Victories

Dear Victorious:

Art Spitzer, below, writes about what was indeed a great victory for the people who work to protect their neighborhoods and communities against the never-ending depredations of a predatory government, and a big, mostly unsung, success for all the citizens of this city. A well coordinated attack on freedom of information, an attempt to make it much more difficult for citizens to find out what the government was up to, was beaten back and defeated. But Art’s message reminds me of how rare such victories are and of how narrowly we define our victories. Citizen activists like Art and his colleagues in this fight are seldom able to make something good happen. Most of the time, the best that can be hoped for is preventing something bad from happening. Success isn’t often measured by making things better; it’s usually just being able to prevent things from getting worse.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Preserving the DC Freedom of Information Act
Art Spitzer, artspitzer@aol.com

Most readers of themail may not have realized it, but the Mayor's office and some members of the DC Council mounted a major assault on the DC Freedom of Information Act this spring. Three bills were introduced -- one of them sponsored by the Chair and a majority of Councilmembers -- that together would have made the Freedom of Information process slower, more burdensome, and less productive for members of the public who are seeking to learn what their public servants are doing with the power that has been delegated to them and with the tax dollars that have been put in their trust. Among many other bad things, these bills would have exempted whole files from disclosure when only small portions of their contents were sensitive, would have exempted financial information generated within the government (not just financial information submitted by private parties, as under current law), would have doubled an agency's time to respond to a FOIA request, would have imposed a very short time limit on appealing a FOIA denial to court, and would have essentially exempted the Council itself from FOIA altogether.

The ACLU, the Washington Post, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the D.C Prisoners’ Legal Services Project, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the D.C. Employment Justice Center, HALT, and the National Security Archive testified and lobbied against these bills. I am delighted to report that at this afternoon's meeting of the Government Operations Committee, all three bills were defeated. In their place, the committee reported to the floor a substitute bill by Councilmember Kathy Patterson that retained the few pieces of the bills that these groups supported or did not oppose. Councilmember Patterson gets the credit for this success, having persuaded Councilmembers Sharon Ambrose and Jim Graham to vote with her in committee. The bills were defeated on 3-2 votes (or in one case 2-2-and one abstention), with committee chairman Vincent Orange and Councilmember Carol Schwartz in the minority. Thank you Kathy!

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Class Action Victory for Homeowners
Peter Craig, swedecraig@aol.com

At the June 21 hearing on the class action suit by taxpayers challenging tax year 2002 assessments, Senior Judge Eugene Hamilton ruled in favor of the taxpayers on the key issue of the taxpayers' right to be informed of the basis of their property assessments. In the notices of assessments for Tax Year 2002, the Office of Tax and Revenue made across-the-board increases in assessments without informing taxpayers how the numbers had been derived. He held that such notices do not meet the Constitutional requirement of providing sufficient information for a reasonable person to make an informed decision as to whether to appeal the preliminary assessment.

Other issues presented by the taxpayers' motion for summary judgment as to the invalidity of tax year 2002 assessments were deferred to a further hearing, scheduled for July 12 at 11:00 a.m. The petitioners contend that the use of across-the-board multipliers is unlawful and that property-specific assessments, based on the characteristics of each particular property are required by law. The studies submitted, confirmed by the District's own consultant (Robert J. Gloudemans) show that the across-the-board multipliers resulted in the overassessment of more than half of the properties assessed in Tax Year 2002, in violation of the Constitutional requirement of equal treatment under the law. As the lead petitioner in this class action, I represented the taxpayer petitioners in this case (Tax Docket No. 8112-02). I have been assisted by three other Cleveland Park lawyers, Nathalie Black, Stephen Truitt and Stephen Ives.

Also at the hearing, Judge Hamilton summarily denied motions by the District to disqualify me as lead counsel in this case (for the reason that I am also is a witness) and denied the District's motions to strike all of the petitioners' evidence because the sponsors (Mr. Craig, Steve Ives and Joan Habib) were not "expert witnesses." A year ago, Judge Hamilton issued an order certifying the case as a class action, but limiting the current case to Tax Year 2002. By an order issued May 26, 2004, he expanded the issues to also include Tax Year 2003 assessments, most of which were also made using across-the-board multipliers. Prosecution of the case has been delayed through repeated efforts by the District's lawyers to block or stall the litigation through more than twenty dilatory motions, all of which have been denied by Judge Hamilton or the D.C. Court of Appeals. Consolidated with the Craig case is a second class action petition filed by Gilbert Hahn, who has also moved for summary judgment. The District has filed cross-motions for summary judgment in both cases. These motions were also deferred yesterday for later disposition.

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DC Sex Offender Registry and the Sex Offender Web Site
Ju Walton, professor2hu@yahoo.com

After broadcasting the news about the arrest of a just-released sex offender, committing yet another sex offense in Mt. Pleasant, the news station suggested that one could go to the DC sex offender web site. As usual, the site said absolutely nothing. The site discusses general information and tells the citizenry that it must come to the precinct station to obtain the sex offender list. Well, Maryland also has a web site, which lists names, addresses, and photos. What kind of government agency would force the citizenry to come to the police station when a wider audience could be reached via the Internet?

This is another issue and problem that our well-paid police chief is neglecting and/or ignoring. Why can’t or won’t our law enforcement personnel maintain such a web site? We have sex offenders living in our neighborhoods, and the nation's capitol police department has not developed its technology to provide such information. Our councilmembers and the council committee that oversees the Metropolitan Police Department should be demanding that such important safety information be provided.

We need emergency legislation. The life threatening events of recent days demand emergency legislation. We do not have time to legislate through several levels and months. People are losing their lives because the council lacks the will to do what is life saving and necessary.

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Did Metro Say “Muh” or “Buh?
Craig McLane, cmclane@comcast.net

Did anyone see the Post article last Friday concerning next year's budget for Metro? I didn't, but a friend told me the total figure for the year was listed as well over $900 billion — that's almost a trillion dollars for you English majors! I told him he had misread . . . that surely it said “million,” not “billion.” He assured me that he had been so astounded that he triple-checked the figure.

I hope he was mistaken. Metro is an impressive combination of bus and rail, and it covers a wide service area very nicely — but a trillion dollar budget seems to me to be higher than the annual budget of entire cities like Boston and New York!

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Breathing a Sigh of Relief
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

With a single burst of marketing bravado, Virginia has managed to come up with a scheme that might just turn the head of the Major League Baseball Commissioner and convince him to relocate the hapless Montreal Expos there. That's the best scenario that DC taxpayers could hope for. Not that many of the DC folks would ever bother going to Loudon County (where is Loudon County, anyway?).

The scheme has some plausibility: No taxes on the state's or county's residents; Lots of available land and convenient to the Dulles Toll Road. Hey, it just might stimulate interest in extending the Metrorail system out to Dulles Airport. Now that's about the time some DC baseball fans, including me, might find out where Loudon County is.

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Stop Kicking the Can Down the Schoolhouse Corridor
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

I was surprised on Monday that no one picked up on Gary's earlier homily re the stupidity of hiring a lifelong Californian as DC's school superintendent for a single year, with the wan hope of transforming him (and his family) into East Coast transplants. For once, our views coincide! DC leadership is grasping at straws. The wistful rationales a) that a short-timer could break dishes that a long-timer wouldn't lift, b) that this short-timer could then be convinced to stay longer, or c) that a second hero would then pick up the mess, seem mutually inconsistent. Those advocating this option make four other naive assumptions: a) broken dishes will make better students; b) there are useful similarities between DC's and Long Beach's collections of students, staff, parents, and activists; c) DCPS's endemic problems originate or can be resolved inside the system; and d) a Big Name from Afar can outperform a Local Expert with Teeth.

Let's get serious. Bite the bullet, DC! Get some high-powered pro-bono lawyers to convince Superior Court Presiding Judge Steffen Graae that DCPS should be put in receivership for four years, and then get him to appoint David Gilmore as Receiver. Together, they did a fine job with DCHA a while back, and Gilmore is already working the thankless task of DCPS Transportation Administrator. He won't hold the city up for $300-600K a year, and he surely knows the relationships between DC's kids, their neighborhoods, and their school bureaucracies. Stop wasting the kids' futures! And stop abusing the national capital city's image!

[While we may agree on the first paragraph, our agreement is short-lived, because the idea of putting the schools into receivership or, heaven forbid, putting them into the hands of David Gilmore, is horrifying. — Gary Imhoff]

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There’s Only One Way
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

There's only one way to fix the DC Schools. That will require hiring an honest-to-God demolitions expert, one who will have unbridled powers to hire and fire, and one who will run the entire system upside down. It will require a strong fearless SOB who will immediately fire all those persons who "qualified" for their positions with phony credentials, including those school Principals who have “storefront” degrees. The next Superintendent/Chancellor will have to turn out those long-term teachers who cannot perform in the classrooms. He or she will have to inspire parents to take a role in making education a priority in the students' home lives. The next school system leader will have to makeover the Teachers' Union and the Custodial Union into being supporting, unselfish, partners in making the schools better. If they don't comply, they should be abolished.

It will take that kind of action to make any real progress in turning a truly dysfunctional school system into one that really works for our kids. It can be done. Anything less will be just another period by the recalcitrants in the school administration in waiting for the next Superintendent to fail, and the next, and the next. Bring on this chap from California and cut him loose with all the powers he needs. If he sees progress he'll stay until the job is done, and done right.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Lecture at the City Museum, June 24
Mychalene Giampaoli, mgiampaoli@citymuseumdc.org

An Illustrated History of the National Mall, at the City Museum on Thursday, June 24, at 6:00 p.m. James Goode (Capital Losses, Best Addresses) and Peter Penczer (Washington: Then and Now) will present a slide lecture, including many rare views of the history of the Mall. This program is offered in conjunction with the World War II Memorial exhibition. Reservations are required. $5 for members; $10 for non-members. To make reservations E-mail reservations@citymuseumdc.org or call 383-1809.

The City Museum is located in the former Carnegie Library at 801 K Street, NW (between 7th and 9th Streets, NW). The closest Metro Stops are Gallery Place (use the Chinatown exit) and Mt. Vernon Square. For more information visit http://www.citymuseumdc.org.

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Speak Out Against the Misuse of DC Tax Dollars, June 28
Susie Cambria, scambria@dckids.org

A people’s hearing on public financing of Major League Baseball, will be held on Monday, June 28, at 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Martin Luther King, Jr.,  Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5. Come out to hear experts show how residents lose when their taxes are used to create sport arenas for billionaire team owners, share your views on where $400 million should be spent, and tell the City Council to vote against this misuse of DC taxes! Speakers include Rev. Anthony Evans of National Black Church Initiative; Ed Lazere, Executive Director DC Fiscal Policy Institute; and your voice. Call 234-9119 to sign up. Refreshments will be served. Sponsored by EmpowerDC. For more information, call 234-9119.

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Spotlight on Design Lectures at the National Building Museum, July 7-8
Brie Hensold, bhensold@nbm.org

Wolf D. Prix, coprincipal of the Vienna, Austria, based firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, will discuss their award-winning work, including the UFA-Cinema Center in Dresden, Germany; Vienna's SEG Apartment Tower; the Musée de Confluences in Lyon, France; and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, their first major US commission. Wednesday, July 7, 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. $12, museum members; $17, nonmembers; $10 students. Prepaid registration required.

Sasaki Associates: Designing the Civic Realm. Over fifty years ago, Hideo Sasaki began his planning and landscape architecture practice with a basic set of beliefs: respect for the larger context; appreciation for simplicity, restraint, proportion, and permanence; and a belief in collaborative practice. These tenets are still followed today at Sasaki Associates. Dennis Pieprz, president of the firm, will present a range of international architectural, urban, and landscape projects, including the urban design for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Schuylkill Gateway district in Philadelphia, and the urban design expansion plan for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Thursday, July 8, 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. $12, members; $17, nonmembers; $10, students. Prepaid registration required. Both lectures at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW (Judiciary Square Metro, Red Line). For more information, contact Brie Hensold, Public Affairs Office, 272-2448 x3458, E-mail, bhensold@nbm.org.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommended DSL Provider and Technology Empowerment Thoughts
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

I've been using Speakeasy.net, from Seattle, and have been very happy with the service from this company. Why did I choose Speakeasy? Several of my smartest friends chose to get their DSL service from Speakeasy, and I've heard nothing but good things about Speakeasy from these friends. For an extra $10 a month Speakeasy provides me with something called a "static IP number" that lets me have a web hosting computer in my home/office. This admittedly takes some technical skill to operate, but frees me from having to deal with the shenanigans I've encountered at various web hosting companies -- who either go out of business with two days warning to their customers, or who sell your web hosting account to another company that triples your web hosting fee. I now have a Linux web server set up in my home office. This computer is a no-cost donated Pentium 3, the operating system is no-cost (Red Hat Fedora Core 2), and almost all the software I use on this computer (including OpenOffice.org) is no-cost. This computer is also immune from Windows viruses. Knowledge is power, and I'm lucky to be in a position to exercise my technical knowledge to attain a greater degree of freedom. If you have an interest in the general theme of technology and community/individual empowerment, you might find others of like mind on the E-mail lists connected with http://www.ctcnet.org and http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org. The latter is totally open to anyone to join at no-cost. The former organization has annual dues of $100. I'm a supporter of both entities (see http://www.his.com/pshapiro/ctcnetaward.gif). I'm also a very big fan of the two major computer clubs in town, Capital PC User Group (http://www.cpcug.org) and Washington Apple Pi (http://www.wap.org).

Several of my women friends speak highly of DC Web Women, which has a busy E-mail list at http://www.dcwebwomen.org. Why is it important to develop your computer skills to their highest possible level? Because if Frederick Douglass were alive today, that's what he would be doing. He showed us the way. You can follow the path if you so choose.

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