Please Write
Please Write to themail, June 11, 2003
Dear Reporters:
Please write. Write about something that affects your life in DC,
whether positively or negatively. It certainly doesn't have to be
political. It's easy to get your message published, as it should be on
an Internet web site. Just keep it brief and coherent. The easiest way
to do that is to keep it simple, to keep to just one issue in a posting,
and to make just one point about it. And then sign it yourself, with
your own name.
John Vaught LaBeaume, jvlab@yahoo.com,
wrote me this week about a posting in themail that he suspected had been
sent under a fake name. He wondered whether I had the same suspicion.
People try to scam, and do scam, themail in various ways. A relatively
innocuous practice, not really worthy of being called a scam, is
organizing people to write E-mails about an issue on suggested talking
points. This is limited in effectiveness because postings that are too
repetitive don't get into themail; I try to include only messages that
add new points to the discussion. A more questionable practice is
drafting E-mails for other people to sign. I actually received one
message promoting a candidate that forwarded the original E-mail in
which the candidate asked the purported signer to send the enclosed
message to themail. I don't like this at all, but I recognize that,
outside of academia and the press, claiming to write what other people
wrote for you is a common practice. We wouldn't have books by
celebrities or politicians if celebrities and politicians actually had
to write books. (Saddam Hussein didn't write any of his four novels
himself; he had them written by a committee from outlines that he tape
recorded. Last week, Lannie Danis claimed on a cable talk show that
Hillary Clinton had written her autobiography herself. When he was
confronted by the fact that the book had four ghostwriters whose names
were known, Davis blurted, “She read every word.”)
Finally, there is the much more questionable practice of signing
false names to messages in order to hide the poster's identity. I
require all messages to themail to be signed in order to minimize this
kind of game, but it obviously doesn't end it completely. I don't verify
each poster's name, E-mail address, and identity before including
messages in themail. This group is very sharp, and catches on to this
kind of attempted manipulation quickly. Besides, the embarrassment of
exposure when someone is caught sending messages under false names is
very effective, as those who have read themail regularly over the past
year know well. Scams like this have happened here in the past, and will
undoubtedly happen again in the future, but the people who are caught
doing it are the ones who end up getting hurt. This is yet another way
that Internet news differs from newspaper, radio, and television news.
When there are officially designated reporters and editors, mistakes are
very serious because corrections are few, late, and grudging. But on
open web news sources, where every reader is a reporter, copy editor,
and fact checker, mistakes and outright scams are caught and corrected
quickly and openly. Of course, that depends on your continued active
participation in themail. For which I thank you all, very much.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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As a candidate for Mayor, Tony Williams distinguished himself in
October 19, 1998, by signing what he called “The Williams Pledge:
Integrity, Accountability, and Openness in Government” (http://www.dcwatch.com/archives/election98/williams-56.htm).
The pledge began: “When I am elected as your Mayor, I pledge that the
government of the District of Columbia will be dedicated to a new
standard of integrity, accountability, and openness. A common, cynical,
old American saying is that 'You can't fight City Hall.' I think
differently. I envision an administration under which our citizens no
longer have to fight City Hall. Citizens will be able to put their
confidence and trust in City Hall; it will be a place where it is
commonplace to deliver services successfully, where excuses are not
acceptable and commitment to people is the order of the day. To earn
that confidence and trust, government must demonstrate its commitment to
operating with integrity, accountability, and openness.” And under the
section devoted to integrity, Williams wrote: “Contracting,
procurement, and grant making by this government will be open and
competitive. There will be no cronyism and no favoritism, and the
process will be open so that everyone can be assured that there has been
no cronyism and no favoritism.”
The current scandal at the Office of Property Management is just the
latest example of how hollow that pledge was, and how cynically it was
made. Cronyism and favoritism remain the iron rule of the District
government's contracting and procurement, to a much greater extent than
ever. The attempt by the administration to dismiss this widespread
scandal as just the actions of one “bad apple” at the OPM doesn't
pass the laugh test. No single government employee devised and enforced
the system of steering contracts to developers who returned favors to
the Mayor's campaign. No single government employee inflated the cost of
contracts or pressured “independent” appraisers to raise their
estimates in order to enrich developers.
This is only the latest in a series of scandals in the Williams
administration, scandals of dishonesty and corruption. Ignore the
repeated instances of mismanagement and incompetence, and this remains
from the past four and a half years: Sam Kaiser lied about his resume
and embezzled from the Tobacco Fund in his position at the Office of the
Chief Financial Officer; Terence Coles embezzled from the DC Escheated
Estates Fund in his position as Special Assistant to the Secretary of
the District; Gwendolyn Hemphill, Barbara Bullock, and James Baxter
embezzled millions from the Washington Teachers Union, and Hemphill's
and Bullock's close ties to the Williams administration extended to
their influence over appointments and contracts and Hemphill's
co-chairmanship of Williams's 2002 reelection campaign. Robert Newman,
the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, resigned because
of exaggerations and inflated statements on his resume; Fire Chief
Ronnie Few and three of the Assistant Chiefs that he hired resigned
because of outright lies on their resumes. The announced director of the
Taxicab Commission, Christopher Lynn, was never even officially
appointed after his ties to organized crime gangs in New York were
exposed. The Director of the Office of Religious Affairs, Carlton
Pressley, resigned after accusations of sexual harassment and after he
misrepresented a donation that he solicited from a company seeking city
permits. The Church Association for Community Service was given
lucrative housing rehabilitation contracts that eventually were
rescinded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for
sheer incompetence, and the Association's contracts were awarded after
it cooperated with high-level officials in the Office of Mayor in an
elaborate fundraising scheme that involved both real and phony
nonprofits that raised unreported political funds for the Mayor's
causes. This fundraising scandal, which the US Attorney refused to
pursue and prosecute, followed the fundraising scandals of the Mayor's
Millennium Project, which raised money for Millennium celebratory events
that mostly never took place. The Mayor's petition scandal in the 2002
election, in which he submitted thousands of forged signatures and was
eventually denied a printed line on the Democratic primary ballot (a
decision by the Board of Elections and Ethics that he denounced as
“lawless”), followed his insistence in his campaign for the School
Charter Amendment vote that he had a First Amendment right to use
government employees and resources to promote his position in the
campaign (and the attempt to use DC Agenda as a nonprofit arm to raise
money for the campaign, which foreshadowed the later misuse of nonprofit
entities), and his non-reporting of personal income that he received in
his first Mayoral campaign in 1998.
No, the current scandal at OPM isn't an aberration, a singular event
attributable to one bad apple, unless we admit that that bad apple came
from a barrel that had already spoiled. And no, Tony Williams is no
Marion Barry. Marion Barry's record doesn't begin to compare.
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I was dismayed to learn of the recent bust on an illegal strip club
run by DC police officers. Finally, some good old fashioned honest
corruption in this city and they have to go ruin it! Finally a chance to
shed our reputation as a doltish backwater in the arena of official
malfeasance. For too long we have been complacently letting the District
government slide by with petty levels of neglect; sweetheart development
deals, nepotism, and niggling shakedowns (i.e. master business licenses)
Not only minor league corruption, but dull, dull, dull! Here was our
chance to get a little badass glory going. Secret passwords and hoochy
koochy girls! I know, I know, a warehouse speakeasy with a twenty buck
cover isn't exactly going to draw the glam crowd, but it's a start!
Maybe someday we will even see the sort of concrete results
traditionally found in the great cities of corruption such as Chicago,
Boston, New York, and LA.
I would also like to applaud the three officers who ran the club for
coming up with such a creative solution to get all the horny drunk
derelicts out of our alleys, back steps, apartment hallways, and laundry
rooms. The official police have never considered this a problem worth
their attention, so these three fine officers have taken the initiative
to provide an alternate venue. I say give us more slut salons and wino
warehouses! In fact, let's lower the cover charge and run a shuttle bus!
Those of us who currently have to wade through empty beer cans and used
condoms to get out of our back doors would gladly pay. No more having to
hang our heads in shame that our police are only capable of negligence
or incompetence! For that we owe these officers our thanks. They showed
initiative and plenty of spunk.
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Ramsey Lies to Washington Post
John Aravosis, John@SafeStreetsDC.com
In an effort to rebut criticism that he has repeatedly lied to the DC
city council and the public about key public safety issues facing the
city, Police Chief Ramsey again lied about his record this past Sunday,
this time on the Close to Home page of the Washington Post
(“Doing an Injustice to DC Police,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23937-2003Jun6.html).
In an article meant to justify his proposed $25,000 raise, this is how
Chief Ramsey characterized his handling of recent anti-globalization
protests: "DC police have avoided the violence, property damage and
looting that have taken place in Seattle and elsewhere while still
protecting the First Amendment rights of protesters and
demonstrators."
In fact, this past January a confidential police report concluded
that hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were arrested in Pershing Park
last September under trumped-up charges (the police arrested the
protesters for "failing to obey an order to disperse" when in
fact no such order was ever given). In addition, the report reveals that
the arresting officers signed arrest reports attesting to the fact that
they witnessed the protesters committing the "crimes" in
question, when the officers witnessed nothing of the sort. Arresting
protesters illegally does not protect their First Amendment rights.
Unfortunately, the public will never see the police report in which
the MPD admits arresting the protesters under false pretenses, because
Chief Ramsey says the report is about “personnel issues” and thus
can't be discussed publicly. But in this Sunday's Washington Post,
Chief Ramsey flat-out contradicted the conclusions of his own report,
and thus can no longer argue that this is a private matter. We have a
right to know why our chief of police publicly lied about a massive
violation of civil rights in an effort to convince DC residents to
support his pay raise under false pretenses. Any supposed “privacy”
issues were forfeited the moment Chief Ramsey put pen to paper. You can
read a summary of the confidential police report here: http://safestreetsdc.c.tclk.net/maaa9MgaaYwSQbciwg9b/.
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Petition to Stop the Chief’s Pay Raise
Sandy Nelson, Ward 5, sandy.nelson@memberworks.com
A group of citizens in Ward 5 are circulating a petition to the Mayor
and the City Council denouncing the proposed pay increase for Chief
Charles Ramsey and demanding a Department of Justice investigation into
the way the Metropolitan Police Department is running the 5th District.
The signatures will be submitted into the record next Tuesday, June 17th
at noon at the City Council hearing on the proposed legislation.
We are looking for more volunteers in Ward 5 to circulate the
petition. Additionally, residents of other wards can get involved
collecting signatures in their own neighborhoods. To sign the petition
or get involved in collecting signatures, please E-mail sandy.nelson@memberworks.com
or call me at 635-6446. We really need help with this!
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The 3200 block of Q Street, NW, is becoming abandoned car alley. One
gray Taurus LX is in front of 3210 Q Street with a ticket on it from May
31. It is now June 10, and pulled directly behind it is a red Honda
Accord that has been stripped of its license, VIN number, and all other
methods of identifying the owner. Parking Enforcement Officer #172
tonight walked around them, looked at both, and then drove off, doing
nothing visible. Over the weekend, I wrote an E-mail to Leslie Hotaling,
DPW Director, who suggested that I call the city call center. Apparently
writing the director of DPW can’t get results either.
I also wrote to Kay Phillips of DPW, who wrote back: “The timeline
for removal of the car (new request #493829) is inspection on or before
June 24, 2003.” Very timely service. Two weeks promised for an
inspection. Only no action, but they promise to take a look in, oh, two
weeks or so. I wonder how long it will take to actually get these cars
removed, because nothing is being done now. I wonder if they would be
that patient in waiting for my tax checks. Meanwhile I park five blocks
from my house because I have junked cars on the streets of Georgetown.
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Oh, the power of themail. When I E-mailed some DPW officials about
two abandoned cars in Georgetown I was told to use the call center and
that inspection of the cars would take two weeks. Then I CC'ed the same
officials my Abandoned Cars post [above] last night. Why, lo and behold
if DPW hasn’t been out here today and posted a Warning Notice Of
Intent Of Removal Of An Abandoned Vehicle. A big yellow official-looking
sticker pasted to the windshield. Of course the cars are still there,
but some progress is being made. And I’m sure it was the post to
themail that did it, because when it was just me, Joe Citizen all alone,
the interest they showed was next to nothing. Post to themail and they
want to show something can be done. DPW didn’t even wait until the
issue of themail came out. It's just a pity that they couldn't show such
customer service to all the citizens of the district.
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Baseball in the Nation’s Capitol
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
Has a nice sound to it doesn't it? And it is a great idea for the
Major Leagues. It is such a great idea that it might just breathe some
life into a dying sport. Major League Baseball should consider building
a stadium here and transferring one of their losing franchises to a
place that has the potential to support a big league team. Major League
Baseball should be proud to relocate a team here and build a
state-of-the-art stadium. That would surely make the proposition of
having a major league team here in DC very affordable. Without this, the
taxpayers of DC would be plunged into a very deep financial hole for the
rest of their lives.
Since all of this is a little unlikely, we should focus our efforts
on a much more practical and affordable option. Let's develop a good
minor league franchise at a nice sized stadium in the city, accessible
to all by public transit. Such an activity would provide a very
entertaining and affordable option to sports fans from the inner city as
well as the near suburbs.
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Invite the Presidential Candidates to DC
Sam Farmer, sam@letsfreedc.org
If you want to see the Presidential candidates campaigning in your
neighborhood, then invite them to DC! On DCfirst.org you can invite all
nine candidates in one click (http://dcfirst.org/primary/invite.php).
The DC Presidential primary is set for January 13, 2004, and will raise
the issue of our disenfranchisement on both a local and national level.
DC first voted for President in 1964, but it will be 2004 before we play
a decisive role in a national election. If you have more questions about
the DC First primary check out our FAQ section: http://dcfirst.org/primary/faq.php.
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National News Media Recognizes DC Primary as
First in the Nation
Sean Tenner, DC Democracy Fund, stenner@mrss.com
With the District of Columbia's January 13, 2004, presidential
primary now established as the nation's first contest, major media
outlets are finally giving the District, and its political
disenfranchisement, the attention it deserves. On a recent ABC Radio
nationwide broadcast Congressional Quarterly's top political columnist,
Craig Crawford, and I were featured for a segment covering how DC voting
rights and statehood activists successfully pressed the case that DC
vote first. Crawford, one of the nation's top political journalists,
also began sorting out for the national audience which candidates will
do well in DC. On June 5th, Fox News ran an excellent story nationwide
highlighting the DC primary and voting rights issues. A week earlier
Minority Broadcast Network (MBC), aired a national evening news piece
comparing the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Party voting rights movement to
that of DC’s effort to host the first-in-the-nation 2004 presidential
primary.
Joe Lieberman, who is leading the Democratic field in most national
polls, recently became the first candidate to tell the news media he is
strongly committed to campaigning in DC. Howard Dean, whose nationwide
profile and grassroots campaign seemingly gains momentum everyday, has a
strong grassroots presence and has organized well-packed events here in
town. Local Dean supporters expect a positive official announcement
about the DC Primary in the coming weeks. Former Senator and Ambassador
Carol Mosley-Braun has declared her candidacy in DC as has Al Sharpton,
featured last week on the WTOP Politics Hour. Despite early reports to
the contrary, this primary will be meaningful in terms of selecting
delegates who will choose the Democratic nominee. DC Democrats will vote
for the person they want to be President on January 13th. Certain
“super” delegates (including DC Shadow Senators Paul Strauss and
Florence Pendleton) have committed to vote for the winner of the DC
primary at the Democratic National Convention in August. Additional
delegates will also be selected at a Democratic State Committee caucus
after the primary.
On June 18th, the day Congress makes the primary law official, DC
Democracy Fund and other pro-primary groups will launch a national media
education campaign about the first primary and DC's lack of
representation and autonomy. How can you help the first primary move
forward? All are welcome to attend a first-primary meeting of the Ward 2
Democrats at 7 p.m. at the Wilson Building on Tuesday, January 13th,
that will also feature new DC Dem Chair/primary supporter Scott Bolden.
Want to help us contact a specific candidate to encourage their
campaigns in the District? Write me at stenner@mrss.com.
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Seniors Can Wait Their Turn
Star Lawrence, jkellaw@aol.com
Why should seniors get priority at the vehicle inspection station? I
don't live in DC, or drive for that matter, but I am wondering why
seniors should get to jump the line. If they are retired, they have even
more time to be inspected than their younger counterparts. If heat or
waiting time is a factor, or if a senior is that frail, maybe he or she
should not be driving.
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Parks and National Parks
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
Regarding Michael Bindner's suggestion that DC parks be managed by
the city: keep in mind that there's a difference between DC parks that
are managed by the National Park Service and national parks that happen
to be in DC (of which Rock Creek Park is one). Many cities have national
parks within their boundaries, built around both natural and historic
resources. Thus on the list of national parks you find New Orleans Jazz
in New Orleans, Boston National Historic Park (the Freedom Trail), San
Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, Santa Monica Mountains
National Recreational Area in LA, and so forth.
While there is some logic to the idea of DC managing its own city
parks, this wouldn't affect Rock Creek at all. And I hate to say it, but
I suspect that Rock Creek would be in sad shape -- or paved over for
development — if it were in the hands of the District government.
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Beach Drive Is My Lifeline
Lorraine Swerdloff, swerdloffs@erols.com
I agree with Dawn Dickerson that Beach Drive helps commuters relax
from the stresses of the workday. That's why I support Plan D, which
would keep Beach Drive open during rush hours but would close selected
stretches (the same portions currently closed on weekends) during
midday. This is a good compromise for recreational users, for the
ecology, and for commuters.
I live in Crestwood, and many of my neighbors are under the mistaken
belief that Plan D would prevent them from crossing the Park. This is
not true -- the same cross streets open during the weekend would remain
open 24 hours a day on weekdays under Plan D.
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I sent in my tax return in February because I had a refund coming. At
the end of May, I called Revenue and Finance. I was concerned that maybe
they had not received the return. I was told that they were auditing it
because I had over withheld. After reading the postings in themail, I
can see that I will have to take some stronger action to get my refund.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Dollars for Schools
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo
I am not surpassed that DC school employees reacted the way that they
did [to the Giant receipt program]. They are part of a bureaucracy under
public attack, especially by members of this list. In bureaucracies, the
message is always “Keep your head down.” As long as you have large
public school systems accountable to politicians, you will have this
problem.
It would be better to decentralize the school system and form a board
for each institution, controlled largely by the parents, with the
principal in charge of anything that goes on there. Until you change the
governance, you have no hope of changing the culture. For more
discussion on this, see my web site at http://www.christianleft.net/SocialPolitics/EducationWelfare.html.
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ANCs: Legitimate and Democratic
Lars Hydle Larshhydle@aol.com
Richard Black's problems with the 5th and his hopes for the 1st
Police District, and Richard Layman's comments about Kingman Park. wards
and ANCs, illustrate the confusion that many feel about the various
overlapping government entities and boundaries in our neighborhoods.
There are seven police districts, but eight wards. ANCs normally are
within one Ward, but the ANC redistricting law permits otherwise, as the
Council did for Chevy Chase (ANC3/4G) when they split it between Wards 3
and 4, but refused to do for Kingman Park when they split it between
Ward 6 and 7. In that case, for reasons of good community policing and
respect for natural neighborhood boundaries, and regardless of the
cluster boundaries, Kingman Park could be within a single PSA. Ward,
ANC, and SMD boundaries may change every ten years because of population
shifts and other factors, but cluster boundaries have existed only since
January 2000. Unlike ANC/SMD boundaries, which do respect natural
boundaries and neighborhood cohesion, they adhere to census tracts and
census blocks, the smallest units within which the US Census Bureau
publishes demographic information, much of which is sampled rather than
counted. But census tracts and blocks can also change because of
political and demographic changes.
More important than whether part of a specific PSA should go into an
ANC or a "neighborhood cluster" is the far greater legitimacy
and democratic character of the ANCs. When DC voters approved the Home
Rule Charter on May 7, 1974, they separately approved what were then
called "Advisory Neighborhood Councils" (74,626 for to 27,635
against with 764 invalid votes). The Home Rule Charter (DC Code
1-204.04(b) gives the Council “authority to create, abolish, or
organize any office, agency, department, or instrumentality of the
government of the District and to define the powers, duties, and
responsibilities of any such. . . .” The Council's web site contains
twenty-nine citations of laws on the powers, duties, and boundaries of
ANCs, but none on the clusters. Nor have affected ANCs been given the
opportunity, required by law, to review the proposed clusters or their
“Strategic Neighborhood Action Plans.” The Office of Planning's
recommendation to the Chief of Police that he conform his PSA boundaries
with the clusters must be regarded as an attempt to give the kiss of
life to the clusters and to enhance their power as a counterweight to
the neighborhood-oriented, democratic ANCs. So it is important that ANCs
themselves, neighborhood associations and neighbors, and the Council
weigh in in favor of aligning PSA boundaries with the ANCs. If there are
practical policing reasons for deviations from those boundaries in
specific cases, so be it, but not on account of the clusters.
Cluster, schmuster.
###############
Whatever the merits of having PSAs running contiguously with ANCs,
Richard Layman is mistaken when he says that one of the shortcomings
would be changing ANC boundaries. In fact, ANC boundaries are drawn to
reflect existing neighborhoods, and very rarely change. Boundaries of
the Single Member Districts within the ANCs do change as necessary
following each census. But this would not affect PSA boundaries should
they be redrawn to be identical to those of the ANCs.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Join HIPS at Meze, June 12
Jon Katz, jon at markskatz dot com
Come to Meze this Thursday night, June 12 (6:00-9:00 p.m.)
simultaneously for a great happy hour, and to benefit the public
interest group HIPS, which serves the welfare of local sex workers
through a harm reduction approach. A $10 donation to HIPS gives you a
chance to win fabulous door prizes, and you can enjoy Miller Lite for
$2.50, rail drinks for $3.50, and Heineken, Corona, and Amstel Light for
$3.00. Join HIPS upstairs at Meze, located at 2437 18th Street in
Adams-Morgan. For more information on HIPS (Helping Individual
Prostitutes Survive), visit http://www.hips.org,
or contact me (I'm an officer and board member). See you there.
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Health Care Hearings, June 18 and 25
Rene Wallis, District of Columbia Primary Care
Association, rwallis@dcpca.org
Want DC residents to get better health care? You should. You pay for
it. Here's another chance to testify. If you can't testify, send an
E-mail or make a phone call. Citizens must be involved for democracy to
work well. Health care for low income people in DC is in a perpetual
state of crisis, with the Department of Health promising things will get
better, and breaking those promises over and over and over. Just last
week, DOH admitted there was a $33 million shortfall in a program with a
budget of $90 million. This kind of craziness must stop. There are two
critical hearings coming up where you can let the Council — and DOH
and the Mayor -- know you don't like what is going on. Remember, when
you testify, it is televised and the Mayor and his agency leaders are
watching. Here are the hearings and how to sign up: Oversight of DOH,
Medical Assistance Administration (DC Medicaid, with a budget of $1.2
billion for 2004, the largest budget in the District.), Thursday, June
18, from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. Hearing on the Health Care Safety Net
Administration with an emphasis on the Alliance (projected $110 million
budget in 2003), Wednesday, June 25, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Both hearings are at
the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 412 (not in the
main chamber). To sign up to testify, call Janelle Mathis at 724-8170,
or E-mail jmathis@dccouncil.washington.dc.us.
A quick overview of the cash involved: in 2004, health care for low
income people will cost $1.5 billion. The feds pump $1.1 billion in
through Medicaid, Ryan White and other programs. DC taxpayers pump in
another $400 million. So with all this cash floating around, why do DC
health outcomes for our 210,000 vulnerable residents rival third world
countries? Council is asking that question, and your voice should be
added to the growing chorus of people who believe the status quo --
unacceptably poor management at the Department of Health -- must end.
This matters to you for many reasons: 1) it's your tax dollars paying
for care. 2) Medicaid is the second largest source of revenue for the DC
government, and helps to sustain the entire health care system. Health
care is a big, expensive business, and we need to use those dollars
well, both for the patients and so the system will be strong for all
residents. 3) A poorly runs system for the vulnerable affects the
ability of hospitals to serve people with insurance for two reasons: a)
crowded emergency rooms because people aren't getting their medications
and chronic care treatment, therefore they end up in the ER with a
crisis; and b) a lack of a strong, stable primary care system means
patients turn to emergency rooms when they could be going to primary
care clinics. More overcrowding in the ER. 4) DC is an amazing city in
that its residents care about low income people and want to give them a
boost up in life. Compared to Mississippi, where the feds and the state
together fund a Medicaid budget of $400 million for roughly the same
number of people, DC taxpayers are incredibly generous, and we are smart
to get big federal dollars into the system. The Department of Health is
responsible to get the most bang from your buck, to make that caring
matter in people's lives. 5) The people who rely on DOH are your
neighbors, your child care workers, taxi drivers, and janitors. They
include 66,000 children. Pretty much anyone who doesn't have a job with
insurance relies on the Department of Health for health care through one
of DC's health care programs.
So join with the patients, advocates and providers to let council
hear from you. If you can't testify, send an E-mail or make a phone call
to your councilmember. If you want more info, and want to get involved
so we can stop the madness at the Department of Health, E-mail DCPCA at dcpca@dcpca.org,
and we will send you info on the issues and how to contact the Council,
or check out our web site at http://www.dcpca.org.
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Take a Walk in the Park with the DC
Preservation League, June 21
Krista Schreiner Gebbia, krista@dcpreservation.org
Takoma Park, DC and MD, on Saturday, June 21, at 10:00 a.m. From
Takoma Park’s inception in 1883 as a railroad suburb, developer B.F.
Gilbert promoted the political activism and civic involvement that
continues today. With the magnificent “Cady Mansion” (circa 1887),
solid four-squares, and charming Sears bungalows, Takoma Park is diverse
in every way — racially, culturally, architecturally, and politically.
Discover this fascinating neighborhood, situated in two jurisdictions,
with its thriving arts community and Takoma Theater designed by John
Jacob Zink (circa 1924); first branch library in Washington DC,
constructed in 1911 with funding from Andrew Carnegie; and new,
award-winning Takoma Village CoHousing. Presented in cooperation with
Historic Takoma, Inc. Tour departs from the Takoma metro station. $15
for DCPL members, $20 nonmembers. For reservations, call 955-5616 or info@dcpreservation.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED
I want to buy a used digital camera.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation for plasterer: some years ago we used Ian Berry of
Monumental Moulding, 745-0658, and were very happy with the result.
Recommendation for roofer: Roof Management Services, Dave Roberson,
483-7362.
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