Busy

Dear Busy People:

I’m busy doing data entry to check petition sheets against the voter rolls, so I’ll just let Anne-Marie Bairstow speak for me, as she does so well below.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Following WASA’s Lead
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

Had an interesting conversation with a couple of WASA folks this week, plus I did a little research on WASA's web site. I asked why I received another testing kit; they explained that the many thousands of kits sent out earlier this year were ruled invalid because the instructions to us homeowners hadn't been approved by the EPA. I asked why we are replacing the service lines when there are other, simpler factors involved, such as chloramine, which WASA had introduced as a water treatment several years ago but which has been suspected of causing corrosion of lead from the lead service pipes. WASA suggests we get our water tested now, before the new treatment of orthophosphate takes full effect, and then several months later after your neighborhood has made the full transition from chloramine to orthophosphate. WASA admits that if the orthophosphate does has a profound effect on reducing lead levels, that the widespread, expensive, disruptive replacement of the lead service pipes will be abated.

I wondered about two other suspected causes: 1) lead solder in the fixtures between copper and lead pipes, and 2) lead in the solder of the water meters recently installed (last five years). Answers: 1) Since 1986, supposedly, there has not been any use of lead solder in the former. 2) The lead in the meters is presumed to be so minute that it is insignificant. These answers were somewhat comforting, but everyone is still puzzled by the high number of homes (15 percent) supposedly without lead service pipes that have had high lead levels. Very odd that very little of all of this is mentioned in the glossy brochure that WASA sent us.

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How Sad
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Over a two-week period this month I was a juror in DC Superior Court on a murder one case. This was not Court TV. It was a tragic testimony to the failings of our society in creating and providing a healthy environment for the kids in DC. All of the children in this case, and I call them children though they were all in their early 20's, were victims of a poor and non-nurturing environment. They were all involved with drugs, and likely were all second-generation drug users. They lived in the projects, a very unsafe arena with homeless folks and violence at every corner.

As I listened to all the testimony and learned the stories of the witnesses and defendant I realized that these kids never had a chance. They grew up in an environment that assured they would be sucked into the violence and drugs that pervade their community. How different from the inner city environment and early teen years that I could recollect that I grew up in, in Brooklyn. There were no pervasive drugs, the schools were excellent, there was parental involvement (even in my own case where I was raised by a single parent).

I'm convinced that the way to dramatically reduce the causes of the poor environment and conditions that pervade the poor communities in DC is to fix the schools. If we could properly nurture and educate our youth we would have an excellent chance to change the whole culture that pervades in so many areas of our city. This whole experience has left me shaken and so sad.

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It’s Not About the Slots
Anne-Marie Bairstow, annemariebairstow at hotmail dot com

For me, it's not about gambling, it's about corruption of the process to change laws in DC. I'm sure that process has its difficulties, but if everyone else has to follow that process, so should the backers of the slot machines. They should have to get a notice in the DC Register, just like everyone else, not print their own. They should have to use DC residents to circulate petitions, just like everyone else. And, most importantly, they should not be allowed to lie so blatantly about the purpose of the initiative. When circulating petitions, they should tell the truth. People have been writing into themail, making the argument that we should allow slot machines in DC. Maybe we should. But not this way. If we are going to allow gambling, let's do it in a thought-out manner, not rushed in over the summer. Let's do it in a way that involves our elected officials, not shuts them out. Let's do it in a way that benefits DC residents, not some rich guys in the Virgin Islands with a history of shady business dealings. If we did it right, we could have more money go to benefit schools and health care for seniors. We could have a requirement for hiring DC residents, we could have with provisions for dealing with the vices that tend to surround gambling and with treatment for gambling addictions. We're being sold a raw deal that benefits a few already wealthy people — hey, if the deal was that good, why would they have to keep lying about it?

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Slots for DC
Erica Bersin, eyzarblu at aol dot com

Having worked around the mental health industry, I completely understand issues with addiction; however, people always have choices no matter where they are on the economic scale. All kinds of people play the various lotteries each week, etc. Why hasn't anyone brought up the elephant in the room, that a large complex of this nature is going to bring in stores and restaurants, which creates jobs for the very people who need them if they want them? The group in charge of retrieving signatures may or may not have been on the up and up, but that does not negate that the outcome actually has the potential to help the city.

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MLB and DC Officials Hold More Closed-Door Discussions
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com

[The Washington Times reports, http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20040709-122333-7833r.htm:] “Major League Baseball's relocation committee will meet with District officials later this month in Washington to discuss financing options and construction schedules for a proposed ballpark, marking perhaps the most detailed session in the city's long quest for baseball. An exact date for the session is being kept under wraps, but it follows a high-level meeting May 6 at One Judiciary Square. During that meeting, Mayor Anthony Williams and other city officials presented the city's revised proposal to relocate the Montreal Expos, and received assurances from the relocation committee the objections of the Baltimore Orioles on Washington-area baseball would not be a factor. Nonetheless, expectations are high within the District that a long-delayed decision on the future home of the Expos will arrive within a matter of weeks. ‘We're very optimistic, and expect this to be settled in the next three, four weeks,’ said Mark Tuohey, chairman of the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission.”

Without getting into the enormous financial ramifications of the sweetheart stadium deal offered to MLB by DC’s baseball brigade that relies on hundreds of millions of public dollars being provided from the District, the backroom machinations associated with this deal demand outcry and action from both the public and DC officials, including councilmembers, to stop it dead in its tracks. I mean, it was the baseball boosters who had promised "an open, inclusive public process that has encouraged dialogue, input, and participation." as departed DCSEC executive director Bobby Goldwater described it in his testimony at the DC Council Committee on Finance and Revenue’s public hearing on the Ballpark Revenue Amendment Act of 2003. Instead, any pretense of that has been abandoned, and we now have evidence of more "high-level" closed-door meetings between these lovebirds going as far as discussing construction schedules, notwithstanding DC‘s preferred site having been twice rejected by the baseball brigade’s own ballpark studies only to be resuscitated by a developer friend of baseball booster Jack Evans. This is not surprising, since the ballpark legislation as part of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative that public outcry derailed for the time being would’ve allowed the city to have begun negotiations with federal officials for the construction of the ITC part of the stadium project. The reemergence out of nowhere of a major public issue such as an ITC plan represents another instance where the affected public would be completely left out of the front-end of the decision-making process and would be lucky to have any input at all on the back-end.

These secret scheming sessions with MLB need to be stopped now, not only for fiscal and civic accountability purposes but because of the direct and recent experiences with closed-door deals engaged in by key members of the baseball brigade — most notably the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission — that ended in financial disaster. Remember the DC Grand Prix fiasco? For that, the DCSEC made a similar closed-door deal with a private racing promoter, reportedly bypassing established procedure and required oversight from the DC Council on the economic planning side to the logistics side (ignoring the noise and air pollution problems that surrounding neighborhoods faced). Outcry from both the public and DC Council members was fierce — after the fact of course, since both entities were sidestepped on the front end of the process -- over the bad deal for the city. The deal negotiated was so bad that, according to an audit, it resulted in millions in cost overruns and millions more lost when the deal between the promoter and the DCSEC collapsed, and the promoter subsequently went bankrupt owing the DCSEC (which paid its portion of the deal upfront) $2.4 million of public money that the audit stated would likely never be recovered. As a result of that and other questionable actions by the DCSEC, including evidence of massive waste and overspending, the DC Council considered dissolving the quasi-independent city agency and demanded more accountability in the future over such closed-door deals involving public money. Yet here goes the same cast of characters again, working in detail with a private entity on another multi-million dollar deal involving a public cost that could be forty times or more higher than the Grand Prix deal, and leaving the public and all but a select few city officials completely in the dark! If we don’t put our foot down now on such machinations for a dubious deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars of public money, when will we? We can’t afford to sleep through this one and end up with a bad deal, remembering that the money involved in a bad baseball deal could cost several hundreds of millions more than the Grand Prix fiasco or other follies that the city could‘ve avoided. Act now or pay later.

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More on Video on the Internet
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

Thanks are owed to Glenn Melcher [themail, July 7] for pointing out the hoax involving the distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11 on the Internet. I was unaware of this hoax at the time I shared the information, which I found at the web site Slashdot.org, and appreciated being alerted to the hoax. Speaking of video on the Internet, this morning I posted a video I shot a few years ago of ABC News commentator Juan Williams talking about the writing of his biography of Thurgood Marshall. (I obtained Juan Williams' permission to post this on the Internet.) This fifty-minute video can be seen at http://mytvstation.blogspot.com. As a graduate of Howard University School of Law, I found the story of Thurgood Marshall's life immensely engaging. There are lessons in his life for all of us. It's a story of relentless courage and the use of gifted intellectual faculties to bend the world into a better shape. The work is not done, though. Nowhere near being done. The direction where we ought to be heading was clearly defined by Thurgood Marshall, and it's now our charge to honor him in deed as well as word.

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Harold Brazil
Douglas Neumann, dbn99@yahoo.com

I find it interesting that Harold Brazil has not responded to the Post's allegations, regarding either the employment of his mistress or the use of his council staff for his legal practice. To me, Brazil's actions are symptomatic of a local political culture that does not recognize any conflict of interest in using one's position for personal benefit. Other examples are councilmembers exempting themselves from parking tickets (what public good does this serve?) or Jack Evans pressuring the Department of Transportation to expedite traffic changes on 26th Street, NW, that benefited his employer. Maybe the focus of local media on national issues enables this culture to persist. A shame, since I believe that having a less conflicted local government would help the cause of DC representation.

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Rebuttal
L.E. Adams, workinprogress247@mac.com

Every day in this town a strong referral for a government job or contract is made by or on behalf of a politician for a favored candidate. It's one of the ways businesses are staffed, and the public's business is no exception. When a qualified candidate is hired and works well in the service of the public, business goes on as usual. The referral of a spouse, son, daughter, parent, neighbor, partner, friend, lover, employee or constituent is not really so newsworthy, is it? To devote more ink to the relationship you assume involves the most sex is to think with the brain in your basement instead of the one in your penthouse.

The short definition of “prurient” is having lewd thoughts. Pat Yates, the Post, et al., are welcome to theirs, but let's not confuse them with civic high-mindedness. That's like calling a slot casino a “video entertainment center,” isn't it?

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July 2004 InTowner
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the July 2004 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials (including prior months' archived), restaurant reviews (prior months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to March 2002) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including all photos and advertisements.

The next issue will publish on August 13. The complete PDF version will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter. To read this month's lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “City May Be Ready to Give Up Stead Park — Gay & Lesbian Center Group Claims to be in Final Stages of Acquiring 99-Year Lease”; 2) “U Street's Resurgence Threatens the Culture Celebrated on the Street”; 3) “Belmont 'Tower' Controversy Argued Before the BZA — Final Ruling Likely to be Appealed;” 4) “Mt. Pleasant to Unveil Call Box Sculptures Celebrating the Neighborhood's History.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS AND CLASSES

DC Public Library Events, July 14
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

Saturdays, July 10-31, 10:30 a.m., Capitol View Neighborhood Library, 5001 Central Avenue, SE. Basic computer training on using the personal computer, Word, and Excel. Public contact: 645-0755.

Wednesday, July 14, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW., Main Lobby. Abdulkader Thomas will discuss his new book, Islamic Bonds: Your Guide to Issuing Structuring and Investing in Sukuk (Trust Certificates). Public contact: 727-1171.

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Prioritizing for Our City’s Future, July 20
Kim L.E. Bell, kbell@dckids.org

DC Action for Children’s first annual policy forum, Prioritizing for Our City’s Future, will be held on July 20, 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. at The World Bank, 1850 I Street, NW, Conference Room I-8-300. Signs will be posted. For security purposes all attendees should brings a valid photo ID to help expedite security clearance. Registration and continental breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m. Come and meet with key city policy makers. Hear about their vision for our children’s future and well-being in the District of Columbia. Present questions, engage in discussion, and make recommendations for improvements and strategies that will enhance the health and well-being of the District’s children, now and in the future.

The forum panelists are Neil O. Albert, Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families, and Elders; Robert C. Bobb, City Administrator and Deputy Mayor (invited); Sandy C. Allen, Ward 8 Councilmember; and Angela M. Jones, Executive Director of DC Action for Children. All RSVPs have to be in by July 16. To RSVP send an E-mail to kbell@dckids.org or call 234-9404 and ask for Ilona.

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Most Endangered Places Bus Tour, July 25
Rebecca A. Miller, info@dcpreservation.org

Since 1996, the DC Preservation League has announced annually a list of Most Endangered Places to recognize Washington, DC's, historically, culturally, and architecturally significant places that may be threatened with ill-advised alteration or demolition. Join DCPL on Sunday, July 25, for a bus tour of these historic sites led by local historian Brian Kraft. The tour will begin at 1 p.m., and is estimated to take about 3.5 hours. Light refreshments will be provided.

The tour begins and ends in front of the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW (Metro: Judiciary Square). Cost: members: $25; nonmembers $35. For reservations: call 783-5144 or E-mail info@dcpreservation.org.

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Support for Families Who Have Relatives with Serious Mental Illnesses
Sean O'Neill, namidc@aol.com

Free education and support is available this fall for families who have relatives with a serious mental illness. This is a twelve-week course for families, spouses, and partners of individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and other illnesses. The course is taught by trained family members who have lived with this experience. All course materials are offered at no cost to you. Classes will be held in Northwest DC with free parking available and bus access.

Join the nearly 100,000 family members nationwide who have gained information, insight, understanding and empowerment. For more information, reply by E-mail to namidc@aol.com or by phone to 546-0646. If you just want information about mental illness or services for consumers, call the NAMI DC offices at 546-0646. NAMI DC is a local nonprofit; see http://dc.nami.org/.

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