Parties
Dear Party Goers:
As I’ve written before, my idea of a big day out is the hot dog and
soda combo at Costco. But somebody made a mistake and put Dorothy on the
invitation list for the annual McLaughlin brunch party following the
White House Correspondents Dinner, and Dorothy dragged me along today.
Three observations: it’s a strange party that has four former
presidential candidates as guests, and the four turn out to be Jesse
Jackson, Al Sharpton, Pat Buchanan, and Ralph Nader. It’s also a
wonderfully strange party when Jackson, Sharpton, Doug Wilder, and
Michael Steele end up at the same breakfast table, and they are all
smiles and camaraderie with each other, politics put aside in favor of
crab cakes and omelets. And what’s strangest of all is that the
politicians didn’t seem to be impressed with the Hollywood celebrities
there. The only guests getting photographs taken of themselves with
other guests were the Hollywood actors, including the star of a current
hit television series who was using his cell phone camera to record the
DC politicians he was hanging out with.
It’s nice to go to a party once in a while, and even I am not
enough of a curmudgeon to begrudge city politicians from throwing an
occasional party for the citizens. The thing is, as Karen Szulgit points
out below, when you use the public’s money to fund a party, you have
to invite the public. If you’re paying for it out of your own pocket,
you can invite whom you want and thumb your nose at the rabble outside
the door. But when the rabble is footing the bill, you have to let even
the rabble-rousers in.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Who Funds the DC Emancipation Commission?
Karen A. Szulgit, thirdpartygirl@juno.com
[Open letter to DC councilmembers:] It is unfortunate that I must
write to ask you for clarification on the origination of funds for the
DC Emancipation Commission. If it is funded solely with DC public tax
dollars, I must submit this written complaint about the fact that some
of these funds are being spent only on “V.I.P.” Washingtonians —
per the request of Mayor Anthony A. Williams. For over a decade, Ms.
Loretta Carter Hanes — the reviver of the modern DC Emancipation Day
observance — and a handful of community activists recognized the
importance of April 16th and pushed for its inclusion on the District’s
political agenda and calendar of events. Ms. Hanes suggested that Anise
Jenkins, president of the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition, send
an E-mail message encouraging her members to attend the Emancipation Day
Reception — that was allegedly free and open to the public — at the
City Museum of Washington, DC, on Friday, April 15.
On my way to the event, I ran into a woman who told me that the
security was extraordinary and thought that maybe the President was
slated to make an appearance. When she and I reached the City Museum, I
noticed Mr. Charles Richardson, an elder African-American member of
Stand Up!, standing outside the museum. Mr. Richardson was denied
entrance and told that he couldn’t even stand on the museum’s steps.
When I attempted to enter the museum, a large security guard from I.C.S.
Protective Services informed me that it was a private event and I was
not welcome. The guard intimidated me and herded me away from the doors
and down the steps. The guards denied entrance to another
African-American woman fifteen minutes later. In addition, a few of the
chosen people inside the event told me that still others were actually
asked to leave. One security guard confessed to Ms. Jenkins that the
mayor’s security people instructed him to exclude certain people.
Eventually, Mayor Anthony Williams — still wearing his Washington
Nationals baseball cap — and his security detail arrived. I informed
him that the guards told me that it was a private event and wouldn’t
let me in because he had not invited me. The mayor merely looked at me,
shrugged his shoulders, and proceeded into the event. Later, I asked the
mayor’s staffer, Mr. Greg McCarthy, if it were a private event. He
promised to check on it for me, but never returned. Regretfully, I wasn’t
able to stay and further research the situation because I was on my way
to the post office — to pay my federal taxes with a big check enclosed
with a paid under protest letter and my DC taxes! Isn’t it ironic that
I was unable to attend a public event probably paid for with DC taxes --
on my way to pay more taxes to the District? After Saturday’s DC
Emancipation Day parade, national recording artist John Legend appeared
to sing his hit-song "Ordinary People." It’s hypocritical
that the District continues to prohibit "ordinary people" such
as myself and other taxpaying DC residents from attending these annual
DC Emancipation Day events.
Since 1999, members of the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition
have acknowledged DC Emancipation Day by donning typical clothing of
enslaved persons and/or colonial garb, wrapped ourselves in chains to
represent DC’s history of oppression, and educated our family,
friends, neighbors, and the media about that special day. For over six
years, “First Freed, Last Free” has been Stand Up!’s DC
Emancipation Day motto whether rallying or marching in the District’s
parades. And yet, year after year, our civil rights are violated and we
are continually oppressed by our own elected officials. Denying entry to
certain DC residents amounts to discrimination and yet another violation
of our civil rights to participate in a public ceremony probably paid
for with our own tax dollars. Therefore, if the DC Emancipation
Commission is going to continue barring select DC residents from its
events, I must implore you to vote against budgeting any public funds to
pay for its “private” events or designate funds to be used for a
commemoration where any and all DC residents may attend.
###############
Study Finds DC Taxes Second Highest in Nation
Matt Forman, Matthew.Forman2@verizon.net
The Tax Foundation provides an annual study of the tax burdens among
the fifty states and the District. Again this year, the study found that
DC has the second highest overall tax burden, second only to Maine, and
exceeding that of New York. For more information, visit http://www.taxfoundation.org.
For lower taxes, contact your ward and at-large councilmembers. So our
motto is “taxation without representation,” yeah, right! Our
representatives on the city council have given us plenty of taxes.
###############
Emery Shelter Does Not Serve Children
Katrina Lee, klee@katlover.com
The proposed capital budget for 2006-2011 includes almost $1 million
to renovate Emery Shelter at 1725 Lincoln Road, NE, which is supposedly
now “a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed
children.” On http://dc.gov/mayor/budget_2006/capital_appendices/index2.shtm,
click on “Project Description Forms” then “Dept. Of Human
Services.’” Go to page 3; it’s SH-1 subproject 13.
This shelter, attached to an elementary school, serves men, and has
for a long time. If anyone doubts this, come check out the neighborhood.
After breakfast at SOME, many shelterees hang out in the area until it’s
time to go back to SOME for lunch, then head to Emery for what I’m
told is a sorry excuse for soup and what I’m told is a rarely clean
bed.
Eckington residents would love to see this building used for
something besides warehousing homeless men. It’s hard to believe that
the current shelter population doesn’t contribute to our problems of
1) garbage can prospecting, 2) shopping cart “handymen” (and related
illegal dumping), 3) petty theft from yards, 4) public
urination/defecation, and 5) people using vacant buildings to get high
and turn tricks. So why not give us the straight dope? Either taxpayers
are being deceived, or there’s a competence problem here.
###############
On April 21, the METRO Board voted to buy diesel buses instead of
natural gas buses. This vote happened despite the efforts of Jim Graham
and Chris Zimmerman. There were also several members of the public,
including representatives from NRDC and the American Lung Association,
who spoke against diesel buses. Gladys Mack could have stopped the
diesel bus purchase and substituted a compromise purchase of 218 natural
gas buses, 22 hybrid buses, and 70 diesel buses for the same amount of
money. Gladys, the Mayor’s appointee to the Board, refused to go along
with the compromise. Does the Mayor really care about the health of the
citizens and children of the District? It doesn’t look like it! The
vote was in violation of the DC Law 15-205, which prohibits DC money
from being used to buy diesel buses.
###############
I Got the Power
Mark Eckenwiler, themale at ingot dot org
In the last issue [April 27], Ken Nellis comments that his April
Pepco bill adds a late-payment fee even though he has automated monthly
payment through his bank. I’m here to report the same thing, an
inexplicable six cent “late fee” that I noticed and (in a rare
moment of self-restraint) chose to ignore as too trivial to bother with.
After reading Ken’s note, though, I called the Post’s
consumer affairs columnist, Don Oldenburg, who seemed intrigued by the
idea of Pepco’s overbilling thousands of households by a few cents.
Conversely, the Pepco drone I spoke to — supervisors were
unaccountably “unavailable” — seemed entirely uninterested in the
suggestion that their billing system had a systemic problem.
###############
Is it true that, in DC, it is illegal to park in a space where the
parking meter is broken? If so, what is the logic behind the law?
###############
Could someone please remind me why DC needed baseball so badly? Maybe
it is just age, or my indifference for the sport, but I can not remember
why it was so important, and what are the benefits (long term) to the
residents? It appears to me that baseball is just another road sign on
the city limits to say that DC is “Gentrification Friendly.”
I ride the Orange/Blue line weekly and I hear the people talking
about commuting from Virginia. The mix of people disembarking at
Stadium/Armory does not appear to represent the mix of people of this
city. Then there are “Day Games.” With property taxes and lack of
affordable housing, how can the average DC resident afford to leave work
to catch these games?
Finally, how can they even speak of a new stadium when teachers are
being laid off and kids are being shot while trying to enjoy their
childhood. Some of that game security needs to be protecting/patrolling
the neighborhoods. If someone could point out the benefits to me, I
would appreciate it. Regardless of my rantings, I am open to the
possibility of there may be some pot of gold at the end of this twisted
rainbow which I can not see.
###############
Call for Artists for Public Art in Shaw
Alexander M. Padro, PadroANC2C@aol.com
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in collaboration with
the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, is conducting a call for
qualifications for two exciting public art projects in Shaw. The goal of
the program is to highlight the history of the neighborhood, while also
creating gateways to the historic districts. The National Trust is
interested in commissioning artwork that meets the needs of the
community, the public use of each site, and reflects the preservation of
the historic assets of the neighborhood. Artists will create
site-specific works that incorporate the collaborative ideas of all of
the interested parties involved in the effort to improve, beautify, and
strengthen the neighborhood. The competition is open to local and
national artists, with preference given to District residents.
The first site is Carter G. Woodson Park, at 9th and Q Streets and
Rhode Island Avenue, NW. A freestanding commemorative statue of Dr.
Woodson, the father of African American history who lived and worked
half a block away, is proposed. The budget for this work is $190,000.
Site design appropriate to the artwork will be designed and implemented
under a separate budget.
The second site is the plaza at the 7th Street and Rhode Island
Avenue, NW, entrance to the new Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood
Library. Artwork will be commissioned that reflects the history of jazz
and famous jazz musicians that entertained and/or lived in the Shaw
neighborhood. The artwork should be in the form of a vertical sculpture
that complements the modern architecture of the new building design. The
artwork should identify the site as a gateway into the historic
districts. The artwork should also mark and highlight the entrance to
the library. Other elements that could be used to reflect the art
include lighting, paving, and fencing. The budget for this work is
$140,000. The prospectus and application are available at http://www.nationaltrust.org/DC_Initiatives/RFQ_publicart.pdf,
or by calling 588-6054. The submission deadline is May 20.
###############
Regarding Pepco, Underground Power Service and
Such
Gabe Goldberg gabe at gabegold dot com
To follow up on the discussion of Pepco performance, underground vs.
overhead power feeds and such, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042900914.html
is interesting reading. Titled “Down with the Poles? Up with the
Costs,” it offers interesting cost figures: "Dobkin estimates
that putting just electric lines underground would cost $1 million per
mile. By contrast, the Virginia corporation commission estimates that
overhead utility lines cost $10,000 to $250,000 per mile, depending upon
terrain and labor costs.
“Residents of Arlington’s Forest Glen community really wanted
their utilities underground. ‘We’ve been told the cost is around
$15,000 per linear foot,’ Ira Goodsaid, president of the homeowners
association, wrote in an E-mail. The costs of burying lines are now
borne in some fashion by the developer, municipality and individual
consumer. Some localities use special assessment districts, where
utility subscribers pay a surcharge to fund the project. This method
spreads the cost of the project over a long time. Homeowners usually
have other costs beyond the assessment. For example, power from overhead
sources has meters and electric boxes geared to that method of
transmission. When utilities go underground, the property owner has to
relocate and revamp both, at what Griffin estimates could be $1,500 per
unit. That interior work would have to be done by an electrician, with
the homeowner picking up the tab.”
So while it’s easy to wish for underground power service,
converting from overhead wires doesn’t come cheap, no matter who pays.
And where do governments and the power companies get their money? From
the same people who pay utility bills.
###############
The Parking Mess Is Everywhere
Mindy Moretti, mindymoretti@yahoo.com
I’ve read with interest the posts by those living around RFK
stadium about the parking problems that arise during Nats games. In one
post [themail, April 24], Bryce A. Suderow wrote: “Just as Ambrose was
leaving the meeting, one resident detained her and pointed out to her
that citizens in northwest DC would never stand for her solution.”
Clearly Mr. Suderow did not make this comment so my quibble is not with
him. But it’s comments like the one he heard at the meeting that vex
me. I live in Adams Morgan and 1) we’re in Northwest and 2) we must
“stand” for Councilmember Ambrose’s proposed solution any time we
want to have a friend, lover, family member visit or stay the night.
Problem is, once our visitors get these permits, they’ve got no
place to park because each Friday and Saturday night (and usually
Thursday too) our neighborhood population increases by anywhere from
5,000 to 10,000 people (often suburbanites), many of whom drive into the
neighborhood. Believe me, we feel the pain of those living around RFK as
acutely as anyone, if not more so.
Instead of wrongly disparaging your neighbors a few wards over,
perhaps the folks living around RFK should talk to those of us who deal
with situations like theirs more than eighty times per year. We’re a
lot more effective if we work together instead of making it a game of
the perceived haves vs. the have nots. Believe me, in the game of
parking, we’re all in the have not category.
###############
While reading Bryce Suderow’s note about the problem with
legitimate residents parking near RFK, I was struck by how much the
situation mirrors the problem with the city’s residential parking
system as a whole. Byrce writes, “Imagine a 56-year-old woman visiting
the police station to get a sticker for her boyfriend to visit her. It’s
treating an adult like a child who needs mom’s and dad’s permission
to have her friends attend a slumber party.”
The sad reality is, this is the situation that already exists in the
vast majority of DC neighborhoods because of our residential parking
permit (RPP) system. In any neighborhood with no nearby unzoned parking,
you already must go to the police station and obtain, in person, a
visitor’s permit which lasts a maximum of two weeks for any single
visitor to park during daytime hours. If you happen to have a regular
service person who comes during the day, for example, a day care
provider or cleaning person, then you’re going to be making a trip to
the police station every two weeks. Yet there is no lack of parking
during daytime hours — after all, these are residential neighborhoods,
not business districts. While I am sure the problem is far worse around
RFK on game days than a typical DC neighborhood, the solution proposed
is hardly surprising, given that it’s the only solution we’ve ever
had to prevent our legitimate visitors, guests, and service people from
being ticketed under the existing RPP restrictions present in many
neighborhoods.
We need creative solutions to our parking problem citywide. The city
has been dragging its feet on solving the problems in general with our
parking system, and has shown that it’s incapable of dealing with
special situations like RFK. This may not be as important as crime and
education, but it’s something that a vast number of the citizens deal
with every single day — and more importantly, it’s something that
actually could be improved with a little bit of action and not much
money. Issuing a single parking permit per household as suggested might
be a good temporary solution. It might not be perfect, but it’s better
than DC’s solution so far — which is the usual: hold a big meeting,
let the constituents talk, and then go and do whatever they were going
to do anyway — usually nothing.
###############
[In response to “Hopes, Wishes, and Dreams,” themail, April 27:]
Perhaps the leadership of our fair city is simply being pragmatic. You
say that they should concentrate on, first, “the usual basic
criteria” for moving into a city rather than, second, “grandiose,
monumental, expensive government projects.”
But it is obvious to me and probably to you that they are incapable
of delivering the first, and, since they just love to spend money, why
not spend it on the second? In this they are supported by the voters,
who continue to hope for the first and are pleased when they get the
second.
###############
DC Population Is Bound to Drop
Bryce A. Suderow, Streetstories@juno.com
I think it has got to be obvious to anyone but Tony Williams and his
die-hard supporters that Gary and the Census Bureau are right. This city
will continue to drop in population. It’s simple arithmetic.
Low-income blacks with large families are leaving the city. They are
being replaced with smaller numbers of white newcomers who are either
childless or have only one or two very young children. Unless charter
schools for middle class white people become widespread, these newly
arriving white people with kids will leave the city as soon as their
kids reach fourth or fifth grade.
Someone told me that a reporter asked members Mothers on the Hill
(MOTH) if they thought that they would still be living in DC five years
or more years from now. Most of them replied that they had not thought
about it. They were staying for now. That’s definitely not a
commitment. I suspect that they are waiting to see if there are going to
be schools that their kids can safely attend without getting murdered.
###############
Projections are always tricky. The Census Bureau was wrong in the
projections they made in the 1990’s about what the city’s population
would be in 2000. They projected 519,000 residents, but in the head
count of the 2000 decennial Census, the number was 572,000. Still a
decline, but much a much smaller one from the 1990 population of
607,000.
###############
Losing Population and Crime
Kevin Morison, MPD, Kevin.morison@dc.gov
Tom Blagburn raises an interesting issue [themail, April 27]: are
lower crime levels in DC simply a matter of there being fewer people in
the city? A quick statistical analysis shows that the facts don’t
support his argument. In 1990, the Census Bureau said DC had 606,900
residents. That year, there were 65,647 serious (or “Index”) crimes
reported in DC, for a crime rate of 10,817 per 100,000 population. In
2004, the Census Bureau estimates that DC had 553,523 residents (a
controversial estimate that started this whole discussion thread). Last
year, there were 33,252 Index crimes reported in DC, for a crime rate of
6,007 per 100,000 population. The change in the city’s homicide rate
during this period has been even more dramatic — from 78 murders per
100,000 population in 1990 to 36 per 100,000 in 2004. And even if you go
back to 1980, when the city’s population was 638,333, the Index crime
rate was still 9,875 per 100,000 — or more than 50 percent higher than
the current rate. The bottom line: while DC population has declined in
recent decades (by about 9 percent since 1990), our crime rate has
fallen significantly more (by more than 44 percent since 1990). So the
city’s success in reducing crime is clearly more than the displacement
of some residents.
###############
Fanning the Debate on DC Demographics
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
NARPAC welcomes the debate on DC’s evolving demographics and its
relationship with the evolving Comprehensive Plan. We have been trying
to illuminate these planning problems for years and think the ongoing
online discussion is overlooking some basic metrics. Population count,
imperfect as it may be, is not the proper metric for determining DC’s
growth or prosperity. The unit of measure dictating urban land use is
the household, made up of adult(s), elderly dependents and/or kids.
Those who wail about a departing “middle class” (undefined) ignore
available statistics that DC households have declined far less. The most
steadily declining cohort since the ‘70’s is the number of kids
(mostly black), resulting in the vastly oversized DCPS infrastructure.
DC’s recent population drop includes a six-year reduction of 12,000 in
unwed teen births. Housing demands also differ when two working adults
replace one welfare adult and three kids. More costly units are needed
to house twice the taxpayers and half the population.
Household count, however, does not assure urban prosperity. It does
not differentiate those generating more revenues than city costs, from
those generating more costs than revenues. We estimate DC has only three
net taxpaying households for every tax-consuming one, while the suburbs
average twelve to fifteen. Urban prosperity requires some balance
between the two. DC tax returns seem to have dropped even less than
households. Car ownership and household income have risen. The
acceptable shortfall in resident taxpayers depends on how much of DC’s
net revenues comes from business. DC gets far more net revenues per acre
from businesses (and the commuters that make them profitable) than from
residents. We think DC’s “social engineering” is working too well:
DC encourages net tax-consumers to stay through its welfare and housing
policies; discourages net taxpayers from living in the city; and lets
neighborhoods block higher density developments that raise revenues. The
Comprehensive Plan ignores such issues.
Even more basic, DC’s boundaries are no longer relevant to a
successful core city inside a world-class metro area. The metro area,
not the city, is now the proper basic socioeconomic unit of measure (a
fact the Comp and DDoT planners avoid). Americans don’t stay rooted in
the same home from birth to death. We adjust home, work, and vehicle
choices with our lifestyle needs. The overly parochial nature of many DC
residents and elected officials contains the seeds of their own
dilapidation. The mayor’s disinterest in regional unity is his biggest
weakness. Finally, one major key to the successful socioeconomic
integration of our national capital metro area is its overall
transportation networks. As long as DC’s insular planners think
transportation is just about “connecting urban neighborhoods” rather
than “facilitating metro area mobility,” they will keep contributing
to the decline and fall of our nation’s most important inner city.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Join DC for Democracy Focus on Public Schools,
May 4
Charles Allen, DCforDemocracy@gmail.com
Join DC for Democracy MeetUp, May 4, 7:00 p.m. We’ll be focusing
our next MeetUp on the state of DC’s public school system. Invited
guests include Wards 1 and 2 School Board Member Jeff Smith, Wards 5 and
6 School Board Member Tommy Wells, President of "Fix Our
Schools" Marc Borbely, representatives from Parents United for the
DC Public Schools, and more. We have a great evening planned, so please
RSVP today. We have two locations, and we’ll have speakers at each
one, so pick the location most convenient for you.
Ben’s Chili Bowl, 1213 U Street, NW — RSVP: http://dfa.meetup.com/164/
Hawk & Dove, 329 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE — RSVP: http://dfa.meetup.com/202/
Sign Up Today! Volunteer to Get Your Hands On DC, May 7. DC for
Democracy is teaming up with “Hands on DC” to adopt a school for a
day of community service on Saturday, May 7. We’ll be cleaning up the
grounds, painting classrooms, landscaping playgrounds, and more. But we
need your help to make this effort a success. Go to http://www.dcfordemocracy.kintera.org/HandsOnDC
to learn more, become an event sponsor, and volunteer. The first fifteen
volunteers get a free T-shirt!
###############
National Building Museum Events, May 4, 6
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org
All events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.
Wednesday, May 4, 8:00-9:00 p.m. Grab a blanket, some snacks, and
friends to enjoy a series of independent short films in the Museum’s
Great Hall. Never seen before in Washington, this collection of art and
experimental films, organized by Rooftop Films of New York City, depicts
unusual views of open spaces in the US and elsewhere. From high above
Brussels, a photographer gazes down at the city below and finds a
strange and surreal landscape. And while K-Marts and billboards encroach
on many public spaces, young people in Michigan and Oregon are seen
staking claim to territory for art and passions. This film program
complements the exhibition OPEN: new designs for public space. Free soft
drinks and limited seating will be provided. $6 members and students; $8
nonmembers. Registration required.
Friday, May 6, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Founded in 1996, SHoP has become widely
recognized for combining digital expertise, including three-dimensional
form generation and rapid prototyping, with model building to arrive at
original and buildable solutions. One of five principals, Gregg
Pasquarelli, will discuss the firm’s logic-based design strategies,
which masterfully reconciles cutting-edge design with value engineering.
The firm’s projects include an academic building for New York’s
Fashion Institute of Technology, the master plan for the East River
Waterfront Development, and several buildings in Mitchell Park on Long
Island. $12 Museum members, $17 nonmembers; $10 students; Free to CUA
students and faculty with valid ID. Prepaid registration required.
###############
Greetings from Washington, DC, Slide Lecture,
May 7
Jerry A. McCoy, sshistory@yahoo.com
The Nation’s Capital is a top tourist destination, and a visit is
not complete without mailing postcards home. To celebrate National
Postcard Week (May 1 -7), DC Public Library/Washingtoniana Division
librarian Jerry A. McCoy discusses the changing design of Washington,
DC, postcards and tells the stories behind the postcards’ messages and
their senders. Free. Saturday, May 7, 1:00-2:00 p.m., National Postal
Museum (Old Post Office Building, next to Union Station). For more
information see: http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu.
###############
Ms. Senior Pageant, May 21
Carroll Green, todo4u2@aol.com
The American Classic Woman of the Year Pageant, for senior ladies 60
and older, will be held Saturday, May 21, 2-5:00 p.m., at the Shaw
Junior High School Auditorium, 925 Rhode Island Avenue, NW. Tickets are
$15 in advance, and $20 at the door. Participants will be judged on
talent, philosophy of life, and evening gowns. First prize is $500, the
runner up is awarded $200, and third place is $100. There is a $25 entry
fee.
Ladies wishing to participate should contact the pageant director,
Ms. Leslie Blount, at 483-8433 no later than Wednesday, May 4.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Any Cello Players Out There?
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
I’m looking for a cello player for some guitar duet experimenting.
Some of these duets are connected with songs by the Rolling Stones. I
can travel to your place.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Mazda Service/Repair Sought
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
My niece recently moved to the DC area and is looking for a reliable
car repair shop in the area where she can take her ‘95 Mazda 626. She’s
having some problems but is concerned about being taken since she doesn’t
know much about cars and is short on funds. She doesn’t want to go to
a Mazda dealer because they charge too much and aren’t always
trustworthy. She’s got about 108,000 miles on the car, but that isn’t
bad considering it’s age. It has been a great car and hopefully will
last a while longer! Any help would be great.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To subscribe, to change E-mail addresses, or to
switch between HTML and plain text versions of themail, use the
subscription form at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/subscribe.htm.
To unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to themail@dcwatch.com
with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. Archives of past messages
are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should also be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.
