Connections

Dear Connected:

I want to point out five recently released papers that, if you’re interested in the subjects, are well worth reading. First, the MPD’s proposal for revising police patrol service areas raises two questions, whether it’s a good idea for the city to abandon even more the idea of small beat patrols for which individual officers are responsible, and whether the new proposed boundaries are well drawn. You can judge the boundaries for yourself with the maps at http://www.dcwatch.com/police/040112.htm. Second, the Williams administration is undertaking yet another reform of the Department of Motor Vehicles, and this time it promises again that improvements really will be made. You can see the outlines of the plan at http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/dmv040107.htm. Third, the Chief Financial Officer, Natwar Gandhi, laid out some general guidelines for reducing property taxes in his testimony to the city council on January 13. It’s at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/tax040113.htm. Fourth, the independent accountant’s report to DCPS on whether graduating student records were altered was completed in September, but was released just last month, http://www.dcpswatch.com/dcps/030922b.htm. And fifth, the Council on the Great City Schools issued its draft report on DCPS, "Restoring Excellence to the District of Columbia Public Schools, last month, and is soliciting comments on it. See http://www.dcpswatch.com/dcps/0312.htm.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Some US Citizens Are More Equal than Others
Paul Wilson, pawilson@starpower.net

US District Court Judge Reggie Walton has upheld DC's handgun ban, in dismissing a suit brought by Sandra Seegars and others on the grounds that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to DC. This morning I read, with considerable slack-jawed amazement, the comments of the Mayor's spokesman, Tony Bullock, on the ruling. I'm wondering if Mr. Bullock knows the meaning of the word “tautology.” As quoted in the Washington Post, in a story entitled “Gun Rights Aren't for District, Judge Rules,” on January 15 [Carol Leonnig, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18785-2004Jan15.html]: “Tony Bullock, spokesman for Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), applauded Walton's decision as an endorsement of the city's effort to curb its gun violence and homicide rate. ‘What the mayor is interested in is the right to control the flow of guns in our city, as all states and many cities do,” Bullock said. ‘Gun laws help us much more than guns in the hands of citizens in reducing violent deaths.’”

So, according to Bullock, the citizens of DC need to be treated differently from those of the states, in order that the DC Government can act more like a state and regulate, i.e., effectively ban, the ownership of handguns. Is handgun control such a liberal sacred cow that our elected officials will cheerfully accept second-class citizenship for DC residents if that's part of the bargain? The judge's ruling is getting quite a bit of coverage in the press nationwide. Wouldn't it be a stitch if the Seegars lawsuit raised consciousness of DC's secondary status more than Tuesday’s half-baked rump primary?

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Let’s Make a Deal
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

First, let's face it. Tony Williams has absolutely no interest in being mayor of DC for a third term. He aspires to a post in the next Democratic administration (very unlikely IMHO). In the meantime, the phony exploratory committee is really only to raise money to pay off Tony's debts and misdeeds from the last election. He's trying only to protect his (pause) flank.

Now, here's the deal, Tony. You drop the pretense of running for a third term as mayor, and we'll stop the recall campaign. If you don't drop the exploratory committee, you are toast. You'll be recalled and won't even finish your second term. Now wouldn't that look great on your resume for the next Democratic administration?

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The Move to Recall Mayor Williams Gathers Steam
Rich Robins, rich@spaceprojects.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18106-2004Jan14.html

[The recall movement has also established a web site through which it can be contacted at http://www.recallmayorwilliams.com. — Gary Imhoff]

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In the Running
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

I recently wrote that few people had been convinced that Mayor Williams really intended to run for a third them. Here are a few of the factors that indicate that Williams is unlikely to run again. First, most importantly, he doesn’t enjoy being mayor. His facial expressions at weekly press conferences and meetings with citizens groups clearly convey the message that he doesn’t want to be there, and his frequent trips show that it’s more fun for him to be the mayor of Washington when he’s out of town. The recent hiring of Robert Bobb freed Williams from many of the managerial duties and obligations of being mayor, but that may make his disengagement from the details of governing even more pronounced. If Tony Williams doesn’t like the job much, his wife Diane dislikes it even more, and she has no interest in being a “first lady.” She didn’t want him to run in 1998, was harder to convince in 2002, and will probably be determinedly opposed in 2006. Williams is already job hunting, possibly for a position in any national administration, Republican or Democratic, but more likely in the private sector; he has told confidants that the mayoral position just doesn’t pay enough, and that he needs to make more money.

If he did choose to run, it could be difficult in practical political terms, Williams has no machine and no dedicated group of supporters. He has alienated virtually every person who participated in his draft movement in 1998 and who volunteered in his reelection campaign in 2002. The Democratic State Committee, previously under the control of Williams ally Norm Neverson, now is led by A. Scott Bolden, who is testing the waters for a mayoral run himself. Barbara Bullock and Gwendolyn Hemphill, the leaders of the Washington Teachers Union who made that local his first and most faithful labor ally, have been indicted for embezzlement, and Bullock has pled guilty and will be sentenced on January 30. Any third campaign would have to rely on a combination of paid staffers and government workers who are press-ganged into volunteering. The only element of the Williams machine that remains viable and reliable is the financial contributions of business interests and developers, the triangle of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Federal City Council, and the DC Chamber of Commerce, led by suburbanites who can give money but can’t vote in DC.

Chief of Staff Kelvin Robinson is in charge of constructing a new political machine. But Robinson is still a recent transplant from Florida whose brusque manner has alienated many of the mayor’s former friends and allies, even within the Executive Office of the Mayor itself. Robinson’s firing of Beverly Wheeler as Director of the Office of Neighborhood Action was the first step in reshaping that office into a governmentally funded political campaign arm for the mayor, but that effort can only lead to further legal trouble.

As a footnote, at his weekly press conference last Wednesday, Mayor Williams indicated that he wanted to sit down with recall proponents "to talk sense and reason" with them, but he took no steps to do that before this Tuesday, when the recall campaign intends to file its petition at the Board of Elections and Ethics. A. Scott Bolden did make a halfhearted effort to broker a private meeting between Barbara Lett-Simmons, one of the co-chairs of the recall committee, and the mayor, but that initial approach has not been pursued.

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Disturbing Sign of the Times
Bob Summersgill, summersgill at yahoo dot com

Disturbing handwritten sign on a non-working door at Rite-Aid at 13th and U Streets on January 14: “Used nex door.”

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National Honor Roll Alert
LaDona Kirkland, Kirklandl@ndu.edu

Please be advised, National Honor Roll is a vanity press publication. “Recognition for superior academic achievement” is bogus because National Honor Roll is a scam organization. National Honor Roll claims to be at a prestigious Washington, DC, address. Their letterhead states they are at 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. However, that is the address for Mail Boxes, Etc., on the George Washington University campus. If you have any doubts, please go to the Mail Boxes, Etc., web site at http://www.mbe.com/ and click on the icon “locate a store globally.” The phone number for National Honor Roll is 202-737-0715. This Washington, DC, phone number immediately reroutes callers to a New York telephone number. The address in New York is 300 Merrick Road, Suite 206, Lynbrook, NY 11563. The phone number is 516-593-0555. This is the same address as Student Marketing Group. The state of New York filed a petition against Student Marketing Group on July 8, 2002. Please see the .pdf file at http://www.epic.org/privacy/student/smgpetition.pdf. Student Marketing Group collects information on students and sells lists. Unsuspecting teachers pass out information to students. The students do not know their personal information is being fed back to National Honor Roll and Student Marketing Group.

One of our local news stations did a brief segment on National Honor Roll recently. Please visit the Better Business Bureau web site at http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?compid=W8000570&national=Y to see the Better Business Bureau Report. In addition, National Honor Roll is not licensed to do business in the District of Columbia as a corporation or a nonprofit. I can probably guess correctly that they are not paying the DC government any taxes. If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact me.

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Voting for a Candidate Not on the Ballot
Bill Starrels, Georgetown, mortgagecorp@hotmail.com

On election day I choose to vote for a Presidential candidate who was not on the ballot. I was instructed to see the elections official, who instructed me to fill out a special ballot with the name of the candidate of my choice. This was put into a special ballot envelope and sealed. It was a short and easy process.

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Primary Number Crunching
Peter Orvetti, porvetti@bulletinnews.com

According to DCBOEE, 1,198 Democratic primary voters (2.8 percent of the total) successfully cast under/overvote spoiled ballots. As we know from the last themail, some folks tried to do so, and couldn't.

And in the Statehood-Green primary, more than 44 percent wrote in a candidate or voted for no candidate. The Democrats could learn from them how to create a ballot!

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Re: The Big Lie(s)
Ken Nellis, nellisks at aol dot com

“Those who discussed it rather than voting did not. I suspect the real problem is that the average DC resident simply doesn't care. Asserting that they do is another big lie.”

This statement [in themail, January 14], whose author I shall not expose, strikes me as ignorant, presumptuous, and insulting. It is because I care that I chose not to vote to protest a non-binding primary in which I could not even write in my preferred candidate.

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District Primary National News?
Harold Goldstein, mdbiker@goldray.com

[In themail, January 14]: “On January 13th, DC's lack of voting rights was finally national news. Nearly every major newspaper and media outlet in the United States reported on the District's disenfranchisement.” Remember the king and his clothes? Because we live a few hundred feet inside Howard County, the local stations on our satellite service come from Baltimore. Of the four major networks, I watched one in total and snippets of the other three on your election night. You know how many mentions there were of the DC primary? None. That’s right, none in nearby Baltimore.

While I am sure, there were a number of outlets (not nearly every) reporting on the primary, I'll wager that relatively few mentioned the disenfranchisement angle and I'll wager even more that those that noticed that angle already knew and cared about it. Kojo's political analyst was moved to say that this issue received international coverage because some Japanese reporter asked Norton about it. Come on now! While I still support you on this issue, despite leaving your borders, there is no purpose served in deluding yourselves about things like the coverage of this primary bringing any recognition to DC.

In fact, people I spoke with thought that this primary was more of a joke than anything else. “Only those fools in DC would spend good money in a bad budget year to have a meaningless primary.” Think about that.

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Two Minds on Property Tax Increases
Austin Kelly, dcw - at - vanness.org

I agree with Pete Luger's observation that people whose wealth has just massively increased shouldn't be surprised when their taxes go up as a consequence. It makes perfect sense to me that someone with a $30,000 income and a $250,000 condo pays more tax then someone with a $30,000 income and a $100,000 condo. I also agree with last week's respondents who point to folks with a lot of brand new wealth but little income who shouldn't be squeezed out. Isn't there a fairly obvious solution, though? Limit the amount that this year's payment can increase to something like 5 percent or 10 percent, and owe the rest until the property is sold. Local jurisdictions would hold a lien against appreciating property, so the risk seems small. And giving up a little interest seems better than limiting the assessment and giving up the revenue totally. Oh, and services in DC are lousy, but if the city spends the money, someone (eventually) has to bear the tax burden. The appropriate thing to do about lousy services is complain about the lousy services -- complaining about the taxes does nothing while the money's being spent. Limiting property taxes just moves the burden elsewhere.

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A Home Is a Home
Warren Gorlick, wgorlick@cftc.gov

I have read with interest the exchange in themail regarding the property tax issue. Gary Imhoff argued in the last issue that property taxes are different from other investments such as stocks, because we live in our houses, and we do not necessarily want to move from these houses just because the value has risen and we can no longer afford to pay the taxes. I have no quarrel with this, but Mr. Imhoff's point makes it even less clear why we choose to impose a property tax only on the value of one's house or apartment, but not on stocks or other financial assets. For most middle-class people, their house is the only thing of significant value that one owns, and yet, this is the only type of property that is taxed. By contrast, wealthy people, almost by definition, have significant financial assets (such as stocks), but they do not pay any annual assessment on this type of wealth (they pay taxes on the dividends, in the same way one must pay taxes on rent, but that is completely different). This is why the property tax is extremely regressive; it is essentially the equivalent of the poll tax that was so hated in England it forced Margaret Thatcher to resign from office after she proposed one. Why should wealthy people escape taxation on the vast bulk of their assets, but middle-class persons be forced to pay taxes on the one significant asset that they own? Those councilmembers, such as Mendelson, who advocate high property taxes are simply supporting the continuance of an extremely regressive tax system that forces middle-class persons to pay much higher rates of tax than is the case for upper-class persons.

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Real Property Tax — Failure to Provide Relief will Lead to Gentrification
Matt Forman, Matthew.Forman2@verizon.net

As the Council considers the real property tax relief proposals this week, many of the councilmembers are apparently opposing the Evans/Catania 10 percent cap proposal on the basis that the cap will benefit the owners of higher-valued homes more than those of lower-valued homes. That reasoning is a little specious. The higher-valued homes pay much more tax than lower-valued homes, so by pure mathematics, they will of course get a higher dollar benefit from a cap, though not necessarily a higher percentage benefit. But in any event, if that’s the reason, then the Council will be cutting off its nose to spite its face. Without the cap, which would limit tax bill increases to 10 percent per year, the lower- and middle-income residents of Columbia Heights, Petworth, and Brookland will see a tremendous tax hike, and many will likely be forced to move out of their homes. And the only people who can afford to replace them will folks with much higher incomes. That’s known as gentrification. Yes, the people moving out may reap significant profits when they sell. So the Council has a choice. Keep these folks in their homes by gradually increasing taxes, by 10% or less per year, or raise taxes as fast as possible, by 20 percent or 25 percent per year, forcing people to realize the profits and move elsewhere, thereby promoting gentrification.

Median incomes in Columbia Heights, Petworth, and Brookland are around $50,000, according to the 2000 Census. That’s less than the $65,000 median homeowner income for the City as a whole. But these neighborhoods are seeing assessment increases this year of 27.1 percent, 40.6 percent, and 40.2 percent, respectively. These increases are undoubtedly far higher than increased in income, meaning that many people may have to move. To focus on the 27.1 percent increase in Columbia Heights, obviously the current 25 percent cap won’t help much. Also, since Columbia Heights is in the first Triennial Assessment Group, this is its third year of increases in a row. But the 27 percent increase is just an average. Over 15 percent of Columbia Heights will see assessment increases of 38% or more this year. Some increases are as high as 50 percent, 60 percent, or much more. Some of the hardest hit include lower-valued condominiums (likely owned by lower-income people) that have over doubled in assessment. Many assessments are increasing by $100,000 or more. On a $50,000 income, that’s a lot of money.

Anyone who’s concerned about keeping people in their homes should contact their councilmembers, especially Chairman Cropp and at-large members Mendelson and Brazil.

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A House Is a Home
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

What about home equity/reverse mortgages? That more than makes up for high taxes.

[Reverse mortgages may not be a bad choice for older people who have no heirs or who don’t like their children and don’t care to leave them an inheritance. However, reverse mortgages can be expensive when interest rates are high and loan origination fees and loan points are taken into account, and the income received by the homeowner may not be significant. So far reverse mortgages have not been very popular with the public, and they do carry their own risks. Advice on reserve mortgages can be found at http://www.reversemortage.org and http://www.aarp.org/revmort. — Gary Imhoff]

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Metro Signage
Michael K. Wilkinson, Columbia Heights, MKW at 4chairsdesign dot com

I do not believe it costs $100,000 to change the signs in each station when the system makes a change in its station names. Rather, I think it costs $100,000 to change the maps and signs across the system when a station undergoes a name change, such as it did for U Street/Cardozo when the African American Civil War Memorial was completed, or to add a station such as they will do this year on the Red Line at New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/North Capitol/Bloomingdale/Eckington/Future Baseball Stadium.

So, if this is correct, it's a better time than ever to get your name change requests in to Metro, since they will be making changes out of necessity with the new NY Avenue stop. On the Green Line, neighbors in Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights last year had requested that Metro add Tivoli and Mount Pleasant to the Columbia Heights station name. Any news on that?

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Barney Circle Annual Anti-Crime March, January 19
John Capozzi, suecapozzi@aol.com

All are invited to the fourteenth annual anti-crime march, held by the Barney Circle Neighborhood Watch Patrol on Monday night, January 19, starting at the Liberty Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall, 527 Kentucky Avenue, SE (two blocks from the Potomac Avenue Metro), at 7:00 p.m. on Martin Luther King Day. We ask that all citizens of the District and Ward 6 concerned about the problems of crime, drugs and violence to walk with us. We continue to see positive changes, reduction in crime and more community support then ever before, but know there is still work to be done. We hold the march in honor of Dr. King every year.

The march and rally will be in celebration of the fourteen-year anniversary of the beginning of the Orange Hat neighborhood patrols in the Barney Circle area of Capitol Hill and in honor of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who helped free his people. In that spirit neighborhood residents want to free the neighborhood of drugs and crime. Mayor Williams is confirmed to participate in this year's march. Food is donated by area restaurants and you can bring a covered dish. Children are welcome to this event. For more information please contact John Capozzi, 544-0821.

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Madeleine Albright at WNDC, January 21
Jessica Baden, jbaden@democraticwoman.org

The Hon. Madeleine Albright, author of Madam Secretary, the highest ranking woman in American foreign affairs, will share her story and an insiders view of world events at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Ave., NW, on Wednesday, January 21 [time not specified in announcement]. To RSVP call 232-7363, ext. 3003, or E-mail pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org

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Gipsy Kings at Iran Earthquake Relief Concert, January 24
Ramesh Sepehrrad, ncwdi@igc.org

The Gipsy Kings and many other local and international bands will be performing on January 24, at 4:00 p.m. at the Washington DC Convention Center in solidarity with earthquake victims in Iran. The concert is sponsored by Iranian-American Organizations and communities, along with the American Red Cross. All the proceeds of this event will go the American Red Cross fund for the Bam earthquake victims. Ticket counter will open at 3 p.m. Ticket price, $35. For more information contact 703-823-4225 or visit http://www.iran-solidarity.org.

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Cochin Diary: Jewish Life in Southern India, February 9
Elisha Muller, emuller@bnaibrith.org

On February 9, the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum will open its latest exhibition, Cochin Diary: Jewish Life in Southern India. The photographic exhibition will serve as the inaugural display at the newly restored Sixth and I Historic Synagogue at 600 I Street, Northwest, in downtown Washington. Exhibition hours are 11:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Visitors must call in advance, 857-6583. The exhibition's opening reception, on February 8, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., will be hosted by Joel S. Kaplan, President, and Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice President, B'nai B'rith International, and by Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, in association with the Embassy of Israel.

Photographer-anthropologist Joshua Eli Cogan conveys the spirit and evolution of the centuries-old community of Cochin, a small peninsula town in the Indian state of Kerala. Cogan's photographic portraits and accompanying interpretive labels reveal an extraordinary hometown, where Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Muslims have lived side by side for generations. Jews may have come to the Kerala area as early as 70 C.E., following the destruction of the Second Temple. The town's Jewish roots definitely date to the 16th century, when Jewish spice trader Ezekiel Rahabi established a home there. For centuries, the Cochini Jews lived in relative peace and tranquility, engaged primarily in the agricultural and spice trades. A 16th-century war over trade and territory led many of the area's Jews to flee to Cochin proper, where they enjoyed the protection of the local rajah, or king. The rajah donated land to the Jews-including the land on which the town's famous Pardesi Synagogue (built 1568, reconstructed 17th century) still sits. The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 presented many Cochini Jews with the dilemma of staying in Cochin or answering the call to return to Zion. Orthodox in their beliefs, most of the community immigrated to Israel. A community that had numbered 2,500 in its heyday dwindled to a dozen or so residents.

Cochin Diary: Jewish Life in Southern India celebrates the people and traditions that have for so long distinguished this small Indian town. The display itself is a swirl of everyday, spiritual, historical, and anthropological imagery. Archival images accompanying the exhibition bring to life a thriving Cochini Jewish community in 1965 celebrating the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. Film clips reveal the thoughts and feelings of some Cochini Jews who stayed, and others who left for Israel. The exhibition's organizer, the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, has organized a study tour of Jewish India for early 2005. Participants in This Was Also My Home: A Historical Journey to Connect with the Jews of India will come visit many of the sites associated with India's three primary Jewish communities-Cochin, the Baghdadi community, and the Bene Israel. Information about the museum is available at http://www.bnaibrith.org. For more details contact museum@bnaibrith.org or call 857-6583.

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