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March 12, 2006

There Ain’t No Law That’s Hard and Fast

Dear Law Keepers:

Equality under law is perhaps the most important principle of law. All fall under the law; all are treated the same by the law. The law is the guarantor of our belief that “All men are created equal.” Equality before the law, even more than which particular acts the law forbids or commands, is why the rule of law deserves and requires our respect. But our elected officials lack both respect for the law and respect for the principle of equality before the law. Three events in the past week illustrate this. First, at his press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Williams promoted his plan for the National Capital Medical Center. Dorothy asked him about two legal roadblocks that stand in the way of his plan to build to NCMC and to prevent the careful public examination of his plan that the Certificate of Need process requires. He responded, to the delight of the NCMC supporters who accompanied him, “There ain’t no law that’s hard and fast’ (http://octt.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel16/March2006/1712.asx). This response might well be the motto of his administration and the attitude of DC government as a whole. There is no law that can’t be broken, twisted, evaded, gotten around, no law that’s hard and fast.

Second, on Thursday, at the mayoral candidates forum held by the DC Latino PAC, all five Democratic mayoral candidates pandered to their audience by expressing their contempt for this country’s immigration laws, and competed to list the ways in which they would use the city government to encourage flouting immigration laws and making it easier to evade them.

A few years ago, councilmembers, tired of the bother of getting their parking tickets fixed one-by-one, passed a law exempting themselves from parking laws, expressing their belief that they shouldn’t have to live by the rules they impose on the rest of us. Their belief was affirmed by the third event last week. On Thursday, US Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson gave Councilmember and former Mayor Marion Barry the gift of just three years of probation for not filing and paying both federal and DC taxes on over a half million dollars of income from 1999 to 2004, and for testing positive for cocaine and marijuana use while waiting for his trial. That insulting leniency was aggravated by two factors: the transparently false claim that an average citizen who committed Mr. Barry’s offenses and had his criminal record would escape jail time and get the same light sentence; and the immediate announcement by his attorney, Fred Cooke, that he was looking for ways to get around DC’s weak laws on political contributions so that Mr. Barry’s “friends” could pay off his tax debts (and presumably his legal bills). And why shouldn’t a councilmember get paid off for the favors he has done? After all, there ain’t no law that’s hard and fast.

Politicians’ contempt for the law is really contempt for the rest of us, the powerless, the average, who have to abide by and live under the laws they exempt themselves from or break with impunity. If I had just two questions to ask at a forum for mayoral or council chairman or councilmember candidates, they would be, “Do you have any respect for the equality under the law, any at all?” And, ”If you don’t, why should we have any respect for you? Any at all?”

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Assessment Shock
Jon Desenberg, JonDes@hotmail.com

After years of having their property assessments lag behind the market, I guess DC tried to make up for it this year by doubling their assessment of my house just as the market levels off. They are so far off the mark and beyond what I could get for my house that it is ridiculous. I guess I could just ignore it because of the 10 percent cap, but I’m so angry that I want to fight back. Does anyone have the name of a good person who could properly assess my property? Please E-mail me; I’d really appreciate it.

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Property Tax Assessment Hikes in Anacostia
Le Eckles, e929@peoplepc.com

Recent residential property tax assessment increases are hitting Anacostia (like most of the city — some of my best friends are white) like a hammer. Unfortunately it’s at a time when two other massive city projects are coming at us like a train wreck (pun intended). Is there anyone out there who could help us understand the practical consequences to/for the individual long-term homeowners of the recent "Craig decisions" and/or the appeal process? Keep in mind all those "new" housing units that are supposed to be turning around East of the River are almost all under one tax-free-for-five-years abatement or another, so existing homeowners are carrying their freight and the new homeowners who might otherwise be speaking up aren’t feeling a thing. A lot of taxpayer money being spent to bring in new folks while older residents, many fixed-income seniors whose home is their major asset, are being taxed out. I apologize for leaving out the impact on rental housing, but the older single family homeowner is about the last remnant of stability we have left in the neighborhood. Look closely at Anacostia proper and you will see we are being slumified, not gentrified, by illegal, cheap, jackleg speculative “renovators” for the Section 8 money mill. Our single family housing stock is being pushed over a cliff.

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What Your Government Doesn’t Want You to Know
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Buried within today’s Metro section of the Washington Post is a revealing story about the inner workings of the District government and about how difficult it is to get information from the Williams administration [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/11/AR2006031101343.html]. The story centers around efforts by Adrian Fenty, chair of the council’s Human Services Committee, to get information from the District’s Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration and the fatality review committee regarding the deaths of mentally disabled individuals in group homes. In its efforts to delay and prevent releasing the information, the Williams administration has told Fenty that, even as a councilmember conducting an official council inquiry he has to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Publicly, Mayor Williams frequently claims that his administration is “open” and “transparent.” One of his favorite tactics is to claim in public and at press conferences, “We’ll get that information to you,” and then not to provide it. As the Post article notes, “In June 2000, the mayor told the council that his then-new administration would share information about group home operations — and that there would be ‘no need’ for FOIA requests. ‘Everyone under my guidance is under the instruction that there’s no need for a Freedom of Information suit. That information ought to be readily accessible.’” In fact, the administration is making it extremely difficult for the council to get any information, just as it routinely does with the press.

Two weeks ago, following the Post story about the mayor’s plans to charge “sponsors” to underwrite his trip to Africa [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801540.html], I wrote a FOIA to get copies of the mayor’s fundraising letter, a list of those from whom he solicited funds, the budget and itinerary for the trip, and other information that should be readily available and easily accessed for a trip that the mayor’s staff was actively engaged in planning. The response that I received from the mayor’s lawyer: “We will have 15 working days to respond to your request, subject to a possible extension if needed to complete retrieval and review of responsive documents.” It’s just another example, more common that not, of how this administration uses FOIA regulations to delay and obstruct the release of information rather than to facilitate it.

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DC Flat Tax?
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com

On travel yesterday, I saw a blurb in USA Today about the proposed flat tax for DC, eliminating mortgage tax deductions, among other things. Found the story on WJLA’s site: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0306/308641.html.

Sometimes I skim themail. Did I miss a discussion on this? How likely is this to happen? Who in Congress other than Del. Norton is opposing it?

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NCMC: Show Us the Need
Jim Myers, Hilleast@aol.com

There’s a vast difference between truly needing something and merely wanting it, however passionately. The difference seems apparent in the call to build the National Capitol Medical Center, whose supporters insist that the District’s Certificate of Need process is “unnecessary” and “Bureaucratic Red Tape.” The group Citizens for the NCMC says just this in a slick-paper mailing to homes on east side of the city. “Why are all the Trauma Hospitals in Northwest DC?” it asks, referring to a theme of injustice that’s become the raison d’être for the NCMC proposal. Could the plan pass a test for medical need? The suspicion is no, because advocates have been surprisingly eager to avoid that subject. Would the NCMC save lives that are now being lost? Would residents of the city live longer? Where’s the evidence beyond a few questionable anecdotes?

Medical need is the big blind spot in support for NCMC, as the new mailing demonstrates. It was mailed from 4010 Lane Place, NE, presumably an epicenter of desire for a new hospital. Surely, 4010 Lane Place, NE, is a long way from a Level 1 Trauma center. Well, no -- there’s one close by. According to Mapquest, it takes about seven minutes at normal speeds to drive between the Level 1 Trauma center at Prince George’s Hospital Center and Lane Place, NE. And if NCMC were built, Lane Place would be a very similar driving time away from that facility, too. So what’s the deal? Does Lane Place need two nearby Level 1 trauma centers? Across the rest of America, most Level 1 trauma centers serve entire regions. Some states have none. The entire state of Maryland has two. Nowhere else in America is it considered an injustice that not every neighborhood has one, and the District currently has four to go with a host of other emergency rooms in the area. Meanwhile, there’s a gross disparity in real healthcare statistics that the folks at 4010 Lane Place, NE, seem to ignore. Many African America residents of this city die before their time. The figures are appalling, and it’s not for want of Level 1 Trauma Centers. If NCMC were built, lots more District residents will die there, too, because what they needed all along was convenient, affordable access to a family doctor and to simple, lifesaving management of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. In fact, it baffles me why the folks at 4010 Lane Place, NE, don’t see these unnecessary deaths as an injustice worth being upset about.

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Tobacco Funds Council Hearing on Monday
Ken Jarboe, kenan.jarboe@verizon.net

On Monday, the City Council Committee of the Whole will hold a hearing the “Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund and Tobacco Settlement Financing Amendment Act of 2006,” Bill 16-605 [http://www.dcwatch.com/council16/16-605.htm], and the “District of Columbia Tobacco Settlement Financing Corporation Asset-Backed Bond Issuance Approval Resolution of 2006,” PR 16-637 [http://www.dcwatch.com/council16/16-637.htm]. It will be the first hearing on any portion of the Mayor’s legislative package concerning the National Capitol Medical Center (NCMC). While the purported issue will be the NCMC, I would urge both supporters and opponents of the NCMC look carefully at the two pieces of legislation in question. They are not about authorizing the NCMC; they are about how the tobacco settlement money is to be used. And this legislation allows the city to raise $300 million to be used for “capital projects and undertakings of the District” — in other words, for almost anything.

From what I can tell, Bill 16-605 is really a technical amendment to clean up some of the previous legislation. There is nothing in the bill or the resolution that requires that the funds be used for the NCMC. The bill simply adds NCMC to the possible uses of the tobacco settlement money — and I’m even not sure that is even needed. The current law appears to give the Tobacco Settlement Financing Corporation (TSFC) the ability to issue bonds package for “capital projects and undertakings of the District.” I will defer to the lawyers as to whether or not that language is broad enough to cover the NCMC. But it is exactly that broad language that gives me concern. Both the bill and the resolution repeat that language of “certain capital projects and other undertakings of the District.” And the resolution specifically authorized the sale of $300,000,000 in bonds for “capital projects and other undertakings of the District, including the proposed National Capital Medical Center.” Again, note that there is no requirement for this $300 million to be used for the NCMC. Also note that the Exclusive Rights Agreement limits the Districts contribution to $212,168,000.

And so, what are these other capitol projects and undertakings? The last time the TSFC issued bonds was in 2001; $521,105,000 worth on March 13, 2001, to be exact. Those bonds were used for debt-management purposes. The money was used to pay off some of the District’s general obligation debt and as a means of transferring financial risk, since, as the CFO pointed out, “the bonds represent a debt of the corporation and not a debt of the District.” So it is unclear what the funds from the TSFC bonds will really be used for. Part could be used to finance the NCMC, but it doesn’t have to be. According to this legislation, the funds could be used for almost anything. It would seem to me that prudent public policy would call for a clear understanding of what the funds are going for. At least when they enacted the Ballpark Revenue Fund, the Council locked down exactly how the money could be spent in great detail. Rather than rush in with a $300 million open ended bond sale, prudent public policy would be to wait for a decision on the CON process and then take up the agreement itself.

Otherwise some interesting scenarios emerge. For example, what if this bonding legislation is passed and the NCMC fails the CON process or Howard can’t get FHA approval? The council has essentially given the city $300 million dollars, carte blanche to spend on “capital projects and other undertakings of the District.” With direction like that, who knows what major capitol projects that the District is currently involved in might benefit from these funds? This is just another series of unanswered questions and another reason why the council needs to take a very careful look at this whole proposal.

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A New Hospital
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso -at- capaccess -dot- org

A recent hospital stay (from a beating and robbery) has alerted me to an angle on hospital siting I don’t recall having seen here before. (My failure to remember it may have resulted from my beating, so please forgive me if someone has already raised the issue here.) Especially for patients hospitalized over a day, visitors can make a huge difference, both in patient morale and in patient care. (Medical personnel provide better care, on average, to patients who have frequent visitors.) But hospital visitors must consider the same factors as other travelers: time, distance, expense. As a result, hospital patients far from their homes (all other factors held steady) will have fewer visitors than patients in hospitals in or near their home neighborhoods. And consequently (on the average) they will get lesser care.

I hope that hospital-siting decisions consider the importance of facilitating hospital visits. This suggests either the importance of siting hospitals near families of the patient population pool, or the importance of other methods (e.g., mass transit) geared towards those families.

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Don’t Throw Money Down the Rat Hole
Ed T Barron, edtb1@mac.com

There are now funds totaling $1.6 billion over the next ten years being committed to the refurbishment of DC’s public schools. Much of that money will be wasted unless there is a very good plan on just how to spend that money. School Superintendent Janey should take the next six months with a qualified planning team, to decide which schools will remain in the system, which will be consolidated, and which will be made into "specialty" schools. Only then can the planning begin for the remaining schools.

The modifications for each school should be defined and then put into bid packages for multiple schools to make the best use of contractor skills and tasks. A good plan at the outset will ensure the most bang for those big bucks. I just finished three full weeks of planning, organizing, and coordinating, over the last six months, a one week trip to Paris. I will be getting a lot of bang for my $2.5 thousand. For $1.6 billion there should be a great plan preceding that expenditure.

The announcement that two new charter schools will open in northwest DC is very welcome. These two new schools, with classes from the sixth grade upward, will help stem the flight of residents who currently have no acceptable choices for their children in the public school system. It will take too many years for the public school system to be able to offer adequate schools to DC residents and the only near-term option will be for parents to find charter schools that meet the needs of parents wanting a good education for their children.

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Cherry Blossoms
Pete Ross, pete@ross-usa.com

Foxhall Village is the best kept secret in Washington, DC, to see the cherry blossoms. Foxhall Village is a development of English Tudor style townhouses built in the late 1920’s to resemble a Shakespearian English Village, complete with three traffic circles. Approximately twenty-five years ago, the elm trees that had been planted by the original developer began to die. As these trees died, the FCCA (Foxhall Community Citizens Association) organized a fund raising campaign to replace the dead trees with cherry blossoms. Most of the streets (Greenwich Parkway, Q, and P Streets) have Yoshino cherry trees (which are the same type of trees found on the Mall). However, Surrey Lane is lined with Quanson cherry trees, which bloom one week after the Yoshino cherry trees. It is the blooming of the Quanson cherry trees that is truly spectacular. I do not know of any other street in Washington, DC, with such beautiful Quanson cherry trees.

Unfortunately, I am sure that I will be ostracized by my neighbors by divulging Washington, DC’s, best kept secret as where to see gorgeous cherry blossoms. Directions to Foxhall Village from downtown: 1) west on Q Street, NW to Wisconsin Avenue; 2) turn right form Q Street onto Wisconsin Avenue and go two blocks; 3) make a left onto Reservoir Road form Wisconsin Avenue, drive past Georgetown University to Foxhall Road (you will pass the French Embassy); 4) make a left from Reservoir Road onto Foxhall Road (the German Embassy is at this intersection); 5) go one very short block and make a left onto Greenwich Parkway.

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Blooming Trees and More
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com

Gary asked for suggestions about outdoor spots to have lunch. Right across the street from one of the places he mentioned, the Botanic Garden, sits Bartholdi Park (Independence and Washington), a veritable horticulturalist’s lab with a Bartholdi-designed fountain in the middle. In warm weather, there are extra tables and chairs for the lunch crowd to supplement the permanent benches scattered throughout.

Among my other favorite Mall spots (I work in "beautiful" southwest DC, so such places are necessary for good mental health) are the fountains on either side of the south entrance to the National Gallery of Art. The sound of the running water totally drowns out any traffic noises, and the enormous trees that shade the area add to the feeling of being in a secret garden somewhere. And on the opposite side of the Mall, right next door to the Arts and Industries Building, is the Ripley Garden, a Victorian jewel with a serpentine pathway connecting Independence with the Mall.

By the way, the Botanic Garden is holding its annual orchid show through April 2. Gorgeous! I’ve been there four times already. For a sneak preview, go to: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8BcuXDRm3Zseu (if you can’t click on this site, try copying and pasting it into your web browser),

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Secret Cherry Blossom Sites
Victoria Lord, tory at a why a . yale.edu

Okay, at the risk of filling my favorite spot with dozens of springtime revelers, I will tell all. The best spot for cherry blossom picnics in DC is Stanton Park. The park has dozens of cherry trees, some very old and some quite young, but all bloom beautifully and peak about two to three days after the Tidal Basin trees. For years my family has met up with others for an impromptu picnic on a day during peak blossom time. There is a playground in the park for small children. Don’t tell anyone where you heard about this.

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Where to Look at Cherry Blossoms
Sally Kram, skram@consortium.org

My favorite spot is Stanton Park. The trees rim the park and you can picnic right in the middle. Sure the Capital Hill traffic circles the park, but it’s a better way to see Cherry Blossoms than sitting in traffic down by the Tidal Basin.

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More Bloomin’ Luck
Petra Weinakht, pweinakht@konetidy.com

For blossoms off the Mall, a wonderful display is in the little enclave of Kenwood on River Road near Bethesda. The suits who live there may not appreciate picnickers, but it’s a beautiful route for bikes and near the Capital Crescent Trail, too.

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Kenwood Blooms
Gene Hoffman, eugene_hoffman@yahoo.com

Not in the city but Kenwood off of River Road in Bethesda has streets lined with cherry trees. Also, there’s Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, and the Landon School has a nice set of azaleas.

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Official Animal
Bell Clement, clement at gwu dot edu

In re Mr. Catanzaro’s question about whether the District has an official animal [themail, March 8]: how about our official dinosaur (yep) Capitalsaurus? (No, really. See DC Code Sec. 1-161.) Can’t Capitalsaurus be our official mascot? Seems somehow so appropriate.

[The bill designating the official dinosaur, http://www.dcwatch.com/archives/council12/12-538.htm, includes a drawing of the dinosaur’s skeleton and the lyrics to the song, Them Dino Bones. — Gary Imhoff]

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DC Needs an Animal
Gene Hoffman, eugene_hoffman@yahoo.com

From a national prospective: a pig (at a trough). From the general tenor of this list: a carp. From an urban prospective: a rat. From a serious prospective: there can’t think of a single animal unique to DC — a squirrel, house cat, dog?

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Official Animal
Kathy Henderson, kathy.henderson@dc.gov

Panda mania is alive and well in DC, so my vote is to designate the panda as the District’s official animal.

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Zip/Flex Redux
Ralston Cox, Dupont Circle, ralston.cox@verizon.net

I’m a member of a couple of listservs and always (well, usually) learn something new when the dialogue gets started about the issue of Zip/Flex’s getting free parking spaces. One issue that almost never gets discussed, however, is the licensure issue. Why doesn’t the city insist that cars parked — i.e., “housed” — in city-owned parking spaces be tagged (and inspected) in the city. While I have mixed feelings about the free parking space argument, it irritates me no end to see these spaces ultimately housing cars that carry Virginia and/or Maryland license plates.

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Kathy Patterson Campaign Kickoff: No Thanks
Douglas Neumann, dbn99@yahoo.com

In the whole sorry episode of the subsidy to the billionaires of Major League Baseball, one of the more shameful performances was Kathy Patterson’s. I have voted for Kathy in the past, considering her as one of the more reasonable voices on the council. I probably would have at least accepted her switch to be a supporter of the stadium if she had offered a reasonable justification. Instead, her statement about her switch read as if it were written by a MLB lobbyist or their handmaiden Jack Evans. Yes, a commitment to the stadium was made by the council in December ’04, but this was reached with the assistance of three lame duck council members who had been defeated in part because of their obeisance to MLB. Yes, money would probably be lost if the DC did not adhere to this commitment, but more money would likely be lost by pursuing the deal (Kathy should read up on the microeconomic principle of sunken cost). Also, the argument that MCI Center was responsible for development in its vicinity is spurious; one could argue just as reasonably that the increase in lobbyists in DC in recent years, and their housing and entertainment needs, is just as responsible for development downtown.

Next, we have the MLB lobbyist fundraiser on Kathy’s behalf after switched her vote. Here, the appropriate question is not whether she “sold her vote.” It is whether she benefited in any way from her vote or had enough sense to avoid the appearance of her vote having been bought. She failed on both counts, which I think disqualifies her for consideration as council chair. At least her electoral rival, Vincent Gray, appeared to agonize over how he would vote. For Kathy, allegedly one phone call from Evans was enough for her to ignore the views of DC residents. This is a sign that it is time for her to leave government; let her suffer paying her parking tickets with the rest of us.

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Government, Poverty, and the Economy
Edward Cowan, edcowan1114@yahoo.com

I fear that Victoria McKernan has grasped the wrong end of the stick [themail, March 8]. The worst thing government can do is to attempt to set wages and prices. It is self defeating. When one state or city does it, the effect is to drive business elsewhere. When Washington does it for all states, distortions follow. Among them: to make full-time jobs into part-time jobs, to cause employers to turn from payroll help to temps and other outsourcing, and to induce employers to redefine jobs so as to justify lower pay.

“Living wage” is not self-defining. It varies with the model of life the speaker has in mind, and perhaps with the circumstances of each of us and what we expect. A “living wage” for a single worker of 24 is not the same as for a single parent of 34 with two children. Government cannot legislate successfully to cover all situations (whom would you like to write the regulation?). Employers must pay wages based on what the job and the employee contribute to the business, not on the employee’s situation in life. Notice that employers don’t ask how many dependents you have before they declare what the job pays?

While I understand that taxpayers like Ms. McKernan would like to shift some of the tax burden to employers, this is unrealistic. Employers can pay only what a job is worth, taking account of what it contributes to his sale of goods and services and what comparable jobs elsewhere pay. Concerned taxpayers can encourage government to offer reasonable subventions to employees who need help — food stamps, health care, low-income energy assistance, housing vouchers, and so on. Government at all levels does a lot of that now. If government tries to force employers to pay uneconomic wages, it will lead only to unintended consequences.

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Gary and Dorothy’s Next Lawsuit?
Art Spitzer, artspitzer at aol dot com

Gary asks [themail, March 8]: “Here’s a legal question for any informed lawyers out there. Since the city council pretends that the $611 million ceiling it mandated on city expenses for the baseball stadium is real and has the force of law, who has the legal standing to sue when the city inevitably spends over that ceiling?”

Speaking personally, and not on behalf of my employer, there’s a reasonable case to be made that any DC taxpayer would have standing to sue in that situation. The federal court of appeals here once discussed the rules for what’s called “municipal taxpayer standing”: “When a municipal taxpayer can establish that the challenged activity involves a measurable appropriation or loss of revenue, the injury requirement is satisfied. See, e.g., . . . Schreiber v. Lugar, 518 F.2d 1099, 1101 n. 2 (7th Cir.1975) (municipal taxpayer has standing to challenge city’s expenditures to construct sports arena). . . . [T]he taxpayer need not show that the specific taxes he paid were used unlawfully, nor that his taxes will be reduced as a result of the judgment. By enjoining an illegal expenditure, the court can redress the taxpayer’s injury caused by the misuse of public funds and ensure that the funds will be devoted to lawful purposes of possible benefit to the taxpayers. . . . If a state taxpayer has shown that the challenged program involves a measurable appropriation of public funds, the Court will recognize standing. We do not think the standard is different for municipal taxpayers.” District of Columbia Common Cause v. District of Columbia, 858 F.2d 1 (D.C. Cir. 1988).

Of course the ceiling would truly have to be “real and ha[ve] the force of law” for such a lawsuit to be a winner, so the more persuasive you are in themail in explaining why the ceiling is fictitious, the more you’re undercutting your own potential lawsuit. That’s why lawyers sometimes suggest to their clients, “shut up.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Rally for a Hospital at the DC General Site, March 13
Vanessa Dixon, vmdixon@earthlink.net

The City Administrator, councilmembers, clergy, health care advocates, and concerned citizens will hold a rally and press conference for more than 250,000 residents who don’t have access to quality health care. Residents will engage in a demonstration to support the National Capital Medical Center, a comprehensive facility proposed to be built at the DC General site. The rally will occur before a DC city council hearing to consider funding for construction of the medical center.

Eastern Washington suffers from some of the worst health statistics in the western hemisphere, yet has only one hospital that is not full service. Compare this to the eight full-service hospitals in the western half of the city. The absence of a hospital at the DC General site affects all District residents, those who have health insurance and those without. The National Capital Medical Center will help to save lives in every part of Washington, DC, from Ward 1 to Ward 8, especially for more than 250,000 residents in Eastern Washington.

Participants may engage in civil disobedience. Monday, March 13, 9:00 a.m., Freedom Plaza (13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW). For further information, contact Vanessa Dixon, Citizens for the National Capital Medical Center, 726-4479.

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Hoops Sagrado Celebrity Basketball Tournament, March 17
Mindy Moretti, mindymoretti@yahoo.com

Tired of Friday nights at home with nothing to do but watch “Ghost Whisperer”? Itching to hit the hardwood? Looking for a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day without doing battle for bar space at your local pub? Interested in mixing it up with area celebrities, politicians and average Joes all for a good cause? Want to play a little basketball, watch a little basketball and enjoy some good food and drinks all at the same spot? Then consider taking part in the first-ever Hoops Sagrado “Celebrity Basketball Tournament” on Friday, March 17, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Jelleff Boys and Girls Club just north of Georgetown (3265 S Street, NW).

The tournament will consist of two teams, each featuring a handful of local and national politicians and local and national members of the media as well as area-folks who simply love the game of basketball. After the game, players and fans alike can stick around to watch some NCAA action and enjoy a pint or two of Guinness and Harp as well as food from area restaurants. There is a $30 suggested (tax-deductible) donation at the door, with all proceeds going to Hoops Sagrado, a nonprofit organization that uses basketball’s ability to connect to offer DC youths and their Guatemalan indigenous peers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build relationships, develop leadership skills, learn a different culture and language, and gain a new perspective on life. Through Hoops Sagrado scholarships, the program also gives Guatemalan indigenous youth the opportunity to gain an invaluable education and break the cycle of poverty and need so prevalent in Guatemala’s indigenous communities.

Hoops Sagrado needs to raise $50,000 to carry out this year’s trip to Guatemala with fifteen DC youths as well as continue supporting the scholarship program. The organization pays for the cost of airfare, Spanish immersion classes, room and board with a Guatemalan family during the stay in Guatemala, and for meals. The Hoops Sagrado Scholarship program provides cost of tuition, uniforms, and school supplies for the indigenous Guatemalan teenagers that qualify for the HS Scholarships. Please contact Bryan Weaver at Sacredhoops@aol.com or 422-2162 if you are interested in playing in the tournament. Hope to see you there!

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Morehouse Glee Club, March 17
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov

Friday, March 17, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Main Lobby. The Morehouse College Glee Club continues its tradition of performing at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library while on spring tour. Public contact: 727-1285.

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The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan, March 18
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org

Saturday, March 18, 1:00-3:00 p.m., Environmental film festival, Tall: The American Skyscraper and Louis Sullivan (82 min., 2004) traces the experiments of the early skyscraper architects, especially Louis Sullivan, the Chicago architect who pioneered new building forms. His elegant buildings, some still standing and featured in the film, bear out his reputation as the father of the skyscraper. Fierce rivals, led by Daniel Burnham, designer of the Flatiron Building, competed with him. The film documents the showdown between Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham. Following the screening, filmmaker Manfried Kirchheimer will engage the audience in a discussion of the film. $5 Museum members and students; $7 nonmembers. Registration required. For festival information, visit www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.

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Poverty in America and the World, March 22
Michael Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu

The University of the District of Columbia presents an open forum on Poverty in America and the World: Which Policies Work? on Wednesday, March 22, at 5:30 p.m., at UDC Windows Lounge, Building 38, second floor, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW (Van Ness-UDC Metro stop on the red line). The moderator will be Sandra Lawson, coordinator, special events and protocol; panelists will include Coralie Bryant, professor, Columbia University; Vinay Bhargava, Director of Operations and International Relations, World Bank; Angelyne Flowers, professor and codirector of the Institute for Public Safety and Justice, UDC; Mark Wenner, Senior Financial Advisor, Inter-American Development Bank, and Rick Rowden, Policy Officer, Action Aid International.

Please RSVP to Sandra Lawson, slawson@udc.edu, 274-6272; Perita Baxter, pbaxter@udc.edu, 274-6246; or Paul Tennassee, ptennassee@udc.edu, 274-6277.

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Town Hall Meeting on Budget Priorities, April 1
Martina Gillis, martina@legalclinic.org

The Fair Budget Coalition is cosponsoring a town hall meeting with more than a dozen community organizations on Saturday, April 1, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the True Reformer Building, 1200 U Street, NW. This is an opportunity for community members to share their concerns and also identify budget priorities for the District of Columbia. Come insert your voice into the budget process! City department directors and all council members have been invited. Fun children activities and food provided; you must RSVP for child care. There will also be a raffle and door prizes. Contact Martina Gillis, 328-5513 or martina@legalclinic.org. Also, if you would like to be a cosponsor, please contact Martina.

We are asking cosponsoring organizations to allow your name to appear on press materials, help publicize the event, attend the town hall and turn out your base of community members, and donate in-kind support or financial assistance, if possible.

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Renewable Energy Conference, April 6-7
Mike Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu

The Honorable David K. Garman, Under Secretary for Energy, Science, and Environment, has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the University of the District of Columbia’s International Conference on Renewable Energy for Developing Countries 2006, scheduled for April 6-7. Secretary Garman will deliver the keynote address at 9:00 a.m. on April 6 at the plenary session of the Conference at the Omni Shoreham, Woodley Park. The conference will provide information on current research and best practices on sustainable alternative energy sources to improve quality of life in developing countries. Organized primarily by the University of the District of Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the conference provides a forum for discussion of topics relevant to the development of renewable energy solutions throughout the world and in developing countries in particular. Experts from academia, government and industry will come together at this conference to evaluate best practices and solutions for feasible, reliable, and sustainable generation of renewable energy. The program will also include an Ambassadors’ Panel and an International and Non-Governmental Forum. Details on the conference, including registration, sponsors, speakers, and the Advisory Board, can be found at http://www.icredc.udc.edu.

Secretary Garman is one of many distinguished speakers slated to address the conference. US Representative Mike Honda (D-CA), ranking member of the House Energy Subcommittee, will address the conference at a dinner banquet Friday evening. Mr. Chuck Clinton, Director of the DC Energy Office, and Dr. Rosenthal-Brendel, a Senior Energy Specialist from the Energy and Water Department of the World Bank, will also address the conference. Panel discussions throughout the conference will explore a wide range of topics related to sustainable alternative energy sources. The Conference will conclude on April 7 with the inauguration of the Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy a multidisciplinary center in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Center will be a national and international locus for innovation in the rapidly growing area of renewable sources — solar, wind, fuel cells, etc. Additionally, the Center will be a partner in the development of energy efficient resources and uses for the District and other urban areas. The conference has received strong support from the District of Columbia Energy Office. This event will be located on the Cleveland Dennard Plaza at the University, with transportation provided from the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

Sponsorship for this first-ever conference is provided by the US Department of Energy, the District of Columbia Energy Office. BP Solar, Xantrex, World Council for Renewable Energy, DC Department of Energy, SkyBuilt Power, Grundfos, and IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology. The University welcomes the participation of the public, government agencies, industry, international and non-governmental organizations, and foreign mission to the conference. For more information, contact Mike Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu.

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