Mostly Back

Mostly Back in themail, December 7, 2003

Dear Friends:

Sorry for the unplanned absence over Thanksgiving, but thanks for all your inquiries about where themail was. It's good to know we were missed. A computer crash in the middle of sending out themail on November 23rd required more work, replacement, and repair than I expected. We're recovered now, and back in business. Ironically, the only things missing right now are the E-mails that were sent to themail today. Though I still hope to recover them, they were lost or at least misplaced in the last steps of recovery. Keep writing.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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US Park Police
Paul Wilson, pawilson at starpower dot net

I read with interest the article on the US Park Police in Tuesday's Washington Post. The article states that on any given shift twenty-four officers are assigned to regular patrol activities across DC plus the three suburban parkways. So, three regular shifts and two weekend and relief shifts yields 120 officers dedicated to patrol activities, out of a force of 400. That sounds like the kind of tooth-to-tail ratio we've come to expect from Charles Ramsey's Metropolitan Police. Now, at the behest of Department of Homeland Security, the Park Police have beefed up staffing on the Mall. They have done so at the expense of neighborhood park and parkway patrols.

The article states that the rank and file seem to find providing a visible police presence at the monuments to be a task unworthy of their attention. A union official said if his members wanted to be "security guards" they could have joined the US Capitol Police or Supreme Court Police. Perhaps he is correct about a systematic misallocation of resources. Previously, only slightly more than 25 percent of the force was assigned to providing a visible police presence in our neighborhood parks and parkways. Now it's even less, apparently. It seems to me it's not the monuments or the Department of Homeland Security that are the fundamental problem, though.

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Special Signs or Just Another Billboard
Ralston Cox, Dupont Circle, ralston.cox@verizon.net

I didn't much like the Council caving into the billboard industry's tactics a few years back when permits for "special signs" were issued by DCRA. As I recall, DCRA passed some idiot regulation allowing what amounted to billboards being erected; after quite a lot of public outcry, DCRA and the Council agreed to limit the number of these signs, rather than outlawing them outright because the billboard industry threatened to sue the city if they outlawed them. The Council caved big time. One of the compromises (or was it a PR spin) I recall is that the signs that were permitted were to be "special signs" -- that is, more art than advertisement, with limited amounts of verbiage and a higher quality of graphics, etc. I have to admit that some of the signs have actually met that standard and have been fairly okeedokee. But someone at DCRA must be handing out the goodies again with no oversight -- a "special sign" up at 18th and California Streets, NW, looks remarkably like a plain old billboard advertising Dharma and Greg, I think. No high quality graphic, verbiage o'plenty -- and it's really really cheap-o looking.

Does anyone know the details of the law and/or regulation that supposedly regulates these things? Who can I gripe to about this nastiness? And when does the “special sign” law — or the permits for the signs — sunset? I'd like to return to the days when my city wasn't cluttered up with this useless nonsense.

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Flags and Slogans
Patrick Thibodeau, smoke_dc@yahool.com

I'm so glad the effort to turn the DC flag into a cheesy marketing slogan has fizzled. “No taxation without representation” — oh, please. The next step is to get that useless, confusing, and irritating slogan off the license plates. In my out-of-town travels only once has someone asked me what that "Taxation Without Representation" plate is all about. My explanation prompted an unenthusiastic, “Oh, really,” response. Nobody cares about our whiny voting rights problems. Instead, I want my license plate to say, “End the 10 percent meal tax.” Now that would get the attention of tourists, and send them off to Virginia for a cheaper meal and elected representation to boot.

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Another Investigation Begins
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

On December 2, the Office of Campaign Finance announced that it was opening a formal investigation into a complaint that I filed on November 7 against Mayor Anthony Williams and attorney Vincent Mark Policy. As I wrote previously in themail, Policy, a registered lobbyist in DC, is representing Mayor Williams in the suit brought against him by political consultant Thomas Lindenfeld for the nonpayment of bills totaling $75,000. Policy represented to the opposing counsel in the case, both during a mediation session and during a hallway discussion following that session, that he was representing Mr. Williams pro bono. Policy later wrote a letter to the opposing counsel and filed a motion with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia confirming that he did say that he was representing Williams pro bono, and complaining that the opposing counsel had revealed that fact in a filing that she made to the court.

The normal cost of Policy's services in the case, dating from February of this year, would have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars. If they were provided free to the mayor, that would violate a strict prohibition in DC law against a lobbyist giving anything, including services, valued over $100 to an elected official or staffer in a calendar year, and against an elected official or staffer receiving such a gift. My original complaint is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/dorothy/dot031107.htm. Supplemental materials to the complaint are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/dorothy/dot031111.htm. The Office of Campaign Finance's notification that the investigation is being opened it at http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/ocf031202.htm. The Common Denominator has a story about the case with more details at http://www.thecommondenominator.com/120103_news1.html.

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I’d Pay to See This
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

The WPA of this decade, Homeland Security, has announced how the money they have provided for security in the District, and the metro DC area, is being spent. For those of you too short of tooth to remember the WPA, it was the make work program of the 1930s to alleviate high unemployment during the depression. The program was actually very successful in its time. I am very unsure how this new WPA will work, but I am sure that at least some of the money is being misspent.

Take, for example, the $5K for five Smith and Wesson (are they armed?) bicycles bought for the Mayor and four of his aides to escape the District during a Homeland Security evacuation. Can you envision the Mayor, who sometimes has trouble chewing gum and walking, riding on the crowded streets of DC with four of his cronies, in a hilarious Keystone Cops escape scene? I'd pay for a front row seat to see that.

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New DC Primary Preference Poll — WTOP and WJLA
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

At last, a poll of DC Democrats who are likely voters. ABC-7 WJLA TV and WTOP Radio jointly sponsored a Presidential preference poll. The poll of five hundred individuals was conducted by telephone November 21-23 among DC Democrats who said they are certain to or will probably vote in the January 13 primary. The poll was conducted by Potomac Survey Research in Bethesda, Maryland. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Go to Http://www.wtop.com/index.php?sid=146197&nid=213&template=print for the WTOP News article and to http://www.wtopnews.com/pdf/wtop_abc7poll.pdf for the complete questions and results.

If all the candidates were on the DC ballot, Dean would win with 27 percent of the vote. Wesley Clark follows with 11 percent, Gephardt 7 percent, Lieberman 5 percent, Sharpton 5 percent, Kerry 4 percent, Moseley-Braun 4 percent, Edwards 1 percent, Kucinich 1 percent. A plurality — 33 percent — was undecided. When participants were told that not all the candidates will be on the ballot and were read the four choices Dean won by 45 percent, followed by Sharpton with 11 percent, Moseley-Braun 8 percent, and Kucinich 4 percent. Again, a plurality (33 percent) was undecided.

Survey participants were told, “The City Council has moved the DC primary to January, making it the first in the country. But this violates national Democratic Party rules, causing five of the nine candidates to drop out. Do you think DC should go ahead with this early primary anyway, or should we put it back where it was so all the candidates will compete?” Fifty-two percent said to put the primary back, 35 percent said to go ahead, 13 percent were not sure. Respondents were not told the reason that the City Council and mayor moved the primary and they were misinformed because the non-binding primary violated no DNC rules — a critically important but missing piece of information that could have significantly affected opinion. One point from my perspective as a pollster: the question about whether the primary should be moved back so that the five who dropped off can be on the ballot is a biased and loaded question. It did not tell the reason that the primary was moved first -- nowhere did they mention that this is all about DC raising awareness about voting rights.

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Against the Property Tax Cap
Ed Lazere, lazere@dcfpi.org

The DC Fiscal Policy Institute has released an analysis of the 10 percent property tax cap. The report can be found at http://www.dcfpi.org/11-26-03tax.htm and http://www.dcfpi.org/11-26-03tax.pdf.

Legislation was introduced this year to cap property tax increases for DC homeowners at 10 percent. That legislation was passed out of the Finance and Revenue Committee on November 25 and may be addressed by the full DC Council in December. While the effort to relieve growing property tax bills is understandable, the proposed 10 percent cap raises some serious issues — and suggests that other approaches should be considered.

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Parking
John Henry Wheeler, zippytrash@att.net

I was surprised by Councilmember Phil Mendelson's message about his legislation to "fix" the problem of cars parking for more than 72 hours in residential zones. He implies that the purpose of the 72-hour rule was to help identify abandoned cars. Hopefully his fix is something other than reinstating the 72-hour rule, as he suggests. Like Mr. Mendelson, I'm a strong believer in using public transportation, walking, and bicycling instead of an auto for commuting and shopping. Therefore, my car may not be moved every 72 hours. Likewise, as others have mentioned in this discussing, I've left town for a vacation, leaving my car behind. I don't think it's reasonable for the city to require me in that case to park the car at the airport or a Metro parking lot (thereby denying other folks a parking space). Please Phil, tell us it ain't so.

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Memo to Ed: Remember to Move
Clare Feinson, cfeinson at erols dot com

I've learned to skip over certain posters when reading themail, but I couldn't resist the message from Ed Barron entitled "Remind Me to Move." It made me think of an old BC cartoon that shows a peasant with a tin cup collecting money for the king's going-away party. As someone puts money in the cup, he says he didn't know the king was going away. The peasant replies that the king isn't going away, but if they hold a party for him, maybe he'll take the hint and leave.

So, Ed, life is kind of unpredictable, you know, so if you find it so unbearable to live here in DC, maybe you should sell and move now, just in case, and find another jurisdiction to kvetch about.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Public Library Events, December 8-13
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

Reverend Henry Winter Syle: His Legacy and Leadership in the Deaf Community during the 19th Century, Monday, December 8, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5. The Reverend Henry Buzzard, retired Vicar of St. Ann’s Church for the Deaf in New York City, will present a lecture on the life and contributions of deaf clergyman Reverend Henry Winter Syle. St. Ann’s Church for the Deaf was founded by Rev. Dr. Thomas Gallaudet, the son of Dr. Thomas Gallaudet. In his boyhood, Rev. Syle wrote to Rev. Gallaudet asking if it were possible for a deaf boy to grow up to become a clergyman. Rev. Gallaudet encouraged the young boy to follow his dream and Syle became the first deaf person in the United States to be admitted to the clergy. This program is presented by the Library for Deaf Services in the Adaptive Services Division of the D.C. Public Library in honor of Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 7 –13, 2003. Public contact: 727-2145 (TTY or Voice).

Holiday sale at Books Plus, The Library Store, Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Tuesday-Friday, December 9-12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Books Plus, The Library Store is having a holiday sale. The entire stock of gift items will be on sale at 20 percent off the regular price. The sale does not include Antiquarian and Collectible books. Celebrate the holiday season and buy a gift for someone special. Books Plus has D.C. Public Library messenger and tote bags, T-shirts, new selections of holiday cards, planners for 2004, book ends, mouse pads, and coffee mugs. Public contact: 727-6834.

"Yes, Virginia” Family Fun Day, Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library, 115 Atlantic Street, SW, Saturday, December 13, 11 a.m. Chamique Holdsclaw of the Washington Wizards will read the famous New York Sun editorial, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” plus a hands-on, news-related game, and a visit from Santa. The D.C. Public Library and Newseum team-up to present this special family holiday event! Public contact: 645-5880.

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Sierra Club Holiday Party, December 10
Jason Broehm, jason_broehm@hotmail.com

The Sierra Club Washington, DC, Chapter's annual holiday party will be held Wednesday, December 10, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. At Pizzeria Uno at Union Station. Please join the Sierra Club for an enjoyable evening of socializing over pizza and beer. A donation of $10 is suggested to help cover the cost of food. Cash bar. Prizes. Local author Gail Spilsbury will be present to sign copies of her new book Rock Creek Park. A Flexcar representative will also be on hand with information about local car sharing opportunities. Sierra Club 2004 calendars and day planners will be available for purchase. Please RSVP by December 8 to Dain Roose-Snyder, 543-0552, or Dain.Roose-Snyder@sierraclub.org.

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Holiday Health Extravaganza with Ms. Black DC, December 13
Jed Pittleman, jpittleman@dckids.org

Application assistance for free DC public health programs (DC Health Care Alliance and DC Healthy Families), health screenings, immunizations, flu shots, and an appearance by Miss Black DC, Katriece Isaac! Saturday, December 13, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Brentwood Giant Food Store, 1050 Brentwood Road, NE, by the Rhode Island Metro Station on the Red Line.

Bring proof of identification and District residency, as well as income and any health/shot records (especially for children who will be getting immunized) to take advantage of these programs and services. Please help get the word out to any potentially eligible child or adult (regardless of immigration status) who lives in the District and doesn’t have health care coverage. For more information on the event or eligibility criteria, please contact Jed Pittleman at 234-9404 or by E-mail, jpittleman@dckids.org.

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Capitol Hill Winter Revelry, December 14
Jonathan Darr, jonathan@chaw.org

The 18th Annual Winter Revelry celebration and house tour takes place December 14, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. in some of Capitol Hill's most beautiful and intriguing homes. Enjoy lively entertainment and delicious refreshments as you and yours stroll through elaborately decorated holiday houses. The merriment benefits the nonprofit Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, an arts education community gathering spot and school serving the area for more than thirty years. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at http://www.chaw.org, in person at 545 7th Street, SE, or by phone at 547-6839.

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DC Water and Sewer Authority Public Meeting, December 17
Libby Lawson, libby_lawson@dcwasa.com

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) will hold a public meeting on December 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, to discuss and solicit public comments on WASA’s water distribution system construction and improvement projects, the current Project Priority List and FY 2004 Intended Use Plan. The Safe Drinking Water Act provides for WASA to receive a portion of its funding through grants. WASA will submit grant applications to the USEPA for federal funding of these projects. The FY 2004 Intended Use Plan, Project Priority List and information about these projects are available for inspection at WASA’s Permit and Documents Section, 5000 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC.

The public meeting will address: 1) Large Valve Replacements – Contracts 5 & 6; 2) Lead Service Replacements 2004-1 and 2005-1; 3) FY 2004 Intended Use Plan; and 4) Project Priority List. For more information, please call our Public Affairs Office at 787-2200.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Legal Secretary and Office Workstation Installer/Carpenter
Jon Katz, jon at markskatz dot com

Legal secretary, bilingual, full time, Silver Spring, Maryland. Marks & Katz, LLC, is a growing law firm fighting for justice, individual rights, and the underdog . We encourage applications for support staff to satisfy our growing client base. At this time, we seek an additional bilingual (Spanish-English) Legal Secretary with a minimum one year of legal experience to assist in our immigration and personal injury practice areas. Please send, only via E-mail, a text version of your resume, a persuasive cover letter (designating “Legal Secretary,” salary history, and relevant references, to Jay Marks, justice@markskatz.com, Marks & Katz, LLC, Please refrain from E-mail attachments and phone calls. For more information, visit http://www.markskatz.com.

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Part-Time Jobs for Experienced Tax Preparers
Colleen Dailey, colleen.dailey@starpower.net

The D.C. CASH Coalition (http://www.dccash.org) provides low-income workers in the District with taxpayer education, free tax preparation assistance, and access to programs and services that increase income and savings. We are seeking a few experienced tax preparers to review tax returns completed by volunteers at five tax centers located in neighborhoods East of the River (Wards 7 and 8). Qualified applicants will receive training and will be given a stipend of $5,000 for approximately 120 hours of work during the income tax filing season. For a complete job description and information on how to apply, contact Colleen Dailey, D.C. CASH Coalition Coordinator, at info@dccash.org or 249-1525.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Two Seats for Simon and Garfunkel, December 14
Melissa Booth, melbooth1224@aol.com

We have a pair of tickets to see Simon and Garfunkel on Sunday, December 14, 8:00 p.m., at the MCI Center (concert is sold out). Tickets are in section 430, Row H, seats 5 and 6. We paid $126.80 for the pair, including tax and Ticketmaster charges. Selling for this exact price or best offer. Prefer cash or money order, but will take check with drivers license matching name and address on the check.

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Couch, Beer Signs, and Best Addresses
Paul K. Williams, pkelseyw@aol.com

Sleek and Urban 1950s aqua blue vinyl couch for sale! Good shape for its age, and always receives a lot of comments. 6 feet long by 2.5 feet deep. Used in several HGTV productions of "Building Character" show. $125. Also, several real neon beer signs, all working: $50-$175 each. Book Best Addresses: $40. E-mail paul@washingtonhistory.com for pics.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Office Workstation Installer/Carpenter
Jon Katz, jon@markskatz.com

My law firm wishes to hire an experienced person to install a workstation/work cubicle. Instead of our assembling it ourselves, we wish to hire a person to select the right dimensions and materials, and possibly to install upper cabinets. Please forward your recommendations to me at jon@markskatz.com.

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