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Dear Homies:

Tom Ridge has announced that, at least temporarily, the Department of Homeland Security will not move to northern Virginia, but will stay in the District of Columbia. Now DC elected officials can stop complaining about the terrible loss to DC's budget if the Department and its many employees were moved out of the District and located in Virginia. Instead, they can start complaining about the terrible drain on DC's budget from the unreimbursed expenses of having to host the Department and its many employees in DC. Don't you agree that DC deserves a big payment from the federal government for the imposition of having a new cabinet-level department located here?

Peace to Mark Richards and Tim Cooper, but forget about having DC's primary moved to be the first in the nation. It will never happen. If the Congress doesn't overturn the law the City Council passes to change the date, the Democratic and Republican National Committees will refuse to seat any delegates we elect in our primary, and the DC delegates will be reduced to picketing outside the convention halls. I have an alternate proposal — let's persuade the producers of American Idol to restrict voting in next year's series to people who are registered voters in the District. That way, we'll get 100,000 new residents fast, and they'll even be active and involved voters, at least in TV game shows.

I don't want to discourage anyone from sending messages to themail. In fact, I want to encourage the huge majority of themail's readers who never write to jump into the fray every once in a while. But I do want to caution you that when you write anything that is saved on a web site, as the archives of themail are, your words stick around forever. This week's example of long shelf life is the peanut-butter-on-a-raisin-cinnamon-bagel debate that we had several months ago. Stephen Fleishman, who has obviously just happened upon those exchanges, revives it below. He favors the combination. Actually he favors all combinations that include bagels, but he doesn't favor the business atmosphere in DC.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Moving From the Back to the Front of the Bus
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Sometimes you can just tell DC has had enough. And sometimes you can tell DC team spirit is alive and well. The feeling is in the air. People start talking. Last Monday a meeting of leadership of DC local self-government and voting rights organizations (including statehood, retrocession, and Constitutional amendment, and voting rights by statute people), hosted by the DC League of Women Voters, sat around a table to update one another on upcoming plans. Sean Tenner reported that the DC Democracy Fund was considering options to move the date of DC's Presidential primary election as a way to increase DC's effectiveness in the primary process by increasing national awareness that DC needs political equality. Timothy Cooper reported that the New Hampshire law has an automatic trigger to make its primary first-in-the-nation, but it only includes states (for some reason he knew this, related to a novel he is writing), therefore, DC could pass legislation to accomplish this goal. DC is not a state. Why not move DC to the first-in-the-nation status? There was some doubt about whether the local Democratic apparatus would be up to the challenge. But a chain reaction started from there. The next evening, at DC Vote's Champions of Democracy event, folks continued to talk.

DC Democracy Fund issued a Press Release, headed “DC Democracy Fund Launches Drive to Make DC Presidential Primary 'First in the Nation' in 2004,” see http://www.politicsnh.com/press_releases/2003/january/1_17_03_dc.shtml. Mark Plotkin threw his energetic support behind the cause, and Councilman Jack Evans spoke truth to power on the DC Politics Hour about DC's oversight committees and said he would introduce legislation to move DC's primary to the fore. Today, the mayor and Evans announced full support for moving DC's primary date to early January. The mayor said something like, “DC should play a leading role in the nominating process for our next Presidential leader, and in doing so raise the issue of DC voting rights in the nation.” The Union Leader New Hampshire Sunday News published a scathing editorial titled, “Worst in the nation: If DC gets 1st primary, all bets are off” that included the sentence, “We think the case against DC getting the first primary can be made in two words: Marion Barry.” http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=17453&archive=1.

You might guess that editorial set off a storm of telephone calls from local leaders, including John Capozzi and Timothy Cooper — calls that must have at least intrigued the Union Leader. Meanwhile, the full Council announced they support passing legislation to move DC from last to first, and will hold hearings. All I want to say is, we want to remain friends with New Hampshire, but DC might be gettin' a new attitude, and I like it. Yes, DC has an erupting labor and ... scandal that makes me want to hold my nose and run. I'm glad the good government folks are keeping the fire to the feet of our elected and appointed officials; we need it. Unfortunately, as Tom Sherwood said, that scandal will likely be thrown in our face. But if we sit back and wait until this city is all composed to demand equal rights, we'll be sitting back for another two centuries. Here is some news, just in time, to cheer you up — the new Convention Center and the City Museum are on schedule to open in May. You can take a hard hat tour of the final stages of work on the City Museum — call the Historical Society of Washington, DC (HSDC) and ask them how. Other New Hampshire links: PoliticsNH.com http://www.politicsnh.com/. New Hampshire Links: http://www.politicsnh.com/links/.

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Please Don’t Get Offended, But...
Timothy Cooper, worldright@aol.com

A Manchester Union Leader editorial, under the header, “Worst in the Nation,” notes that “everybody wants in on“ NH's “political action,” and argues: “We don't know what the candidates think about this, but we can't imagine a worse place to hold America's first Presidential primary. We think the case against DC getting the first primary can be made in two words: Marion Barry. Our nation's capital is a beautiful city, and its inhabitants include many dedicated public servants. But electorally speaking, the residents of DC don't exactly have stellar track record.” More: “Also, there is just something unsavory about holding the nation's first ... primary in the nation's capital. Politicians spend too much time in Washington anyway.” (1/19)

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Make That 100,002
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

The Mayor will need to attract an additional two folks to meet his goal of 100,000 new residents over the next ten years. Roomie and I will be outta here by then with the revelation that the District will be taxing my trust fund to the tune of about $200K. DC has some rather strange outmoded figures on which they tax estates of DC residents according to an article in last Sunday's Business Section of the Washington Post. DC has not updated the amount that can be passed on to a spouse in a trust when all the fifty states and the federal government increased the amount that can be passed on when a spouse passes on. The federal government now allows $1M to be exempted from taxation. DC only allows $675K. Hey, that's about the average value of the homes in my neighborhood right now. Looks like we'll be moving out if there's any hint that one of us is heading for that untaxed place in the sky.

In the meantime, Montgomery County is facing some severe cutbacks in services to ward off major deficits. One of the cutbacks could be in the Chevy Chase Rescue Squad which currently provides services to NW DC. I received a call from a Montgomery County person telling me that NW (Ward 3) residents have been getting free emergency ambulance services without paying fees for that service. I am told that residents who require emergency ambulance services provided by DC must pay for that service ($200?). I have been a regular annual contributor to the Chevy Chase Rescue Squad for many years and have not required their services.

It would be a big loss if that service is discontinued. Heaven knows that I would much rather rely on the Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in an emergency than to call 911 in DC and hold my breath waiting for slower and, probably inferior quality, response. It would make sense that, rather than have Montgomery County discontinue their emergency service to NW DC (and saving DC a lot of money, by the way), persons in NW DC pay a fee for that service equivalent to the fee charged by DC to residents of the city for a DC emergency vehicle.

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DC Government Info on the Web: Jobs Done Well
Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org

After bashing a couple of DC web sites earlier this week, I'd like to point themail's readers to some examples of well-executed online info delivery, beginning with the DC Office of Zoning, www.dcoz.dc.gov. The site provides a clear overview of the office's functions & structure, and offers a boatload of up-to-date material, including the zoning regs (in a current, integrated format you can't get anywhere else!), the zoning map (broken up into handy PDF files), detailed past and upcoming Zoning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment agendas, and even a searchable database of ZC/BZA hearing transcripts current through late 2002. (One lacuna is in the area of ZC/BZA orders, but they seem to be making progress in getting these online gradually.) In the past day, I've used the site to spot a proposed zoning regulation amendment that would affect my neighborhood, and to read the transcript of a recent hearing on a local rezoning matter.

While it's not a DC government site, I can't help but also mention the DC Historic Preservation Law Project, http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/histpres. This well-organized website provides all Mayor's Agent decisions back to 1979, searchable by date/docket #/address/keyword; the text of major court decisions interpreting historic preservation law in DC; links to the applicable statutes and regulations; and links to entities (governmental and private) involved in preservation issues. As with the DCOZ site, there is information here (the Mayor's agent opinions) that can't be easily obtained anywhere else, and it's all neatly collected and indexed. Mega kudos to Peter Byrne and Tersh Boasberg for spearheading this valuable effort.

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FEMA’s Guide to Disasters
Jeffrey Itell, itell@comcast.net

FEMA has put together a comprehensive guide to preparing for disasters -- natural and fanatic induced. Naturally, it’s buried on FEMA’s web site, but I uncovered the digital sarcophagus. The document is not that large (483KB) but it’s still large enough to annoy those of you on dial-up connections. You can find it at the following link — http://www.fema.gov/doc/areyouready/areyouready.doc.

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Who Will Rid Me?
B. Wildered (Anne Heutte), Brookland, heuttea@earthlink.net

I would love to rid myself of the new Washington Gas Co. bill and its enclosures. I am just an Ordinary Josephine who pays her monthly bills. I have appreciated the chart in the monthly that allowed me to compare therms used by me in whatever month, compared to the same month a year ago. Gone. And there is a garbage brochure winking at me about purchasing my fuel from those other companies, unregulated as they are. Who? I have known for years in a cursory way that we are being deregulated around about these parts; I have heard some distinctly PR people on the radio tell me how good it is for me. I am told by a knowledgeable person that the comparison diagram was a courtesy, nothing obligatory on the part of Washington Gas.

I am, frankly sick and tired of being told that I must be an instant expert in order to survive my use of the telephone, the heat in my house, the electricity to light and fire other uses, not to mention what hospital I should do a comparative study of before I submit my body to it, and of course, which health care plan should be my yearly option. I suspect that they want to wear me down into submission: like in a prison. I am middle-class and lucky. What do the poor do?

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DCPS Out of Boundary Applications
Steve O’Sullivan, sos@metaswitch.com

DCPS has announced with great fanfare the new out-of-boundary transfer process. They tell us all to fill out the standard out-of-boundary application form, and take it to one place on the city for processing, between January 28 and February 28th. They tell us what the criteria are. They have a nice page on their web site devoted to this — http://www.k12.dc.us/dcps/outofbounds/outofboundhome.html. What they are keeping quiet about is that a different policy applies for special programs. In the case of a special program, you need to get an application form from the school to which you intend to apply, and hand in your completed application at that school. Schools can have their own criteria for who they accept and who they do not accept. Importantly, schools can also have their own deadlines. For example, Schools Without Walls has a deadline of January 31. So, bad luck to anyone who waits until the middle of February to apply there.

It would have been helpful to put this information on the standard out-of-boundary application form, to make sure the people do not use the wrong process to apply to a school of their choice. Admittedly, there is information on special programs on the site — follow the link to DC Municipal Regulations, and read all about them. This is not exactly front and center. And how do you find out what schools count as special programs ? You could look on the DCPS web site, but that information is not published yet. Not even that, there is no “coming soon” slot for it yet. Some schools already know that they are special programs, and will tell you if you ask. If you are planning on making an out-of-boundary transfer application, I encourage you to contact the school directly to ask if they are a special program, what criteria they use, and when you need to hand in applications by. And if there is anything else you need to know.

I suspect that the majority of the most desirable schools in the city are classed as special programs, and so are exempt from the standard lottery. However, not having a list of the special programs, I can't say for sure.

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Bagels Revisited
Stephen Fleishman, Bethesda Bagels, bagel1@bellatlantic.net

I am and was the owner of all the Whatsa Bagel, Inc. locations in DC and Maryland. Peanut butter on a bagel, why not! Anything on a bagel! We still make our bagels by hand! A few years ago we sold most of our retail locations in DC because of escalating rents, 10% sales tax, lack of weekend business, and just an unfriendly attitude towards small businesses by the DC government. When you sell a product like a bagel for .65 each, you have to move a lot of product! If it rains or snows the city shuts down and people tend to stay in their offices, then you have holidays, and I still don't know how people in retail survived in DC after 9/11. I spend a lot of time in my Bethesda store (Bethesda Bagels) and sell a lot of sandwiches with peanut butter. We have the Crescent trail near us and see a tremendous amount of bikers, joggers, and roller bladers getting a peanut butter fix! You get a lot of carbs and protein, what could be better. Any questions? You can reach me at www.bethesdabagels.com.

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Give ’em Hell, Erich Martel
Taylor T. Simmons, ttsimmons@aoldotcom

I just wanted to voice my support for Wilson High School teacher Erich Martel — the veritable Serpico of DC Public School teachers. As a Wilson alumnus (class of 1981), I was appalled to hear of last year's grade-changing scandal at my alma mater, and am similarly appalled at the multi-million dollar teachers' union embezzlement.

Mr. Martel, please keep up the heat on the entrenched bureaucracy and please let us know who you think deserves our support in reforming the school system. (Specifically, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Peggy Cooper Cafritz plan that earned a rave review from frequent themail columnist Ed Barron.) (http://www.dcwatch.com/schools/ps030107.htm).

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No Taxation without Representation
George S. LaRoche, laroche@us.net

Mark Richards reports on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's report concerning S.3054, the “No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2002.” The Senate report states that at least the Democratic members of the Committee believe that “full Congressional representation” defined as “two Senators and a House Member,” might “be achieved through legislation alone” because “Congress has the power to treat DC as if it were a state for the purposes of Congressional representation.” Some Senators question this contention, however, wondering whether such legislation would withstand legal scrutiny. It's a sign of how little attention Congress pays to District issues that anyone poses such a question, rather than answering it outright, because it CAN be answered, definitively. This precise suggestion — demanding evaluation since it was first posed by Professor Peter Raven-Hansen of George Washington University Law School a quarter century ago — was finally presented to a competent court and the court ruled that Congress cannot do it.

This question was the heart of the law suit Alexander v. Daley, which was filed in the Fall of 1998. When it issued its opinion on Alexander's claims in 2000, the three-judge district court devoted over half its Memorandum Opinion to analyzing this question. The court dismissed the claim, saying, in no uncertain terms, that representation in Congress is defined in the Constitution and ONLY those people to whom the Constitution grants the power to vote for such representation may do so. In its most concise and comprehensive statement of its conclusion, the court said, “we conclude that constitutional text, history, and judicial precedent bar us from accepting plaintiffs' contention that the District of Columbia may be considered a state for purposes of congressional representation under Article I.” Volume 90 of Federal Supplement, 2d, at pp. 55-56. The court also said that "the clauses of Article I that provide for congressional voting [ ] are not applicable to residents of the District of Columbia." Id. at 65. To reach this conclusion, the court meticulously evaluated the argument based on National Mutual Insurance Co. v. Tidewater Transfer Co., as well as a myriad of other arguments presented by the plaintiffs in Alexander.

Many supporters of mere “voting rights” in Congress know this, but are still hoping to convince Congress to pass the “simple legislation” they desire, with the expectation that no one would challenge it in court because such a challenge would be politically incorrect. Surely, even if they were to succeed in convincing Congress, isn't it likely that those bad old “conservatives” (boo, hiss) might challenge it? But isn't it also possible that valiant “liberals” and even “progressives” (whatever all these monikers mean) might also challenge it? If Congress can “define DC as a 'state' for the purposes of Article One,” then why couldn't Congress “define flag-burning as not 'speech' for the purposes of the First Amendment,” or tinker with other “definitions” in order to undermine civil rights, privacy, and who knows what else? The only answer I've ever been given to this question is the “assurance” that Congress simply wouldn't, because Congress is ultimately so moderate and trustworthy. Yea, right.

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DC Public Library
Roxanna Deane, roxannad@comcast.net

I want to assure readers of themail that each staff member in the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library is committed to serving students of all ages. Class visits are encouraged and orientation sessions are frequently conducted with teachers and students. Whenever possible the staff try to discuss research topics with the teacher to be sure that materials are available for the students to use. Just in the last two months there have been class visits from Stuart-Hobson Middle School, Roosevelt, and Coolidge High Schools. As I write this E-mail, students from Shepherd Park Elementary School are in the Division learning how to use photographs, plat maps, and microfilm. Charter schools also regularly make use of these local history resources. Division staff have always worked to support students and teachers working on National History Day projects. The Division has published a pamphlet entitled “A Peek at the Past,” aimed at teaching local history skills to elementary school children.

As the writer in Monday's edition of themail noted, Matthew Gilmore brought considerable knowledge and enthusiasms to his job as a reference librarian in the Washingtoniana Division. However he never served as the head. I was the chief of the Division from 1979 to 1999. At that time Susan Malbin became the Chief.

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Payoffs
Esther Cohen, Cleveland Park, richard.steacy@qte.net

“Pannell said that in his successful race to be elected President of the Ward Eight Democrats last year, Hemphill and the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Kelvin Robinson, 'engineered' an unreported cash payoff to him of twenty-five one hundred dollar bills to pay for his campaign.” He took it? And then had the audacity to talk about it on the radio? Is it too much to hope that Pannell did not actually accept the money, and that he perhaps even reported the breach of ethics?

[All I know is what I hear on the radio. Pannell said, correctly, that expenditures and contributions for campaigns for party positions do not have to be reported to the DC Office of Campaign Finance. He also said that he accepted the money, although he could not remember who actually handed it to him, and that he reported the matter on Wednesday, January 15, in a conference call with the FBI and the US Attorney's Office. Gwendolyn Hemphill isn't talking to the press, but Kelvin Robinson has not denied the payment, either. The radio show is archived at http://www.wamu.org/kojo/shows/2003/knarc_030113.html. — Gary Imhoff]

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Speculation
Edward Cowan, edcowan1114@yahoo.com

Your attack on the Mayor (and I'm not a partisan of hizzoner) would be more persuasive were it less artful and speculative and more founded on evidence. Bringing in Henry II and his knights is entertaining but in no way probative. It merely supports what you speculate may have happened. Or not. Without speculation, what might you write twice a week?

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

West Wing Filming, January 23-28
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com

Bill Rice of DDOT sent out an advisory on street closings downtown (Constitution between 12th and 13th) from January 23 through January 28, including the weekend, to accommodate filming of The West Wing. Wouldn't this be a good opportunity for DC Votes and the rest of us to get out there with signs promoting DC voting rights? Maybe the folks involved in the show's production would notice and choose to highlight the issue in an upcoming segment.

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Health and Education Forum
S. Willet, lwvdc@aol.com

The League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia presents a Health and Education Forum on Saturday, January 25, 2003 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Paul Vance Resource and Training Center Annex at the Logan School, 212 G St. NE. Free admission and open to the public. From 10 a.m. to noon, “DC Healthcare Safety Net,” a general picture of healthcare in DC. A question and answer period will follow the presentations. The panelists are David A. Catania, DC Councilmember; Sharon Baskerville, DC Primary Care Association; and James Buford, Director, DC Department of Health. The moderator is Vanessa Dixon, DC Healthcare Coalition. We will break from noon - 1 p.m. for a brown bag lunch. Bring your own lunch. Coffee, tea, and cookies will be provided. From 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., “Leave No Child Behind,” a look at the new federal legislation and DC Public Schools. A question and answer period will follow the presentations. The panelists are Raul Gonzalez, Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation, National Council of La Raza; Melissa Lazarin, Education Policy Analyst, National Council of La Raza; and James Ruff, education consultant to DCPS. The moderator is Constance Tate, Co-chair, LWVDC Education Committee. For information call the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia at 347-3020 or E-mail us at lwvdc@aol.com.

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FMMC Orchestra at Kennedy Center, January 27
Jim Lieberman, ejl@gwu.edu

The Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra invites you to attend a concert at the John F. Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Monday, January 27, at 7:30 p.m. Sylvia Alimena will conduct and pianist Robert Henry, first prizewinner of the 2002 Washington International Competition will be the featured soloist, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. The program will also include Handel's Overture to Berenice, and Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to “A Midsummer Night's Dream” with the FMMC Chorale.

Tickets are required for this concert and must be reserved in advance, but they are free. To reserve tickets call 333-2075. If a wheelchair is required, it must also be reserved at the same time. Tickets will not be mailed, they will be held outside the entrance to the Terrace Theater until 7:15 p.m. on the evening of the concert.

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DC Policy Wonk Happy Hour, January 28
Rene Wallis, rwallis@dcpca.org

The DC Policy Wonk Happy Hour will be held on Tuesday, January 28, at 6:00 p.m. at Thunder Grill in the Rotunda of Union Station. Let other folks meet you! Meet the folks you need to know! Improve public policy to benefit the poor, ensure that DC agencies do a great job serving the residents, and create a government that we can love as much as we love DC!

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Minivan
Phil Greene, pgreene@doc.gov

96 Dodge Caravan, hunter green, looks and runs great, very dependable, 5 door, 7 passenger, powerful V6, cruise, tilt wheel, tinted windows, roof rack, Michelin Rainforce tires, AM-FM cassette, removable rear seats, power locks, dual airbags. $4,100 or best offer. h) 362-1372, w) 482-1984.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES

Resume Writing Assistance
Jeffrey Wayne, Trier@comcast.net

Job hunters consistently undersell their skills and accomplishments on their resumes. Working with an experienced resume consultant can help you get the most out of your resume, and even keep it to one page. Call 288-8966 or write to Trier@comcast.net.

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