Investment
Dear Investors:
Let me say this in simple words, so that even the mayor, who says
that he scorns economics and its lessons, can understand it: an
investment is something that you make in order to make a profit, to make
money. It is something of lasting value. Investments are different from
expenses. Expenses are consumables; they do not last. Expenses, while
they may be necessary or pleasurable, do not return a profit. For
example, there is no such thing as “investment dressing.” Buying
clothes, no matter how expensive or attractive or well made they are, is
not making an investment. Your wardrobe may be of interest, but it will
not pay you interest. Similarly, when you buy a toy, no matter how big
and expensive and shiny and new it is, you are not making an investment.
Even when you buy a very big toy for the big boys — yes, I am writing
about the baseball stadium — you are not making an investment. You are
incurring an expense.
The big boys want a stadium built at public expense because they will
buy skyboxes there at their stockholders’ expense, and then they will
have a big shiny new toy at no expense to them. It’s like Christmas,
with the DC government playing their Santa Claus. Like all boys,
however, they will tire of the shiny new toy very quickly, and that is
another reason why the stadium is not an investment. The stadium
advocates are talking now about how once the stadium bonds are fully
paid for, in thirty or forty years or so, once we have come to the end
of paying for all the underestimated costs and hidden costs and cost
overruns, the city will make a profit from the stadium. You and I know,
however, that in thirty years the brand-spanking, shiny new stadium will
long since have been torn down as an old, ugly, undesirable antique.
That lesson was brought home to us this week, as the demolition of
the old Convention Center began. The “old” Convention Center was
twenty-five years old. (Maybe clothing is an investment, after all; I
have jackets and coats older than that.) By the time the Convention
Center was fifteen years old the big boys were planning to tear it down
because they were tired of it, and they wanted a bigger, newer, shinier
toy. You and I know that the same thing will happen to the stadium in
fifteen years. The owners of the baseball team and the owners of the
skyboxes will demand that the city build them a bigger, newer, and more
expensive stadium long before the bonds on this stadium are paid off.
The team owners will stomp their feet and swear that they’ll move the
team out of town, and the big boys will tell the politicians that the
carpets are getting thin and the paint is flaking in their skyboxes, so
they need a totally new stadium or they’ll hold their breath and
withhold their campaign donations until the city builds them a new one.
And the big boys will get their way, because the big boys never grow up
and become adults and pay their own way.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Anacostia Waterfront Initiative is Mayor Williams’s signature
project, and the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation is the public/private
device for channeling untold hundreds of millions of dollars of land,
projects, and contracts in the Anacostia Waterfront area to politically
favored developers with the least amount of public oversight and
attention. How the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation will work was
obvious today, when the city council’s Committee on Economic
Development held its rushed hearing on five of the seven nominees to the
Corporation’s board. To keep public reaction to the nominees to a
minimum, the hearing was not included on the public schedule for the
council, and in fact notice of the hearing was given only on Tuesday,
the day before it was held.
The mayor’s nominee to chair the Corporation is Stephen Goldsmith,
who served two terms as mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana. Goldsmith bought
a house in DC in 2001, when he was appointed by President Bush as
chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, but he
freely admits that he and his wife maintain their primary residence in
Indiana, where they vote and pay income taxes. This makes him legally
ineligible to serve on the Waterfront Corporation Board, since all
members of the Board must maintain their primary residence in DC, but
his legal ineligibility does not seem to bother him, Mayor Williams, or
Harold Brazil, chairman of the Economic Development Committee. Some
other members of the Committee, however, may have some problems with
confirming an ineligible nominee. Another board nominee is Mitchell N.
Schear, president of the Charles E. Smith Commercial Realty company.
Schear, through the Smith company and its numerous business partners,
has major real estate and financial interests in the Anacostia
Waterfront area — and major conflicts of interest with the public
interest in the Corporation’s business. Nearly every decision he will
make as a member of the board will affect him, his company, and his
partners financially. His evasive, incomplete, and unresponsive answers
to written and verbal questions about potential conflicts of interest
were unsatisfactory to some members of the Committee, and Schear said
that he would submit a new set of answers. Eric Price, whose
confirmation hearing will be held on December 1, is leaving his current
position as Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to become
Senior Vice President of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation,
which is headquartered in New York; he will divide his time between
Washington and New York.
Finally, the nominating legislation for Andy Altman as Chief
Executive Officer of the Corporation has been referred to the council
— his confirmation hearing will also be held on December 1 — and we
can see the broad outlines of the job that Altman, as Director of the
Office of Planning, designed for himself as CEO of the Corporation. The
basic pay that Altman will receive will be $195,000 per year, up from
his current salary of approximately $125,000, but he will also receive
$39,000 a year in benefits and a potential bonus of $39,000 a year,
making his total compensation $273,000 annually.
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The Pyramid Gets Taller
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
In a traditional pyramid-style organization, the man at the top has
only a few people reporting to him and so on down the stack. School
chief Janey has just made the pyramid a bit taller by adding some new,
highly paid administrators, thus distancing him even further from those
who are really making things happen. What many of the successful
nontraditional organizations have learned is that the pyramid (which,
less face it, has been around a long time) is more than a bit outdated.
They have adopted a whole new style, called leadership (which beats the
heck out of “management” or “administration”). The leadership
model is based on teams, where those doing the work decide how best to
do it. The organization using teams is very flat. Sometimes a steering
team works for the top leader, and is there only to guide and support
the functional teams and advise the top man in the organization.
Communications, the bane of most pyramid organizations, is much better
in team-based organizations. Morale is much better because those doing
the work have a greater amount of influence on how their jobs can best
be performed. The bottom line is that team-based organizations are more
effective and efficient. Too bad that DC is mired in the tradition of
the not-so-great pyramids.
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Baseball’s Real Financial Plan
Elliott McMullen, ello@starpower.net
I think I have the simple plan to bring baseball to Washington. We
should all get behind the mayor and show him our support. That’s
right, we should stand behind Mayor Williams. And while we are standing
behind him, we must all possess one thing. Every man, every woman, and
every child that lives in the District of Columbia should stand in a
line behind the Mayor and possess $1,000. That’s what it will take to
build this stadium. It will take one thousand dollars from each and
every resident, regardless of age, race, gender, or religion. We all
must pay $1,000 each. Am I sounding ridiculous yet?
If anyone has the ear of the mayor, please tell him that this is not
a good deal for the city. Let the owner of the team make a three-way
deal that includes of course the future owner, MLB and the District. If
I’m not mistaken, didn’t Anthony Williams gain prominence during the
post-jail-term mayoral stint of Marion Barry as someone who was
financially responsible? The excerpt below can be found on the District’s
website and is taken from the biography of the current mayor: “Anthony
Williams served as the District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) from October 1995 through June 1998. Appointed by former DC Mayor
Marion Barry to lead the District to financial recovery, Williams
restored fiscal accountability for District agencies and balanced the
city’s budget. His work put the city on track for the return to
self-government-two years earlier than projected-and delivered a surplus
of $185 million in fiscal year 1997. Under his leadership, the District
achieved significant improvements in cash management, budget execution,
and revenue collections.”
What happened to that Anthony Williams? In the words of your own bio,
bring back fiscal accountability. A half billion dollars for a stadium?
Come on, say it ain’t so. We can figure out the fiscal, but I’m
having issues with the responsibility part. Mr. Mayor, either come up
with a better financial plan, or personally collect the $1,000 from each
resident. See just how much the population wants baseball in DC.
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Stadium — Lessons Learned in Baltimore and
Cleveland
Matt Forman, Matthew.Forman2@verizon.net
Monday’s Washington Post reported the divergent experiences
in Denver and Seattle as to the effects of baseball stadiums on urban
redevelopment (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49995-2004Nov14.html).
Readers of themail might also be interested in an article by Timothy
Chapin in the Spring 2004 issue of the Journal of the American
Planning Association comparing the impact of stadiums in Baltimore
and Cleveland. He first notes that almost all the existing literature
indicates that these stadiums are poor investments and are not the
economic development engines (tax revenue, jobs, etc.) they promise to
be. Instead of concentrating on such economic effects, however, he
instead examines the effects of stadiums on redevelopment in terms of
new construction and reuse of existing buildings. In Baltimore he
concludes that virtually no new development was spawned by the Ravens
and Orioles stadiums at Camden Yards. Nearby vacant properties remain
untouched and the little development that has occurred was generally
either unsuccessful, not causally connected to the stadiums, or publicly
funded (e.g., convention center expansion). He notes that rather than
new construction or reuse of existing buildings, land has instead been
cleared for surface parking lots. In comparison, he indicates that the
Gateway Complex in Cleveland has generated redevelopment of the
surrounding district, including renovation of vacant buildings for
housing, restaurants, and office space. However, he notes that the
redevelopment has been at least partially at the expense of other
downtown areas — many businesses relocated from the other areas, which
have now declined, resulting in the “substitution effect.”
[See also Timothy Chapin’s “Chapin’s Stadia Home Page” (http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~tchapin/stadia/stadia.html),
which has numerous links to Chapin’s own research and other
stadium-oriented studies. — Gary Imhoff]
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Baseball Yet Again
Phyllis H Belford, Phbelford@juno.com
I just read themail for the first time in a while. So please forgive
me if I’m covering territory already discussed. Has anyone totaled the
costs thus far to DC taxpayers of the effort to gain the baseball team?
The numbers being thrown about for the stadium are beyond my
comprehension! So, based on those, I can only cringe at the thought of
the outrageous amount of DC taxes already expended in that effort!
By the way, was I asleep at the wheel? I don’t remember being
consulted by petition, referendum, or any other way! Were any of you
consulted?
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Voting Rights
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo dot com
Voting for the House and Senate through Maryland would require no
amendment, and would not be easily undone. It may also lead to an
independent vote for DC, since the Maryland GOP would see itself
permanently out.
The GOP has been saying that voting through Maryland is the solution.
I say we call their bluff.
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I take great difference to the remarks made in your last posting from
Lisa Alfred, Barney Circle [themail, November 10], concerning
Councilmember Sharon Ambrose. They are in total contrast to my
experiences with her. In every situation that I have called on her or
her office for assistance or involvement in a matter she has come
through with flying colors. She is dedicated, engaged, and very
knowledgeable on the issues and how they impact the residents of this
ward. Mrs. Ambrose has been a real friend to me when I was an Advisory
Neighborhood Commissioner and Chair of ANC 6A. She was always eager to
help and to attend any meeting I requested of her, and was instrumental
in getting numerous projects into discussion and to fruition. She should
be commended, not spoken about in a negative manner.
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In the November 10 issue of themail, someone asked if the general
feeling in Ward 6 was that Sharon Ambrose was not doing her job. Though
I will give her some credit for fighting against Boystown (although she
allowed another halfway house to be established further north in the
Ward in a less “desirable” area, close enough to me to be affected),
that’s about all the positive feedback I can give her. Over the past
few years, crime in my area was getting out of control. Each time an
incident would occur, I would call and E-mail the Mayor, Police Chief,
PSA leaders, ANC commissioners, Sharon Ambrose’s office, and the
offices of each of the at-large councilmembers. I never received any
kind of response nor action from Ms. Ambrose’s office. Councilmember
Schwartz always responded, and she was very effective in getting a few
issues resolved (I wish she were the Ward 6 Councilmember!). Hell, I
even heard back from the mayor and the police chief on a few occasions,
but to this day have never heard back from Ms. Ambrose. (I still have a
hard time placing “Councilmember” in front of her name) Needless to
say, I am eagerly awaiting new leadership in Ward 6.
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Here’s a Reason I Voted for Jim Graham
Ruth Holder, rutheholder@yahoo.com
I really must take issue with Dorothy Brizill’s characterization of
Jim Graham’s maneuvering for more money for libraries as having sold
his vote on the stadium issue. Like it or not, Mr. Graham’s assessment
of the situation is correct. There is no political will to improve the
libraries on a stand-alone basis. There is a heckuva political will to
bring baseball to DC. Mr. Graham is doing what all excellent public
servants do. He is leveraging the political will that there is to bring
better services to the public.
I often wonder why I remain subscribed to this list, since it is so
full of whining and negativism. As I have said before, it is real easy
to shoot holes in others’ ideas. It is much more difficult to come up
with alternate solutions and pull the positive out of a given situation.
Jim Graham is finding the positive, proposing solutions, and making a
difference. Dorothy, you could learn from him.
Play Ball!
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Where does this Baltimore is 70 percent cheaper figure come from?
Coldwell Banker’s web site, which attempts to correct for quality
differences between housing stocks (pricing a similar house in each
jurisdiction) shows Metro Baltimore about 45 percent cheaper than
Alexandria, and about 20 percent cheaper than Manassas (aside — anyone
know why the drop down menu has Metro Baltimore, but not Metro
Washington, or not even Washington, DC, for gosh sake?). Link is http://www.coldwellbanker.com
and click on home price index. The National Association of Realtors
shows that the median home price in Baltimore Metro is about 25 percent
less than Washington Metro (see http://www.realtor.org/research.nsf/Pages/MetroPrice).
This is not quality adjusted, but I think the mix of old versus new and
detached versus condo is roughly the same, and if anything the average
place in DC is probably a little newer and a little larger.
Seventy percent sounds like an awfully big difference — call me
skeptical.
[I am shocked, shocked, that Austin Kelly would not accept at face
value official-sounding statistics from a Baltimore city agency. Next
thing you know, he’ll be skeptical about the figures DC government
officials give, say for the cost of building a baseball stadium or for
the economic benefits of building one. If we all started questioning the
authenticity of information from our elected officials, where would it
end? — Gary Imhoff]
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I appreciated your collection of letters addressing the cost of
housing that is available in Baltimore. Please consider directly
addressing the overt social, political, and economic oppression that DC
residents must face in not being able to control our tax revenue and not
being actively represented in both the House and the Senate. I contend
that it is a national disgrace that the predominantly Afro-American
citizens living in the capital city of these United States are starting
off the 21st century hearing a cry for an amendment that will allow a
disqualified Governor of California to run for President and not even a
whisper of an aggressive effort at eliminating our being denied a right
to control our own tax revenue as well as active representation in both
the House and the Senate of Congress.
Let’s go back into our history books and review the fact that these
rights were the entire basis of the Revolutionary War of these United
States and ask how dare we have elections in which the winner refers to
this country as an alleged “model democracy,” when the basic rights
of American citizens are not being allowed to the residents of the
capital city of these United States!
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The Great Baseball Flap: Bringing Out the
Worst in DC
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
The hyperbolic reactions of various real and self-proclaimed city
leaders to building a world-class stadium in the nation’s capital for
the enjoyment of our national pastime are very disappointing. They point
up some of DC’s most fundamental problems: its collective inability to
view itself as the world’s most important capital city; its failure to
distinguish between capital investment and operating funds as very
different tools in the long-term mitigation of its daunting sociological
inequities; its resistance to developing private and public sector
cooperation; its continuing failure to address its major emerging
transportation problems; and last but not least, its refusal to see
itself as the essential core of a unified national capital metro area,
rather than a collection of disparate local neighborhoods.
NARPAC finds it discouraging that DC’s stadium is not being
recognized as a single element within the larger context of the grand
new urban revitalization projects now getting underway. When this new
‘Downtown South’ emerges, it should be highly revenue-productive,
particularly if the need for a substantial upgrade to that area’s
transportation infrastructure is accepted. From the outset (see www.narpac.org/METROVIZ.HTM#dtsouth).
Our findings are summarized in an editorial in November’s update of
NARPAC’s web site at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM#EDIT.
It’s high time to put the first-order terms ahead of the third-order
terms in the development of our nation’s capital. You too should think
about the need to stimulate smarter politicians, smarter activists, and
smarter growth in our national capital city.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Coaching for College Wine Tasting, November 18
Alexander M. Padro, PadroANC2C@aol.com
Coaching for College is sponsoring a wine tasting and silent auction
at Cada Vez, 1438 U Street, NW, on Thursday, November 18, from 7:00 p.m.
to 10:00 p.m., to help raise funds to support the program. Come show
your support, taste some exquisite wines, enjoy hors d’oeuvres, relax
to the smooth sounds of live jazz, and bid on fabulous items through a
silent auction. Auction items include a beach weekend getaway, sports
products, spa and salon giveaways, restaurant certificates, tennis
lessons, interior design services, women’s accessories and jewelry,
pet products, and more! Tickets are $25 each.
Coaching for College is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that
recruits volunteers to tutor and mentor students at Shaw Junior High
School, helping students strengthen academic skills, explore rewarding
careers, and view education as a vehicle for success. Tutoring sessions
are held on Saturday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Two adult
tutor-mentors are matched with each student, so volunteers have
flexibility in scheduling and each commit roughly two Saturdays per
month. Shaw Junior High School’s kids are motivated students that need
some extra help academically and are often looking for some adult
guidance and encouragement.
Visit Coaching for College online at http://www.coachingforcollege.org
for more information about the organization and to RSVP for the November
18 event, or to volunteer as a tutor/mentor for Shaw Junior High School
students. You can also contact Coaching for College Program Director
Marvin Coote at marvin@coachingforcollege.org
or 232-1095.
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Sgt. Ray Danieli Retirement Lunch, November 18
Gwendolyn Mapp, MappGEM@aol.com
Sergeant Ray Danieli will be leaving us on Thursday, November 18,
after 34 years of service to the Metropolitan Police Department and the
community. His retirement luncheon will be held at Maggiano’s Little
Italy, 5333 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, on Thursday, November 18, 1:00 p.m. to
3:00 p.m. A donation of $40.00 will includes the gift. Please call me,
Sergeant Gwendolyn E. Mapp, 439-1246.
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Christopher Young Concert, November 21
Erik Suter, Erik_Suter@cathedral.org
The Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin
Avenues, NW, presents Christopher Young of Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana, in its fall celebrity organ concert on Sunday,
November 21, at 5:30 p.m. Young will play works by Bach, Bolcom, Widor,
Hailstork, Dupré, Schumann, Howells, Sweelinck, and Guilmant. Free and
open to the public.
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National Building Museum Events, November 24,
28
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org
Both events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Wednesday, November 24, 2:00
p.m., Washington: Symbol and City. Enjoy a docent-led tour of this
Museum exhibition that explores the monumental architecture and vibrant
neighborhoods found in the nation’s capital. Free. Registration not
required. Participants meet outside exhibition entrance on first floor.
Sunday, November 28, 1-4 p.m. Ornamental Concrete: Great Gifts!
Create a photo stand or paperweight using fast-setting concrete and
decorate it with glass marbles and beads. These projects make a perfect
holiday gift. Presented in conjunction with Liquid Stone: New
Architecture in Concrete. $5 per set. Drop-in program. All ages.
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Amnesty International and the US Committee for UNIFEM present a
discussion panel, as part of 16 Days of Activism: HIV/AIDS and Violence
Against Women: Are Women More Vulnerable to HIV Infection? Wednesday,
December 1, 7 p.m., George Washington University, Marvin Center, 3rd
floor, Continental Ballroom, 800 21st Street, NW. Guest speakers:
Cynthia Rothschild, consultant, Center for Women’s Global Leadership;
Lisa Johnson-Firth, Virginia Stop Violence Against Women Campaign
coordinator, Amnesty International; Sonia Kandathil, research and
program analyst, American Foundation for AIDS Research; Robert Mugisha,
human rights advocate; Country Specialist (Africa), Amnesty
International; Heather Fortuna, program officer, Rwanda, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Women for Women International. For more information,
contact Inma at dcwhrat@yahoo.com.
RSVP not required.
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Burt Solomon on the Washington Century
Jerry A. McCoy, sshistory@yahoo.com
The Washingtoniana Division of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library will kick off its 100th anniversary celebration in 2005 with a
talk by author Burt Solomon on his new book The Washington Century:
Three Families and the Shaping of the Nation’s Capital. The book
is a 20th century social history of Washington as told through three
very different families: black activist Julius Hobson, real estate
developer Morris Cafritz, and Congressman Hale Boggs.
The talk will take place on Thursday, December 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the
Washingtoniana Division, Room 307, Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW. Copies of the book will be available for
purchase and signing. The event is free. For more information, call
727-1213.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Newly renovated basement apartment, approximately 1,000 square feet
with one bedroom and home office space. New appliances, including
washer/dryer. $1,400 per month (includes heat). Quiet street, close to
bus/train/Rock Creek Park/Zoo. Call 483-2141 or 265-5433.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
The holiday season is quickly approaching and The Children’s Law
Center is kicking off its 2004 Adopt-a-Family Christmas Toy Drive, our
annual effort to ensure that the holidays are special for more than 200
of the abused, neglected, and special needs children we represent. We
are looking for families, individuals, friends and businesses to
"adopt" a child or family and provide them with gifts.
For each child you adopt, we ask that you purchase at least two new
gifts, plus a full set of clothes (one full outfit), including shoes,
for the child. The children range in age from infants and toddlers to
teenagers and young adults. We provide you with the name, gender, age,
clothing sizes, and gift suggestions for each child. We will also
provide you with a short synopsis of the child’s circumstances to help
give you better understanding of the true struggles they face. Some of
the children are in group homes, some are in foster homes, and others
are being raised in impoverished situations. All of the children we are
providing for are in homes or circumstances with limited financial
resources. If you adopt a family, you will have the opportunity to
provide gifts, clothing and other items for all members of a family.
Family sizes range from a family of two to families of seven; you can
tell us what family size you would prefer. In addition, there are some
families whose needs are so great that we suggest you contribute a bit
extra —such as food for a Christmas meal or warm coats for winter. The
larger and needier families are ideal “adoptees” for businesses and
organizations. We ask that you drop the new, unwrapped gifts at CLC by
December 10 - and our volunteers will wrap the gifts and our lawyers
will deliver them to the families.
For more information, please contact Tara Tonkin at (202) 467-4900
ext 510.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
DC Service Request Form
Harold Goldstein, mdbiker@goldray.com
In response to Phil Shapiro’s question about reporting problems [themail,
November 14] I sent him this address — http://src.dc.gov/ccc/cccAddNewServiceRequestMain.asp
— which theoretically allows you to report problems of all sorts. Has
anyone any experience with its value?
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