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July 27, 2003

The Hickenlooper Cut

The Hickenlooper Cut in themail, July 27, 2003

Dear Cutters:

Mayor Williams and all thirteen members of the City Council agree that the District of Columbia should have the right to levy an income tax on suburban commuter workers. To that end, along with twenty-five DC citizens represented by pro bono lawyers, they have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Home Rule Charter's prohibition on a commuter tax is unconstitutional. (The brief in Citizens of DC v. USA is at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/budget030724.htm, and Council Chairman Linda Cropp's statement on the Council's support for the lawsuit is at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/budget030714.htm.) The argument made by the plaintiffs at the press conference announcing the lawsuit was that taxation without representation was unfair and unconstitutional, and that therefore the DC government should tax suburban workers. Well, never let it be said that logic is the strong point of DC politics.

So far, the lawsuit hasn't received a lot of good publicity. Our suburban neighbors have viewed it as a hostile move, and critics have used it as an opportunity to bash the District government for its waste and misspending. So I have taken it on myself to propose a public relations coup that would show the District government is serious about bringing its spending under control and that it actually needs the funds it would receive from a commuter tax. I call it the Hickenlooper Cut, after John Hickenlooper, the newly elected mayor of Denver, Colorado. On Thursday, the same day that the lawsuit was filed, Hickenlooper announced that because of the budget pressures on the city he, his new top-level appointees, and the holdovers who will remain in his administration will voluntarily take a 25 percent pay reduction. Are DC's city leaders' arguments for a commuter tax real? Do they mean them, or is the lawsuit just a gambit to squeeze more money out of the federal government? To prove their honest commitment, elected and top appointed city leaders should follow John Hickenlooper's example. The Mayor is well paid, the City Council has been the highest paid state or city legislature in the nation for years, and the pay of top-level city administrators has skyrocketed during the Williams administration. The Hickenlooper cut, a 25 percent pay cut for the Mayor, members of the City Council, and top-level city administrators, would show the depth of their commitment to bringing the city's budget under control and the reality of the city's need for a commuter tax. I'm sure that the Mayor, Councilmembers, and top administrators will rush to endorse this idea, and I promise to publish in themail every pledge from an official that I receive.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Deaths Due to Closure of DC General Hospital
Carolyn Curtis, cabcurtis@aol.com

As was predicted, the closure of DC General Hospital has resulted in unnecessary deaths. In the Washington Post articles dated July 25 and July 26, (“DC Inspectors Urge Closure of Southeast's Only Hospital,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43169-2003Jul24.html, and “Hospital Proposal Prompts Outcry,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48093-2003Jul25.html) it was revealed that District hospital inspectors are recommending that the Health Department director close Greater Southeast Community Hospital due to persistent problems with the quality of medical care. These problems include six deaths that they considered preventable and mistakes they say put other patients at risk. These deaths have included involved two infants, two deaths due to results of blood transfusion errors, and one involving a man found dead on a gurney in the emergency room on July 7, seven hours after arriving there. The article states that Greater Southeast had six incidents in 2001, eight in 2002, and has had eight so far this year (with five more months to go in 2003).

The articles also state that Paul Tuft will be bringing in a national health consulting firm, Cambio Health Solutions, to replace the current chief executive officer, Karen Dale. Two things to note: 1) this is only the tip of the iceberg regarding deaths that are related to the closure of DC General Hospital; however, the article validates the poor quality of patient care resulting from the closure of DC General Hospital. Prior to its closure, DC General's JCAHO rating was 94 compared to Greater Southeast's, which was 84, the worst JCAHO rating of all hosptials in Washington. 2) Cambio Health Solutions' parent company is Quorum Health Resources Group. Quorum and Columbia/HCA (the parent company of Quorum -- Columbia/HCA is now known as HCA the Healthcare Company) were both sued by the US Department of Justice for Medicare and Medicaid fraud and had the largest settlement in US history for Medicare and Medicaid fraud in December 2002 -- $840 million. In 1997 HCA was also listed in the Hall of Shame by INFACT due to their exertion of undue influence over political decision making and putting public health at risk. They graduated from this title in 2002. However, Cambio needs to be watched. Also, Cambio was the one who made recommendations regarding the present state of DC General Hospital through the Cambio report that was issued to the Financial Control Board.

Cambio warrants a very watchful eye.

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Money Going, Going, Gone, Too
Lee Perkins, lperkins@cpcug.org

Someone should write about the going, going, long gone money situation. The Mayor wants to build a stadium with city money; has spent $5 million on a car race track in the parking lot of DC stadium that was used once, while almost 2,000 of the working poor cannot get child care because OECD's budget was cut from last fiscal year; medical services to the poor are being cut; and the only programmers and technicians who can support many non-mainframe agency computer applications are being let go; and DHS is still full of expensive senior employees who have no real job duties.

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Re: Truth Tellers
Lyla Winter, mrscalabash@att.net

On July 24, a letter to the editor of The Washington Post, from Marilyn B. Benoit, President American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, about the troubled mess of DC's Children, Youth and Families Administration, hit the nail on the head: “Attempts to adopt new concepts in the District have been unsuccessful because of poor coordination of services, poor monitoring, lack of expertise and lack of accountability. And it is not a matter of funding. It is how the funding is managed.”

Her description of the failure of this particular Administration, can be applied to every agency in DC.

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DC FY 2004 Appropriations — Hobble Horse
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

DC's 2004 House Appropriations bill, with its egregious riders muzzling DC from lobbying Congress or state legislatures on the subject of statehood or voting rights, is proving once again to be the slow horse out of the gate of Congressional consensus — but not because of the above mentioned egregious rider. The House has voted on ten of its thirteen yearly appropriations bills. DC, Transportation/Treasury, and VA/HUD remain on the “to do after recess” list. The Senate has voted on four of the thirteen bills — DC didn't make it out of the gate in the Senate — after controversy it also delayed the vote. See status of bills at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app04.html.

So what is the issue of the year that is hobbling DC's budget horse? Did DC turn in a badly balanced budget that requires a Congressional spanking? No. Can you say "vouchers?" Some ever-so-kind members of Congress want to add a special provision ("rider") to DC's budget giving some local elected officials some federal money ($10 million) so some DC kids can get out of DC public schools and save themselves. Apparently that's the hottest idea they have for improving DC public schools. Democrats tend to strongly oppose and Republicans tend to strongly support the voucher theory to public school problem-solving. The $10 mil voucher provision made it through the House Committee on Government Reform, http://reform.house.gov/, captained by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA). But a full House vote was delayed this week as Congress headed out of town. Republicans needed more time to shore up votes, according to DC's nonvoting Delegate, Congresswoman Norton. She said many Republicans always vote against DC appropriations no matter what, so Democratic votes are needed -- and Democratic votes probably require some amending of the current provision. For a similar reason, the Senate delayed its vote on DC appropriations last week. Sen. Arlen Specter was the lone Republican to oppose the voucher plan, perhaps for church-state reasons. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the other hand, has spoken in favor of a DC-type exception to her usual anti-voucher rule. I suggest Congress should abandon the voucher duel and take up something more interesting. Like changing the DC voucher gift to a $10 mil gift to bring full democracy to the America's capital.

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We Are Eating Our Young
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Not only are we condemning our young by passing on to them incredible financial burdens through misguided tax cuts, but we are woefully under equipping them, from an educational standpoint, to meet the challenges of adulthood. Students who have not mastered the things they need at each grade level are just passed on to the nest level automatically. That's because of poor teaching skills. Let that stop right now and right here. Instead of spending $350 million frivolously to build a stadium for a baseball franchise, let us invest that money where real returns are more likely. Let us use that money to make some major and drastic changes in the educational system and processes in the DC public schools.

I'm not talking about throwing good money after bad such as an across the board increase in teachers' salaries. I'm talking about cleaning up a mess that has prevailed for many years. Get rid of those teachers who cannot teach and are not certified to teach the subjects they are responsible for. Instead, create a new hiring system that pays capable and certified teachers a decent living wage right from the git go. Bring these teachers into all the schools. For those teachers, and there are many, who have demonstrated the willingness and abilities to teach, pay to get them certified and increase their salaries to be competitive with the open market for their skills. Without some major intervention into the sorry situation we have in the educational system of the District of Columbia we will continue to devour our young.

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Article from The National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Low income housing has been an issue in DC since Washington City was created. Before DC had a municipal government, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson played a role in providing regulatory relief: “Friday, March 13, 1801, Washington City — BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Whereas, by the first Article of the Terms and Conditions declared by the President of the United States on the 17th day of October 1791, for regulating the Materials and manner of Buildings and Improvements on the lots in the City of Washington, it is provided, 'that the outer and party walls of all Houses in the said City, shall be built of brick or stone.' -- And by the third Article of the same Terms and Conditions, it is declared, 'that the wall of no House shall be higher than forty feet to the Roof in any part of the City, nor shall any be lower than thirty five feet in any of the Avenues.'

“—And whereas the above recited articles were found to impede the Settlement in the City of Mechanics and others, whose circumstances did not admit of erecting Houses authorized by the said Regulations; for which cause, the President of the United States, by a Writing under his Hand, bearing date the twenty fifth day of June 1796, suspended the operation of the said Articles, until the first Monday of December 1800 -- and the beneficial effects arising from such suspension having been experienced, it is deemed proper to revive the same. Wherefore, I Thomas Jefferson, President of the United State, do declare, that the operation of the first and third Articles, above recited, shall be, and the same is hereby suspended until the first Day of January 1802, and that all the Houses which shall be erected in the said City of Washington previous to the said first Day of January 1802, conformable in other respects to the regulations aforesaid, shall be considered as lawfully erected, except that no wooden House shall be erected within twenty four feet of any brick or stone House. Given under my hand this 11th Day of March, 1801. (Signed) TH. JEFFERSON.”

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Presidential Candidate Visits?
David Sobelsohn, dsobelsoatcapaccessdotorg

Can anyone report on the open forum with Senator John Edwards (D-NC) that was to take place July 16, then was postponed to July 23? When it got postponed, I was promised an E-mail with details about the new time and place. That E-mail message never arrived. So presumably I missed the forum. Does anyone know if it took place, and what if anything Edwards said about DC voting rights?

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The New Florida Mile?
Marc Heller, hellm49@hotmail.com

Has anyone taken a look at the new Madison Condominiums, at Florida and Quincy, NW? This is the old apartment building that earned mention in the City Paper's story about “The Florida Mile” a few years ago, as an example of the street's apparent inability to be revitalized. It was long vacant (I don't know how long), just one more example of this very sad stretch of real estate. Now, at least at the surface, the building seems to be undergoing a real transformation. Some of the apartments were eye-poppingly nice, especially in light of the location. Am I crazy, or are we finally beginning to see something happen in that neighborhood? The agents tell us that the new Metro and the pending construction of the ATF headquarters are making a difference and that property along Florida Avenue is becoming too valuable for used tire lots and the like. Put working people in those apartments, and maybe there's an incentive to open stores or — imagine — a bank in Bloomingdale or LeDroit or the North Capitol area? We've seen that happening around 14th and U Streets.

Then I think about the baseball stadium proposed at North Capitol and New York. Is the consensus that a stadium is a good influence and would spur business on North Capitol? Or does a baseball stadium mostly sit there unused, except during the season and then only on homestands? Do people who've spent a lot of money to go to a game also patronize neighborhood businesses? I've seen stadiums in nasty neighborhoods (Yankee Stadium), wastelands (Shea Stadium) and nice areas (Camden Yards, Coors Field, etc.). I'm conflicted.

Does anyone know of other things afoot in that part of the city? I'm getting ready to make a move to the neighborhood, joining the wave of folks heading east out of Dupont/Logan, etc.

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Why Some People Don’t Like Paying Taxes
Eric Rosenthal, Capitol Hill, eric.rosenthal at mac.com

Ed Dixon suggests that we should increase funding for DC schools by raising taxes and wonders why many of us are reluctant to share more of our salaries with the District. Here’s why, at least for me: nothing works and there is no evidence that more money will change that. As a fairly unreconstructed liberal who spends his life working directly with poor DC children, I want my local government to offer quality education so that each child can fulfill his or her potential, good medical care so that people can be healthy, and affordable housing so that people can live their lives securely. In every major service area, however, we have proven that, no matter how much we spend, we cannot meet people's needs. Lack of money is not the problem: just about every unit of service in DC costs more than it does in just about every other city. Yet there are few areas in which we are not at the bottom in terms of quality and results. In fact, I can think of no major service that the District consistently provides well or even acceptably. Just the other day, for example, the US Department of Education announced the results of a study that found our students trail in reading and writing compared to those in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York, all much larger cities with great challenges themselves.

Perhaps what was most discouraging about the report on the study in the Washington Post, however, was the spinning by one of the school district’s assistant superintendents, who said: “DC is not doing a lot worse than these districts.” He was trying to justify the school system’s performance in the face of findings that 69 percent of fourth graders and 53 percent of the eighth graders scored “below basic” in reading. His statement was outrageous because he sought to explain away such horrible numbers; what made his comment even worse is that our collective expectations are so low that he (and his school district colleagues) will get away with it. In a better world, these sorts of persistently-tragic numbers would not be explained away. They represent thousands of DC children we have failed, children who, at best, will finish school five or ten years from now unable to read or write, consigned to low-paying jobs and continued poverty. In DC, however, nothing will change because we have learned to accept such failure year after year.

I am not happy with the state of the District, but I do not know how to fix it. As a citizenry, we implicitly have decided this is what we want from ourselves and our government and we reaffirm that decision, at least with respect to our government, every two years at the polls. My own response has been to try to make small improvements around me. I know that this is not enough but, after living in DC for twenty years, I have no faith that, with any amount of money, our local government will improve what ails us. While I hope that changes, I see no point in giving them more money until it does.

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DMV Does Get It Right
Dawn Dickerson, ddd668@aol.com

I too have had a similar experience with DMV [to Paul Michael Brown, themail, July 23]. Last week I took off work early to register a new car. My past experience with this process have been horrible at best, so needless to say I was prepared for some full scale drama. I arrived at the DMV Brentwood Substation at ten minutes to 4 p.m., certain that I was going to get rejected since there was a rule that new car registration had to be processed before 4 p.m. (unexpected delays with Metro, caused me to run a little late). Instead, I learned that this rule is no longer in place. To my amazement, I walked right in and received prompt and courteous service. I had to make payment arrangements for outstanding parking tickets and everything and that whole process went smoothly and painlessly.

I also had a similar experience at the inspection station. I cancelled a morning hair appointment because I was certain that I was going to have to wait two hours in the inspection line. You can imagine my shock arriving at 9 a.m. and riding right up to a service bay with inspection station workers waiting for customers to arrive. I failed inspection, but even still the whole process took fewer than twenty minutes. I couldn't even get mad. I just thought that my luck was improving, but if this is going to be standard operating procedure for DMV then way to go, DMV! I am happy to report that you are getting it right!

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Recycling Newspapers for Kids
Mary Myers, Department of Public Works, mary.myers@dc.gov

“Trash Talk,” a new color tabloid for children aged 6-12, is now available for summer reading. This free publication gives kids a fun way to learn about trash, conservation, and recycling. The paper has four pages of pictures, short articles, and games, all aimed at helping primary and middle school students understand how they can help protect the environment, use resources wisely and keep their communities clean. DPW's Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program (SWEEP) produces Trash Talk and other environmental education materials for its classroom module, SWEEP, Jr.

Additionally, SWEEP has published a companion newspaper for junior high and high school aged young adults called “One Person's Trash . . .Your Guide to Reducing, Reusing and Recycling.” This paper offers more sophisticated articles on subjects such as electronics recycling, alternative fuels, and new uses for old products. “One Person's Trash” and “Trash Talk” are available in DC Public Libraries and Department of Parks and Recreation Centers citywide. Both publications can also be downloaded from DPW's website at http://www.dpw.dc.gov/info/brochures_facts.shtml. For more information on the District's residential and commercial recycling programs, call the DPW Recycling Hotline at 645-8245.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Fair Budget Coalition Lunch, August 12
Susie Cambria, scambria@dckids.org

The Fair Budget Coalition is sponsoring a brown bag lunch information session on the DC Budget Execution and Federal Grants. The event is being held on August 12 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 6th Floor (Large Conference Room). The guest speaker is Jim Spaulding from the DC Office of Budget and Planning.

This event is for members of the Fair Budget Coalition -- membership for individuals is reasonably priced ($10) and waivers are available. Membership forms are available from Susie Cambria, scambria@dckids.org or 234-9404. Please RSVP to Susie, scambria@dckids.org or 234-9404.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS

Web Site Update Volunteer
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com

Volunteer needed to help with updating http://www.tolu2books.com. Call 331-4418 or E-mail tolu2books@aol.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Office and Computer Skills Teacher
Sylvia W. Keene, mdalc@aol.com

Metropolitan/Delta Adult Literacy Council, Inc., 1225 R Street, NW, has a position available for a teacher to teach office and computer skills to adult learners Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Salary, $19/hour. Must have a degree, excellent command of computer operation, software, and hardware, and teaching experience. Fax resume to 234-1511 or E-mail to mdalc@aol.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Wardman Townhouse for Sale
Lea Adams, newleaseonlife@juno.com

Stately Wardman townhouse in Crestwood, lovingly maintained by one family for half a century, offered at $609,000. Two homes on the block went for $619k and $650k, respectively, within the past two months. Contact owner, Lea Adams, at 726-4896. Seriously interested, pre-qualified parties only, please.

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Apartment to Share
C. Brosowsky, csbrent20016@yahoo.com

Professional, considerate, responsible female seeks to share furnished two bedroom/one bathroom apartment in upper flat of house; located on MacArthur Boulevard, NW, near Georgetown University/Hospital, American University, Sibley Hospital, and several embassies. Close to Canal, Fletcher’s Boathouse and Crescent City Trail bike path; Safeway, CVS, US Post Office, library, and great restaurants including Listrani’s, Bistro Bernoise, Starland Café, L’Appetito, Chen’s Gourmet and Bambu. And Starbuck’s is only one block away!

Amenities include: dishwasher, air conditioning; washer, dryer and storage in basement; and a great front porch! Rent, $750 per month; includes all utilities except separate phone line. Security deposit, $750. Available September 1 (possibly earlier); short term is OK. Contact Candace at 363-9865 or csbrent20016@yahoo.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATION

Computer Needed
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

A colleague of mine is doing great community building work in the city, but doesn't have a computer at home. I told her I'd look out for a donated Windows 98 computer, if anyone has one to give away. I can drive anywhere in the DC area to pick it up if you have one.

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