Surplus
Dear Budgeteers:
I often criticize her positions, so it’s only fair for me to point
out that Alice Rivlin has written a sensible article on DC’s temporary
budget surplus in today’s Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300098.html),
and I can quibble with it on only a few details, such as her
reluctance to grant tax relief to hard-pressed DC taxpayers. Her key
sentences are entirely correct: “The city needs to remember what the
federal government forgot: windfalls can vanish with a change of season.
That’s why it’s best for DC to live by two simple rules: 1) limit
ongoing commitments that will weigh down the city if excess revenues
disappear. 2) Help those who are suffering, rather than benefiting, from
the boom.”
The major problem with the article is what Rivlin doesn’t say. It’s
her failure to hold the mayor and city council responsible for their
profligate spending on — and making massive long-term commitments to
— wasteful monumental development projects. The politicians’
delusion that they are qualified to plan and direct the economic and
physical development of our city is their most costly folly, and the
greatest economic problem that we will face in the next decade. The
freshest example of this folly is the secret plan by the Anacostia
Waterfront Corporation, disclosed by David Nakamura in the Post
on Friday, to expand the amount of land that the city will buy around
the planned baseball stadium by another five acres (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/11/AR2005081102061.html).
In reaction to the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision, other states are
rushing to protect property owners against having their land seized by
the government to give to politically favored developers. Alabama’s
legislature passed legislation by a unanimous vote on August 5, and more
than two dozen states have already proposed either legislation or state
constitution amendments to restrict eminent domain powers so that
private land can be taken only for actual public uses. But do not expect
such legislation in DC. Here, all our government leaders seem to be
united both on seizing privately owned land and on declaring large
tracts of publicly owned land (schools, libraries, and more) as
"surplus" so that they can be given to well-connected
developers. Our city leaders fear an open, capitalist market in which
developers use their own money to bid against each other to buy land on
which they can develop what they think will make a profit. What our
local politicians favor instead is governmentally planned, organized,
and directed development in which they, the politicians, choose the
developers who will be allowed to own and profit from the land, and
subsidize their projects with taxpayers’ money. As Nakamura reported:
“[Anacostia Waterfront Corporation CEO Andrew] Altman is close to
unveiling a waterfront redevelopment master plan, in which the ballpark
is a key. Allowing private development to happen without the city’s
influence and controls would not achieve these goals, he said. ‘We
want to create a real destination,’ Altman said, ‘and that can’t
happen if this coordinated strategy does not take place.’”
As a sidebar to Alice Rivlin’s article, today’s Outlook section
has an article in which several people are given an opportunity to say
what they would do with the $300 million city budget surplus (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300082.html).
Here’s what I’d do: I’d give it to the woefully underfunded city
archives, and require the mayor, the councilmembers, the Anacostia
Waterfront Corporation, the National Capital Revitalization Corporation,
the Sports and Entertainment Commission, and all their staffs to deposit
all their official papers in the archives. That way, if the city ever
gets a real reform administration, or an independent Attorney General
who sees himself as something other than the mayor’s personal
attorney, all the evidence will be available to draw up the indictments.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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I found Paul Wilson’s "Sanitation Workers" [themail,
August 10] to be hilarious. The problem comes from the fact that the new
trash receptacles are totally inappropriate for the job; much too small,
and difficult to handle. Whoever had this bright idea obviously does not
have the viewpoint of the person handling them, or the common sense, to
see how ridiculous the size and shape of these cans are. Hence, the
dumping of the contents into the street. If this were not done, it would
take much longer to do the job. Only small bags fit into the bottom of
the receptacle, and anything big causes a jam if it is pushed down into
the can. And, in any case, who has so little trash that this small can
would do the job? Maybe this is sufficient for a senior citizen living
alone, but what do the rest of us do with what does not fit into the new
container? That’s right, other trash cans are needed, and the city is
supposed to pick up the old ones, causing people to either have to buy
new ones, or leave the bags out by themselves.
Did management consult labor here? I don’t think so. We know
citizens are not consulted on anything. This is just another example of
how this local administration cannot get anything right, only in this
case we get an example of what it is to be a true “petty
bureaucrat.”
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Clothes Just May Unmake the (Wo)man
Willie Schatz, willie@schatzgroup.com
The sign in the Red Line car warned us to be suspicious of and to
report people who, inter alia, sweat, wear large, ill-fitting
jackets or leave packages unattended. (That may not be the precise
language, but you get the drift.) So make sure you shower before you get
on the train, buy the jacket that’s too tight rather than too loose,
(Oh, it’s uncomfortable? As the former mayor-for-life said, get over
it.) and don’t fuhgett your umbrella.
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Terrorists on the Metrorail
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom
It is certainly possible that there could be a terrorist bombing on
our Metrorail. No place on earth is completely safe these days. My pal
who travels on Metrorail frequently did some analysis and found that the
odds of his being in a Metrorail car when a terrorist device went off
are somewhere near 400 million to one. That’s about the same odds one
would find for an attack by a unicorn when you were eating dinner at
Vidalia Restaurant in DC.. My pal also calculated the odds of being in a
Metrorail car when there were two explosive devices in that same car.
The odds against that are somewhere around 6 trillion to 1. So, my pal
carries his own device in his attache case. (There seems to be a flaw in
this logic.)
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Identify Budget Priorities Today
Susie Cambria, scambria@dckids.org
As you know, the District’s budget is the single most important
legislation considered by the city council and mayor each year.
Unfortunately, children and youth do not always receive the services and
support they need and deserve. You can change this by casting your vote
for kids! This initiative is designed to collect budget priorities from
District residents and providers — DC Action for Children will compile
the results and share them with elected officials as they develop the FY
2007 budget. We will also share the priorities with those running for
elected office next year so they can make children a priority. We will
also share the report with the community so that individuals and groups
can use the results to bolster their arguments for funding programs
important to them.
We are using an on-line tool Survey Monkey to collect the budget
priorities. Your response would be appreciated. It is essential so that
we can show elected officials that people in the District really do care
about children and youth. Here is a link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=93372785E33677.
Please encourage others to take the on-line survey. Votes by people of
all ages is encouraged -- especially from the younger set! After all,
this effort is about them! If you want paper copies of the survey, call
us at 234-9404.
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In March, I received a letter from my primary care physician (PCP)
that she was leaving the practice in DC and staring her own practice in
Virginia. The letter advised me to change my PCP and I could purchase a
copy of my medical records for $25. I changed my PCP to another doctor
at the practice effective March 21. My bank check of $25 cleared on May
10. I have called no less than fourteen times over the past three months
to ask about my records. Finally, on July 26, I was told that my former
PCP took my medical records with her and I was given a number to call
someone I have never heard of. He appears to be some go-between and I
have no idea why he has anything to do with my private medical records.
After many frustrating conversations with this guy, he finally gave me a
phone number for my former PCP in Virginia. When I talked to her, she
told me her former practice lied, and that she did not take my records.
My current PCP at the practice told me that this mysterious guy owns
the business and to get my medical records I have to talk to this guy
and my former doctor. He says he doesn’t have access to my medical
records. My own doctor does not have access to my medical records! And
then there’s the mysterious fellow who has never seen my records yet
swears the records were sent three times and now tells me today that
they were sent again two days ago overnight. Do I have a lawsuit here? I
have no idea why my medical records are being held hostage. At this
moment, if I need medical care my PCP cannot see my medical history.
This is very serious stuff. Are other people having such serious
problems with medical records in DC? Is this just happening in DC? I
have lived in other states and I have never had this problem.
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The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission adopted the Project Labor
Agreement (PLA) with labor unions to build the new baseball stadium at
its monthly meeting on July 6. The PLA had been negotiated by City
Administrator Robert Bobb on behalf of the Williams administration, and
announced by Mayor Williams at a press conference at RFK Stadium on June
16. The Sports Commission, which is nominally an independent agency,
dutifully ratified the PLA that the mayor handed to it.
However, there is a legal requirement that a due diligence study,
weighing the pros and cons and the economic impact of the PLA, be done
prior to entering into a PLA. That study was never done. After concerns
were publicly raised about the failure to perform the required due
diligence study, City Administrator Robert Bobb and the DC Department of
Employment Services drafted the terms of a request for proposals (RFP)
to do the study, and sent it to the Sports Commission for it to issue.
On August 10, the Commission issued the RFP to hire a consultant do the
due diligence study, and to determine whether it were a good idea to
enter into the deal they have already agreed to. Do you have a clue as
to what conclusion the Commission expects the consultant to come up
with? If you think you can guess, it’s easy money — the RFP is
available on the Commission’s web site at http://www.dcsec.com/businessopps/pdfs/PLA%20Impact.pdf,
and replies are due by August 26.
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Three items on “Play Architect for the Ballpark” [themail, August
10]: 1) Does themail have any disclosure policy regarding conflicts of
interest? I don’t know whether Walker Marchant, Ms. Khorakiwala’s
employer, retains the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission as a
client. But it would be interesting to know. The reason I ask is,
themail is such a terrific forum that I would hate to see it overrun
with uninformative PR schlock. Like I said, I don’t know whether
Walker Marchant counts DCSEC among its clients. But this post is unique
among themail items for its uninformative cheerleading, and seems
suspect because of that. If you don’t have a disclosure policy, having
one could help ensure the integrity of the forum, whether this posting
has conflicts or not. 2) Does themail ever ask would-be posters to
clarify issues and explain in further detail before you post the items?
The reason I ask this is, Ms. Khorakiwala never explains how and to what
extent any input DCSEC gets from fans through this web site would be
incorporated into the design. Whether the input will be used is critical
to my evaluation of the web site, but that information is missing. We
can drum up any number of scenarios where the input falls down the
memory hole, what with conflicts with architectural planning, etc. Some
sense of how this input will be used, please. 3) Have those questions
masked my contempt for what appears to me to be a web site which, in the
wake of DCSEC railroading Washingtonians into a sweetheart deal for MLB,
appears to be just another ill-conceived PR stunt? If not, well, now it’s
unmasked.
[The DC Sports and Entertainment Commission is giving citizens the
ability to play out a fantasy, to pretend to be a ballpark architect,
knowing that whatever we do or say will have no influence on the final
decision. How does this differ from the ballpark siting hearings, when
the Commission let citizens blow off steam to no effect, except that at
the hearings the Commissioners pretended to listen to citizens and to
take their views into account? — Gary Imhoff]
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About the Math Tests
Margaret Feldman, mfeldman@aol.com
The last issue of themail [August 10] had some comments about the new
math programs [approved for DC public schools]. One of my sons (Larry
Feldman) is a professor of math and teaches students at Indiana
University of Pennsylvania to become math teachers. I asked him how he
evaluated the programs that were mentioned in themail. Here is his
answer: “I like the programs this person is complaining about. These
were on the 1990’s list of promising and exemplary programs from the
US Department of Education. They have a good focus on problem solving
and applications as opposed to just rote computation. This is part of
the conservative reactions to modernizing math teaching.”
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National Capital Medical Center
Greg Rhett, DC Federation of Civic Associations, jrhett3009@aol.com
[Re: Eric Rosenthal and Martha Ross, themail, August 10] We share our
opponent’s ultimate desire to improve the health status of all
District residents. The primary question seems to be prioritizing our
medical services options and alternatives and implementing a plan that
is financially feasible. The DC Federation of Civic Associations has
consistently stated that the District needs to address the glaring
disparities in the location of, and access to all medical services. This
is the foundation of our advocacy for the NCMC at Reservation 13. We
have never underestimated the importance of primary and preventive
medicine, but we continue to be concerned that Dr. Rosenthal and Ms.
Ross are misinterpreting our position and missing the point. Frankly, we
object to both writers’ efforts to frame this discussion as an
either/or situation. They would have us believe that we must make a
choice: a Reservation 13 entity that provides a full range of medical
services or focus only on providing primary care. Our position is that
the District can and must do both; and we ought to do both because both
are necessary in their own ways. But, first, the glaring gaps and
disparities in access to quality health care must be closed. By
advancing the NCMC proposal and contracting with the DC Primary Care
Association to implement the Medical Homes Initiative, which addresses
exactly what both writers claim is necessary; we believe the District is
on the right track for closing these disparities.
We respectfully disagree with Ms. Ross’ contention that good
primary care will eradicate the need for critical and intensive medical
services, and that therefore, the NCMC is unnecessary. That contention
is idealistic, at best. We respectfully disagree with Dr. Rosenthal’s
conclusion that the District has too many trauma centers concentrated in
our region, that this is an inefficiency that decreases the quality of
patient care, and that therefore the NCMC is unnecessary. If we follow
both Dr. Rosenthal’s and Ms. Ross’ logic to its final conclusion;
then perhaps they should be advocating the closure of all but two of the
hospitals located west of North Capital Street, NE. Why start and stop
with the proposed NCMC? Perhaps they have compelling but as yet unstated
arguments for maintaining the current inequitable distribution of
medical facilities and services.
The Federation’s position remains that the current distribution of
hospital beds should be reconfigured so that an adequate number of
hospital beds will be made available at the proposed NCMC on Reservation
13. We believe that a tertiary care facility and a high level trauma
unit should be integral to the plans for the NCMC. The NCMC can
potentially provide the necessary high quality outpatient health care
and reduce avoidable hospitalizations. We agree with Ms. Ross in her
assertion that something is terribly wrong with the current District
health care system. That “wrong” is the clear disparity in the
current distribution and access configuration of vital medical services.
The data that she shared clearly makes the case for the necessity of
building and locating the NCMC on Reservation 13.
Finally, may we suggest that perhaps the NCMC opponents should
collaborate with us to organize a public citizens debate on this most
important subject? This would allow us to “pull back the curtain,”
as Councilmember Catania likes to say; and see exactly who are these
District citizens that believe so strongly that it is fair and equitable
to locate the vast majority of our tertiary care facilities west of
North Capitol Street, NE. Perhaps they will agree to publicly and openly
present their arguments before a body of fellow District residents. We
are prepared to do the same.
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Don’t Want to Disillusion Anyone
Katherine Howard, katherinejanhow@aol.com
But, in my opinion, the idea of working with Howard University on a
medical center is as good as the planning and execution of the National
Grand Prix of Washington, DC. Remember that, folks?
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I have avidly followed this debate, and appreciate Mr. Rosenthal’s
writings. In my weblog, I wrote that plans for the NCMC are “another
example of planning without asking the most important questions before
coming up with the solution.” (This reminds me of my joke about
Congress — “Oh your foot hurts? We know what to do, we’ll cut off
your leg.”) That question should be: how can we best assist residents
of the District of Columbia in being safe and secure (and able to be
assisted when needed) in terms of health, wellness, and health care?
That is the question that needs to be answered, and a system developed
in response to the goals and objectives that get developed out of that
question.
Most DC hospitals lose money. So does the Prince George’s County
Hospital, which should be thought of as a DC hospital in some respects.
Many people use emergency rooms as their primary health care facility.
Yet that is an inefficient, ineffective, and expensive way to obtain
health care. Wellness care is different from the care needed when people
are very sick. Health insurance programs were created not to ensure
health, but to provide regularized income streams to hospitals during
the Depression. Pandering won’t make people feel better if they are
sick, although they might feel better politically. In any case, shouldn’t
we really take this opportunity to address the real question, and come
up with answers that truly solve the problems?
Having the solution before the problem is really defined seems to be
happening almost categorically across the board in many other areas of
civic concern — the K-12 educational system, the library system,
"economic development" generally, selling off District
government properties, etc. This is but one more example. I fear that
the whole idea of Reinventing Government has fallen by the wayside. We
have the opportunity to do so many great things in this city, despite
the other 536 mayors we have to worry about like Mayors Bonilla and
Hutchinson, and all too frequently we blow the opportunity. The NCMC
proposal may well be but one more example of a lost opportunity to
rethink and refashion health and wellness services to be world class
best practice. For some out of the box mayoral thinking, check out these
profiles of Jaime Lerner (http://www.sb05.com/plenary/Lerner.html)
and Enrique Penalosa (http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/epenalosa).
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HIV v. Terrorism
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo dot com
Terrorism may well kill more in DC than HIV. One Iranian nuke sold or
given to Al Queda and sent up the Potomac on a tramp steamer could very
well kill us all. This is not to minimize the incompetence of the DC
government’s financial management system, but to add a bit of
perspective.
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This is to advise that the August 2005 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 September 9
(the second Friday of the month, as always). 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) “Historic Preservation Board
Wrestles With Controversial Project at Mt. Vernon Square”; 2)
“Preservation Board’s July Cases Especially Complex — Necessitated
Continuation to August 4 Hearing”; 3) “Next Month’s Adams Morgan
Day Festival to Build on Last Year’s Success-Dance Performances Now
Added”; 4) “Adams Morgan Essay: Part 1 — Four O’Clock in the
A.M. Friday. June 10, 2005.”
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Twenty Ways to Make DC’s New Baseball
Stadium Stand Out
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
DC’s protracted heat wave has taken its toll on NARPAC’s
customary analytical perspectives. We were fascinated to learn from the Post
that DC’s single chosen stadium architect has been asked to design a
"signature" structure that looks nothing like any of his
previous works, and that he has no particular familiarity with the
nation’s only capital city. Surely this is an opportunity for free,
unsolicited advice too good to miss! Our August update offers twenty
different and distinctive motifs that could give the stadium a unique
capital flavor. Take a look at our less than professional cartoons at http://www.narpac.org/PWSTADIUM.HTM
and put your own overheated imaginations and pencils to work. We’ll
publish anything (decent) you lurkers offer up.
And if you like summer puzzles, figure out why Congress is about to
make an important contribution to the District of two hundred acres of
underutilized/surplus federal property for the city’s economic
development, but insists that fifteen prime acres of it be used for a
nonprofit school. A new SEED school can also make an important
contribution to DC’s future welfare, but why not extend the theme by
insisting that it be put on underutilized/surplus DCPS property? In our
editorial at www.narpac.org/INTHOM.HTM#EDITORIAL,
we wonder if DC leaders dropped the ball.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Support Good Groceries on H Street, August 31
Krissi Jimroglou, kjimroglou@yahoo.com
Members of the H Street Community Market invite you to a forum on our
efforts to form a cooperative grocery store in the H Street
neighborhood. Sherwood Recreation Center, 10th and G Streets, NE,
Wednesday, August 31, 7:30 p.m. We’ll talk about our vision for
bringing high quality, healthy food to the neighborhood at a reasonable
cost and discuss our short and long term goals. Together, we can build a
healthy H Street community! Check us out at http://www.hstcommunitymarket.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Bicyclists: a master bedroom with king bed and bath, overlooking the
park. $500 per person for a couple (preferred) or $650 single to share a
three bedroom, two bath SFH overlooking Rock Creek Park with one other
woman over forty and a small dog. Term is September 14-June 15. Can
extend couple weeks on either end, but need someone for entire time.
Third bedroom will remain a study/guest bedroom shared by both or all.
The 16th Street Metro buses come more frequently than Metrorail and
cost far less. Put your bike on the bus any time. Ride the Rock Creek
bike path to Woodley Park, Georgetown, the Mall. Or ride to the
Metrorail Red line (Takoma) or Green line (Petworth or Columbia Heights)
in less than two minutes. Neighborhood is safe and pleasant.
We are looking for a couple or person who practices reduce, reuse,
recycle, and other resource-conserving strategies. Must be willing to
share housework and yard maintenance. Prefer vegetarian, as existing
housemate is vegan. Prefer someone who likes dogs and willing to take a
turn at walking lovable pooch with personality. House has central air
conditioning, dishwasher, washer-dryer, front porch, backyard deck, low
E light bulbs, hardwood floors, loads of houseplants, nice views of the
park, great neighbors, and some basement storage space. Deer visit
frequently. Call 547-7820 or E-mail.
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