Real People
Dear Real People:
The Mayor’s State of the District speech (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/040205.htm)
opened with the story of how as an eleven-year-old boy he started taking
his lunches high in the bell tower of his school. “The fact is, I
still take any chance I get to climb to the top of a building or
mountain, especially here. It doesn't matter if it's the Washington
Monument, the National Cathedral or Saint Elizabeth's: if you up go high
enough, you will see our city from an entirely different perspective.
Instead of the sharp lines that too often divide us by neighborhood, by
race, by income, you can see the big picture: how interconnected we all
are; how far we've come as one city; and how much more we can accomplish
if we all stand together.” It ends with his story of flying over
Washington. “A few years ago, I was flying back to our city. It was a
clear winter night. And you could see for miles. And as we made our
approach into National Airport, I looked down toward Washington and saw
all the lights shining up. I almost had to pinch myself as I thought,
‘I’m the Mayor of this beautiful city.’ Gazing down, I knew that
every one of those lights was something precious: a family trying to
make it, a single mother supporting her kids, a businesswoman trying to
get her restaurant off the ground, a student working his way through
college — a child struggling just to do better in this world.” The
mayor presented his distant perspective, looking down at the city and
its people from a height, as inspiring, but the fact is that it is
primarily distant. Looking down from a height is a nice perspective to
get once in a while, but you learn more and accomplish more when you are
on the ground with and among the people.
That distant perspective, from which individual people are invisible
and can only be imagined, in which they count for less than the “big
picture,” leads to an antidemocratic impulse. When it comes to
education, that antidemocratic impulse is shared by both of our daily
newspapers. The mayor, the Times, and the Post all agree
that the people of this city aren't ready for self-rule; they aren't
wise enough or capable of choosing the people who will run the city's
schools. What is needed, they agree, is a strong man system, in which a
benevolent dictator makes the decisions without any of the
inconveniences of answering to that stupid mob, the public. The mayor
envisions himself as the strong man who can choose a manager for the
schools, answerable only to him, who will solve the schools' problems.
But the mayor's power grab isn't going to succeed because the city
council will block it. This is to the Council's considerable credit, not
to its discredit, as the Post foolishly editorialized today (“The
State of the Mayor,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22331-2004Feb7.html).
The Council will block it because they have taken the measure of the
mayor, and have determined that they do not trust him with that power.
He has flouted his four-year-old promise to be accountable for the
schools, as Craig Timberg pointed out just two days earlier in the Post:
“The mayor's inability to make improvements so far has become a
liability in his fight to get more authority over schools, council
members say. They note that since the mayor won the power to appoint
school board members, several members have resigned in frustration and
seats have remained unfilled for months at a time.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17066-2004Feb5.html).
And he and his supporters have shown their basic misunderstanding of the
problem by saying repeatedly that the superintendent, or
“chancellor,” as the mayor prefers, should be a businessman who will
straighten out the schools' finances and management, rather than an
educator whose primary concern would be to help the students learn.
(Certainly the school system wastes a great amount of the money that is
given to it, but it is more troubling that it isn't educating most of
its students well.) If there were a different mayor in office, the
council would probably rush to abolish the school board or gut its
power, and to endorse the antidemocratic, strongman option. After all,
all that councilmembers have to do is to look around at a Committee of
the Whole meeting to convince themselves that the people can't choose
wise leaders.
The antidemocratic impulse also shows up in this city's planning
process. Len Sullivan correctly and aptly described the administration's
philosophy of planning in themail last week (“Planning in DC: We've
Met the Enemy and He Is Us,” February 1): “Clearly, the ‘need’
of some residents will always conflict with the ‘desires’ of others,
and there are many key stakeholders beyond residents. These include the
thriving commercial businesses and their employees (that pay a good
chunk of DC's bills); the federal government and its varied camp
followers (the only reason DC exists, and doesn't resemble Camden, NJ);
and all US citizens who expect their national capital city to reflect
the best of our national lifestyle, not just the pettiness of
single-purpose activists. . . . [T]he real problem with DC's leadership
and those hired to plan our capital city's physical and economic future
is that they seem preoccupied with humoring residents' whims. Those
legally picked to drive this very special moving train focus too much on
a few riders bouncing in their seats, and too little on analyzing,
explaining, and doing what it takes to keep the engine running and the
tracks clear, as Congress and the world watch!” Sullivan summarized
well what the mayor and the Office of Planning believe, that the
residents of the city are not the ones who should govern the city, or
for whom it should be governed. They are only one special interest
group, one of many groups of “stakeholders,” and one of the less
important ones, at that. To keep the trains running on time, the pesky
and self-involved citizens, whose narrow concern is how planning
decisions will affect their lives, need to be kept out of the picture
and out of power. It's the view from the airplane, looking down at the
city as a map of lights, and only having to imagine the people.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Mayor Pronounces Banneker Overlook “Now
Available” for a Stadium
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com
It's standard operating procedure for the mayor and DC's baseball
effort, that his first comments on the consideration of Banneker
Overlook for a baseball stadium are not officially announced to the
public as a possibility to be examined but are disseminated in a web
chat, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13478-2004Feb4.html,
where they are alluded to as an available site already submitted to for
consideration to Major League Baseball (which of course has already
toured the site). The mayor said in the “State of the District” chat
that “We believe that we have three great sites — third site is now
available on the waterfront and on a gateway into the city — and a
great financial package for MLB.” So much for the public process that
the mayor and officials with the DC MLB effort indicated would have to
accompany any site that would be considered for a stadium. Apparently a
word from Herb Miller's lips to the ears of the mayor or Jack Evans is
enough to make a site that was previously insufficient to make the cut
of the 32 preliminary sites during the extensive and expensive site
evaluation process is suddenly among the city's three “great” sites
and available to MLB, despite there having been nary a word to the
public on this.
At least the other two sites — which the Post article this
week indicated were at New York Avenue and North Capitol Street and M
Street, SE, — not only met the preliminary requirements of the city
and the consultants hired to evaluate potential stadium sites, but also
had initial cost estimates and logistical concerns addressed during the
site evaluation process as well as having been subject to a semblance of
a public process that allowed the public to be heard and submit input to
a certain, if severely limited, degree. There’s not even a pretense of
public participation for this site, only decisions made behind closed
doors that the public hears about after the fact and only via whispers,
tidbits here and there, and offhand comments in sports sections and web
chats! Perish the thought that we be engaged from the beginning of the
process, not after it’s a done deal. And of course, we don’t hear a
word about the unprecedented challenges that this site, with its
inordinate amount of logistical, political, and financial pitfalls from
the mayor, only a quote from the mayor that equates to a line from
another Tony: “It‘s GRRRRREAT!” Pardon me if I don’t take the
mayor’s word for it and rather demand answers before he and MLB have
practically worked out a deal that will dramatically impacts DC‘s
citizens! The mayor concludes with a gem of a Freudian slip: “The
ultimate decision is in [MLB‘s] hands.” Actually, that’s not quite
right, Mayor Williams. The ultimate decision is not in their hands but
in the hands of the DC citizenry, and no matter how hard you try to run
from that reality, we’re going to make sure you don’t forget that!
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Political Shuffleboard
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
According to Wilson Building sources, Linda Cropp will not seek
reelection as council chairman after her current term, thus making the
position an open seat. Councilmembers Kathy Patterson, Ward 3, and
Vincent Orange, Ward 5, have both indicated an interest in running for
the chairmanship in 2006. Recently, however, Orange has also signaled
that he may run for mayor, especially if Tony Williams doesn't seek
reelection. Orange joins a growing list of people who have been sounding
the waters for a mayoral run, including his fellow councilmembers Kevin
Chavous, Harold Brazil, and Adrian Fenty; Democratic State Committee
Chair A. Scott Bolden; soon-to-retire Verizon executive Marie Johns;
former Deputy US Attorney General Eric Holder; and Boxing Commission
member Michael Brown.
In recent weeks, Ward One Councilmember Jim Graham has told several
of his Council colleagues and others that he may run this year in the
Democratic primary for the at-large council seat currently held by
Harold Brazil. Graham's run would not jeopardize his current ward
council seat, where his term lasts through 2006. Graham's challenge to a
fellow councilmember, however, would be highly unusual. Graham and
Brazil are Mayor Williams's staunchest supporters and water boys on the
council. A contentious race between them would force Mayor Williams to
support one or the other — or neither — and their rivalry would
weaken Williams's influence on the council. Graham's run for an at-large
seat would be an effort to build a citywide constituency for a future
mayoral candidacy. Already announced candidates for the at-large seat
are political newcomers Sam Brooks and Kwame Brown.
East of the Anacostia, the council races in Wards 7 and 8 will be
highly contentious this year. In Ward 7, Kevin Chavous is likely to face
one or more of three contenders: Union Temple pastor Reverend Willie
Wilson, former Ward 7 Councilmember H.R. Crawford, and Covenant House
director Vincent Gray. In Ward 8, Sandy Allen may face off against
former Mayor Marion Barry (who has a recent history, though, of hinting
about possible political runs that he has no intention of making), and
community activists Sandra Seegars and Eugene Kinlow, Jr.
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When I wrote the check for my water bill a couple of days ago, I had
to strongly restrain the urge to write “Get the lead out” on the
bill stub.
Seems I've finally gained an almost perfect Buddhist attitude
vis-a-vis our uniformly messed-up DC agencies.
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WASA and the Lead in Our Water
Jay E. Vinton, Jayvinton@nih.gov
As I understand it, WASA knows of 23,000 houses in DC that have lead
service lines from the street into the house, has tested 6,000 of those
houses, and found two thirds of them to be over the EPA limit for lead
in the water. I also understand that WASA has publicized a phone number
that residents can call to find out if their house is one of the 23,000,
and to request a test kit for lead in the water. I think that, instead
of waiting for every resident in DC to call WASA to find out if they are
one of the 23,000 residences, WASA should be notifying each of those
23,000 residents that they have lead service lines, and offer to send
them the lead test kit.
WASA should also send notices to the other households letting them
know either that WASA knows they don't have lead service lines or that
WASA doesn't know whether they do or not, and include information useful
on figuring out whether one has a lead service line or not. WASA also,
of course, should be trying to figure out how to reverse the increase in
lead levels which appears to have occurred around 2000.
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I am outraged over the District of Columbia Water and Sewer
Authority's hushing up of excessive lead in our drinking water. WASA
should have alerted all District residents about this the moment they
knew. When our water bill arrived last week, I expected it to include
information about the lead problem that WASA has known about since at
least 2002. Instead, there was a cheerful newsletter with information
about storm water and wastewater treatment upgrades, a suggestion that
timing your shower can help conserve water and save money, and some
Valentine's Day recipes. There wasn't a single word in WASA's February
newsletter, “What’s On Tap,” about lead. Not one word.
WASA's web site says “The water treated by the Washington Aqueduct
for and delivered to property owners in the District of Columbia meets
all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements under the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The water contains extremely low levels of
lead (less than 2 parts per billion).” That makes it sound like all of
our drinking water is safe, but it's not. While WASA kept quiet about
this, thousands of District residents, including children and pregnant
women, were needlessly exposed to harmful levels of lead. There should
be a criminal investigation of WASA's attempt to hide problems with the
District's drinking water. WASA put our health at risk.
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There has been a lot of talk recently about high levels of lead in
the drinking water. I am very concerned about this, I believe that there
are too many unanswered questions, and there are some steps I would like
the government to take. Here is a summary of this: you can read more
(much more) at http://www.lobbyline.com/waterfordckidsnow.
First, while I have read a lot about what middle class residents are
doing about this, we must ask ourselves: what about those who do not
have the resources to buy bottled water or filters? In particular, our
indigent neighbors who are pregnant, who are mixing formula (boiling
water does not remove lead), and who have young children under six (my
children are). The city should be acting to help these people
immediately, until it is ascertained that their water is lead-free. I
propose that this should be done through an extension of the WIC program
to distribute either bottled water or vouchers for water to the poor.
Second, I am pressing for a tax credit or direct grant to all affected
DC residents (largely families with infants, pregnant women, nursing
moms and children) who have bought bottled water or filters based on
this confusing news.
Third, I have found the communications from WASA to me personally and
through the media to be confusing. In particular, the whole question
about whether the problem is just confined to those whose homes are
serviced by public lead lines. (What about the schools and multifamily
dwellings?) The implication is that others are not affected. Is this is
a conclusion based on experiment or a hypothesis? I have found in my
research that many copper pipes were soldered with lead, so I am not
convinced prima facie that they pose no risk. Although I could have
copper pipes, WASA failed to offer me a testing kit. despite the fact
that they could be soldered with lead. I had to inform them of the risk
of leaching from my solders before they agreed to send a kit.
Fourth, I am pressing for full disclosure, outreach, and a thorough
and public testing regimen of the lead levels throughout the city. I
want the federal government, which cut the funding for corrosion control
programs nationally, to help foot the bill. To read more and learn about
how to address the problem, go to http://www.lobbyline.com.
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Good Web Site about Water Quality in DC
Darrell Duane, d@duane.com
What to do about lead in your drinking water: http://www.purewaterdc.com.
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Keeping the Constituents Happy, But Ignoring
the Bottom Line
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
DC's Office of Planning is giving away the store, to coin a phrase,
along upper Wisconsin Avenue to placate its nearby NIMBYs. Is that why
Census Tract 11 looks like an underdeveloped suburb of DC's edge city,
Friendship Heights, MD, rather than vice versa? Check our analysis at http://www.narpac.org/REXTRAX#wisconsin=.
Meanwhile, the DC Council has decided to accept less revenues from its
contented cash cows as a consequence of asking for less revenues from
its discontented marginal producers. Surely there are less
self-defeating alternatives. See http://www.narpac.org/BUDI.HTM#taxcaps.
And, as explained at http://www.narpac.org/METROLIT#trucks, DC's DDOT
seems to be leaning towards means of reducing truck traffic around town
without considering revenue-producing fees as incentives. Check out
these revenue-wasting plans and other additions to the February update
of NARPAC's web site at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM,
and wonder why DC thinks it deserves subsidies from others.
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Newborn Home Visit Initiative
Gregory Alden Betor, gbetor@aol.com
[Alverda Muhammad, “Newborn Home Visit Initiative Ads,” themail,
February 4, wrote:] “The problem with the ad is that the nurse in the
ad was Asian.” If race was not the point of the posting then why was
this statement made and continued reference to the fact that there is
only one nurse of the obviously preferred race?
[I have to defend Alverda Muhammad’s posting. Granted, she does
emphasize that the actress who portrays the Newborn Home Visit nurse is
Asian American, while the nurse who staffs the program is
African-American, but I think her larger point was that a television ad
for this program is being broadcast repeatedly (I’ve seen it several
times) when it consists of only one nurse, who provides only one home
visit during the first four weeks after birth, while the Birth to Eight
Project, which provided child raising and nursing assistance for the
first eight years, is currently completely unstaffed. — Gary Imhoff]
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Washington Savoyards Performances, February
11-13, 15
Kathleen Mitchell, savoyards@comcast.net
The Washington Savoyards, Washington's premier Gilbert and Sullivan
light opera company, presents Stompin' at the Savoy, cabaret
performances in the heart of the downtown arts district. Join company
members for a musical journey, as old favorites and new combine to add a
classical twist to modern day cabaret. Highlights include Gilbert and
Sullivan favorites, Cole Porter standards, contemporary classics from
Sondheim to Jason Robert Brown and much, much more. Each performance
will surprise: come often! February 11-13, 15 at Flashpoint, 916 G
Street, NW. Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30, tickets, $15; Friday at
8:00, tickets $20; Saturday at 8:00, tickets $25. Sunday at 2:00,
tickets $15, children under 17 are free if accompanied by a paying adult
Join the Savoyards as well for a festive Valentine's Day gala at
Flashpoint, February 14 at 7:00 -- dinner (catered by Fresh Start),
entertainment (song after song by members of the Savoyards), and
opportunities to support the Savoyards (silent auction). Please reserve
your places no later than February 11 at 315-1323. Tickets to all events
are available from http://www.ticketmaster.com,
by calling 315-1323, and at TicketPlace in the Old Post Office (1100
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW). Tickets to the cabaret performances are also
available at the performance.
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Spotlight on Design Lecture at the National
Building Museum, February 18
Briana Hensold, bhensold@nbm.org
Tucson-based architect Rick Joy approaches his projects with the goal
of making spaces that emphasize the visitor's sensory experiences. His
architecture specifically responds to the rugged Arizona landscape,
using color, texture, and native materials. Principal of Rick Joy
Architects, he will discuss his body of work that, through its
simplicity and sensitivity, is appropriate to the vast natural landscape
in which it sits. After the lecture, he will sign copies of his book
Rick Joy: Desert Works, Princeton Architectural Press. Wednesday,
February 18, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tickets, $12 for museum members; $17
for nonmembers; $10 for students. Prepaid registration required.
National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW (Judiciary Square Metro, Red
Line).
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DC Public Library Events, February 18, 23, 24
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
African American Tea Ceremony Commemorating Carter G. Woodson,
Wednesday, February 18, 7:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. Johnetta Bagby presents
a tea ceremony commemorating the legacy and contributions of Carter
Godwin Woodson the founder of Black History Week that has evolved into
Black History Month. Bagby is the creator of African American Tea
Praises, an African-American-themed tea party service, which
incorporates social graces, fun and history for children and adults.
Public contact: 727-1211.
Audism: What Is It? What Can We Do About It? Monday, February 23,
12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. Dirksen Bauman,
associate professor of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at
Gallaudet University, will discuss “audism.” This new term is used
to describe discrimination against persons based on hearing status. The
room is equipped with an assistive listening system. Sign language and
voice interpreters will be available. Public contact: 727-2145 (TTY and
voice).
Black Excellence Through Words and Song. Tuesday, February 24, 4:00
p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420
Georgia Avenue, NW. Sopranos Lee-Folia Brunt and Valerie Harris-Gregory
perform for Black History Month. Public contact: 541-6100. Anime Films
and Discussions, Tuesday, February 24, 3:45 p.m., Takoma Park
Neighborhood Library, 416 Cedar Street, NW. Riding Bean will be
shown and discussed. Public contact: 576-7252.
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Brown Versus Board of Education at Fifty,
February 20
Joe Libertelli, jlibertelli@udc.edu
Please join us Brown v. Board at 50, with Hon. David Tatel, Judith
Winston, Charles Ogletree, Ross Wiener, and William Robinson. Friday,
February 20, UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, 4200 Connecticut Avenue,
NW, Building 38, 2nd Floor. RSVP to JLibertelli@Udc.edu
or 274-7349.
12:00-2:00 p.m., lunch and key note address: The Unfinished Business
of Brown v Board of Education: Professor Charles Ogletree. Professor
Ogletree will discuss the impact that the landmark decision in Brown had
in changing society as a whole; whether Brown has lived up to its
promise of providing racially integrated and equal educational
opportunities; and the impact of the recent decisions on affirmative
action in higher education in achieving educational equity. 2:00-5:00
p.m., panel discussion, Implementing Brown v Board of Education: Lessons
from the Past; Strategies for the Future. Panelists: Hon. David S. Tatel,
William L Taylor, Ross Wiener, and Judith A. Winston; moderator: William
L. Robinson. The panelists will discuss the success and failure of Brown
in provoking widespread legal and social changes and equal educational
opportunity. After a short break, the panelists will discuss strategies
for the future: what steps are necessary to further the legacy of Brown.
Beyond the mandate of Brown? What reforms are needed to eliminate
educational disparities and provide high quality education to all
children? A reception at the Howard University Law School, one block
away, will follow!
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Washington Storytellers Theater proudly present Susan O'Halloran,
“Crossing The Tracks.” From the neighborhood front porches of her
childhood home on Chicago's South Side to a perilous bus ride with her
sons through the mountains of Guatemala, Susan O'Halloran is making her
mark in the storytelling world with stories that explore the complex
issues of race, politics and social justice. Whether telling personal
stories or original fables, she engages her audience with empathy for
human suffering and a passionate, wiry wit.
Companies have called her storytelling "a new approach of
politics with soul" and "a brilliant synthesis of
information." The Chicago Reader’s Critic Choice says O’Halloran
"has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and
heart-wrenching at the same time" but her best endorsements come
from her audiences: "Sue opened our minds to a much broader view of
why society excludes or includes different groups and energized us to
deepen our commitment to transforming our world!" Place:
Westmoreland Congregational Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle at
Massachusetts Avenue, Saturday, February 21, 8 p.m. Ticket price: $12
($10 seniors and students, $9 for WST members). Purchase at the door or
in advance by calling 301-891-1129. For more information, go to http://www.washingtonstorytellers.org.
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