Skunked

Dear Skunked:

On Wednesday, Al Sharpton came in person to the DC Board of Elections and Ethics to register to appear on the DC Democratic presidential preference poll ballot on January 13, 2004. On Thursday and Friday, five of the major Democratic candidates for president (Clark, Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry, and Lieberman) filed official notices with the Board that they wanted to withdraw from the race (http://www.dcwatch.com/election2004/031106.htm). In response, DC Democrats feigned outrage that candidates who are vying for the Democratic party's presidential nomination might actually want to follow the campaign rules of their party.

So, to recap, as of now DC Democratic voters will wake up on January 13 faced with having to decide whether to go to their polling places to express a purely advisory, non-binding preference among Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Mosley-Braun, and Al Sharpton, if all four of them remain in the race. (My assumption is that write-in votes for candidates who have expressly withdrawn from the race will not be counted, or at least not announced.) To prevent this disaster, advocates of the pretend-it's-a-primary are also considering having the city council pass emergency legislation of dubious legality that would put these candidates' names back on the ballot against their will.

Isn't there a time when the embarrassment kicks in, when you decide to cut your losses? The real Democratic primary delegate selection will take place when the party regulars and insiders go the caucus in February. The Republican Party has already announced that, since it could not hold a meaningful, binding primary on January 13 because that would violate the rules of its party, it would hold only a February caucus. So taxpayers will be stuck with a bill of around $350,000 just so fewer than half of the Democratic candidates can participate in a beauty contest. Sure, I know, the point of the early primary is publicity and press coverage. But this isn't Hollywood, where good and bad publicity are considered equally good, as long as you get your name in the papers. I thought looking foolish wasn't our goal.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Why Are We Paying for Ramsey to Go to Belgium?
John Aravosis, john@safestreetsdc.com

It's bad enough the mayor is wasting taxpayer money on a boondoggle to Belgium (see http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2003/10/27/story6.html). But even if you give the mayor his claim that this is a legitimate business development trip, why are we paying for Chief Ramsey to go? To convince the Belgians that DC isn't an unsafe place for business? Well, perhaps Ramsey could do that by actually saving the thousands of dollars for the trip and spending it on our neighborhoods and our officers, rather than spending it on public relations to convince foreigners there isn't a problem, when there obviously is one.

Sure, this is only one trip, but it's always “only one trip” with these guys. It's just like your credit card bill at the end of the month — it always adds up to $2000, even though every single charge is under $100. Wasteful spending adds up, and it's outrageous that our police chief is flying off to Belgium, apparently on city dollars (according to the article), during a crime emergency (is it an emergency, where he obviously be here on the job, or isn't it?), and when we supposedly don't have enough money to address our city's crime problem. Or does Belgium have some kind of super-duper police force the world never knew about?

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Real Estate Tax Second Appeal
Mary Chiantaretto, mariuccia@comcast.net

Has anyone got an appointment for the second appeal for the real estate 2004 tax assessment?

I phoned a month ago asking why I did not receive the letter and they told me that nothing has started yet. What they are waiting for? We are at the end of the year and soon we will receive the first 2004 bill even if we still have a problem with their assessment.

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DC January 13 Primary Video Feature
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

Watch the current excellent video feature on washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/nation/110503-12v.htm. The video feature starts with this quote from Eleanor Holmes Norton: “It's very important for DC to be first for a very different reason from everyone else. We have no way if we are lost in the pack to call attention to the one reason that makes us want to go first, it will make the country understand that our first-in-the-nation primary is for one purpose and one purpose only to inform them that we pay more federal taxes, we have fought and died in every war and yet we have no Senators and don't even have full voting rights in the House.” Bravo Camera-works and washingtonpost.com!

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Did I Do the Right Thing?
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

A couple of months ago I signed up to add my phone to the “do not call” list to preclude calls from telemarketers. Over the last three years, mostly due to an inexpensive device that is alongside my phone, the number of unwanted calls has diminished to about two a week. The little device, when the button is pushed, tells the caller that the phone number dialed does not accept this kind of call and to remove the called number from their calling list. The phone automatically hangs itself up after the message is sent out.

Curiously, since the don't call list was invoked a couple of weeks ago, I have been receiving at least two unwanted calls per night. My little English gentleman in the little gray box is getting quite a workout. Did I do the right thing signing up for the do not call list?

[I haven't received a single sales call since the middle of October; what has your experience been? — Gary Imhoff]

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Building a Hospital in themail
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo dot com

I will repeat here what I have said on the Standup for Democracy listserv. For those who are serious about a public hospital, the next step is to establish a hospital foundation (although now we can use Howard's nonprofit status) and begin to raise money. Money talks and . . . .

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News from the Common Denominator
Kathryn M. Sinzinger, The Common Denominator, newsdc1@aol.com

The Common Denominator on November 7 began posting news updates to its web site at www.thecommondenominator.com. These updates will allow DC residents to quickly learn details of many important local news events without waiting for publication of the next print edition of the biweekly citywide newspaper.

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Education in themail
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo dot com

Paul Dione calls for electing what amounts to an education czar. I would go entirely the other way. Let's create a board for each and every school. Put five members on elementary boards and seven on high school boards. Parents elect three members, the teachers one member, and have the ANC commissioner where the school falls serve as the fifth member (or elect that member from the community in some other fashion). For high schools, have the students elect the other two members. These boards would hire the principal, who would be in charge of everything in the school, including the facilities, the curriculum, the teachers, and the cafeteria food. Gut the central system to do this (most of the personnel are already located in the school, but report to North Capital Street — a stupid idea). This is how private schools are organized and why they are more effective. We don't need vouchers, we need real accountability. This would do that. System-wide public education politics is populism run amok. John Q. Public does not need a controlling interest in our children's education, the parents do.

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The New Anacostia Transit System
Fred Bernthal, bernthal@ura.nw.dc.us

Re: Public hearing notice on the new Anacostia Transit System, themail, October 28: “New transit technologies” . . . , for example, “. . . rail vehicles powered by overhead electric sources [i.e. wires?] and diesel engines.” Imagine that — breakthrough technology, courtesy of DDOT! Can real diesel buses be far behind?

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DC Transit Alternatives Demonstration Project
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com

In the last issue of themail, Mark David Richards alerted people to the District of Columbia Transit Alternatives Analysis and Anacostia Corridor Demonstration Project, an eighteen-month joint project between the DC government and Metro to study public transit alternatives, including a light-rail demonstration project in Anacostia.

This is important. A transit city needs to continually expand its transit infrastructure and capabilities. However, it is possible to bring lighter rail, specifically trolleys, back to DC on a faster timetable than people realize. A paper on the American Public Transit Association web site called “Bring Back the Streetcars” (http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/weyrich.cfm) discusses how this can be done. The one intricacy is that the paper talks about power through wires, which couldn't be done in the center city.

Alternatively, it appears that the light rail orientation of the study has a "limited stop, commuter railroad" feel to it. Various transportation corridors need to have excellent intra-corridor local service as well. As long as the rail and power systems are interoperable, historic replica trolleys could provide local service runs in between the more limited service that light rail might provide. (I lean to historic replica trolleys generally, rather than “modern” trolleys or “heavier” light rail.) Something to think about.

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DC Transit Alternatives Demonstration Project
Harold Goldstein, mdbiker@goldray.com

Another demonstration project! Almost thirty years ago I worked for the DC government with a small group preparing the way for the transition from the DC Department of Highways to the DC DOT. One of the things we did was a study to lead up to a proposal for a demonstration project concerning the provision of para-transit in SE to feed Metro stops and key local focus points. We felt that we could provide essentially continuous service, 24 hours, using cab drivers and subsidizing their "salary" for, if memory serves, the order of a million dollars a year in the service area defined — assuming about a 50 cents fare. Remember this was in the mid-70's, but it was still a ridiculously cheap way to provide easy Metro access and essentially universal public transportation.

It still is. Para-transit, after a flurry of successful — in my eye — experiments, seems to have died out, and I could never understand why. Our project was rejected locally, partially because the unions put up initial resistance, which we never tested (taxi unions disliked having “special” taxi drivers whose pay was guaranteed, and Metro unions thought we were replacing bus drivers), but also because my boss, now deceased, thought any project requiring a subsidy would be a failure and ours, up front, would need a permanent subsidy. And sure, we also discussed light rail, as is usual every ten years, for Georgetown (since residents had such “foresight” in keeping Metrorail out) and the 16th Street corridor, but it went nowhere.

Until we start thinking of public transportation as a utility or a public right, much like education, we won't get anywhere. I am a public transportation advocate, or at least I once was, but there are very few trips in this region that are more conveniently made with public transportation even with our highway mess. You have to have both ends very well located for that to happen. (I know, I know, a lot of you have such trips because you are lucky enough to be near three Metro stops on your home end and you work downtown, but region wide you are an anomaly. That is why our public transportation system has failed to provide any decent bang for the buck. For the ten billion it cost (in 20-30-year-old dollars) we deserved much more. But what do you expect when you design a system for the 21st century using 19th century technology?)

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Billion or Million
Art Spitzer, artspitzer@aol.com

[Ed Dixon, themail, November 5, wrote: “The National Cathedral and the Beaver School are requesting that the city publicly refinance a loan they made with Riggs Bank in order to save the schools three-quarters of a billion dollars annually.”]

That has to be a typo for “three-quarters of a million.”

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A Billion for Beavers
Ed Dixon, Georgetown Reservoir, jedxn@erols.com

The savings to the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation are projected at about three quarter of a million, not billion, dollars per year. The Current Newspaper reported $710,000 as the estimated annual savings to the Foundation. The schools benefiting from the public refinancing are National Cathedral School and Beauvoir, not Beaver.

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Number of Employees
Deirdre Gaquin, dgaquin@compuserve.com

Bryce Suderow suggested that someone compare the number of DC employees to a small western state, to test the theory that DC has so many employees because it has to fulfill state functions as well as city functions.

I checked the “State and Local Government Employment” numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. For 2001, DC was listed at 36,666. Our 2000 Census pop was 572,059. Wyoming, with only 493,782 people, had 52,283 state and local government employees. I found this so intriguing that I ran the numbers for all the states. DC, at 6.4 employees per 100 persons, is right at the national average of 6.5. Most states have between 6 and 8. Wyoming is at the top with 10.6 employees per 100 persons. Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Kansas all have high levels, over 8 employees per 100 people. Only 17 states have as few or fewer employees than DC. Pennsylvania is the lowest, at 5.2, with Nevada, Rhode Island, and Florida all with fewer than 6 employees per 100 persons.

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The Number of Employees the District Has
Erik Gaull, esq25@columbia.edu

It isn't as straightforward as selecting a western state with a very small number of residents and comparing the number of per capita employees to what we have in DC. Assuming that DC has about 30,000 employees (DCPS workers) and 572,000 residents, the District would have 52.45 workers per 1,000 residents. (It is easier to examine the number of workers per 1,000 residents because then one deals with numbers that are easier to relate to than the fractions of workers that one gets standardizing on the basis of a single resident).

To make to comparison fair, one would have to select a geographic area and then define the number of employees who: 1) do local government work, or 2) do state-level work, but who really only service the area in question, or 3) teach in a school district that serves only that geographic area. Then one would have to eliminate the numbers of employees who do jobs now being handled by the federal government (i.e., prison workers). This adjusted number would be the numerator and the population of the geographic area divided by 1,000 would be the denominator. This would yield a standardized number of employees that would allow rough comparisons.

Of course, the real question would be whether the array of governmental programs between the two jurisdictions were comparable. Since there is no agreed upon definition of what services a city (or a state) should provide, it might be better to select a common subset of the various programs (for example, paramedic services, library services, etc.). For example, one cannot really compare the collection of solid waste in the District to say that of NYC or Charlottesville. In DC, the government is only responsible for collection from public waste receptacles or units with six or fewer families. Both NYC and Charlottesville have different collection programs. The NYC Department of Sanitation collects solid waste from large apartment buildings (here in DC, the building owner must contract with a private hauler). In Charlottesville, the municipality will take whatever trash is put out in authorized trash bins or is bagged and tagged with a special closure that indicates the property owner has paid a fee for the removal of the property. The differences in a program such as this mean that DC DPW's operations cannot cleanly be compared (even on a per capita basis) to those of many other cities. The same goes for many of the other operations of the District. By now, you should be getting the idea that making interjurisdictional comparisons requires in-depth knowledge of the operations of the various localities (or states) in question as well as specific knowledge about the populations being compared. Interjurisdictional comparisons can be misleading in many ways. That is why they are used by urban managers with caution and with lots of explanatory notes.

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Recall of Mayor
Edward Cowan, Friendship Heights, edcowan1114@aol.com

To reply to your correspondent Wenzell Taylor: I would not support an effort to recall Mayor Williams, despite reservations about his performance. As the California circus taught all too well, we in the District and sensible voters everywhere should eschew the petulant politics of recall. The way to punish poor performance is to deny renomination and reelection. The practice of recall portends instability and gridlock. The voters choose and must live with the result of their balloting. This is the essence of representative government, as distinct from direct democracy.

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Recall of the Mayor
John Aravosis, SafeStreetsDC.com, John@SafeStreetsDC.com

I would absolutely support, and actively assist, the immediate recall of Mayor Williams, and ditto for any council member who continues to support Chief Ramsey. If a serious effort is being considered, contact me.

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Recall
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com

Count me in for a recall of Mayor Williams. I will help with fundraising for the project and with any other work needed.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Kwame Brown for Democrat At-Large City Council Fundraiser, November 12
Kwame Brown, votekwamebrown@aol.com

The Committee to Elect Kwame Brown cordially invites to you the “Kwame Brown for Democrat At Large City Council Fundraiser.” The event will be Wednesday, November 12, from 6:00-9:00 p.m., at the Saki Grill. The Saki Grill is located at 2477 18th Street, NW, in Adams Morgan across from Columbia Road. Valet parking and a cash bar will be available.

Brown attended DC Public Schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. While in high school, Kwame participated in the Mayor's Youth Leadership Program and he started his own company, The Three Amigo's Detail Car Washing Company. Kwame paid his way through college by working for MCI, graduating from Morgan State University, with a BA in Marketing. He is also a graduate of the Business Executive Program and Advanced Business Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College. Brown has worked in various positions for MCI, Wal-Mart Corporation, CitiGroup, and First Union. In 1999, President William J. Clinton appointed him Senior Advisor at the United States Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency. After one year as Senior Advisor, Kwame was promoted by Secretary Norman Mineta as the Director of the Business Liaison Office within the Commerce Department. Currently, Kwame is President/CEO of the Maryland/District of Columbia Minority Supplier Development Council.

He has helped DC school students access a national database of college scholarships. Kwame currently sits on the Board of Directors for the DC Children's Trust Fund, and has been involved in community organizations such as the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Kwame also works with the Good Samaritan Foundation. Kwame is currently the Co-Chair of the Hillcrest Civic Association legislative committee. Kwame is also the Chair of the Ward Seven Committee on Boards and Commissions. Brown is married to Marcia Brown and they have two children, Lauren and Kwame II. The campaign’s website is http://www.votekwamebrown.org.

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Stop the Violence and Stay in School Basketball Tour Fundraiser, November 13
Orlando Mullins, doubleoproductions@yahoo.com

On Thursday, November 13, at 6:00 p.m. (game time 7:00 p.m.), Double O Entertainment (D.O.E.) brings to you the highly anticipated Street Ballers for Life Basketball Team at MCI Arena, Washington, DC. Tickets available at http://www.Ticketmaster.com or 432-SEAT. From playgrounds across America, as seen on ESPN, videos, television commercials, and played by thousands of people from ages 4-80 on Play-station, and X-Box game consoles, the Street Ballers for Life Basketball Team are basketball legends becoming known as the Harlem Globetrotters of a New Generation. They will dazzle and amaze you like nothing else before their time. Featuring White Chocolate, The Future, I'll Be Right Back, SILK and many more. The Street Ballers For Life will challenge a team of celebrity and VIP Players. This event will be hosted by comedian Michael Colyar and many surprise celebrity guests will participate to bring a positive message to our youth including Howard Hewitt and champion boxer Sharmba Mitchell.

This basketball showcase will be held on Thursday, November 13 in the early evening to allow our principle audience, students from the ages of 4-18, to come out and enjoy the event in a safe and secured environment. There will also be many free giveaways and a special performance at half-time by Jazz of Dru Hill, Montega, Jarrard Anthony, Milltown, NuSoul and Earl Carter. Breakdown of proceeds to charity; 50 percent to the DC Public School System for computers, books and supplies, 40 percent to the DC Public Schools for athletics, including team uniforms and equipment; and 10 percent to The Annie Mae Hedgepeth Underprivileged Children's Fund for unfortunate children to be able to participate in positive extracurricular activities throughout the school year. This event is highly endorsed by Dr. Paul L. Vance (Superintendent of DC Public Schools) and many DC City Officials. For more information contact Orlando Mullins, 345-5430 or doubleoproductions@yahoo.com.

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1869 Society Fall Soiree, “Beyond the Frame,” November 15
Ky Nguyen, ky_n_nguyenATyahooDOTcom

The Corcoran Gallery of Art's young patrons' membership group, the 1869 Society, invites art lovers and young professionals to step into another dimension on Saturday, November 15, from 8:30 p.m.-12 midnight. This year's festivities celebrate the exhibition Beyond the Frame: Impressionism Revisited, The Sculptures of J. Seward Johnson, Jr., with an exclusive viewing, live music by Phat Albert, hors d'oeuvres and cash bar. This year, the 1869 Society celebrates the life-sized, interactive sculptures of J. Seward Johnson, Jr., who has reinvented painted masterpieces from the French Impressionist era. This unique event provides guests the opportunity to lunch with The Boating Party, dance at Bougival, climb Poppy Hill, peek in Olympia's boudoir and lie in Van Gogh's bed.

Individual tickets are $70. 1869 Society individual membership plus one ticket: $125; 1869 Society individual membership plus two tickets: $165. Please purchase tickets online at http://www.corcoran.org/1869 or call the membership office at 639-1753. Indicate dcwatch.com as your affiliation.

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Path to Homeowning Seminars at DCPL, beginning November 15
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

The DC Public Library will host free one-day seminars for people who want to become homeowners. To register, call 727-1151. The Path to Homeownership Begins @ Your Library is a multi-year public education and awareness campaign created by the American Library Association and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a leading provider of home financing. The seminar is designed to help prospective homebuyers have easy access to information about home buying to help them overcome information barriers to homeownership. The program will focus on assisting low- to moderate-income and minority homebuyers because rates of homeownership are lower among these groups. A loan officer from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will be on hand to lead each seminar and answer questions.

Seminars will be held on Saturday, November 15, 10:00 a.m. (new time), Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, 1701 8th Street, NW; December 6, 10 a.m., Cleveland Park, 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW; January 11, 2004, 10 a.m., Capitol View, 5001 Central Avenue, SE; February 14, 2004, 11 a.m., Southwest, 900 Wesley Place, SW; and March 6, 2004, at 10:30 a.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW

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B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Programs, November 16 and 23
Diana Altman, museum@bnaibrith.org

Fall programs, Sundays at the Klutznick, November 16 and 23. The B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum is presenting two programs dedicated to Jewish tradition. “From Generation to Generation” to be held Sunday, November 16, from 1-4 p.m., will spotlight the tradition of storytelling in Jewish culture. Guest speaker Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff will share folk tales and explore the custom of transmitting stories within families and between generations. Docents will be on-hand to lead tours of the Museum's extensive Judaica collection. Arts and crafts activities for children will also be offered.

“I Am to My Beloved as My Beloved Is to Me” will examine the traditions behind Jewish weddings on Sunday, November 23, from 1-4 p.m. Our guest speaker is Rabbi Barry Freundel of Kesher Israel Synagogue in Washington, DC. Andrea Foster will lead the musical program, and activities will be available for children. Guided tours of the Museum will be offered throughout the afternoon. Both programs will be held at the Museum, 2020 K Street NW. The Museum is wheelchair accessible. Reservations are recommended. Call 857-6583 or E-mail museum@bnaibrith.org.

The B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history, culture, and art of the Jewish people. Its collections comprise art, ethnographic, and archeological holdings from the Biblical period through the 20th century. Gallery admission is by advance reservation only. For more information about the museum call 857-6583, visit http://www.bnaibrith.org, or E-mail museum@bnaibrith.org.

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HIPS Fundraiser at Urban Essentials, December 4
Jon Katz, jon at markskatz dot com

HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) presents its annual holiday fundraising evening at Urban Essentials furniture store, 1330 U Street, NW, on Thursday, December 4, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Ten percent of the evening's sales in the store will benefit HIPS. Your $20 donation ticket goes to a fabulous night of fundraising, hors d'oeuvres, wine, and desserts. HIPS is a local organization that uses a harm-reduction non-paternalistic approach to benefit the welfare of sex workers (e.g., providing HIV/AIDS information and condoms from HIPS's outreach van on weekend nights, and operating a 24-hour support hotline). You may purchase tickets through me or HIPS (http://www.hips.org), or at the door

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Revels DC Celebrates the Gypsies, December 5-7 and 12-14
Connie Ridgway, kaniru at aol dot com

This year the Christmas Revels, “one of Washington's favorite holiday celebrations,” according to the Washington Post, is doing “Roads of the Roma,” a celebration of gypsy culture, song and dance. We are doing music from Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, France, and Spain. This year there will be a gypsy musical ensemble from Budapest, a flamenco dancer, and Indian Gujarat dances (all influenced by gypsy culture).

The Christmas Revels celebrates traditional cultural celebrations of the solstice yearly at Lisner Auditorium, GW University. This year there will be eight performances on the first two weekends of December, 5-7 and 12-14. Two performances per weekend are matinees. Family night on Friday nights gets kids in for half price. I can't tell you how excited I am and how wonderful this production is. The focus is on a nomadic people, over 1,000 years in Europe yet still oppressed to this day, who have survived and thrived in good part due to their amazing spirit and music. Tickets are available through Tickets.com, 703-218-6500, or at Olsson's Books and the Lisner Box Office, 994-6800, or at http://www.revelsdc.org.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Furniture from Loft
Paul Williams, DChouseHistory@aol.com

A few fun items from a large loft at 7th and Q are now for sale! All items have appeared in HGTV's Building Character show, filmed on location in the loft. Pictures are at: http://www.savepic.com/freepicturehosting/ag.php?fid=2331&mid=1929. They include a 1960s Brady Bunch era aqua couch; 6 feet long by 2.5 feet deep. A small tear in back that I cover with pillow, and some fading/discoloration on bottom. It always get tons of complements! $125. Large heavy glass table (3/4 inch thick glass, 4.6 feet in diameter, 2.5 feet tall). It rests on a round chrome base. $125. Four outdoor 1960s chairs, painted red. Truly retro! $125 for all four. (Table and chair combination for only $200!) Large black leather curved couch in four sections. It's 9.5 feet wide at its widest point, but four sections can be separated. Very sleek and urban! Surface has a few holes in leather, but what used leather couch doesn't? Over $3,500 new, $500. More pics can be seen at http://hometown.aol.com/oldhousehistory/.

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CLASSIFIEDS — TRADE

Mantelpiece for Carpentry
Nora Bawa, botanica@hotmail.com

I would like to trade an original Wardman wood mantelpiece (c. 1913), excellent condition, for a few hours of carpenter/handyman work in my home.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING

Want to Rent
Bryce Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

Want to rent a very, very cheap apartment in a basement, attic, garage, or carriage house. E-mail or call 546-3358.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Basement Finishing
Mark and Marilia Dunkerley, marduff1@aol.com

We are seeking recommendations for a reliable, reasonable and quality contractor (licensed, insured, and bonded, of course) to finish our basement. I am interested in having the basement integrate with the rest of the house and not look like a basement. I am not interested in unnecessary luxury but a beautiful, quality finish. Would be most grateful for recommendations. We live in Northwest. Please reply to marduffl@aol.com.

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