Listening
Dear Speakers:
The Washington Post’s Marc Fisher attended one of the
library task force’s “listening sessions,” and he wasn’t fooled
for a minute: “The DC library’s trustees have hit upon a device used
by suburban officials to shield themselves from the voices of the people
during development battles. They spent $20,000 to hire a consulting firm
to replace old-fashioned public hearings with glitzy, streamlined
exercises dubbed ‘listening sessions.’ Over the past couple of
weeks, listening sessions, conducted in corporate-speak, have been
staged at several District libraries. They are depressing, deflating
experiences. . . . But in the new consultant-driven process,
politicians use public dollars to avoid interaction with the public when
it matters most. Small groups, billed as a way to make democracy more
intimate, instead prevent dissenting voices from hearing one another.
Result: the views that emerge from listening sessions magically agree
with the government’s agenda.” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/22/AR2006022202298.html]
Fisher and I disagree about the desirability of the task force’s
plans. He supports them. He writes: “[Library task force
chairman and Federal City Council executive director John] Hill makes a
powerful argument for a new central library, and the system desperately
needs to capitalize on its real estate holdings by teaming up with
developers on projects that will serve the reading public and bolster
the city’s finances.” I, on the other hand, see the task force’s
plans as part of a wider plan for the city to give some of its most
valuable assets to well-connected players. Both the library and school
"revitalization plans" are developer-driven land grabs, in
which the city will give its most valuable and best located library and
school properties to favored developers in exchange for minimal public
returns -- branch libraries reduced from freestanding community centers
to single floors or a few rooms in office or apartment buildings, the
central library robbed of the architectural landmark that houses it and
moved into a corner of a massive downtown development financed by
massive taxpayer subsidies. (I’d love to know which politically
connected developer’s pet project is really behind the mayor’s
single-minded fixation on destroying the MLK building, instead of
redeveloping it into a model library along the lines of the American
Institute of Architects’ visionary plan.)
In other cities, some wealthy people are celebrated as
philanthropists because they give large amounts of money to help finance
underfunded public needs, like libraries and schools. In DC, we do it
the other way around: we celebrate some of our wealthiest people as
public benefactors because they graciously condescend to accept public
money, land, and assets from us. But Fisher and I agree on this
transparently dishonest, manipulative “listening” process. They aren’t
listening. They know their conclusions; that’s all they want to hear;
and they aren’t interested in hearing anything else.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Mayor recently submitted a document [“National Capital Medical
Center Report to the Council of the District of Columbia,” http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/health060220.htm]
responding to a list of questions from Councilmember Catania. While
there is much to digest in that document, my attention was drawn to one
comment that raises more questions than it answers:
“The District and Howard believe that the NCMC will be a national
healthcare model that will attract contributions from third parties.
Under the Grant Agreement, contributions from third parties may be used
to offset NCMC capital costs and will be equally credited to each party’s
share of the Project Costs. It is premature to identify any third
parties at this time.”
If I read this correctly, this means that the city and Howard expect
to pay for the NCMC through donations by as yet unidentified
contributors. The obvious questions are who, for example (just types --
rich philanthropists, foundations, corporations?), how much, and what do
they get in return (naming rights?). I understand that non-profits
(including universities) often go ahead with major capital projects with
the expectation that they can raise the funds as the project progresses.
But for the District government to adopt this “fundraise as we go
along” model is bad public finance and bad health policy. Just one
more of the myriad of questions that seem to continue to pile up about
this project.
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Members of Citizens for the National Capital Medical Center, made up
of Williams administration officials, Councilmember Vincent Gray, the
Walker Marchant Group public relations firm and others, continue to
write to themail about the proposed hospital (see Councilmember Gray’s
recent post at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/06-02-15.htm#gray,
for example). However, they cannot explain why the proposed medical
center is needed. Here are some questions they have yet to answer: 1) is
there evidence that any group of people in Washington is not getting the
kind of medical care the National Capital Medical Center would offer,
specifically trauma care, emergency care or acute hospital care? 2) Is
there evidence that any group of Washingtonians would be healthier if
the National Capital Medical Center were built? 3) How would the
National Capital Medical Center affect Greater Southeast Community
Hospital, Howard University Hospital and other hospitals? Would any of
them be forced to close?
4) What are the projected operating deficits for the National Capital
Medical Center and how would they be funded? Who would pay any cost
overruns or operating deficits in excess of what the city projects? 5)
How would the National Capital Medical Center affect DC’s rapidly
growing Medicaid expenditures, especially as the federal government cuts
its contributions? 6) Why does the city refuse to commit the National
Capital Medical Center to a specific level of care for poor DC residents
with no health insurance in exchange for the hundreds of millions of
public dollars it would cost?
I hope Citizens for a National Capital Medical Center will start to
offer evidence about why they think a new hospital is needed. If they
have none, we should begin a serious process to figure out how to meet
our tremendous health care needs, something the National Capital Medical
Center would not do. The stakes are too high — health and lives — to
continue politics as usual.
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The Children of Entitlement
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees@peoplepc.com
In my quest to be elected as the next Ward 3 council person, I have
had to attend events city wide and, in this respect, I was a bit
surprised to listen to people living on the other side of the city and
having to hear their views about the people of Ward 3 as it concerns our
government. What I have been hearing has been a bit of a shock. The most
common things said have been: 1) the people of Ward 3 are snobs; 2) the
people of Ward 3 are behind the un-admitted-to gentrification of the
city; 3) the people of Ward 3 don’t care about those who are less
fortunate and, when they say they do, it is very superficial; 4) the
people of Ward 3 should not get any tax breaks as they don’t need it;
5) the people of Ward 3 caused the poverty in the other parts of the
city; 6) the people of Ward 3 should move into Montgomery County, as
they do not pull their weight; and other statements in which hostility
for Ward 3 is loud and clear. Then I had to hear that Mayor Williams
took away so much from the poor and gave to the rich of Ward 3, and the
people of Ward 3 should pay for this when the political winds shift.
Of course many in Ward 3 may find this hard to believe, but how many
Ward 3 residents go to the other side of town and sit down and talk to
people there? Probably not that many, unless their jobs requires it.
What goes through my mind is, how many people over in Wards 1, 4, 5, 6,
7m and 8 hold these feelings of hostility for the people of Ward 3, whom
many think have lived the good life at the expense of everybody else. Is
this why members of our city council have been running often in
different directions on so many issues known and unknown to the public?
I wonder if in 2007 when we have at least four to five new faces on
our city council, will we see the anger for the policies of Mayor
Williams and for Ward 3 residents manifest itself in the type of
legislation that will come down the pipes from members of the city
council from those wards where people have taken the brunt of Mayor
Williams and our current city council; or will we just hear the angry
words still in the downwinds?
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CFO Gandhi’s Non-Response to Nader on
Stadium Cap
Shawn McCarthy, shawn@essential.org
On February 15, Ralph Nader wrote to District Chief Financial Officer
Natwar Gandhi, requesting that he “. . . release a statement
immediately either verifying to the people of the District that the
$610.8 million cap on city spending for the new baseball stadium is a
true, ironclad cap, with no loopholes, or an explanation as to why it is
not.” In addition, Nader requested Dr. Gandhi’s “. . . opinion on
what the impact of issuing bonds for this stadium would be on the city’s
ability to raise funds on Wall Street for District needs” [http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/sports060215.htm].
Dr. Gandhi’s February 21 reply to Nader (salutation, greeting, and
closing removed): “As I stated in my letter dated February 13, 2006 to
Chairman Linda W. Cropp, I am prepared to move forward with the stadium
bond financing if (1) the Mayor signs the legislation; and (2) by close
of business on March 6, 2006, Major League Baseball and the Sports and
Entertainment Commission acknowledge and accept in writing the terms
stated in the Act such that I can provide the required certification to
Council regarding the sources available for overruns of the $300 million
hard cost cap and the $175 million soft cost cap. I appreciate your
concern about the District’s debt position. I will continue to work
with Mayor and Council to keep future borrowing at manageable levels
given the resources available to pay for debt service.”
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[Re: “Standing,” Larry Seftor, themail, February 22] Regardless
of the definition of the word, for my money Ralph Nader has standing in
DC, or anywhere in the nation for that matter, on the basis of the
service he has provided for many years for the good of the nation. I can’t
think of anyone whose opinion and input would be more valuable in making
local decisions.
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In reading the posts on providing free parking spaces to rental car
companies it seems to me that the District has some homework to do at
the end of this test period. Specifically, what if an “old business
model” company like Hertz or Enterprise decides to compete with Zip or
Flex car? Will the District say no, you cannot have free parking spots?
What will they do if one of those companies offers to pay for the spots,
just as Zip and Flex are currently paying private property owners
monthly fees for spots on private property?
At the end of the test period, the District should insist on seeing
what kind of revenue has been generated by each parking spot/car. That
has to be available because Zip and Flex car companies have to know
where there cars are at any given point in time, when they are rented
and for how much. It’s all in the computer. Also, the District should
insist on an independent survey of all users of Flex and Zip cars to
determine how many gave up personal cars during the test period. Again,
contact information for all users will be in the computer and if Flex
and Zip really believe the data behind their statements that customers
give up their personal autos when convenient neighborhood rental options
are available, then these companies should welcome such a study.
I realize that this is asking a lot because we would be asking the
same department (DDOT) and people that executed the original agreement
with little or no consultation with residents and elected officials, and
the government that negotiated our great stadium deal. But hope springs
eternal!
###############
Zip
Gabe Klein, Regional Vice President, Zipcar, gklein@zipcar.com
I left a very important point out of my earlier submission. People
are questioning DDOT’s contribution of 86 parking spaces currently to
the carsharing program (I believe there are over two hundred thousand
spaces citywide; needs to be fact checked). An important part of this
program for DDOT is in providing all eight wards with carsharing access,
even though the density of population would not necessarily justify it
within our existing business models (ramp time is significant, and both
companies are small in relative terms). Metro also shares these goals.
Both carsharing companies are sacrificing to do this, but it is offset
obviously by higher visibility and safer parking for our members
everywhere. I am really proud of both of these programs for pushing us
to create a regional carsharing system that serves people in various
geographies and of varying financial means.
Also, someone made an important point about residential parking
permit spaces and the $15 fee per year for a permit. I happen to know
someone (who will remain unnamed) who lives in Adams Morgan and has a
car that has not run in six months. The car is sitting in a space with
an RPP sticker and has not moved in this time and has not been ticketed
either. I think this is one of the real problems that people do not want
to talk about, not the thirteen thousand plus Zipcar members sharing 230
cars in the region (50-60 per car).
Someone else asked about precedent, and there is precedent across the
river in Arlington, Alexandria, Portland, but also all over the world.
In parts of Canada, they give RPP spaces, and hundreds of them in some
cities at the demand of the residents. In terms of rental car being a
better deal for a daily rental . . . exactly. We are designed for short
term-round trip use. Very simple, self service, automated, and designed
for businesses and residents to gain access to a car easily, safely,
within a short distance, as if it was their own car, or fleet vehicle.
Just so everyone knows, rental car is not our competitor, we even give
discounts at Enterprise for our members for longer trips. Our competitor
is car ownership, plain and simple. I think everyone knows that we can’t
keep adding one car per person on our city streets as we grow. Dan
Tangherlini recently said “If 150,000 residents move into the city
over the next ten years according to the mayors plan, and they all bring
a car, I am out of a job.” Well, he is at Metro now, but the point
stands, I think.
###############
Clarification
Vincent S. Morris, Director of Communications, vincent.morris@dc.gov
Because of miscommunication, I incorrectly wrote that the New Capitol
Park Plaza Tenants Association participated in meetings on the mayor’s
rent control legislation. The mayor’s office met with NCPPTA
previously on rental housing conversion but has not yet met with this
group on our new initiative. As usual, we welcome input from all groups
and individuals and hope that reforming rent control laws to eliminate
the stranglehold that some wealthy renters have on apartments in this
city will help low and moderate income renters find more housing
options.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
NAMIC Mid-Atlantic, February 28
Dorinda White, dorinda@rindimedia.com
NAMIC (National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications)
Mid-Atlantic is pleased to announce its first general body meeting of
2006 on Tuesday, February 28, at 6:30 p.m. at TV One Headquarters, 1010
Wayne Avenue, 10th Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Refreshments will be
served. As the recent recipient of NAMIC’s "Rising Star"
award among chapters across the US, the Mid-Atlantic Chapter has
sponsored many networking and career enhancement events geared toward
promoting leadership, opportunities and advocating for diversity within
the communications industry. NAMIC Mid-Atlantic is hosting this general
body meeting to inform members and nonmembers of upcoming activities,
events, and opportunities that may be of interest to those looking to
advance within the cable and telecommunications industries. Please join
us this Tuesday and find out more about us at http://www.namic.com.
E-mail Dorinda White, President of NAMIC Mid-Atlantic, if you have any
questions at dorinda@rindimedia.com.
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National Building Museum Events, March 1, 2, 4
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
All events except Construction Watch Tours at the National Building
Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.
Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
Wednesday, March 1, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Emerging Voices lecture:
nARCHITECTS and estudio teddy cruz. nARCHITECTS develops design
strategies that smoothly emphasize the transitions between architect and
fabricator. Mimi Hoang and Eric Bunge, principals of the New York-based
studio, will discuss their firm’s work, which includes the Switch
Building, a seven-story residence; a lobby renovation for the Kitchen;
and “Canopy,” an environment installed at MoMA/P.S. 1 as part of the
museum’s Young Architects Program. Hoang and Bunge are recipients of
the Canadian Professional Rome Prize, an AIA Honor Award, and a New York
Foundation for the Arts Award. Since 1993, estudio teddy cruz has dwelt
at the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, where the
particularities of this bicultural territory inspire the firm. Founding
principal, Teddy Cruz, will discuss his San Diego-based practice and
socially-conscious work, including Corridors on Imperial in San Diego,
and Casa Familiar, an affordable housing project in San Ysidro. For his
thoughts on theory, design, and the informal city he was named the
2004-2005 James Stirling Memorial Lecturer on the City, sponsored by the
Canadian Center for Architecture, the Van Alen Institute, and the London
School of Economics and Political Science. Cruz is a recipient of the
1991 Rome Prize in Architecture, a 2001 P/A Award, and the Robert Taylor
Teaching Award from the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
Thursday, March 2, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Is Smart Growth “Zoned Out”?
Jonathan Levine, associate professor and chair of the urban and regional
planning program at the University of Michigan, will discuss how current
land use patterns primarily reflect regulatory requirements because land
development is one of the most regulated sectors of the US economy. He
will present examples of US communities that have changed regulations to
allow more innovative development and explain the constituencies and
policies that led to these changes. After the lecture, he will sign
copies of his new book Zoned Out Regulation, Markets, and Choices in
Transportation and Metropolitan Land-Use (Resources for the Future).
Free. Registration not required.
Saturday, March 4, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Construction watch tour of
ASLA Green Roof. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is
currently installing a green roof atop its downtown Washington, DC,
headquarters building. The 3,300-square-foot, state-of-the-art
installation, designed by New York-based Michael Van Valkenburgh
Associates Inc., in collaboration with green roof consultants
Conservation Design Forum, is being constructed by Bethesda-based
Forrester Construction Company. The design incorporates a number of
innovative uses of extensive and intensive green roof materials in an
unprecedented way, creating a new landscape type that has obvious
environmental benefits and creates an uplifting garden experience for
people. Chris Counts, ASLA, of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and
John Fritz of Forrester Construction will lead the tour. Open only to
museum and ASLA members, $18. Space is limited. Prepaid registration
required. To register, call the Museum or visit http://www.nbm.org
beginning Tuesday, February 24.
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Oscars Party, March 5
Gloria White, Gmariew@aol.com
The Washington, DC, Film Society is having an Oscars Party! Film
Critics Joe Barber and Bill Henry will be the hosts to watch the Oscars
on the big screen! Tickets on sale and doors open at 6:30 p.m., on
Sunday, March 5; pre-show starts 7 p.m., and Oscars start at 8 p.m. Join
us at the Arlington Cinema ’N Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pike,
Arlington, VA (one quarter mile east of Glebe Road). Tickets are $15 for
DC Film Society and WIFV members and $20 for nonmembers.
There will be door prizes, a silent auction of items including
movie/theater tickets, dinners, hotel weekends, posters, and items
signed by celebrities such as Robert Towne, Claire Danes, Fernando
Mierelles, James Ivory, Danny Boyle, Tilda Swinton, the new Bond actor
Daniel Craig; and more.
You can guarantee your ticket by sending a check payable to DC Film
Society, Attn: Oscars Party Tickets, P. O. Box 65992, Washington, DC
20035. Tickets will be held at the door. Proceeds benefit the DC Film
Society and FilmFest DC, the Washington, DC International Film Festival
(http://www.filmfestdc.org).
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Ward One Dems and DC Latino PAC Mayoral Forum,
March 9
Josh Gibson, joshgibson@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu
The Ward One Democrats will join the DC Latino PAC in hosting a
mayoral forum. Please join us on March 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Carlos
Rosario International Charter School and Career Center located at 1100
Harvard Street, NW.
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Mendelson Public Safety Town Hall Meeting,
March 9
Beverley Wheeler, beverley.wheeler@dc.gov
Councilmember Phil Mendelson will host a citywide town hall meeting
on public safety on March 9, at 6:30 p.m. at Savoy Elementary School,
2400 Shannon Place, SE, across from the Anacostia Metro Station. The
Town Hall meeting, “From Criminal Investigation to Incarceration and
Beyond” will bring together the District’s most important public
safety officials to listen and respond to resident concerns.
Councilmember Mendelson, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has
invited Police Chief Charles Ramsey, US Attorney Ken Wainstein, Chief
Judge Rufus King, Department of Corrections Director Devon Brown, DC
Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti and Court Services and Offender
Supervision Agency (CSOSA) Director Paul Quander to participate.
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The Martin Multiple Sclerosis Alliance Foundation is hosting its
second annual "Cocktails for a Cause" informational session
Wednesday, March 15, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., at Clouds Dinning Lounge, 1
Dupont Circle. This is a twenty-one and over event. "Cocktails for
a Cause" features an evening of complementary wine tasting, light
fare, and information about multiple sclerosis. Entrance donation,
$10.00. Proceeds benefit the Martin M.S. Alliance Foundation’s
Educational Outreach programs. For more information please contact us at
1-877-890-6287 or postmaster@KamilahMartin.com.
March is National M.S. Awareness Month. Multiple Sclerosis is a
disease with no cause and no cure. However, education and early
detection one can drastically improve ones quality of life.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
I’m looking for books and articles on black alley life in
Washington, DC. Any suggestions?
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Volkswagen Locksmith
Phil Greene, pgreene@doc.gov
I recently lost a set of keys, containing among other things the key
to my 2001 Volkswagen Passat. The Passat has a “switchblade” key,
including a built-in remote control for locking/unlocking the doors and
the trunk. Well, if I go to a dealership, the replacement cost is
something like $250! I’m wondering if anyone out there has some advice
for me. I can purchase a replacement key on eBay for around $50, but
then I have to find a locksmith to cut the key and program it. Just
wondering if anyone has been down this expensive road.
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