Creativity
Dear Creators:
In his national E-mail newsletter, Undernews, Sam Smith printed
extensive quotes from the Joel Kotkin article about cities that I wrote
about in themail (“Bread and Circuses,” themail, May 25, http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w050523&s=kotkin052305),
and he got a number of angry responses from his readers. Smith’s
readers accused Kotkin of being against creative people and, even more
of a stretch, of being anti-gay. Smith, in his latest local E-mail
newsletter, City Desk, responds, “My sense is that DC is far less
creative then it used to be but has far more people talking about how
creative they are. Those who think of themselves that way — both
straight and gay — tend actually to be just consumeroids, buying the
most heavily marketed trappings of hipness without the reality.”
Sam’s denigration of Washingtonians’ creativity is so sweeping
and unfair that it’s hard not to admire it. It’s certainly well
stated, but is it true or, more to the point, can we disprove it? Aside
from lawyers’ creative loopholing of the law, is there any proof that
Washingtonians are just as creative as we used to be or, better still,
more creative than in the past? Your anecdotal evidence will be
welcomed.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Amazing Amount of Property Tax Relief
Ed Lazere, DCFPI, lazere@dcfpi.org
This May, the DC council adopted several measures to provide property
tax relief to DC homeowners. A new analysis by the DC Fiscal Policy
Institute (http://www.dcfpi.org/6-1-05tax.htm)
shows that, if implemented, these measures would provide a tremendous
amount of tax relief. Overall, property tax collections from homeowners
would be $210 million in FY 2006, or $10 million less than the $220
million that will be collected this year. For 61,000 of 89,000 homeowner
households — more than two-thirds — property tax bills in 2006 would
be lower than their tax bills this year.
An additional 26 percent of DC homeowners would face an increase in
their property tax bill, but the increase would be under five percent.
Overall, 94 percent of DC homeowners would pay less next year than this
year or would face a tax increase of less than five percent. That is
significant, considering that virtually every neighborhood faced
double-digit assessment increases.
The three measures adopted by the council include Mayor Williams’
proposal to increase the Homestead Deduction from $38,000 to $60,000; a
reduction in the existing property tax cap from 12 percent to 10 percent
(meaning taxable assessments cannot grow more than 10 percent); and a
reduction in the property tax rate from 96 cents per $100 of assessed
value to 94 cents. The 10 percent cap and rate reduction will go into
effect if updated forecasts released later this year show $17 million in
higher than current projections. Revenue forecasts have been adjusted
upward several times in recent years as a result of DC’s strong
economy, and many observers expect that to happen this year as well.
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At a time when the council must reach final agreement on financing a
new baseball stadium, Mayor Williams will again be in China, just like
he was last fall when the public debate began over his deal with Major
League Baseball. Williams will depart on Monday, June 6, and return on
June 11, to attend the Executive Bureau and World Council meetings of
United Cities and Local Governments, described as "a global
association of municipal governments and national municipal associations
and the world voice for local government at the United Nations."
Footnote: in the Sunday, May 31, issue of themail, I wrote that the
Williams administration was dragging its feet in releasing detailed
information to the public on two new neighborhood economic development
policy initiatives, "New Communities" and "Great
Streets," even though on May 18 it had held a briefing for
developers that it wanted to interest in the programs. On Monday, the
office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
E-mailed DCWatch a copy of the presentation that was given to the
developers. It’s available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/newcom050518.pdf.
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Bread and Circuses
Doug Neumann, dbn99@yahoo.com
Sadly, the Kotkin article should be read with Mayor Williams’ most
recent taxpayer-funded junket in mind — to San Diego to inspect a
baseball stadium, to San Jose to visit a trendy restaurant and shopping
area, and to Las Vegas to woo big retailers at a shopping center
convention.
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Officer Pozell’s Death
Justin Swain, Dupont Circle, westpark_online@att.net
This is in response to Susan L Anderson’s comment (themail, May
31), “I do not understand why the motorist who killed Officer Pozell
was not charged in his death.” I observed the following facts on the
news media coverage of the incident: 1) the early coverage of the
incident by local TV reporters was factual, “19-year-old driver of SUV
who struck officer, stopped, and did not leave the scene after hitting
the officer.” 2) Most reporters stated the fact that the intersection
was shut down for the police evidence and forensics teams to investigate
the event. 3) But several reporters in the period prior to completion of
the incident investigation, while stating the facts given in items 1 and
2, did communicate by their intonation and kinetics, “Why wasn’t the
SUV driver charged with the death?”
From my perspective, the MPDC Police exercised due diligence in their
statements and discovery of facts of this unfortunate incident. As the Washington
Post reported (“Traffic Officer Struck in Georgetown Dies of
Injuries,” Martin Weil and Allan Lengel, May 18, page B08): “He was
struck about 3:40 p.m. when he apparently stepped into the path of a
Honda CR-V that was turning west onto M Street from Wisconsin Avenue. He
was struck with great force, and his head hit the pavement.”
I can only wish that all would use due diligence in discovering facts
prior to making judgments. To help each of us in public writing and
comments — persons observing, knowledgeable of facts, and in
disagreement with others, comments should provide their input and cite
references related to their position on an incident.
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Enter the Hill Rag’s July Issue Pet
Contest
Andrew Lightman, andrew@hillrag.com
Make your animal friend a star in the Hill Rag’s July 2005
pet contest. Send us your most adorable, funniest, most outrageous pet
photos for a chance at fame and prizes! Categories include Best Overall
Photo, Best Cat, Best Dog, Loveliest, Cutest, Funniest, Cleverest
Caption, Best Buddies (human and pet), Best Buddies (pets), Most Laid
Back and Most Unusual. Winning entries will be published in the July
2005 issue and will appear on our web site at http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com.
To enter, send photos to 224 7th Street, SE, Washington, DC
(Attention Pet Contest 2005) or E-mail photos to pets@hillrag.com
(240 dpi minimum). Maximum of two photos per entry. Include your name, a
phone number, the name of your pet, and a caption and/or category for
the photo. Photos cannot be returned.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Concrete Paperweights at the National Building
Museum, June 4
Brie Hensold, bhenhold@nbm.org
Saturday, June 4, 12:30-3:30 p.m. Create a building-shaped
paperweight using fast-setting concrete and decorate it with glass
marbles and beads. These projects make a perfect Father’s Day gift.
This program complements the exhibition Liquid Stone. $5 per project.
All ages. Drop-in program. National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.
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DC Public Library Events, June 4, 6
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
Saturday, June 4, 12:30 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park
Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Author Sheryll Cashin
will discuss her book, The Failures of Integration: How Race and
Class are Undermining the American Dream. Public contact: 541-6100.
Monday, June 6, 6:30 p.m. Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330 7th
Street, NE. Capitol Hill Mystery Book Club. Monthly book chats about
mysteries. Call for book titles. Public contact: 698-3320.
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Clean City in Mount Pleasant, June 7
Laurie Collins, mpna@mtpleasantdc.org
The Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Alliance announces that our next
speaker in the ‘Get-in-the-Know’ series is the Mayor’s Clean City
Coordinator, Merrit Drucker who will speak on Tuesday, June 7, at the
Mount Pleasant Library, from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
We ask for your help! We will have a walk through with Mr. Drucker
prior to our public meeting. We would like to hear about any issues with
trash, cleanliness, rodents, etc., that you may like us to point out to
Mr. Drucker so he can better address issues at the meeting on the 7th.
Please send your comments to mpna@mtpleasantdc.org.
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Washington Storytellers Theater presents Kala Jojo, There Is A River:
Stories of Hope and Inspiration, at The City Museum of Washington, DC,
801 K Street, NW, on Saturday, June 11, 8:00 p.m. Ticket price $15
(student, senior, group rates available), purchase at the door or in
advance by calling 545-6840 or on-line at http://www.washingtonstorytellers.org.
Street or garage parking nearby (check web site for details), Metro: Red
(Chinatown), Green/Yellow (Mt. Vernon or Chinatown), Blue/Orange (Metro
Center). Wheelchair ramp and elevator access from Mt. Vernon Place side.
Washington Storytellers Theater is proud to introduce the adult
storytelling audiences of Greater Washington, DC, to one of the most
exciting and brightest young lights in storytelling, Kala Jojo. He is a
nationally renowned Jeli ("storyteller"), vocalist and
multi-instrumentalist whose repertoire evokes the oral traditions of
Africa, African-American and the Caribbean. As a singer and masterful
folksong-storyteller Kala Jojo will touch your heart with this program
of enlightening narratives and thought provoking songs about love,
triumph, healing, family and the challenges faced by New Afrikan peoples
born in North America.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Capitol Hill Apartment Wanted
Ted Knutson, dcreporter@yahoo.com
Fiftyish nonsmoking quiet professional and gentle, well-behaved
cocker spaniel seek a one bedroom apartment on Capitol Hill for
immediate occupancy. Call Ted Knutson, 547-1387 (day and evening).
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
Early Childhood Educational Software
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
I’m helping an immigrant family that received a donated Windows 98
computer. Their four-year-old child is very precocious and would love to
use some early childhood educational software. Do you know a family with
kids who have outgrown their early childhood software? I can stop by to
pick it up.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
I can also highly recommend Rainbow Auto Body, 1320 Upshur Street,
NW, literally across Upshur Street from Roosevelt High School Stadium in
Petworth. I am away from my PDA and can’t recall their phone number.
They do good work at a reasonable price, though.
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