Deals

Dear Dealers:

Everybody knows that Councilmember Kathleen Patterson doesn’t trade or sell her vote. We know that because she assures us that it is so. Therefore, it is merely a remarkable, extraordinary coincidence that after she announced her support for the stadium boondoggle, Mayor Anthony Williams and gambling promoter and Major League Baseball lobbyist John Ray joined together to sponsor a major league fundraiser to finance her campaign for the Democratic nomination as city council chairman. No fair-minded person would suggest that this is simply the down payment on what will be a continuing payoff throughout the campaign for her switch in position.

Luckily, I don’t confuse being fair-minded with being a naive idiot. Neither does Colbert King, whose scorn for “How the Game Gets Played in DC” made his Saturday column on Ray’s and Williams’s fundraiser for Patterson a classic (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/20/AR2006012001635.html). On Friday morning, Patterson’s campaign manager, Eric Marshall, told Dorothy that she could cover the Monday fundraiser by attending it; by Friday evening, he called to say that she would not be allowed to attend, and that the campaign would not release the guest or donor list. He said the event was private and closed, and that Patterson had no input into or control over how her own fundraiser was being run. When Dorothy replied that she would just stand outside the building to see who attended, and that the campaign would have to report all its donations to the Office of Campaign Finance by January 31 anyway, Marshall accused her of threatening him.

It’s a disastrous way to begin a campaign, but then this may well be a bad year for any politician who supports costly giveaways to special interests. The voters are watching. Whether it is the stadium gift to Major League Baseball, the questionable financing of the National Capital Medical Center (pass it right away, don’t stop to think, don’t look too closely, certainly don’t go through the Certificate of Need process), or the upcoming sweetheart deals to give developers some of our most valuable school and library real estate, the voters are watching. And this may be a year when voters demand that our politicians preserve our public assets and spend our tax money on things that are in our interest, rather than on favors for their influential friends.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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The Future of DC’s Libraries, Part 2
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

As I wrote in the January 11 issue of themail, the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of the DC Public Library System was reluctant to release the drafts of its executive summary report (29 pages) and its supporting technical report (327 pages) to the public, even though it was holding a series of “public listening sessions” to get comments on those reports. The Task Force eventually did post the reports online (http://www.dclibrary.org), but it is still balking at providing printed copies. Though the report itself says that it should be distributed widely to “boards and administrators of universities and colleges located in the District; boards and administrators of non-profit agencies and organizations that service District residents; members of the business community; Advisory Neighborhood Commissions; labor unions; newspaper, television, radio, and other media outlets; non-profit organizations; and neighborhood and homeowner associations,” the Task Force is refusing to make printed copies available. Excuses for not distributing the report range widely. Vince Morris, press secretary for Mayor Williams, cited the high cost of reproducing the report (even though the Task Force had a budget of over a million dollars, and spent lavishly on travel expenses for its members and to hire consultants) and his belief that there was no great public interest in the report. Monica Lewis, the press officer and marketing director for the DCPL, said that she didn’t want hard copies distributed to reporters because they would then just write their own interpretations of it.

The Task Force met in secret sessions that were closed to the public, even though it was publicly funded and conducting public business. Now it is controlling its “public listening sessions” very closely. John Hill, the chief executive officer of the Federal City Council, who co-chaired the Task Force with Mayor Williams, argues that he wants residents to focus their attention only on the “six key service priorities for the revitalized library system” — basic literacy, best sellers and hot topics, homework help, information literacy, lifelong learning, and public spaces. The Task Force has hired America Speaks, the organization that runs the mayor’s Citizens’ Summits, to run the “public listening sessions,” and at the first session, on January 17 at Washington Highlands Library, the facilitators restricted the few members of the general public who attended (seven at the beginning of the meeting, dwindling to five shortly after the meeting began) to speaking about these six key service areas.

There was no mention at the session of the fact that the reports recommend that the public library system dispose of the landmark Martin Luther King, Jr., central library, an architectural gem designed by Mies Van der Rohe, and that they recommend the complete “overhaul of the branches, with all of them either completely rebuilt or drastically renovated.” On October 18, 2005, the DC Public Library Board of Trustees, chaired by John Hill, terminated the 2004 design/build contract with Hess Construction Company to renovate four branch libraries that have been closed since December 2004 (Anacostia, Benning, Tenley-Friendship, and Shaw). DCPL is now scouting for storefront locations to serve as interim replacements for these branches, and the plans for renovation are on hold, as potential real estate deals for these sites are explored. And at the “public listening sessions” the public is not just discouraged, but forbidden, to comment on these recommendations, arguably the Task Force’s most important and far-reaching ones, or on the library’s real estate interests. The library system is already dedicated to the “six key service priorities,” and it undoubtedly will be serving those priorities in the future. That is not the question. But selling off, disposing of, or relinquishing development rights to much of the valuable real estate owned by the public library system — something greatly desired by many developers and business members of the Federal City Council — is a key question that the Task Force doesn’t want discussed in public.

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A Better Outcome
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

The tragic series of errors that led to the death of the NY Times reporter in northwest DC should have had a better outcome. I can only speculate that had the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad been the first emergency care providers on the scene that the diagnosis would have been properly made, followed by a short drive to a nearby hospital, and no one hour wait with no care in the corridors of Howard University hospital. Mr. Rosenbaum was the victim of a crime followed by a series of events that led to his untimely death.

In the eighteen years I have lived in DC, I have been very familiar with the BCC Rescue Squad and have donated, each year, to that organization. They are a familiar, welcome, sight in northwest DC, and have operated without any complaints (unlike other emergency services provided by the District) in the years that I have lived here. I have a card attached to my new DC drivers license (the one without my social security number) that says, “Medical Emergency — Call BCC Rescue Squad 301-. . . ” The BCC Rescue Squad has outstanding medical technicians on its rescue vehicles, and they don’t get lost finding their destinations. It is unfortunate that they were not at the scene of Mr. Rosenbaum’s robbery.

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Blame the Citizenry First
Paul Wilson, Dcmcrider@gmail.com

Our "blame the citizenry first" government strikes again. I’m talking about the plan to raise residential parking permit fees substantially and limit the number of permits per household. A quick glance around the neighborhood at 4 or 5 in the morning reveals plenty of parking, so at least here (Capitol Hill) legally domiciled and taxpaying DC residents are not the problem. By the way, the rise in permit fees falls disproportionately on the less affluent who live in more modest circumstances and are less likely to have off-street parking.

A few suggestions: 1) encourage visitors and commuters to use public transportation instead of putting the squeeze on residents, who need cars for more than going to work. Many neighborhoods still do not have the quality and variety of retail establishments to permit all our buying to be done locally, within walking distance. 2) Enforce the laws already on the books, particularly targeting freeloaders who drive in and habitually take up spaces in residential zones. Current law limits parking to two hours in the entire ward-based zone, not just an individual space. Presumably there is a high-tech solution to record violator plate numbers and write them up if they’re observed elsewhere in the zone in the same day. Perhaps fines could be increased dramatically for habitual violators.

3) Crack down on bogus reciprocity stickers and “visitors” passes. The system is rife with abuse and is used by many to avoid registering their out-of-state vehicles in DC. 4) Encourage motorcycle and scooter use. You can pack at least five motorcycles or scooters into the space taken up by one car. 5) Extend the two-hour residential parking zone limit to include weeknights and weekends. I’m at a loss to explain why suburban churchgoers and bar-hoppers are entitled to more than two hours of free parking in the neighborhood.

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The Kiss of Death
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Mayor Williams’s hosting a fundraiser for Kathy Patterson might just be the kiss of death for Patterson’s run for chairperson of the city council. It may appear that Patterson has sold her vote on the baseball stadium to Williams, but that is not really very likely. Kathy Patterson makes up her own mind on all issues based on the best information and her own judgment. The real problem that Patterson faces is that the majority of voters in DC don’t want the baseball stadium. The majority of District residents are not baseball fans and traditionally don’t go to Major League baseball games. If the stadium is eventually voted in by the city council, the result will be votes against those council persons who support the stadium in the elections this fall. Let’s face it, Tony Williams has no love for Kathy Patterson, and this fundraiser might just be the hug and kiss one gets from the other Tony (Soprano) before he whacks you.

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Inappropriate Choice for Stadium Lease Mediator
Shawn McCarthy, shawn@essential.org

As reported by the Washington Post on January 18 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701476.html), “Former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer, a longtime political ally of DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams’s, was selected yesterday to mediate a dispute between the District government and Major League Baseball over the stalled agreement to build a new stadium. Archer, 64, was in town yesterday for an initial meeting between Williams and representatives from the Washington Nationals and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission.”

Archer has a background in Detroit of being excessively pro business, with a particular fondness for corporate subsidies. This, along with his relationship with Mayor Williams, makes Archer a wholly inappropriate choice for mediator. In addition, like Williams, Archer has a history with stadium battles. The following excerpt is from the book, Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit, by Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause. Common Courage Press, 1998: “In March 1996, [Detroit Tigers owner Mike] Ilitch and [Detroit] Mayor Dennis Archer (who was elected to succeed Coleman Young in 1992) went after the ban on city funding [for a new ballpark, which became law through public referendum in 1992, by a 2-1 margin] that had been the [Tiger Stadium] Fan Club’s greatest victory, staging a public referendum to reverse the results of the earlier vote. The Fan Club raised about $20,000 to promote the continued ban; the city spent over $600,000 [to promote the reversal of the ban]. Archer, remembers [Fan Club founding member Frank] Rashid, was on television nearly nonstop during the weeks leading up to the vote, ‘every half hour on the half hour, with glossy fancy ads telling us basically all the lies, about how the stadium was going to bring jobs, going to improve schools and police protection.’

“Archer’s allies also raised for the first time something that had not been a major issue in the fight over Tiger Stadium: race. The city politicians behind the stadium push were, like 85 percent of Detroit, overwhelmingly African-American; the Fan Club was predominantly white. Organized baseball has long been one of the worst sports at reaching out to people of color, dating back to the days of segregated Negro Leagues and continuing to the present day. (One survey found that just 4.8 percent of fans in attendance at baseball games in 1995 were African-American, down from 9.8 percent just six year earlier.) Since the Fan Club had made a conscious decision to recruit its membership from Tiger fans, they were left with a membership that was largely, though by no means entirely, white in a majority-minority city.

“Archer and his allies in the black political establishment quickly seized upon race as a wedge to drive between the Fan Club and the black electorate. The Michigan Chronicle, a local African-American business newspaper, ran a front-page story on [Fan Club member] Bill Dow headlined ‘Stadium critic lives in suburbs,’ the story alluding to ‘heavy-handed suburban influence’ in the upcoming elections. The Fan Club leaders countered that all of its founding members and a majority of its executive committee were from the city, and pointed out that neither Ilitch nor his top aides lived in Detroit. But their arguments fell on deaf ears: ‘They want us to renovate the old Tiger Stadium, yet when those in the suburbs build, they build new,’ wrote V. Lonnie Peek in a Chronicle op-ed. ‘Detroit deserves a new stadium, not a renovated old one.’

“The city funding ban fell by a more than 4-1 margin. Soon afterward, the Detroit Lions announced that they, too, would be moving back downtown to play in a separate football stadium to be built at public expense.” Archer’s efforts led to the opening of Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers in 2000 at a cost of $290 million ($145 million in public subsidies), and Ford Field for the Detroit Lions in 2002 at a cost of $300 million ($95 million in public subsidies). Tiger Stadium, which opened in 1912 — the same year as Fenway Park in Boston — still stands and is listed as an "Endangered Place" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For further information and news updates on sports stadiums and corporate welfare, visit the Field of Schemes web site at http://www.fieldofschemes.com.

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Woodley Park Historic District Brochure Available
Bruce A. Yarnall, bruce.yarnall@dc.gov

The Woodley Park Historic District brochure, one in a series of historic district brochures published by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office, is currently available in print format. The twenty-four-page brochure outlines the history and architecture of one of Washington’s commuter suburbs consisting of former country estates, semidetached houses, apartment buildings, and row houses.

The district is significant for its varied architecture, consisting of approximately 395 contributing structures featuring the work of notable architects such as George Santmyers, Albert Beers, William Allard, and Mihran Mesrobian, and for its contribution to our understanding of development patterns in Washington, DC. The district was designated by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board and added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service in 1990.

The brochure was researched and written by Gregory J. Alexander and Paul K. Williams of Kelsey & Associates, Inc., with special assistance from the Woodley Park Community Association. The brochure was also funded with the assistance of a matching grant from the US Department of Interior, National Park Service, through the DC Historic Preservation Office. Individual copies of the Woodley Park Historic District brochure may be obtained by calling 442-8835 or sending an e-mail message to historic.preservation@dc.gov. The brochure is also available in PDF format at the Office of Planning/Historic Preservation Office web site at http://planning.dc.gov/preservation.

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This Old House in Washington
Richard Rogers, rrwashingtondc@verizon.net

Scheduled to air on PBS in mid-February on This Old House is the renovation of 1134 Sixth Street, NW. Currently a webcam and several pages are on the web site already: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tvprograms/houseproject/overview/0,16542,1142371,00.html. Check it out.

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Living La Vida Loca with Jonathan R. Rees
Jonathan R. Rees, Jrrees@dc2006.net

If anybody thinks that modern day politics is boring and that candidates don’t have anything to offer or say worth listening to, then do what I have and run for DC City Council. When I announced back in August 2005 that I was running for DC City Council Ward 3 by placing little postings around the Internet, it just took a few days before the nut jobs of DC came crawling out of the woodwork.

Let’s see now, I have been accused so far of: 1) killing a former wife; 2) having children in numerous countries I have not admitted to; 3) being judicially determined as mentally ill and dangerous; 4) one of the people involved in some big Brink’s job but never caught; 5) having a multiple personality disorder where I am my wife, me, and my children, which Prozac has not cured; 6) that a DC Superior Court judge committed me to St. Elizabeth Hospital but they refused to accept me out of fear that I would upset the other patients; 7) having broken into the DC Board of Elections and Ethics offices and stolen the voter registration rolls; 8) working for the Bush Administration to help spy on people; 9) a convicted pedophile; 10) and a lot more.

If anybody out there has some money to spare, would they be so kind as to go out and buy me a couple of tee-shirts with a bull’s-eye on it, as that is surely something we politicians now a days need to wear. Indeed politics today in DC is not boring at all. Try it; you’ll learn things about your past nobody else seems to know, not even the CIA.

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Left, Right, and Center Have Nothing to Do With It
Mike Livingston, mlivingston@greens.org

Jonathan R. Rees writes [themail, January 18] that the city council is “out of step with America" (admittedly, the council doesn’t torture prisoners or wage unfounded wars) and that the council’s unspecified liberalism is the "proximate cause of why our government fell apart economically, why our taxes are almost the highest in the nation, why people are leaving and businesses are also leaving or don’t incorporate here.” No, it’s not. The DC government’s fiscal policy is of no consequence at all as long as the colony is ultimately governed by representatives of the people who don’t live there. Only when the District has control over its own tax revenues and the power to enact legislation that isn’t subject to review and rescission by an unaccountable external power will its local government deserve any blame or credit for anything that goes wrong or right. If Rees wanted anything in the District to change, he would be arguing for the sine qua non of any lasting change: statehood.

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Comcastic
Carl Mintz, carl.mintz2@verizon.net

[Re: “Comcastic,” themail, January 18] I had the same problem forwarding fsgw.org E-mail to Verizon last spring. However, unlike Comcast, Verizon has a section to investigate and deal with it, and we were put on their whitelist. You might want to let Comcast know that one of their competitors will help if they do not.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Protest the MLB Fundraiser for Councilmember Patterson, January 23
Mary C. Williams, MsLaw1121@aol.com

DC residents are calling on Ward 3 Councilmember Kathleen Patterson to cancel her Monday morning campaign fundraiser that is being sponsored by Mayor Anthony Williams and the top local lobbyist for Major League Baseball, or recuse herself during the upcoming vote on the lease agreement for the new baseball stadium. Patterson’s fundraiser is scheduled for Monday, January 23, 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. at the offices of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, 700 12th Street, NW. Contributors are being asked to give $250 to $1,500 to Patterson’s campaign for Council chairman.

A Better Deal 4 DC, a grassroots group opposed to the public financing of a new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals, plans to protest outside the offices of MLB lobbyist John Ray, of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, prior to the start of the fundraising breakfast. The group hops to raise public awareness of the appearance of impropriety surrounding this controversial baseball deal. [The complete press release is at http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/sports060122.htm.]

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Should Metro Extend the Yellow Line?, January 23
Scott Pomeroy, pxleyes@bellatlantic.net

Riders have suggested extending the Yellow Line to Greenbelt as a way to ease crowding and to bring trains more often to the growing areas of Petworth, Columbia Heights, U Street, and Shaw. What’s your opinion? Attend the first community meeting on extending the Yellow Line on Monday, January 23, at 7 p.m., at the DC Housing Finance Agency, 815 Florida Avenue, NW, Auditorium (U Street/Cardozo Metro),

Councilmember Jim Graham, WMATA Incoming CEO Dan Tangherlini, Board Member Gladys Mack, several ANC commissioners, and the leaders of the Mid-City Business Association are scheduled to attend. WMATA will be presenting findings and analysis regarding several extension options.

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Adams Morgan Heritage Trail Walk and Unveiling, January 28
Laura Brower, LBrower@CulturalTourismDC.org

Cultural Tourism DC’s self-guided visit, Roads to Diversity: Adams Morgan Heritage Trail, comprises eighteen attractive, poster-sized street signs. The permanent panels combine storytelling and photography, and come with a free English- or Spanish-language guide. The official unveiling and inaugural trail walk take place Saturday, January 28, from 1 to 5 p.m. Mayor Anthony Williams and Councilmember Jim Graham will join Cultural Tourism DC (CTdc) and the Adams Morgan Heritage Trail Working Group at The Potter’s House (1658 Columbia Road, NW) for the 1 p.m. formal ceremony (simultaneous Spanish translation will be available). CTdc will also announce plans for its outreach program to DC’s Latino communities.

Metro area residents and visitors are then invited to participate in step back into history on the Adams Morgan Heritage Trail Walk until 5 p.m. Between trail signs, walkers can warm up at twelve local businesses and organizations offering free hot drinks, snacks, and shopping deals. Participants should stop at The Potter’s House first to pick up the trail brochure and map. Trail signs are located on wheelchair-accessible sidewalks. RSVP’s are required for the formal unveiling at reply@CulturalTourism or 661-7581, but not the trail walk.

Washington’s fifth Heritage Trail starts at 16th Street and Florida Avenue, NW. The two-hour self-guided tour then proceeds up 16th Street and winds through Kalorama Road and Columbia Road, before ending on 18th Street. Walkers can begin their visit at any point along the route. Free English- and Spanish-language guides will be available at The Potter’s House starting at 1 p.m. on January 28. They are also available as downloadable PDFs or may be ordered for $5 shipping and handling (per guide) at http://www.CulturalTourismDC.org.

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Cleveland Park Citizens Association Meeting, February 4
George Idelson, gidelson@verizon.net

The Cleveland Park Citizens Association will meet on Saturday, February 4, at 10:15 a.m. at the Cleveland Park Library, to discuss crime, safety, and emergency response issues. Speakers include Phil Mendelson, at-large councilmember and chair, Judiciary Committee; Mark Seagraves, WTOP reporter; and Ann Renshaw, 1st Vice President, DC Federation of Citizens Associations, plus representatives from the Police Department and 911 Dispatch Office. Also on the agenda: the proposed ROMP playground improvement on Macomb Street and a vote on the BB&T Bank application for a Special Exception.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Electrician
H.E. Foster, Incanato@earthlink.net

We need a DC-bonded electrician to trace some wires and internal power lines between two single-family homes here in the District. Please E-mail or call 210-5777.

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To Network or Not to Network
Paul Penniman, paul@mathteachingtoday.com

I am now a mostly satisfied RCN subscriber, a refugee from Verizon’s horrible service. My two computers communicate wirelessly on the top floor of my rowhouse with no problem, but there is a third in the basement that can’t pick up the signal. This basement computer sits right next to a TV which has an RCN cable connection, so all we need to do is use a splitter and another modem and hook up the computer. But RCN says they will charge us $30-40/month for using this extra modem, even our own.

Any suggestions beyond just asking the guy in the basement to get his own DSL connection?

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