Plasma Televisions
Dear Plasmatics:
A few years ago, when we were shopping for a new TV, large-screen
plasma televisions were first being released for the consumer market. I
admired a particularly attractive one in a store. It was relatively
economical, too; its price had just fallen to $15,000. Dorothy let me
know that the plasma television had two things in common with Tyra
Banks: I couldn't afford it, and even if I could afford it she still
wouldn't let me install it in our bedroom.
Top administrators in the DC government seem to live in a different
world from me; they have champagne budgets to match their champagne
tastes, and several large-screen plasma televisions have been installed
in their offices and reception areas. In fact, the administration still
hasn't been able to trace all the plasma televisions that it has bought,
or to provide a list of where they are. Maybe the TV's have run away,
like juveniles from the halfway homes in our neighborhoods (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51415-2003Jul13.html).
But the government's plasmas certainly haven't been installed in many
public areas, where average citizens would have an opportunity to watch
Council Channel 13 or the Mayor's Cult of Personality Channel 16, to
which they would undoubtedly be permanently tuned.
In the past few years, the prices of plasma televisions have
continued to fall dramatically; many models now cost between three and
five thousand dollars. But for bureaucrats' offices they're still a
foolish extravagance, of the type that our administration prefers to buy
rather than wasting the money on basic government services. Have I
written about that baseball stadium lately?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Other People’s Money
Jonetta Rose Barras, rosebook1@aol.com
It’s not enough that he spent thousands of taxpayers dollars to
finance a fancy and somewhat outlandish renovation of his publicly
provided residence; the president of the University of District of
Columbia, William Pollard, has been for the past year bringing in so
many of his friends as top administrators — many of whom are poorly
qualified for the positions they hold — that he already has broken
former mayor Marion Barry’s record for cronyism. Now, Pollard intends
to provide a $10,000 signing bonus for Wilhelmina Rueben-Cooke, who is
the wife of Edmund Cooke, according to UDC sources. The Cookes have been
friends since his days at Syracuse University, and Edmund Cooke helped
Pollard land his $200,000 job at UDC. So, it’s payback time, baby.
Cooke’s wife is expected to receive a $137,000 salary as the new
Academic Provost; she has never served in this capacity in her life.
Moreover, she will get a tenure professorship at the David Clarke Law
School, which is part of UDC. Pollard is fast becoming the Michael
Lorusso of UDC; since arriving at the school slightly over a year ago
Pollard has diverted more than $700,000 that should have gone to
academic programs. The money has been used to purchase plasma screen
televisions — the kind made infamous by the Washington Teachers Union
and the Office of Property Management scandals — renovate his house on
Rittenhouse Street, NW, and hire his personal friends. Consider Robert
Robinson, who was brought in at more than $120,000 to head a security
division with only 28 people that provides security for a university
comprised of nine buildings. Robinson is receiving $56,000 more than his
last salary, according to UDC documents. Not unlike Lorusso, who bled
the Office of Property Management nearly dry and instigated an
eight-month investigation, Pollard’s actions are occurring under an
inattentive, disengaged Board of Trustees, a chief financial officer
who, according to UDC sources, has not challenged the spending, a DC
Council fixated on pushing out an inspector general, and a mayor who
calls himself “The Education Mayor.” Maybe before the summer ends an
elected official or two will take a ride up Connecticut Avenue and
remind Pollard that he’s spending other people's money, and that his
chief job is not to enrich his friends but to provide superior education
to thousands of District residents. (I know, hope springs eternal.)
###############
Going, Going, Gone, Part II
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
On Wednesday, I wrote about the likely departure of several senior
members of the Williams administration in the coming months. As it turns
out, that listing was not even half complete. Here are several
additional personnel vacancies and potential vacancies facing the
administration. The position of Director of the Office of Personnel has
been vacant since last year, when Milou Carolan left. Judy Banks, who
served as acting director before Carolan came, returned to being acting
director after she left. But Banks is not likely to be named to the
position permanently because she refuses to move into the District. In
the Office of Property Management, both the director, Timothy Dimond,
and Deputy Director, Michael Lorusso, have been removed over the past
six months because of the ongoing investigation of mismanagement at the
agency. The Office needs a new set of top-level managers.
Last week, the City Council narrowly voted 7 to 6 to approve a
$25,000 annual salary increase for Metropolitan Police Department Chief
Charles Ramsey. But it delayed a vote on his proposed hefty benefits
increase for an indefinite period that could stretch to a year. The
Council is also insisting that performance measures emphasizing
community policing be included in Ramsey's contract. Thin-skinned Ramsey
and Williams have for some time misread the depth and breadth of
community displeasure with MPD performance. Ramsey has been seeking a
federal appointment, preferably with the US Justice Department, since he
arrived in DC from Chicago. He will likely remain in place for the time
being as he updates his resume and his contacts with executive search
firms. But he will leave his post in a heartbeat for the right offer.
For months, widespread rumors that school superintendent Paul Vance
would resign have been fueled by both his health problems and the fact
that he hasn't signed a new contract with DC Public Schools since his
initial contract with the Control Board expired. Instead, he has had a
month-to-month contract with DCPS. Vance is also said to be upset and
frustrated by his inability to improve or reform the school system
substantially.
Last fall, Larry Hemphill was forced to resign as Director of the
Office of Community Outreach as a result of the Washington Teachers
Union scandal that entangled his wife, Williams administration insider
Gwen Hemphill. To date, no permanent replacement has been named. Last
week, when Joy Arnold, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Community Affairs,
had her going-away party celebrating her taking a position at the
National Capital Revitalization Corporation, the two top administration
positions devoted to outreach to the community both became vacant.
Another outreach position, the Director of the Office of Latino Affairs,
has also been filled on a temporary basis since left September, when
Rosario Gutierrez left. The Director of the Department of Mental Health,
Martha Knisley, has been on extended sick leave, at a time when the DMH
is undergoing reorganization and renewed budgetary problems. In her
absence, needed reforms at DMH have been put on indefinite hold. And
Chief Procurement Officer Jacques Abadie, like others in the Williams
administration, is becoming entangled in the widening investigation
surrounding the Office of Property Management and the improper use of
credit cards. At a Council hearing last Thursday before the Committee on
Government Operations, Abadie was unable to explain his approval of sole
source contracting by OPM that resulted in steering a million-dollar
sole-source contract to a friend of Michael Lorusso. Moreover, Abadie
became angry and frustrated when questioned about how an expensive
plasma television was acquired for his office's reception area with a
government credit card. Word has it that during a break in the hearing
Abadie threatened to resign. The likelihood is that his resignation will
soon be gratefully accepted.
While it could be argued that staff turnover in a second term of an
administration is normal, the number of high-level vacancies in key
positions, and in departments and agencies in crisis, is unusually high.
And the problem is even more significant both because Williams has
always taken a long time to fill vacancies (it took him nearly one and a
half years in his first term to find John Koskinen to be City
Administrator) and because the administration has never kept a strong
bench of mid level managers ready to assume senior positions.
###############
Today I went to the hearing on proposed changes in the property tax
structure. There were only about twenty people testifying. Councilman
Evans kept saying that if people are really concerned about this issue
they should have come to the hearing. Without evidence that people are
upset by the rapid increase in property taxes, there is no way he can
get legislation passed to slow the increases. They are looking at either
increasing the homestead exemption or capping the percent of increase.
Make your preference known. If you don't write in, things will continue
the way they are. You will have no one but yourself to blame for the
high property taxes.
There is still time to do something. Write, write, write. You have
until July 24th to submit written comments to the council on this issue.
Dr. Peter Craig and a few others can not do this all by themselves.
###############
Hybrid Cars
John Whiteside, johnwhiteside at earthlink dot net
Does anyone know if DC has, or is considering, tax benefits for
purchasers of hybrid cars (such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic
hybrids)? I know that some states (including, I think, Virginia) give a
tax break in the year you buy one, as does the federal government. DC
ought to do the same thing but I've been unable to find any information
on this.
Also if you've got one and have any comments, had problems, etc., I'd
love to know. I'm experiencing the “joy” of Volkswagen ownership now
(fabulous styling, fun to drive, expensive repairs as things break
ridiculously early in the car's life) and have decided that the
“repairmen wanted” car has to go before it hits its third birthday
and starts making even more ridiculous demands on my checkbook. (If
you're considering a VW purchase I strongly recommend that you talk to
some VW owners and check out the recent JD Powers study on car quality
three years after purchase, which unmasked VWs as the Kias of European
cars.)
###############
Is there any rule in the DC Police Dept. (MPD) regarding using a cell
phone while driving a patrol car? I ask because the driver of patrol car
#260 almost ran me down as he took a left hand turn at Wisconsin and Q
at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Then he made a U-turn and went into an
alley. All the while he was merrily chatting on a silver flip cell phone
that I saw as I dodged for my life. I wonder if MPD issues silver flip
cell phones or was he conducting personal business as he almost ran me
over. I sort of ask these questions rhetorically, because MPD answers to
no one, not to us or the City Council or the Washington Post. They just
keep not answering 911 and letting crime keep going up, driving around
in their patrol cars and chatting on their cell phones; it used to be
they ate doughnuts. If he’d have hit me, MPD would have promoted him
for eliminating a troublemaker and would have given me a postmortem
ticket for jaywalking on a green light.
###############
There are lots of good people and good organizations that have been
working for a long time on the issue of Congressional voting rights for
the District; each seems to have their own niche. I recently formed two
groups which will be assisting in the fight. The first, Friends of the
District, a 501(c)(3), works to educate those who do not know about our
status; the second, Friends' Action, a 501(c)(4), advocates for changes
in the law. Both are registered in the state of Maryland. (It helps to
reinforce the idea that there are people outside the city who care about
issue.)
Mark David Richards has shown repeatedly in his polls that most
Americans are unaware that District residents do not have a voice in the
legislature. But in order to change the law, whether by a Congressional
act or Constitutional amendment, we must have their support. That is the
focus of Friends’ work: informing and persuading those who do not know
— primarily those outside the Washington region — that this is an
injustice that needs to be changed.
In our first endeavor, we will work with college students and
professors in order to get them talking about the issue. To proceed, we
need funds; I am asking for your assistance. We’ve recently teamed up
with the GreenFund Network to recycle inkjet and printer cartridges. We’ll
provide prepaid envelopes and boxes; you just need to drop them in the
mail. You’ll be helping the environment; you’ll be helping to
achieve justice for Washington’s citizens; and it won’t cost you a
dime. For more information, please E-mail me at address listed above. I
thank each and every one of you in advance for your support.
###############
Saturday Drama at the Grocery
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
I was having a nice conversation with a woman in the grocery line,
which was splitting into two check outs. I had more than fifteen items
in my handheld basket. I didn't pay attention to the signs and there was
nobody behind me when the line advanced so I kept talking with the women
in front of me and moved into the line with her. I also ran for
something I forgot before she finished. By this time the line had grown
longer. Suddenly, a man behind yelled, “Where did you go to high
school, in New York? Can't you read? Probably speaks Spanish. You
probably think you look like Bono so you can break the rules.” And on
and on with insults. I kept apologizing, but by this point all the lines
were long and I was either going to abandon some of my groceries to get
home to be there for a dinner guest or stay where I was. I wasn't up for
getting into a shouting match. After the man kept yelling, the woman I
had been talking with turned around and at a very high volume said,
“What do you want him to do now? He has apologized over and over.
You've made your point and you keep yelling. What's next? Do you want to
fight now?” The insults that were hurled back and forth after that
were something, and she was not going to back down. The cashier was
quietly ringing up my items and by this time the whole grocery store
seemed to be watching. I have loudly defended other people in situations
I viewed as unfair but this was the first time anyone has ever defended
me and I was very stunned and appreciative. OK, so I learned my lesson
— I will pay more attention and not break the line rule next time. Too
much drama for a beautiful Saturday.
###############
Did anyone listen to what Chief Ramsey had to say on the DC Politics
Hour a couple of Fridays ago? Did callers ask him any tough questions?
###############
From News of the Weird, www.NewsoftheWeird.com/:
The District of Calamity (Continued).
“The National Assessment of Educational Progress released in June
revealed that Washington, DC, students score the lowest in the country
in reading, even though the system spends more money per pupil than 49
states do, and even though teacher salaries are among the highest in the
nation. And Washington, DC's, Options Public Charter School replaced its
principal, Clarence Edward Dixon, in May after learning that he is a
felon with a long arrest record and in fact had been reporting to work
daily wearing an ankle monitor as a condition of probation for
credit-card fraud. [Washington Times, 6-20-03] [Washington
Times, 5-22-03]”
###############
Laundered Rate Numbers from the Water and
Sewer Authority
Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org
In the last issue of themail, DC WASA Public Affairs Director Libby
Lawson sang the praises of the WASA Board for approving a mere 2.5
percent rate increase for October 2003 (in lieu of the
management-requested 4.4 percent increase). What's conspicuously missing
from her exuberant press release, of course, is any sense of context. In
1997, WASA increased the residential rate 42 percent, from $2.88 per
hundred cubic feet (ccf) to $4.09. Since then, WASA bills have featured
additional residential rate increases of 4.8 percent (1999) and 4.9
percent (2000); a new per-ccf right-of-way fee; a new flat monthly meter
fee of $2.01; and a new quarterly storm water fee of $1.75. By the by,
with newly instituted monthly billing, WASA has also improved its cash
flow at the expense of its users.
Thus, a household using 18 ccf per quarter — about what my family
runs — paid roughly $52 back in 1997. At current rates, that same 18
ccf costs about $91 per quarter, and will cost (by my calculations) $93
starting this October. I'm sure Ms. Lawson will excuse my lack of
enthusiasm for this 79 percent increase over the past six years.
###############
WASA Receives Bond Rating
Upgrades
Libby Lawson, libby.lawson@dcwasa.com
This week, the three principal rating agencies all upgraded the
District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) to a double A
minus credit rating. Moody’s Investors Service, Standard and Poor’s
and Fitch Ratings all upgraded WASA’s senior lien revenue bonds to Aa3
/ AA- / AA-, respectively. With these rating upgrades, WASA joins an
elite group of utilities with ratings in the Aa category, the second
highest rating category available to state and local municipal bond
issuers. The rating agencies noted WASA's strong financial management,
diverse customer base and strength of the management team as major
positives.
WASA Board Chairman Glenn S. Gerstell said, “This is great news for
both WASA and more importantly, its customers. For WASA, this is
independent recognition of the fact that our management team has built
our financial house on an excellent foundation. For our customers, since
WASA will now be able to pay lower interest rates on our bonds, our
customers' water and sewer bills will be lower than if we hadn't
received these credit upgrades. As a lawyer in private practice, I have
seen firsthand how my infrastructure clients benefit from higher credit
ratings and the resulting lower interest rates, and I am delighted that
WASA and its customers will continue to obtain these benefits too.”
WASA was rated as A+ prior to the upgrades and was unrated when it
began operations in the fall of 1996. In late July, WASA plans to issue
approximately $170 million of new bonds to refinance existing commercial
paper and to pay for new capital projects. This will be its first
long-term bond issue since 1998. WASA officials further explained that
the better the bond rating, the lower the interest rate is on borrowing
when paying for its ten-year, $1.6 billion capital improvement program
to upgrade the city’s water and sewer infrastructure.
###############
Consequences of Closing Beach Drive
James Treworgy, jamie@trewtech.com
Something interesting happened to me on the way home from work a
couple days ago. I drive from Silver Spring to Mt. Pleasant every day in
a reverse commute on Beach Drive. Beach Drive was closed at Wise Road.
So I took Wise to Oregon, then Oregon to Glover Road to Ross Drive, and
back to Beach Drive at the intersection of Broad Branch. I had never
actually driven all the way from Silver Spring to home using that route
before. What was interesting about this drive was the following. 1)
There was absolutely no traffic, either car or bike, on Glover Road and
Ross Drive. There was much diverted traffic on Oregon, but it all came
and went back into the park at Sherill Drive. 2) My drive took me almost
exactly the same time it does on Beach Drive. 3) There were no cyclists
or other cars, at all, on Glover Road and Ross Drive.
What this tells me is a couple things. First of all, Oregon Avenue
and Glover Road/Ross Drive, which is much windier than Beach Drive,
would definitely become the de facto alternative should Beach Drive be
closed during the day. This would have the negative consequence of
causing automobile, pedestrian and bicycle safety to suffer enormously
on these routes. Oregon is residential, and Ross/Glover, like Beach
Drive, has no shoulder, but there are far more blind corners. Secondly,
why on earth don't cyclists use this route now, instead of Beach Drive?
Ross/Glover has virtually no automobile traffic. It is a natural
sanctuary that bikers and joggers can and should use to avoid Beach
Drive, yet they don't. It's barely longer than Beach Drive as a
commuting route. Actually, I've jogged Ross/Glover plenty of times in
early morning and it's a rare day to see another soul in half an hour on
that road.
The Park Services' favored alternative would not divert traffic from
Rock Creek Park onto the arteries -- it would divert it onto Oregon
Avenue and Ross Drive, with the inevitable consequence of reduced safety
in residential neighborhoods and the park itself. At the same time,
environmental concerns would remain unaffected since all the traffic
would still be in or on the edge of the park. It seems strange, that the
route more naturally suited for cars is threatened in favor of the
cyclists, when there is already have a perfectly reasonable, nearly
car-free alternative available now without any restrictions needed at
all.
###############
Harold Foster alleged that the “so-called Federal presence
generates largely intangible benefits for the city. . . .” Here's a
short and incomplete list of very tangible benefits: 1) office buildings
stuffed with law firms, lobbyists, consultants, etc.; 2) the World Bank
and the IMF letting contracts to locals; 3) the above stuffed with
people who go out and spend; 4) free-spending diplomats (OK, no sales
tax, but from the point of view of merchants selling to them, that's all
to the good. And from the point of view of the city, it still gets the
income taxes on the profits on these sales, as well as real estate taxes
on where they conduct business.). More, so much more that to say the
Federal benefits are “intangible” doesn't pass the laugh test. Of
course, a lot goes on that doesn't pass the laugh test: The suit to tax
commuters, the DC primary that won't produce voting delegates, etc.,
etc., etc.
Mr. Foster works for the Maryland and National Capital Park and
Planning Commission. Perhaps he knows and would share with us the
proportion of the cost of the federal parks in DC paid for by DC
residents? We don't even pay the electricity bill for our parks.
###############
Nixon Still Not Governor
Toni Ritzenberg, taritzdc@aol.com
In response to the person who mentioned that he wanted more
information about the Nixon vs. Pat Brown 1962 race for California
governor, as one who was at the Beverly Hilton in 1962 to hear Mr. Nixon
rail against his supporters for not working hard enough and causing his
loss — he did not become the governor.
As a twenty-year-old who was working for State Senator Richard
Richards, who was the losing Democratic candidate for Senate (he lost to
Senator Thomas Kuchel, who boarded a plane and headed to Washington, DC,
for an emergency meeting on the Cuban missile crisis), I was appalled to
see a “grown up,” unshaven and out of control, lambaste his hard
workers, some of whom were my high school friends.
###############
Waiting for Deliverance
Timothy Cooper, worldright@aol.com
Perhaps one day the editor of themail will deliver us from the pall
of injustice that hangs over Washington through a strategy superior to
the DC presidential primary. But until that welcome day arrives, DC
residents should support any initiative that challenges the untenable
and unconscionable status quo by creating new political space for a
national debate about an abiding injustice that has and will continue to
have a very real and very deleterious impact on the lives of everyone
living in the nation's capital.
###############
Democratic Primary
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
Once again I find myself as a registered Democrat, though it's
unlikely that I'd vote for any of those clowns who are candidates for
the president of the US. What disturbs me most about that primary
election in DC is what its probable result would be. Just think how the
District will look to the rest of the country when Al Sharpton wins the
DC primary.
###############
Presidential Support for DC Democracy
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso-at-capaccess-dot-org
The upcoming open meeting with Democratic presidential hopeful John
Edwards (D-NC) suggests the value of an early DC primary. If other
candidates start treating DC like New Hampshire or Iowa, we have an
opportunity to put them on record with specific promises to help bring
us true democracy. What exactly can a president do to help us?
Presidents have a limited role in either getting DC admitted as a state,
or in pushing a constitutional amendment. They might have somewhat more
of a role in retrocession, but even there their role is small (and in my
view retrocession is an even longer shot than statehood). And they have
almost no role in congressional rulemaking (e.g. who votes on the
floor).
But presidents can appoint commissions. Let's ask each candidate to
support the establishment of a bipartisan presidential commission to
recommend a way of addressing what everyone agrees is a blot on American
democracy. The only option off the table would be the status quo. The
commission would have to produce a recommendation for full voting
representation in both houses of Congress for the residents of DC, and
meaningful self-government, without the constant threat of a
congressional veto. A commission would probably require a bill in
Congress and appropriations. Someone should research whether the
president can establish a commission without congressional approval. If
not, we should get the candidates to promise that, after a certain
deadline (e.g. the first year of their term), if there's no commission
up and running, the president will establish a special unit in the
Justice Department to produce a recommendation. But a bipartisan
commission is better. We each have our own preference as to how to
resolve the dilemma of DC democracy. But the difference between the
status quo and any solution is so much greater than the difference among
any of the solutions. I would support any solution we can get, within
the parameters of full voting representation in both houses of Congress
and meaningful self-government. A bipartisan commission might provide
the impetus for a politically workable solution.
Does any of themail's historians know if someone has tried this
before and, if so, the result? And are supporters of the competing
remedies for DC's colonial status so tied to their own solutions that
they would reject any other, even if it got bipartisan support and
seemed politically workable?
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Board of Education Meeting on Budget, July 14
Elena Temple, elena.temple@k12.dc.us
The District of Columbia Board of Education Committee on Finance and
Facilities will hold a public hearing on Monday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m.
in the 5th Floor Board Room at 825 North Capitol Street, NE, on the DCPS
FY 2004 Operating Budget. The Committee is soliciting public comment to
discuss the impact of the FY 2004 Budget approved by the Mayor and
Council and how it should be reallocated. Mayor Williams and the Council
of the District of Columbia approved a local funds operating budget of
$738 million for the District of Columbia Public Schools — $110
million less than the $848 million requested by the DC Board of
Education and Superintendent Paul Vance, and $2 million less than the FY
2003 budget of $740 million. The Board's FY 2004 request takes into
account the cost of continuing programs and operations at the same level
of quality as in FY 2003 ($64.6 million for payroll increases, legal
requirements, and inflation), facilities improvement needs ($24.3
million for building repairs and asbestos abatement), and continuing
implementation of the DCPS Strategic Reform Plan ($20.3 million).
All are welcome! Please contact Elena Temple at 442-5190, Elena.Temple@k12.dc.us,
with questions or to sign up to testify.
###############
Metrobus Forum, July 16
Melanie Mayock, Sierra Club Mid-Atlantic Office, melanie.mayrock@sierraclub.org
Putting the Bus on the Map: How to Get More out of Our Region's Bus
System, a forum with Edward Thomas, Assistant General Manager, Metro;
Chris Zimmerman, Arlington County Board and Metro Board member; and Dan
Tangherlini, Director, DC Department of Transportation, will be held on
Wednesday, July 16, at 7:00-8:30 p.m. (refreshments at 6:30 p.m.), at
Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, 901 G Street, NW (corner of 9th and G
Streets), Room A-5 (Basement Auditorium).
Metrobus is at a crossroads. The bus system can either remain the
poor stepsister to Metrorail, or transform into a modern, clean,
high-tech foundation of our transportation system. But to do this we
need to fix what's wrong with the current system (including better maps
and information and safe access to bus stops) as well as expedite major
improvements such as signal priority, bus rapid transit, real-time
information, and clean fuel buses, to bring out bus system into the 21st
century. Join us for this discussion on the future of Metrobus,
sponsored by Sierra Club and Washington Regional Network for Livable
Communities. DIRECTIONS: Metrobus Routes: 13A, 32, 34, 35, 36, 42, 54,
66, 68, 70, 80, D6, G8, S2, S4, P6, X2. Metrorail: Gallery
Place-Chinatown Station (use Museum exit on 9th Street), or Metro Center
Station (use 11th Street exit). (Check WMATA Ride Guide at http://www.wmata.com
or call Metro at 202-637-7000 for more information on bus or rail
routes.) RSVP: staff@washingtonregion.net,
or 667-5445.
###############
Emergency Assistance in DC, July 25
Parisa B. Norouzi, parisa@wishdc.org
All Souls Church, Unitarian, and the Fair Budget Coalition invite you
to a discussion about emergency assistance and community aid in DC,
where we’ve been and where we’re going as a community of providers
and advocates. The meeting will be held on Friday, July 25, 12-2 p.m.,
at All Souls Church, 1500 Harvard Street, NW. Lunch will be provided
with registration. Limited street parking. All Souls is three blocks
from the Columbia Heights Metro station, when you exit, walk south two
blocks on 14th and make a right on Harvard Street. The Church will be on
your left at 15th and Harvard. For more information and to register
contact Darwin Fishman at All Souls, 332-5266 x 18, darbfish7@hotmail.com.
Who should attend? Providers of emergency assistance and community
aid, individuals who refer people to organizations that provide this
aid, and advocates and community members who are concerned about the
future of financial assistance programs in DC. Every day, many of us
encounter families and individuals who are trying desperately to avoid
crisis. Sometimes we are able to cobble together resources to help them
prevent an eviction, pay a security deposit so they can move out of
shelter, or avoid a utility cutoff. More often than not, we are left
with nothing to say but, “sorry, we have no emergency assistance funds
left” or “we can put you on the waiting list for community aid.”
Since the District government eliminated its publicly funded Emergency
Assistance program in 1996, a heavy burden was placed on community
organizations, churches and other service providers to meet the needs of
people living in crisis. It is remarkable what groups have been able to
do, but the demand for assistance far outweighs the resources that are
available, and we need to come together to creatively think about how we
can most effectively respond to people in need.
We invite you to join us in a conversation about what emergency
resources presently are available, what needs are not being met (both by
volume and type) and how we can use our collective energy to best
respond to those needs.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Contract Attorney and Full-Time Legal
Assistant
Jon Katz, jon at markskatz dot com
Silver Spring, Maryland's Marks & Katz, LLC, seeks an on-site
lawyer on contract to perform all assigned work, which primarily will be
immigration, personal injury, litigation, and miscellaneous assignments.
This work will be full-time or part-time depending on your strengths and
our needs, and will be for several months with the possibility of
renewal or a more permanent arrangement. The ideal candidate will have a
strong commitment to social justice, human rights, and individual
liberties. Applications are encouraged from experienced lawyers and
recent law graduates who have demonstrated an aptitude for the relevant
work to be performed. Strong Spanish fluency is a plus. Please apply
with a one-page resume, strong cover letter specifically addressing your
strengths for and interest in this position (designating “Contract
Attorney”), salary history, and writing sample (concise and authored
solely by applicant) to Jon Katz, Marks & Katz, LLC, 1400 Spring
St., Suite 410, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Fax: 301-495-8815. Please do
not send E-mail attachments. For more information, visit http://www.markskatz.com.
We also seek an additional legal assistant. This position requires
successful prior relevant legal experience; strong caring for our
clients and for quality work; strong oral and written communications
skills; working well and thriving under tight deadlines; flexibility and
strong interest in learning new types of work; intelligence and strong
common sense; and independence. Pluses to your application, although not
necessarily required, are a strong, brief writing sample not edited by
anybody else, a college degree or demonstrated similar intellectual
achievement, and fluent Spanish. Ideal for people seeking rewarding work
for justice and individuals, and substantial client interaction. Please
apply with a one-page resume, strong cover letter specifically
addressing your strengths for and interest in this position (designating
“Full-Time Legal Assistant”), and salary history and pay preference
to Jon Katz, Marks & Katz, LLC, 1400 Spring St., Suite 410, Silver
Spring, MD 20910. Fax: (301) 495-8815. Please do not send E-mail
attachments. For more information, visit http://www.markskatz.com.
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