhood. Residents of unzoned blocks find themselves prohibited from daytime parking around the corner from their own homes. Fourth, getting visitor parking permits is unreasonably burdensome. The homeowner must go, in person, to the police, to get permits for visitors, or household employees, or contractors. Most homeowners just tell their visitors to go find parking spaces on the unzoned blocks, and walk from there (which takes us back to Flaw the First). The District knows that this RPP system is intolerable (“needs revamping,“ says Councilmember Patterson, delicately), and a task force has been organized by the Mayor to try to fix it.

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In the last issue of themail, Ed Barron asks where have the recyclers gone. I've had several conversations with the DC Office of Recycling — not about missed recycling pickups, but about recycling pickups that start well before 7 a.m. During my conversations with the Recycling Office, I learned that one of the reasons that the recycling pickups start before 7 a.m., although that's illegal, is that the drivers want to finish their routes as quickly as possible. And that's also the reason why people frequently don't get their recycling picked up: The drivers are in a hurry to get their job done so they're skipping houses, according to the Recycling Office.

I've created a web site about the illegal pre-dawn recycling pickups, which wake up thousands of District residents as early as 6 a.m., http://www.quietdc.com. That web site also has contact information if you want to complain about missed recycling pickups or pre-7 a.m. pickups.

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Sending newsletters in the days of spam filters requires some effort on both the sender and receiver's parts. As a receiver, you need to look at how your spam filters are set, and review what is being blocked and adjust accordingly. Some filters make this very easy (like the one in Apple Mail) and some make it impossible to change filter settings (like most web mail services' filters). Senders (hi Gary!) need to be sure that they are not doing things likely to trip filters. For example, I notice that themail comes addressed the “themail@dcwatch.com,” and not to me. That's one thing that registers as suspicious to a spam filter. If you've got a giant bcc list on the messages, that's another thing likely to trip a spam filter.

I'm not sure why Gary calls them “censorship filters.” If you understand the definition of censorship, that sounds like something the government has installed to keep you from reading things it doesn't want you to. Spam filters, on the other hand, are useful tools to help you manage your E-mail, but like most tools, they require the user to understand how they work and use them correctly.

[I'm not sure that John and I are saying different things. Most spam filters, as I wrote, filter out a high percentage of E-mail newsletters that are wanted and subscribed to because their rules are crude and forbid things like blind addresses and hidden address lists. We do disagree about censorship; it's not just done by governments, but also by companies, organizations, and even individuals who want to control what others are allowed to read. — Gary Imhoff]

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This is to advise that the January 2003 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 September 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 February 14. 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) “Art Gallery's 'Special Exception' Application Re-ignites 1988 Dupont Circle Zoning Battle”; 2) “Historic Synagogue to be Saved — Prominent Developers to Purchase”; 3) “Historic Preservation Rules Getting Overhaul Give DC Agencies More Clout.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

As many of you know, last October the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee voted 9-0 (all Democrats present and voting yes, all Republicans boycotting the vote) to approve the first Senate DC voting rights bill in 25 years. The legislation would give the District two voting Senators and a voting House member -- representation equal to that enjoyed by residents of the fifty states. DC Democracy Fund, the new political action committee that financially supports Federal candidates who support DC voting rights, made significant financial contributions to all members of the Committee up for reelection last year who voted yes. One Senator on the Committee, Democrat Tom Carper of Delaware, gave this bill his strong support but also took the rare and commendable step of requesting that we keep the funds we had earmarked for him in order to donate to more pro-DC Senators in tight races in 2002.

DC Democracy Fund is asking all Washingtonians who wish to thank the Senator for his vote on our behalf to join us in attending his 56th Birthday Fundraiser this Thursday, January 16, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Phoenix Park Hotel, 520 N. Capitol Street, NW. Tickets are only $56 made out to Carper for Senate. Be sure to tell the Senator thanks for sticking up for DC! Please contact me at 549-6127 with any questions.

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Al Coles and I — we’re both Capitol Hill residents — are looking for participants and support for a new venture that has the goal of bringing people together across the variously assumed sociological fault lines in our city and neighborhoods. We will hold the first of what we hope will be a series of facilitated discussions about race, class and other issues that are said to divide us. The inaugural event will be on Saturday, February 1, at 10:30 a.m., Parish Hall, Christ Church, 620 G Street SE.

We call our project “Whose Washington Is It?” That is our central theme, but our first discussion will also focus on issues related to Capitol Hill and the neighborhoods that surround it. We are seeking a broad range of participants, the type of group that might not normally come together in one room. We expect the discussion will touch on gentrification, the changing makeup of our neighborhoods, crime and other issues. But we also expect to focus on some of the common perceptions -- true and false -- that seem to divide us. We have designed an agenda for a facilitated discussion that, we hope, will allow people will speak thoughtfully and also gain an understanding of other points of view. We also want the discussion to include a search for solutions — big or small. Eventually, we plan to take “Whose Washington Is It?” elsewhere in the city. We would like it to be a catalyst for greater contact between those who live east of the river, west of the park, or on either side of the other divides that are so often cited.

Who are we? We’re two friends, one black, one white, who believe that dialogue can be part of the solution. Al Coles is also an experienced facilitator and well-known activist on health and community issues. Jim Myers is a writer and author of Afraid of the Dark; What Whites and Blacks Need To Know About Each Other. For further information, contact Al Coles, 543-8370, or Jim Myers, 544-4730, or E-mail us at hilleast@aol.com.

[Jim Myer's “Close to Home” article, “Few Answers on Halfway Houses,” is in today's issue of the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38906-2003Jan10.html. — Gary Imhoff]

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Sideboard, about 5' long, with three doors, shelves, drawers, dark wood, a little detail. Good shape, a few finish problems that can be fixed -- nice piece to put in a spare room and store things in. I just don't have room for it. $50 or best offer. See pictures at http://homepage.mac.com/loganjohn/PhotoAlbum29.html.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FREE

Free to church, charitable organization, or needy family: kitchen table and four chairs in near-mint condition. Table is solid wood with light maple top and white wood legs; chairs are light maple, ladder-back style. Table top measures 48" x 30". Will deliver inside Beltway. Please E-mail nicmich at starpower dot net.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

I've been told that we can take our Christmas tree to the Zoo to be recycled into mulch, but can't find information about that on the zoo's website. Does anyone have details?

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My part-time bookkeeper and assistant can do Quick Books and almost all the Microsoft programs that are oust there. How much per hour is a fair wage? I have been paying $20/hour and was contemplating a raise.

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I'd like to recommend Dave Felton of Mac the Knight if you ever have a problem with either your Mac or PC. He can be reached at 703-447-7323 or shining-armor@mactheknight.com. He makes house calls to help you out of all kinds of dilemmas.