Spying
Dear Spies:
In this city, in order to know what is going on we have to spy on our
own government, looking for leaks, attempting to ferret out information
that should be public, but is hidden under a shroud of secrecy. The
Freedom of Information Act is used as a tool to deny and delay the
release of information; the sunshine and open meetings laws are
interpreted so narrowly as to close the most important decision making
meetings to the public and press. Here is Colbert King, following up the
Washington Post editorials on government secrecy with his own
column yesterday (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9610-2004Mar19.html):
“Next to the CIA, the District of Columbia government is the most
secretive public body in the Washington area. Finding out how and why
decisions are made in the D.C. government is almost as difficult as
unmasking the decision-making process inside the CIA. At least the CIA
can claim it is protecting national security. The D.C. government has no
excuse, other than perhaps a desire to portray itself in the best
possible light, along with an abiding wish to avoid public scrutiny.
“The big losers in all this, of course, are D.C. taxpayers, who,
despite the belief of the city's politicians and top bureaucrats, have a
right to know what their government is up to. Considering all the
evidence of how open government can work elsewhere, it's a shame it
doesn't exist in the District.
“Where else but in the District would leaders treat the search for
a school superintendent as a state secret, or go behind closed doors to
discuss a yawning budget deficit, or form a task force of public
servants and legislators to work out of public view on a water
contamination crisis?”
Ask your councilmembers, ask school board members, most of all ask
the mayor -- what will they do to eliminate secrecy in this government,
to open up private meetings, to release public information freely? Or
are they happy and satisfied to shut us out of the work of our own
government?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Last year the city council unanimously adopted the Comprehensive
Housing Strategy Temporary Act of 2003, which established a
Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force “to assess the quality and
availability of housing for households at all income levels . . . and
develop a set of public policy recommendations to address the housing
needs of both current residents and the 100,000 new residents that are
expected to move into the District over the next 10 years.” Housing
advocates and councilmembers concerned about the rapid rise in housing
costs, coupled with the mayor's initiative to attract 100,000 new
residents, had originally proposed a variety of housing initiatives;
after much debate with the administration, a compromise was reached on
the creation of a housing task force — and affordable housing
advocates were assured that their positions would be well represented on
the task force.
Last week, the mayor named his thirty appointees to the task force.
Six of the appointments are reserved for governmental employees in
housing agencies. Of the remaining twenty-three appointees, seven of
them are non-DC residents. One of the two banking representatives lives
in Silver Spring; one of the two “for-profit housing production
community” representatives lives in Potomac; the “philanthropic
community” representative lives in Jessup; the two “multifamily
property owner community” representatives live in Bethesda and
Annapolis; and two of the nine “citizen representatives” live in
Silver Spring and Accokeek.
None of the non-DC residents who were named by the mayor has any
particular qualification, skill, or knowledge that is in short supply
among residents of the city. So the question has been raised why the
mayor would pack such an important and controversial task force with so
many people from outside the city. Housing advocates, who were put off
with the promise of a task force, will undoubtedly raise the question of
whose interests and positions will be represented by the mayor's
appointees. Councilmember Adrian Fenty, the primary proponent of the
creation of the Task Force, has already said that he believes it should
be “DC people on the DC housing task force.” But the city council
traditionally rolls over and approves even the most questionable mayoral
appointees. If it does so again, housing advocates and the council may
find that they have been outsmarted and outmaneuvered by an
administration that opposes their agenda.
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“Meantime, D.C. government officials this week requested a meeting
with the full relocation committee 'as soon as one can be reasonably
scheduled' to present the city's complete, revised financing plan for a
new ballpark, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The
Washington Post” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6533-2004Mar18.html).
As expected, DC officials plan to bypass the public process by
consulting with no one before revising and completing a new ballpark
financing plan that will impact DC citizens and communities, doing all
this behind closed doors and going straight to Major League Baseball
with the public left on the sidelines. And the Post hardly helping by
obtaining this item yet not questioning all relevant officials on the
details of what is purported to be a complete financing plan. We must
demand accountability and transparency from all parties involved this
time around, especially in the wake of the DC Sports Commission ethics
and spending scandals, from all relevant public officials from the mayor
to the DC Council to the DCSEC to the Planning and Economic Development
departments. The powers that be should be writing letters to the DC
citizens seeking an audience to re-ignite a public process on this
issue, not bypassing that process as they've done by secretly completing
a plan and then running to MLB to try and seal a deal. Enough of this
type of backdoor dealing that leaves us out in the cold.
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Your reference to the “secrecy of government” [themail, March 17]
has long been a subject of concern among my friends who, like me, are
taxpaying residents. The bits of information that government does share
with the public are rationed. It appears that the attitude “none of
your business” has been adopted and is the standard.
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About Illegally Parked Cars
R.B. Linden, rblinden3@juno.com
I have noticed an illegally parked car in the 4300 block of Garrison
Street, NW, near Rodman's Drug Store, for numerous weeks. The Maryland
car has several tickets on the windshield. When I spoke to the Parking
Enforcement Attendant, she told me she was not allowed to place more
than three tickets on any car. I then asked her if the car should be
booted. She replied that she had already done that but to no avail.
Hmmmm. Isn't this an opportunity for much needed DC revenue?
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Concerning “Strange Towing Behavior” and
Abandoned Cars
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
The towing practices noted by DCWatchers is standard operating
procedure: an illegally parked car that may be obstructing traffic is
towed to a nearby side street, and deposited, much to the annoyance of
the nearby residents (not to mention the owner, who may have some
difficulty finding his car). This is not because of the absence of a lot
to which to tow them, but simply to save time, avoiding a time-consuming
tow across town, and making the tow truck available to tow the next
traffic-blocking offender. It's a crude procedure, to be sure, but the
priority is supposed to be the clearing of rush hour traffic
obstructions.
As for the 72-hour parking limit, this has been eliminated, by Act
A15-171 of City Council, effective last October. Evidently too many cars
belonging to vacationers or business trippers were being declared
abandoned. The new rules for declaring a car “abandoned” are quite
stringent. A car must satisfy two of these four conditions, to be
declared abandoned: 1) expired tags; 2) apparently inoperable; 3)
extensively damaged; 4) a harborage for rats or other vermin. There's a
car on my street that hasn't budged for three months, but no, it's not
"abandoned", not by the new definition.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Meetings on School Governance, March 22, 23,
April 1
Erich Martel, ehmartel at starpower dot net:
Three public meetings on the subject of governance and academics in
the D.C. Public Schools are coming up in the next two weeks. The public
should attend and, after all the talk of budget issues, seek to
determine exactly how governance proposals will lead to an improvement
in student academic achievement. 1) Monday, March 22, 7-9 p.m. at
Woodrow Wilson High School. Mayor Williams will hold a “community
meeting,” sponsored by the DC Congress of PTA's, on the "Mayor's
Proposal to Change the Governance of the D.C. Public Schools."
2) Tuesday, March 23, 7-9 p.m., Stuart Hobson Middle School, 410 E
Street, NE, three blocks east of Union Station. The PTA and LSRT of the
Capitol Hill Cluster School will be hosting a forum on school
governance. Speakers will include DC Councilmember Sharon Ambrose, Board
of Education Member Tommy Wells, a representative from the mayor's
office, and representatives from the Council on Great City Schools and
the Center for Education Policy. The host will be Sam Ford, a reporter
for WJLA-TV. The discussion will focus on the how best to structure the
way our public schools are run. In the past few years, the schools have
been run either by an all-elected school board or, more recently, a
hybrid of elected members and mayoral appointees. Other cities have
tried different approaches with varying degrees of success. The forum
will give our elected leaders a chance to explain their vision for the
schools to the public. There will also be an extended
question-and-answer session during which the audience will be able to
share ideas/opinions. The forum is open to all residents of the District
of Columbia.
3) Thursday, April 1, 6:30 p.m., Eastern High School (1700 E. Capitol
Street, NE) “Community Briefing Session with DCPS on the Draft Plan to
Improve Student Achievement.” This meeting is sponsored by DCVOICE and
DC ACORN. For more information or for a ride, contact DC VOICE,
986-8535, dcvoice@dcvoice.org,
or ACORN at 202-547-9292, dcacorn@acorn.org.
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Grace Paley, March 24
Lois Kirkpatrick, Fairfax County Public Library, LKIRKP@fairfaxcounty.gov
Grace Paley, National Book Award-winning short story writer, will
speak on Wednesday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kings Park Library in
Burke, Virginia. Books will be available for sale and signing. Presented
by Nextbook Metro Washington, DC, a partnership between Nextbook, the
Washington DC Jewish Community Center, and the Fairfax County Public
Library. Sign up now at 888-621-2230 or visit http://www.nextbook.org.
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DC Public Library Events, March 24-25
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
Wednesday, March 24, 10:30 a.m., Petworth Neighborhood Library, 4200
Kansas Avenue, NW. Environmental film festival features films of Nick
Hilligoss: Lower Orders, Rats, Air Pollution and Termites. Plus a visit
with a few invertebrates from the O. Orkin Insect Zoo at the National
Museum of Natural History presented by Gary F. Hevel, public information
officer with the Department of Entomology at Smithsonian Institute.
Public contact: 698-1103.
Thursday, March 25, 10:30 a.m., Capitol View Neighborhood Library,
5001 Central Avenue, SE. Environmental film festival features films of
Nick Hilligoss: Lower Orders, Rats, Air Pollution and Termites. Plus a
visit with a few invertebrates from the O. Orkin Insect Zoo at the
National Museum of Natural History presented by Gary F. Hevel, public
information officer with the Department of Entomology at Smithsonian
Institute. All ages. Public contact: 202/698-1103.
Thursday, March 25, 1:30 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library,
3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Cleveland Park Film Club. View the film
Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn. Public contact:
282-3080.
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H Street Playhouse Presents A. R. Gurney’s
Love Letters, March 25-26
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
The H Street Playhouse will host a two-night run of A.R. Gurney's
Love Letters featuring Adele Robey and James Foster, Jr. Performances
are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26, at the H
Street Playhouse, 1365 H Street, NE. Love Letters, A.R. Gurney's 1989
critically acclaimed theater piece, is comprised of letters exchanged
over a lifetime between the staid, dutiful lawyer, Andrew Makepeace Ladd
III, and the lively, unstable artist Melissa Gardner. Their bittersweet
relationship gradually unfolds as the actors read their letters aloud,
creating a frequently funny, but always telling pair of character
studies. What is implied throughout their literary interplay is as
revealing and meaningful as the words themselves.
The show is directed by Paul Douglas Michnewicz; stage managed by
Debbi Arseneaux; lighting design by Roy Gross; set/props by Justine
Light; produced by Julia Robey. Tickets are $30 and include
refreshments. Purchase tickets by phone at 1-800-494-8497 or online at http://www.boxofficetickets.com.
Information about the show is also online at www.hstreetplayhouse.com.
For more information, call Julia Robey at 841-9087.
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National Building Museum Events, April 1,
April 3, April 4
Brie Hensold, bhensold@nbm.org
Lecture, The Cyborg Self and the Networked City, Thursday, April 1,
6:30-8:30 p.m. Computer viruses, power outages, and cell phone
conversations in the streets are symptoms of a new urban condition.
William J. Mitchell, professor of architecture and media sciences at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss the ramifications of
information technology on everyday life, arguing that a world governed
less by boundaries and more by connections requires us to re-imagine and
reconstruct our environment. After the lecture, he will sign copies of
his book Me++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City (MIT
Press). $10 Museum members and students; $15 nonmembers. Registration
required.
Construction Watch Tour, Eastern Village, April 3, Saturday, 10:00
a.m.-12:00 p.m. The 60-unit, loft-style, co-housing development of
Eastern Village in Silver Spring, Maryland, fosters community by
allowing residents to own their own units, while sharing many common
areas, such as a kitchen and workshop. Donald E. Tucker, principal of
EDG Architects, will lead a tour of this project. $14 Museum members.
Appropriate clothing required. Prepaid registration required and must be
received by March 29.
The Films of Charles and Ray Eames, April 4, Sunday, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Charles and Ray Eames created more than 75 films that reflect their
broad design vision. Eight of these will be presented, including Powers
of Ten, a look at scale and perception from the outer edges of the
universe to a carbon atom. Free. Registration not required. All events
at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW.
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Washington Storytellers Theater in association with The Arts Club of
Washington proudly presents Flying Solo, a brand new series of solo
storytelling performance. Our first presentation in the series: Meliss
Bunce, Happily Ever After. “Happily ever after” seemed so easy when
we were young; you fell in love, you got married and had kids, and like
magic, you lived in joyful harmony forever more. But we all know better
now. “Happily ever after” is just a fairytale’s ending, right? No!
It truly is attainable — and Meliss Bunce has the stories to prove it.
In Happily Ever After: Tales of Love, Marriage, and Other Serious
Entanglements, she ponders the irresistible attractions, inevitable
distractions and soulful satisfactions of committed relationships. She
wonders, “Just what does it take to be the perfect partner? What
should you do for the sake of love? Does any couple truly live happily
ever after?” These questions are answered in hilarious and poignant
stories drawn from her award-winning book, Happily Ever After:
Folktales that Illuminate Marriage and Commitment. The Arts Club of
Washington, 2017 I Street, NW, Friday, April 9. Book signing and
reception at 7:00 p.m., performance at 8:00 p.m. Tickets, $12 ($10 WST
and Arts Club Members, seniors and students). Purchase at the door or in
advance by calling 301-891-1129.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Trying to rent my 93 year old mother's apartment which is a sunny,
lovely, spacious one bedroom in The Towers at 4201 Cathedral Avenue, NW.
It has a balcony, garage parking, two entrance doors and two bathroom
sinks. And it has just been redone! There is a swimming pool, tennis
courts, grocery store, dry cleaners and community room! It is a really
pretty lobby with a lot of glass looking out on cherry trees. $1700 a
month. Please call Sheila McCrea at 387-0041 or 415-225-9823. It is
vacant and the key is at the desk, but you have to call me to tell them
to let you in!
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