Very Odds and Ends

Dear Dead End Kids:

This morning Dorothy asked me whether I wanted to suggest a question for her to ask Mayor Williams at his press conference today. My response was that we already knew the answers the Mayor would give, so that instead of asking a question she should give the answer herself and have the Mayor supply the question, like on Jeopardy. Here was the answer I suggested: “I'm not responsible. I was completely unaware of everything that my closest aides did for my benefit. My problem is just that I trust people too much. I welcome this investigation to get to the bottom of the scandal, and we're conducting an internal investigation to find out how it could have happened. But I don't want to speak about this issue, because it was in the past, and it is under investigation.” The problem with my suggestion is that Mr. Williams has thought that that was the right answer to practically every serious question he has been asked for the past two years and, without Dorothy's prompting, he gave it again today.

Joshua Kaplowitz's article about his year teaching at DC's Emery Grade School characterizes the school, and DCPS in general, as a hell hole. (“How I Joined Teach for America and Got Sued for $20 Million,” City Journal, Winter 2003, http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_1_how_i_joined.html). City Journal is published by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative organization, but Kaplowitz convincingly characterizes himself as a political liberal. Does anyone want to support or contradict Kaplowitz's assertions?

Colby King gets well-earned praise from former Washington City Paper editor Jack Shafer in the Press Box column of the on-line magazine Slate (“Riding With the King: The Best Washington Post Columnist You've Never Heard Of,” http://slate.msn.com/id/2076555/). Of course, themail's readers have heard about and read King for years, but it's true that in the past few months his columns have been must reading.

Petula Dvorak's deadpan account of Jim Graham's street brawl, provoking a driver and then trying to protect himself by yelling, “I'm a city council member! I'm a city council member!” (“Council Member Has Confrontation with Driver,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57292-2003Jan14.html), has provoked hilarity among Graham's staff members and former staff members, as well as among his colleagues on the Council and WMATA Board, who have been targets of his frequent profane temperamental outbursts in the past. At least Graham refrained from following former councilmember Doug Moore's example and biting his opponent, which may mean that this incident will have a short shelf life.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Safe Streets
John Aravoses, john@SafeStreetsDC.com

As many of you know, I'm the guy who got mugged on December 10 near the 7-11 at Wyoming and Columbia. I wanted to let you all know that I've just launched SafeStreetsDC.com — a new web site and campaign to collect and publish stories of the problems people have had with the police, and to motivate people to contact the mayor, police chief and city council to claim about the increasingly serious problem of a cadre of the police force who refuse to do their job. (Note: I'm also using the site to collect good stories of officers who have provided exceptional service to the public, since it's only fair that we acknowledge the good officers as well as the bad.)

Please check out the site at http://www.SafeStreetsDC.com — it's pretty self-explanatory, includes daily news updates about crime in our neighborhood, a flyer you can download and post in your building, contact information for the mayor, chief of police and city council, lots of links to newspaper stories, and a special “Adams Morgan Graffiti Tour” that you won't want to miss (this is only the first of our special sections that will be coming soon on neighborhood quality-of-life problems that have been insufficiently addressed). You can also use the site to join an E-mail list to which I'll send updates probably once a week or so, so don't worry about getting inundated with mail, you won't. And make sure you send this E-mail to all of your friends — I think/hope that you'll find the site both informative and useful.

Finally, I'm not just collecting stories about Adams Morgan/Kalorama — I doubt these stories are unique to our small portion of the city. All police horror stories from DC are most welcome. (And submissions in Spanish are welcome as well). This site is my gift to the neighborhood, and my way of saying thank you for the support all of you have given me following my mugging. I want to make it useful for you, so if you have suggestions for additional content, links to articles and resources, or anything else I may have overlooked, please let me know!

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More on Early Governing in DC
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

In the early DC years, residents of Georgetown, Alexandria, and Washington City each had their own mayor and council, but only Washington City's mayor was a federal post. Robert Brent, appointed by President Jefferson, received no salary the entire twelve years he was mayor. Today, his name is recalled in “Brentwood.” There was ongoing talk of establishing an overall territorial government for DC — perhaps in addition to the local governments — but local disagreement was as prevalent and confusing to members of Congress then as it is now. A member of Congress wrote, in a letter to a friend printed in the Intelligencer (March 11, 1803), “I am sorry for the dissatisfaction of some of your neighbors because they did not get what they asked from congress. Considerate men will reflect that congress had to legislate for the whole United States as well as for the District of Columbia; that most of the members were entirely ignorant of your local affairs, but above all that there was seldom anything like unanimity among yourselves on the subject of your wants.”

According to Wilhelmus Bogart Bryan (A History of the National Capital, 1914), the first Washington City Council met at the US Capitol, the second council met in a house on the east side of 12th Street, south of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the fourth council moved to a location built by the two Masonic lodges on the west side of 11th Street just north of C Street, NW (Lot 1, Square 323). The council remained there until 1820, when Washington's first City Hall was built (at the current Judiciary Square).

Mayor Brent appointed Washington Boyd, the tax collector of the levy court, as city treasurer. Boyd made it clear that those who hadn't paid their taxes would not be able to vote in local elections. Bryan reported that the rate of taxation, personal and real, was 25 cents on every 100 dollars of assessed value (about half of the real value). The Intelligencer reported on May 25, 1803 that the total Washington City assessment was $1,569,600, the tax due was $3,924, but only $1,431 was collected due to “discrimination in favor of unimproved property.” Bryan reported the city budget was under $2,000, but that figure doesn't match the appropriations from the Acts of the Council, which I estimated at $3,929 (see budget at link below). Bryan also wrote, “The city council early drifted into the habit of basing its appropriations upon what was due rather than upon the actual collections. In fact, the city debt had its beginning in the very first year of the existence of the corporation.” The first corporation appropriated funds for the printing of 500 copies of the ordinances passed by the first council, and continued the practice until the mayoral period was abolished and replaced by federal commissioner rule. I have a copy of the acts passed by the first five Councils and transcribed a list of all the officers of the Corporation, their addresses, and the First Municipal Budget of Washington City. The information is posted at http://www.dcwatch.com/richards/0301.htm.

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The EITC: Boost the Pay of Working Families
Ed Lazare, lazere@dcfpi.com

You can help boost the paychecks of low- and moderate-income workers by distributing outreach information on the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax benefits. Families with children and earnings below $33,000 can get up to $4,140 from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — and an additional $1,035 from the District's EITC!

The DC EITC Campaign — a coalition of nonprofit, business, labor, immigrant, and religious organizations — has prepared a variety of EITC outreach materials that you can download or order. They are available at http://www.dcfpi.org/eic2003. The materials include fliers in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as a list of sites where DC residents can go to get free tax assistance. (The list will be updated through early February.) In addition, residents who have questions about the EITC can call DC's social services hotline at 463-6211. Tax filing season is already underway, so we urge you to start now to spread the word about the EITC through your office, social service agency, place of worship, or other organization.

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Possible Expansion of the Kennedy Center Awards
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

I really enjoyed watching the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Awards over the Christmas holidays. After watching the ceremony the thought occurred to me that with the planned expansion of the Kennedy Center, perhaps these awards could also be expanded. For those of us who have a slim chance of receiving a lifetime achievement award, wouldn't it be fabulous to offer a more attainable award -- such as a Weekly Achievement Award? There are some weeks when I'm able to get just a ton of stuff done, and it would be nice to receive, you know, national recognition for the effort. A Monthly Achievement Award is definitely out of the question for me, as I could never sustain an effort for an entire month, but with enough focus and concentration I could credibly shoot for a Weekly Achievement Award.

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Capital Wireless Integrated Network
Mark Richards, mark@bisconti.com

Here is something that might help in the event of a regional emergency. CapWIN is “the first multi-state transportation and public safety integrated wireless network in the United States,” designed to facilitate communications across more than forty local, state, and federal agencies. See: http://www.capwinproject.com/defined.html. CapWIN Presentation: http://www.capwinproject.com/extras/reports/CapwinPresentation.pdf.

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Residential Parking
Herschel Browne, Kalorama Triangle, thehersch@yahoo.com

Jack McKay writes in the last themail of the residential parking permit system's four severe flaws. While I agree that all the things he lists are indeed severe flaws, there are even worse problems with this stupendously ill-conceived system. The biggest flaw is that the system shuts down at night, which is when it's hardest to find a place to park in residential neighborhoods. On any given evening, approximately 15 percent of the vehicles on the streets near my home have non-DC tags. These may very well be owned by residents, but if they live in Washington they should register their cars here.

The second huge problem is the utterly ridiculous size of the zones, and the fact that they are coextensive with the DC council wards, which means that they change every ten years. I live two doors east of Connecticut in Kalorama triangle. The super-rich neighborhood to the west of the avenue was moved from Ward 1 to Ward 2 as a result of the 2000 census, so now someone who lives in Georgetown or Shaw or downtown can park over there all day, but I, who live a block away, can't. What kind of sense does that make? Especially given the fact that nearly everyone who lives in Kalorama Heights has off street parking for multiple cars. Some of those mansions over there have room for six or eight cars off street. Finally, there's the matter of enforcement. The RPP restriction has gone almost totally unenforced in my neighborhood for nearly three years. Every day, commuters from Maryland and Virginia park their cars on my block and walk to Woodley Park Metro or to work, and they are never ticketed. But let one of us poor slobs who live in the triangle — unable to park because of all the commuters — give up and park on the other side of the avenue, though . . . the rich folk over there actually get some enforcement.

Someone mentioned the system in the South End of Boston, and I agree: that's a much better way of doing things. By neighborhood, not council ward. Twenty-four hours a day. A few spaces set aside for visitors.

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Spam Filters and Censorship
Brian Vogel, brian_vogel@mail.com

John Whiteside writes, “I'm not sure why Gary calls them 'censorship filters.' If you understand the definition of censorship.” Gary then replies, “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.” I would have to agree with John, in this situation. Please see http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship for a succinct definition of censorship. In particular, the following is salient: “In a less strict sense, censorship means any attempt, whether by a government or any other group or individual, to prevent people from obtaining or disseminating information or expressing certain points of view. This would include, for example, a newspaper that refuses to run an advertisement it considers inappropriate, or a lecture hall that refuses to rent itself out to a particular speaker. This sense of the term is often considered incorrect, in that it implies the 'censored' party has some right to use the property of the 'censoring' party.”

When “censorship” is used to apply to anyone who wishes to suppress any sort of information under any circumstance, it ceases to have any real meaning at all. Tact and discretion are not censorship; call blocking (by the line's owner) is not censorship; nor are spam filters, however crude.

[Since the general definition of censorship is way off-topic, let's take any further discussion of this to private E-mail. However, I can't help replying. Some people want to restrict the definition of “censorship” to governmental actions, and some want to restrict the definition only to control of political speech, and not of speech on other topics. A company or organization that controls what kinds of E-mails its employees may receive and prevents them from receiving even E-mail that they want and have subscribed to can argue that it “owns” the E-mail addresses and computers and work premises, and thus is not committing censorship, but it is wrong. In the limited field of union organizing, the government recognizes and enforces employees' rights to receive information in the workplace; I think that's the right principle, even though the right to receive information is not otherwise generally recognized. — Gary Imhoff]

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Unions and Patriotism
George Ripley, grassrootsunity@juno.com

Before we leave the subject of unions let's remember that the United States is a union. Theoretically it is “of, by and for” the people. How sad when the members allow it to become corrupted and governed by thugs when its promised glory is of justice for all. Some unions do a lot better than others, few are perfect. I hope to see the day that our union of states lives up to its promise. Meanwhile I support any union that truly promotes justice for all and remembers that the chain of humanity is only as strong as it's weakest link. Let's bring new values to Old Glory.

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Unions
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net

Bryce Suderow calls two posts (one mine) defending unions “crap” but misses the point on two counts: 1) The original comment was that unions — all unions, everywhere — are inherently a bad idea, and that's what I and others were responding to. 2) Organizational cultures are often pretty intractable. If you've ever worked in a large organization with no unions (I have) you know that changing a culture that protects the unqualified employees is very difficult whether the employees are organized or not. It's nice to have a bogeyman to blame everything on, but it's neither realistic nor helpful.

[And now let's take general debate over the virtues and sins of unions off list, also. But any news or comments about DC locals are welcome. — Gary Imhoff]

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Chinese New Year with Cynthia Lin, January 18
Dorothy Marschak, chime-dc@erols.com

Sing in the Chinese New Year with Cynthia Lin at Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, 901 G Street, NW, on January 18, 12:00 p.m. In her presentation, Sing In the Chinese New Year, Cynthia Lin will give a brief explanation of the history and customs of Chinese New Year, and teach and lead the audience through some of the traditional songs of the holiday. Ms. Lin is a singer, actress and dancer, who is currently appearing in Arena Stage’s production of “South Pacific.” She also sings with rock band Sugarpill, and leads her own jazz group. The nearest metro stop to the library is Gallery Place.

This program is one of a series of 22 Music Around the World programs that CHIME (Community Help In Music Education) is presenting at 11 DC Branch libraries this year. For a complete schedule and for more information about these programs or CHIME, visit our website at www.chime-dc.org, or contact us at info@chime-dc.org. Our next program in the series is January 25 at Petworth Library on Music of South Asia with sitarist Brian Silver.

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Personal Digital Assistants, January 18
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org

While on the go, do you need an easier way to keep in touch with colleagues via instant messenger, e-mail, and the Web? Would you like an alternative to lugging around a heavy laptop when making presentations? Do you need to develop web sites for easy viewing on the wide variety of PDAs now available? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you won't want to miss this event! Those PDA Guys, Shawn Googins and Ray Wiley, will be leading a seminar to help those with PalmOS or Pocket PC PDAs become more organized and productive (and have fun) while on the go. Gather your questions, friends, and colleagues and bring them to the Saturday, January 18, 1:00 p.m. (check-in 12:50 p.m.), meeting of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (SIG).

Meetings are free and are held each month, usually on the third Saturday, at the Cleveland Park Library (Second Floor Large Meeting Room) at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, a block and a half south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail station, half a block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theater. For more information about the seminar, the speakers, and CPCUG, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization, and to register for the meeting, visit http://www.cpcug.org/user/entrepreneur/103meet.html.

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Ward 2 Democrats, January 21
Budd Lane, Chair, Ward 2 Dems, buddlane@msn.com

The next meeting of the Ward 2 Dems will be Tuesday, January 21, Room 120 in the Wilson Building. All Ward 2 Democrats are invited to participate.

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Public Hearing on Halfway Houses, January 22
Frank J. Zampatori, Jr., hilleast@aol.com

The Mayor's Community Corrections Facility Siting Advisory Commission will be holding its second public hearing on January 22, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Old City Council Chambers at 441 4th Street, NW (One Judiciary Square, First Floor). The purpose of the hearing is to solicit testimony from citizens in order to develop criteria for the location of halfway houses in neighborhoods for the housing of pretrial and ex-offenders in community-based residential facilities (halfway houses). The DC community is faced with the return of 2,000-2,500 prisoners plus the need to house an unknown number of pretrial detainees during each of the next five years.

If you wish to testify, contact Lisa Feldman at 994-5245 or E-mail lfeldman@gwu.edu or you may submit your comments in writing no later than January 29 to the above E-mail address or by regular mail to Lisa Feldman, CEMM, 2033 K St. NW, Suite 240, Washington, DC 20052.

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Remembering Ralph Bunche, January 23
Pat Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com

Dr. Alan Geyer, Canon Ethicist at the Washington National Cathedral, will speak about the life and work of Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Under Secretary-General at the United Nations. Among other extraordinary achievements, Dr. Bunche was the founding chairman of the political science department at Howard University. Dr. Geyer is also a political scientist and former Dag Hammarskjold Professor of Peace Studies and Political Science at Colgate University. He is a marvelous speaker and you are sure to enjoy and learn a lot from this program.

The event will be at the Woman' National Democratic Club, 1525 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on Thursday, January 23, 12:00 noon (lunch served at 12:30 p.m.). The program is sponsored by the Woman's National Democratic Club Educational Foundation, and tax deductible proceeds go to Foundation for work in Washington Schools. Cost $19.50. For reservations, call Pat Fitzgerald at 232-7363, Ext.3003 or E-mail pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Folding Tables for Sale or Trade
George Ripley, grassrootsunity@juno.com

20 - 5' and 6' sturdy folding tables plus 20 folding metal chairs with cushions. “As new” condition. Price negotiable. Exchange to benefit the Washington Action Group. Delivery is possible. E-mail or call 986-5977.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SPACES

Office Space Available
Lora Engdahl, lorae444@aol.com

Shared office in prime location in DuPont Circle has openings. Share office for $300 or occupy entire office for $600 (web design firm occupies room across the hall). DSL, kitchen, bath and shower on premises. Call 986-4291 or E-mail LoraE444@aol.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES

Need Help With Your Computer Needs At Home Or In The Office?
Nick Chang, nick@embassy.org

PC hardware/software installation and upgrades; maintenance, troubleshooting and network support; Back-up and archive your files and E-mail on CD-ROM; setup computer network for the small office; build customized database in Access or other programs; Reasonable rates. Excellent references. E-mail or call 237-0130.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer for City Year for a Day, January 25
Alexander M. Padro, PadroANC2C@aol.com

City Year is a national nonprofit organization that unites a diverse group of 17 to 24 year-old young people for a year of full-time, rigorous community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. As part of their activities, a “City Year for a Day” event will be held at Shaw Junior High School on Saturday, January 25, bringing together community members, corporate sponsors, and students to paint murals and inspirational quotes and otherwise transform Shaw's neighborhood junior high school.

Shaw Junior High School is located at 925 Rhode Island Avenue, NW. On January 25, registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. Activities will start at 10:00 a.m., and conclude with a 3:00 p.m. ceremony. Lunch will be provided. You can spend an hour or two or the whole day, as your schedule permits. For more information about the “City Year for a Day” event at Shaw Junior High School, contact Mark Perkins at Mperkins03@cityyear.org or 776-7780. More information on City Year is available at http://www.cityyear.org.

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Volunteer Tutors and Mentors
Kim Montroll, Good Shepherd Ministries, kimmontroll@juno.com

Volunteer tutors and mentors are needed for motivated low-income youth in Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. This is a once-a-week commitment. Mentor a 7-12th grader: Tuesdays or Thursdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.; tutor a 3rd-6th grader: Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; or tutor a k-2nd grader: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 p.m. Bring a friend or coworker. Your weekly commitment will make a real difference. Contact: Kim Montroll, Co-Director, Good Shepherd Ministries, 1630 Fuller Street, NW, #105, 483-5816, kimmontroll@juno.com.

Good Shepherd Ministries challenges, encourages and supports motivated, low-income, inner-city k-12th graders in Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights through structured after school programs, mentoring, and educational advocacy.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Children’s Dentist Recommendation Wanted
Phil Greene, pgreene@doc.gov

We're looking for a good, reasonably priced dentist for our kids, we live in Upper Northwest. Any recommendations?

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Computer Troubleshooter
Randi R-Seitz, rrs2623atAOL

I wholeheartedly second Laurie E's recommendation of Dave Felton (703-447-7323, shining-armor@mactheknight.com). He's rescued this damsel in computer distress many a time, with prompt, efficient, good-natured service. We are a multiple Mac plus Palm plus other miscellaneous electronics family, and he maintains all in good health (including my nerves).

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