Experts Agree
Dear Experts:
The best job title I ever had was for a brief consulting job with the
US Department of Education. The title: “expert.” The pay may not
have been much, and the job came with no authority, but that title was
perfect. I'll bet that even the Secretary of Education had to envy it;
he may have been the boss of the whole department, but he was no expert.
Imagine my delight in having actually conned a federal agency into
believing that I really knew something about something, my pride in
becoming, at least temporarily, not a self-appointed know-it-all but an
officially appointed know-it-all. The Wall Street Journal's
“Best of the Web Today” page (http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/)
occasionally runs a “what would we do without experts?” newspaper
headline in which experts are depicted as saying something glaringly
obvious, on the model of, “Low Temperatures Will Make for Cold Winter,
Experts Agree.” But experts don't just state the glaringly obvious.
They also make glaringly obvious mistakes.
One of the social policies most strongly advocated by experts over
the past half century has been housing various groups of
institutionalized people in community based residential facilities. Were
the large mental hospitals run by state and local governments snake
pits, as Olivia de Havilland discovered? The experts' solution was to
close them, to place the most severely mentally ill in small facilities
based in neighborhoods, and to throw the rest into the streets with
minimal supervision or help. If the government can't maintain one or two
large institutions well, then it should certainly be able to regulate,
maintain, and inspect dozens of smaller, decentralized institutions
better, shouldn't it? And experts advocated the same policy of barely
regulated, loosely run community based facilities for adult and juvenile
criminals. The beauty of being an expert is that theory trumps actual
experience, so that experts could easily dismiss the relatives of the
mentally ill who complained that the small institutions were even worse
than the old mental hospitals. And experts could just as easily
denigrate as NIMBY whiners those residents who lived near adult and
juvenile criminal halfway houses and who complained that these nearly
unsupervised facilities were devastatingly bad for their neighborhoods.
A couple years ago, the Washington Post ran a devastating
series of articles on this city's disgraceful community based
residential facilities for the mentally retarded. This week, it ran an
equally devastating series of articles on our equally disgraceful
community based residential facilities for juvenile criminals. The
result will probably be the same -- some minor cosmetic changes as the
bureaucracy waits out the brief period of public attention, after which
everything will return to normal. Because the policy itself can't and
won't be changed. Despite its disastrous results, the policy is right,
experts agree.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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A Wolf in (Basic) Sheep’s Clothing Still
Bites
Rob Fleming, rflemin@mindspring.com
I suspect that the Williams Administration has once again subverted
the will of the Council when it comes to implementing legislation. The
Basic Business License (BBL) may have exempted baby-sitters, lawyers,
and writers, but it adds another layer of regulation onto small
businesses, just like the Master Business License. It is also unevenly
applied.
Supposedly the new criterion for a BBL, as opposed to the proposed
Master Business License, is that any business that is already licensed
and inspected would be changed over to the BBL. I have two rental
apartments in my townhouse and I have never seen an inspector. The only
inspector I ever saw was before I had apartments (over twenty years ago)
who came to the door, did not ring or knock, and left a note saying that
he was unable to gain entry for an inspection and to please call for an
appointment, then left. When I called and explained that the house was
no longer an apartment building, I was told to forget the whole thing.
Now I see on the web site that all apartment houses, no matter how small
(even English Basements) have to file for a BBL. Also, according to the
MBL web site “Rental Housing — Single Family Dwellings” do not
require a BBL, but “Single Family Dwellings — Rental” do. DCRA
couldn't organize a two-car funeral, but they could sure impose a
licensing fee on it.
If the intent is to “streamline” the licensing process, perhaps
it would be more appropriate to grandfather the existing licensees and
business operations and only impose the BBL for renewals and new
applications. I think the real intent of the MBL, scaled down only a
little in the BBL, is to provide busy work for DC bureaucrats and
additional tax revenue to buy more plasma TVs and award more contracts
to the procurement officers' friends and benefactors. I trust that this
was not the intent of the Council, but that is how it has ended up.
###############
Junked Cars or, How I Learned to Stop
Complaining and Love DPW
Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org
On December 17, 2001, I called the Citywide Call Center to complain
about a junked vehicle sitting in public space on Capitol Hill (service
request #224508, white Ford Cobra). Since then, I have had almost
innumerable contacts with the Abandoned Auto unit in DPW, which has
responded in a variety of unhelpful ways. A frequent excuse has been
"we can't access vehicles on private property" (doubly wrong:
the law applies to junked cars on private property, and in any event the
car I've complained about is in a corner-lot side yard that is
unquestionably public space, as confirmed by the official real property
plats). When I took my complaint up last year to a supervisor (Cynthia
Jones), she rudely brushed me off with, “We'll get to it whenever we
get to it,” more or less.
After waiting for more than a year and a half — and with the junked
car still sitting on public property at this moment — I harbor an
uncharitable suspicion that the vehicle in question isn't the only thing
that has been abandoned.
###############
Speaking of Not Having a Voice
Ed Johnson, edward@wdcnet.net
It's not just the lack of representation in Congress that stifles the
voice of DC residents, we are often gagged by our very own appointed DC
boards, and a variety of Federal agencies that have oversight of
District projects. Recently, our Zoning Commission rolled over and
granted developers carte blanche, overriding the objections of ANC 6D
and numerous residents, to turn Waterside Mall into a massive office
complex with reduced retail, no guarantee of continuing grocery service,
and plunging near Southwest into a more than twenty year construction
project with no substantive public benefits. How our appointed zoning
commissioners could buy that a 100 by 200 sq. ft. plaza “suitably
paved . . . for public use and enjoyment” is adequate to replace the
public park that will be bulldozed into a road to serve the commuting
office workers in the extra one million square feet of 110 foot towers
boggles the mind. Having to listen to the ANC must have been so
burdensome they couldn’t face any more public comment, so they also
denied party status to the Tiber Island Cooperative across the street.
Hundreds of residents within two hundred feet of the mall, who will lose
their views and have massive towers to look at instead, had a whopping
three minutes to testify, thanks to that decision.
And in case that wasn’t enough, the chairman of the National
Capitol Planning Commission, John V. Cogbill, III, a real estate and
land use attorney who lives and works in Richmond, VA, effectively
blocked the opportunity for public comment on the Waterside Mall PUD at
their “public hearing” by a nifty procedural move that required more
advance notice to testify than a regular action item. NCPC is quick to
point out they didn't violate any of their rules (and no one has accused
them of doing it) but that's a deceptive answer. Nothing in their rules
requires them to move agenda items around to different categories a week
before a hearing, and nothing in their rules prevented them from moving
this one back. It was at the presidential appointed chairman's sole
discretion to decide whether or not the public and the ANC could
testify, and he chose an action that blocked it.
As an ANC Commissioner, I am well aware of the limitations of
“great weight,” but nonetheless, I feel we've abdicated way too much
responsibility to appointed boards instead of elected officials or
government employees with reasonable accountability to the residents of
DC, and we should object as strenuously as we can when they default on
their responsibilities. The ANC sent the two mayoral appointees on the
NCPC a copy of our letter to Mr. Cogbill protesting the
disenfranchisement of local residents (along with copies to
Councilmember Ambrose, as well as Chairperson Cropp and Mayor Williams
who are both ex officio NCPC board members) and I know that when it
comes time for confirmation hearings for NCPC and Zoning Commission
appointments, I’ll be there to put in my two cents worth. I know this
isn't the most glamorous path to real home rule, but if all I can do is
inform and object, it's what I'll do.
###############
Trash Our City and “Save the Environment”
Phil Carney, philandscoop@yahoo.com
Year after year, an environmental group persistently puts up brightly
colored 11" by 17" posters in District public space. They
trash our city with posters that advertise in part: “SUMMER JOBS, To
Save the Environment.” The phone number on the posters is for the
Washington DC office of Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). The
posters list a web site that reads, in part, “Campaign to Save the
Environment is a project of the Fund for Public Interest Research, a
national, nonprofit organization. We run campaigns with progressive
groups like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and the state PIRGs to make an
impact on environmental and public interest issues.”
If you know anyone connected with the above environmental groups,
will you please ask them to stop trashing our city? I just finished two
days of volunteer work with the city. I am disgusted into exhaustion.
For the umpteenth time I am reminded that no one lives in our city
because of the District government. We all live here despite the
District government.
###############
The Mayor and Education
Steve O’Sullivan, sos@metaswitch.com
A few years ago, the make-up of the School Board was changed, on the
grounds that the Mayor would be able to appoint a better caliber of
member than the citizens of the city were able to elect. The Mayor was
entrusted with leading education policy for the city. It is clear that
he has failed at that. The Mayor has come out and said that the school
system is failing, and that vouchers are the solution. This despite the
fact that he is responsible for appointing four of the nine School Board
members, precisely in order to give him huge sway over how the school
system is run.
In choosing the newly appointed school board members, his sole
criterion was not how well they would exercise oversight of the school
system. Instead he chose members who would provide him with political
cover for his voucher proposal. It is a disgrace that he would choose
the members that way, putting his political self-interest over good
governance. When my family had some issues last year with our son's
school, we contacted our elected member, and all the appointed members.
Only our elected member (Tommy Wells) took the time to get back in touch
with us. That's the odd thing about elected members — they pay
attention to what the people who elect them say. I am sure that keen
readers could provide plenty of other example. Given all this, it's time
to change the School Board back to being an entirely elected body.
###############
If you haven't figured it out by now, let me alert you that Tom
Davis, the VA rep to Congress, is no friend of the District. He is a
real snake in the grass and has always been so with regard to the
fortunes of DC. Don't get sucked in by that publicity ploy of
representation by adding a Dem from DC to be balanced out by a
Republican from Utah. That's (to quote Davis) laughable. And his
characterization of a lawsuit by DC to allow the District to establish a
commuter tax, as laughable and a violation of the Constitution, merely
turns on the light in his closet hatred of DC The snake Davis doesn't
really care if the District has a pit to hiss in.
As far as the lawsuit is concerned, I think it is a compelling idea
whose time has come. Not that common sense is any part of the system of
law, but it's time to push the envelope and take this challenge all the
way to the Supreme Court. Hey, if the Supreme Court says gays can get
married then there is hope that they'll allow DC to pay its own way
through taxation of those who benefit from its services.
###############
Finally deciding to jump on the bandwagon, my husband called our
mortgage company, Chase Manhattan Mortgage, to see if they would
refinance our mortgage to a lower rate. They said sure, so we did the
paperwork dance, we sent them some, they sent us some, all is well with
the world. Appraisal finished, the loan officer contacted my husband and
told him that the closing would be this Friday. Whew, that taken care
of, but wait . . . today came a catch. What's the catch, you ask. The
mortgage can't go through. Why, you ask. Because we have bars on our
windows. Yes, bars. As a matter of fact, the loan officer from Chase
Manhattan Mortgage said that they could deny a loan for any reason they
chose as long as the policy was nationwide.
Has anyone ever heard of anything so arbitrary, so burdensome? Has
anyone else tried to refinance and faced a similar redline tactic?
Because we all know that homes situated in urban areas have a higher
propensity to have bars than homes situated in suburban areas. Remove
the bars, we were told, and the loan will go through.
###############
Reed Electric Is Closing
Bob Levine, rilevine@cpcug.org
I heard last night that Reed Electric is closing within a month. It's
a small store that’s been open almost fifty years. It sells lighting
supplies on Wisconsin Avenue at Q Street. The original owner passed away
and his daughter can’t pass up the money. I live around the corner
from Reed ,and the workers in it are my friends. Now they have no jobs
and now I have no place to buy light bulbs, plugs, fixtures, or other
practical electrical things. It's not surprising that a practical store
is forced out of Georgetown; we lost our hardware store about a decade
ago, maybe more, and I need to get into a car to go to the Safeway to
buy groceries since Neams Market became Marvelous Market and stopped
selling milk and eggs. This used to be a neighborhood where you could
walk to buy the necessities of life and walk home. Now I can walk to the
Gap and buy a designer T shirt. I won’t be able to walk around the
corner and visit with friends that say hi to me when they see me and are
there to sell me practical stuff to keep my house running, but I’ll
have a Starbucks in my neighborhood. I’ll really miss Reed Electric
and I’ll miss my friends even more.
###############
The Most Pugnacious Part of the Plan
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
Although details about the new seat of government were not the most
important issue at hand when the states debated whether to support our
current Constitution, a number of states disagreed or were uncomfortable
with and attacked the idea of giving Congress exclusive legislative
authority over the federal district. In The Creation of Washington,
DC (1991) historian Kenneth Bowling explains that Antifederalist
leaders, including George Clinton of New York, George Mason of Virginia,
and Mercy Warren of Massachusetts attacked the idea and used it as an
example of their concern about granting such exaggerated plenary powers
approaching those of a monarchy to Congress. Samuel Osgood, a member of
the Board of Treasury, said, “It has cost me many a sleepless night to
find out the most obnoxious part of the proposed plan, and I have
finally fixed upon the exclusive legislation in the Ten Miles Square.
What an inexhaustible fountain of corruption are we opening?”
(Bowling, p. 81). Osgood proposed voting representation for the District
as a solution (Bowling, 1991: 81). Alexander Hamilton was also concerned
and argued for an amendment to allow DC residents to remain part of the
state from which the land was ceded until their population reached a
large enough number when "provision shall be made by Congress for
having a District Representation in the Body" (Bowling, 86).
That is history, and now we know more about the residual effects of
allowing Congress to retain "the same amount of" exclusive
legislative authority in all cases whatsoever over the entire 570,000
permanent residents of the District of Columbia in 2003. Tonight I have
been reading Title II — General Provisions of the 2004 Appropriations
by Congress of DC's local budget. Here is the process: after the Mayor
reviews with the entire Executive Department, and the Council agrees to
a bill after sixty or so hearings, the Mayor sends DC's agreed-upon
budget to the President. (DC is demonstrating a good track record on
balancing its budget these days — better than most states.) The
President makes a request to Congress, based on the submission. The
House Appropriations subcommittee and committee make their own
modifications and send it to the full House for approval. The Senate
does the same; the two houses reconcile their differences in committee,
and send the bill to the President for signature. Yesterday, the
Committee on Appropriations marked up DC's FY2004 appropriations bill.
Go to this link for highlights by the committee: http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04dcfull.htm.
The amount of information they currently provide is very limited.
Tonight I scanned the laws that the House added to DC's local budget,
provided to me by a DC elected official. There are thirty-four riders
— mandates, commands, and prohibitions — something to invoke outrage
in every DC resident. There is one rider that the Committee did not
highlight in its summary which I find pugnacious. Sec. 107(a) Except as
provided in subsection (b), no part of this appropriation shall be used
for publicity or propaganda purposes or implementation of any policy
including boycott designed to support or defeat legislation pending
before Congress or any State legislature. (b) The District of Columbia
may use local funds provided in this Act to carry out lobbying
activities on any matter other than — (1) the promotion or support of
any boycott; or (2) statehood for the District of Columbia or voting
representation in Congress for the District of Columbia. (c) Nothing in
this section may be construed to prohibit any elected official from
advocating with respect to any of the issues referred to in subsection
(b). What an outrage! The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up
its bill on Thursday, July 18 at 10 a.m., Dirksen 106. Congress should
immediately remove this pugnacious muzzle law and DC citizens need to
let them know as much. Congress is your ultimate legislature folks, so
take your families on a field trip and pay your prized Congressional
leaders a visit today.
Here is information about the DC Budgetary Autonomy bill which is an
improvement because it would grant DC more autonomy than now so DC
doesn't lose money or get a lower bond rating due to Congressional
delays, but Congress would still retain power to add riders and overturn
laws: http://reform.house.gov/GovReform/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=672.
###############
Tim Cooper makes an extremely good case that the Lieberman/Norton
bill (granting two senators and a representative to a non-state entity)
is completely unconstitutional. He also makes a very good case that the
Tom Davis approach will not be imposed by judicial fiat, with no need
for congressional action. But none of the precedents he cites supports
the proposition that Congress has no authority to restore some of the
Maryland citizenship rights of DC residents that it took away in 1801.
Rights that Congress has taken away by statute can be restored by
statute. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution did not and does not
require Congress to take away the state citizenship rights of residents
of areas ceded by a state to the United States, as is shown by the fact
that Congress has not done so in the case of any other area ceded to the
US under the "exclusive legislation" clause.
As Tim Cooper's analysis amply points out, there is no clearer
wording in the Constitution than that US Senators and Representatives
must come from states. That's why any attempt to restore federal voting
rights of DC residents by statute must do so through Maryland, and not
through DC as a separate, non-state entity. And don't be so quick to
call the Davis approach “1/3.” Since no bill has been introduced
yet, it may well be that you've only heard about the one third of the
Davis proposal that has leaked out so far. Two and a half months ago,
long before Mark Plotkin reported the first leak about the “Davis
approach” on WTOP, the Committee for the Capital City (CCC) presented
to Davis's committee staff a “three thirds” approach providing for
full federal voting representation (House, Senate, and Presidential
electors) through Maryland. If the final Davis proposal includes the
other two thirds of federal voting rights, as proposed by the CCC, it
will be the vehicle for full and equal federal voting rights — i.e. a
total federal voting rights victory for DC residents!
###############
WASA: The Context Is Rip-Off
Wendy Blair, wblair@npr.org
I am grateful to Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org, for his
pertinent comments about WASA PR flack Libby Lawson's ecstatic crowing
over WASA's recent “only 2.5 percent” rate increase starting
October. Context is indeed everything: WASA's rates have been
skyrocketing for three years. “Par for the course for all East coast
water utilities,” is WASA's smug mantra. With each new monthly bill
WASA is in my face as never before. Pages of purple prose extol how
clean and safe the water, how caring the WASA staff. PR and color
printing — all at my expense.
###############
In Response to “Going, Going, Gone, Part
2”
Marti Knisley, marti.knisley@dc.gov
The reforms I set in motion at the Department of Mental Health two
years ago continue to be realized despite several weeks recovering from
major surgery. I am back to work and leading the transformation of the
District's public mental health system in a very “hands-on” manner.
I would like to thank the DMH staff, especially Cheryl Edwards, my chief
of staff, for keeping everything on track during my absence.
We have accomplished much in these past two years, but there remains
a great deal more to achieve; and I look forward to guiding the
Department as we focus on the hard issues we must address.
###############
It appears that Mr. Townsend and I are never going to agree about
this. As an African-American, third generation resident of the city, I
get extremely offended at these “they all got nice 'frigerators”
arguments — (to quote Strom Thurmond's wondering comments about why
“we” were rioting after Dr. King was shot) — that justify what
even Tom Davis now admits is something that “no one can really justify
with a straight face.” Now, while Davis was referring only to our
Congressional disenfranchisement, I — probably not surprisingly —
take his argument writ large to cover the inequitable fiscal
(structural) relationship between the City and both the Federal
Government and also Maryland and Virginia, as well as the overall
colonial political, governmental, and juridical relationship between the
more than 600,000 people who live here and those in the Congressional
Colonial Office who control us but don't live here. To me, anyway, it
really is as simple as that. And I, for one, found the GAO Report to be
nothing more or less than pretty straightforward cold statistical
verification (note I did not say "justification") of what, at
bottom, is simply an inequitable fiscal relationship between DC on the
one hand and the Federal government and states of Maryland and Virginia
on the other.
In fact, out here within the jurisdiction of MNCPPC, property owners
pay a separate assessment dedicated to the cost of operating both the
planning and parks/recreation "pieces" of this Commission. So,
if you really want to go down that road, then let's talk about an
assessment of, say, all residents of the Census Bureau's official DC
SMSA to cover the costs to the City of providing additional police,
fire, infrastructure maintenance and expansion and general public health
and welfare services to the more than one million people working in
those buildings Mr. Townsend mentions.
Or, better yet, let's talk about a variation on one of Ms Norton's
ideas and have all US citizens assessed for the costs of maintaining
these wonderful Federal institutions and facilities we have here, such
as Rock Creek Park, the Zoo, Smithsonian, and so on. There is in fact
precedent for that, because both Alaska and Hawaii had such an
allocation from the Federal government for eight and six years,
respectively, after they became states, to ease the transition of this
wonderful Federal dole that you seem to think is adequate recompense for
political, electoral and fiscal emasculation. The most appropriate
analogy is those destitute plantation owners not understanding for the
life of them why my “grand-cestors” wanted to leave the cozy world
of the plantation for the horrible uncertainties of being on their own
to make their own mistakes.
###############
Fuel-Efficient Cars
Connie Ridgway, kaniru at aol dot com
John Whiteside asked about tax breaks for hybrid cars. Phil Mendelson
introduced, and the Council passed, legislation to give tax breaks for
fuel efficient cars with new fuels such as natural-gas powered vehicles,
to be introduced into the market. The hybrid cars, although still
running on petroleum, at least are much more efficient in their
consumption. Maybe if you contact Phil the hybrid cars could be added to
the existing law.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
The District of Columbia Brownfields Program will have the kickoff of
its Brownfields Job Training and Development Program, titled “DC
HazWork” on Thursday, July 17, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at the Department
of Health, located at 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 4th Floor,
Conference Room 4187. The goal of DC HazWork is to develop a
comprehensive training program that trains DC residents currently living
in communities impacted by brownfields in hazardous material handling,
in order to improve their community and their long-term employment
prospect. If you'd like to attend this event, please contact Jacque
Patterson, Project Coordinator, at either 442-8984 or jpatterson@dchealth.com.
###############
Evening at Australia Embassy, July 24
Michael Karlan, events@dcyoungpro.com
On Thursday, July 24, the DC Society of Young Professionals is
hosting an Evening at the Embassy of Australia, located at 1601
Massachusetts Avenue, NW, in Dupont Circle. Over 300 guests will be
present. Confirmed guests include the Australian Ambassador Michael
Thawley, the Australian Minister of Trade (similar to our Secretary of
State) Mark Vaile, and the Captain of the Australian rugby team (the
Australian Capital Territory Brumbies) David Nucifora. This
walk-around-style event features a complimentary Australian buffet, an
open bar of Australian wine and beer, Australian music, film, art,
complimentary giveaways for all attendees, a diplomatic greeting, and
the chance to mix and mingle with DC's and Australia's professional
community. This event costs $60 through this Friday, July 18. For more
details about this event, or to learn about all the DCSYP events, please
visit http://www.dcyoungpro.com,
E-mail events@dcyoungpro.com,
or call 686-6085.
###############
Capital City Public Charter School Community
Block Party, August 9
Sue Bell, bellsue@aol.com
Capital City Public Charter School will run a community block party
on Saturday, August 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain date Sunday, August
10), at the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace, southwest corner of
14th and Irving Streets, NW, next to the Metro station. Free activities
for kids, moon bounce, music and entertainment, and food vendors.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Refrigerator
John Hughes, jah at radix dot net
KitchenAid Superba side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, 25.1 cu. ft.,
two years old, great condition. Stainless steel finish,
crisper/vegetable drawer/deli locker, quick-freeze shelf, water/ice
dispenser. $2000 new, yours for $800. E-mail jah at radix dot net.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — FREE
Could you use some sturdy “Crate and Barrel” boxes complete with
packing materials for moving or mailing stuff? We have many we would
love to see reused rather than trashed — medium, large and very large.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES
Admittedly this does not directly respond to John Whiteside's
message, but I will point out that Flexcar (http://www.flexcar.com;
full disclosure: my employer) members can use 2003 Honda Civic hybrids
by the hour. You pay just $25 for a lifetime Flexcar membership ($15 if
you use the special code below), then $8 an hour (which includes gas,
insurance, and parking) to use the cars. Fully twenty percent of our 55
vehicle fleet is made up of hybrids, which are located in Dupont Circle,
Farragut North, Mount Pleasant, Greenbelt, West Hyattsville, Silver
Spring, Court House, King Street, West Falls Church, and at the
Washington Cathedral. Other vehicles include normal Civics, Ford Ranger
pickups, and Honda Element SUVs.
The hybrids are great cars — not just as good as normal Civics, but
better in every way (acceleration, steering, braking, even the stereo).
Ten of our hybrids are eight months old, two are fifteen months old, and
all are doing quite well from a maintenance perspective. The only
caveat: the hybrids have smaller-than-average batteries, so they're
slightly more prone than usual to get dead batteries if interior lights
or headlights are accidentally left on. John, what better way to
test-drive a well-loved but frequently driven hybrid than to join
Flexcar? (E-mail me and I'll let you know which of our two hybrids are
the oldest.) If any of you use the promo code “D-15-AIRQUALITY” when
you sign up online at http://www.flexcar.com,
you will save $10 off of our normal $25 lifetime membership fee.
###############
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