Learning from Others
Dear Learned People:
DC failed to learn from other cities and states in the case of the
baseball stadium giveaway, but there are still plenty of other ways in
which we can profit from others’ experience. Here are a few.
CBS’s “60 Minutes” did a report tonight about the New York City
Police Department’s anti-terrorism program (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/17/60minutes/main1416824.shtml).
Of course NYPD’s program probably isn’t as good as “60 Minutes”
depicted it. But unless I’m badly mistaken, it’s still head and
shoulders above anything the Metropolitan Police Department is doing. As
the MPD spins its wheels, diverting its attention to expanding its
expensive and mostly useless video camera surveillance, the NYPD puts
its money and efforts into intelligence gathering. We could learn from
its good example.
Congress, stung by last year’s reports about the junkets that
Representatives and Senators took at the expense of lobbyists,
corporations, and other interests, is looking into restricting such
gifts. DC is going in the other direction, with Mayor Williams expanding
the solicitation of gifts to underwrite his expensive taste for world
travel. We could learn from Congress’ bad example.
The same gambling interests that systematically flouted DC’s
election laws two years ago with multiple petition gathering violations
are back this year with another initiative. One way to discourage some
of the shady practices of petition gathering companies is to require
them to pay petition gatherers by time worked, and not by the number of
signatures they gather. This would lessen, though not completely
eliminate, the incentive to submit forged signatures. When this was
proposed in DC, Councilmember Phil Mendelson refused to pursue it,
saying that he thought the restriction would be found unconstitutional.
Well, in 2002 the voters of Oregon passed a law by initiative that
banned paying petition circulators by the signature, and that law has
now been upheld both by a US District Judge, who said the “limited
burdens imposed by Measure 26 are far outweighed by [the] need to
protect the integrity of the electoral process and to restore the public’s
confidence in its government,” and by the 9th US Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco, which held that the measure “results in
higher validity rates for signature collection,” and that Oregon
"has an important regulatory interest in preventing fraud and its
appearances in its electoral processes." There goes Mendelson’s
excuse. We can learn from Oregon, and the council should pass the law
itself, and not force the citizens to pass an initiative to protect the
integrity of the initiative process.
And in state after state, legislatures are considering laws to limit
or overturn the bad effects of the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision on
eminent domain; some have already passed such laws. That’s an example
we need to follow. A government must have the power to condemn and seize
property for legitimate public uses, but it is an abuse of government
power to seize our homes and businesses just to give them to developers,
because the projects that would be built would pay more taxes, or
because the politicians like what developers would build. So which
councilmember running for higher office is going to introduce a bill to
protect the citizens of DC from the abuse of eminent domain? Mayoral
candidates Cropp, Fenty, Orange? Council chairman candidates Gray,
Patterson? Who will step forward to advocate restricting eminent domain
to its legitimate purposes to protect the citizens of the District?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Let’s Demand Cropp Appoint Real Stadium
Watchdogs, Not See-No-Evil Advocates
Debby and John Hanrahan, debosly@aol.com
During the DC council’s discussion before the final stadium vote on
March 7, Chairman Linda Cropp announced that she planned to establish a
watchdog group to keep tabs on stadium progress and spending. This move
was to try to calm those council and citizen critics who said the $611
million cap would not be maintained and that the city would get stuck
with paying huge overruns. It received almost no press coverage. Perhaps
reporters dismissed it as election year window-dressing by mayoral
candidate Cropp, just as many of us in the audience did.
So let’s see how serious she is: let’s challenge Chairman Cropp
to appoint watchdogs with real teeth, people who have opposed or been
skeptical of this deal from the beginning, and who don’t have a
financial or political stake in seeing that the best face is put on this
project. Unquestionably, Councilmember David Catania, who led the
opposition to stadium public financing and who already knows where some
of the hidden costs of this project will be buried, should be chairman.
But don’t hold your breath. Other members could include Ward 6 ANC6D03
Commissioner Mary C. Williams (the stadium will be in Ward 6), who knows
B.S. when she sees it; respected Ward 6 Democratic activist John Capozzi,
a clear-eyed critic of the stadium giveaway and a Nationals’ season
ticket holder to boot; Ed Lazere, of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, who
has analyzed this deal from all angles over the past year-and-a-half and
found it wanting; Ralph Nader or his aide Shawn McCarthy of the League
of Fans, both of whom built the case against the stadium from the
outset; as well as such respected individuals as Anise Jenkins of the
Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition, ANC4D02 Commissioner Chairman
Renee Bowser, Linda Leaks or Parisa Norouzi of the DC Grassroots
Empowerment Project, public school advocates Crystal Sylvia or Marc
Borbely. DC Watch’s Dorothy Brizill would be a great addition.
Although we are DC Statehood Green Party members, we would feel very
comfortable with having representatives of the conservative Cato
Institute and National Taxpayers Union on such a watchdog panel, since
both organizations have done critical analyses of stadium deals here and
around the country. And from officialdom, the DC Auditor’s office
could be included on the panel.
Each of you out there can come up with equally worthy nominees, but
you get the idea. It does no good to create a watchdog group composed of
people who are prepared to defend this deal down to the last
million-dollar overrun. So, if Chairman Cropp appoints even one official
from the mayor’s office, or from the DC Sports and Entertainment
Commission, or from the council’s nine “yes” voters on the stadium
deal (or former Council members such as Harold Brazil), or from among
former Control Board officials, or loads it up with business leaders
(Federal City Council, Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade, Chamber
of Commerce, etc.) or developers, we can look forward to being
flimflammed once again.
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The Tenleytown unfinished tower is finally coming down. The DC
government won its lawsuits to stop further tower construction. So why
are we the taxpayers paying $350,000. for the dismantling? A company
built the tower, let them pay the cost of dismantling their tower.
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Tourist Hotel for New Stadium
Bryce Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
I was surprised to see, probably in The Washington Examiner,
that Tony Williams is pushing for a tourist hotel that’s supposed to
serve the new stadium and he thinks the city ought to pay for it. What’s
that all about?
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A Billion Here, A Billion There
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
. . . and soon you’re talking about a lot of money. That’s
paraphrasing some words by a Congressman of yore who was talking about
federal spending and the federal budget. Well, here we are in Dodge City
and getting ready to pour almost $2 billion into improving the public
schools over the next ten years. Before that money gets poured down the
drain, those who would be spending that cash should take a look at just
what happened to the $3 billion spent improving public school facilities
in the St. Louis area. The "Taj Mahaling" of these schools was
intended to raise the test scores of students attending those schools.
The impact of spending all that money on the test scores: nada. There
was no improvement in test scores of students in the schools that had
the most renovation. That’s a real message, folks. What many don’t
realize is that good education and learning can take place in a mine
shaft, my driveway, or in a railroad car, if the teacher leading the
classes is a good teacher.
I’m all in favor of taking those public schools that should remain
open and making sure the bathrooms are great, the eating areas made
nice, no leaking roofs, and plenty of heat in the winter. That should
take about $500 million. The rest should be spent in the following
manner: put $1.1 billion into an incentive bonus pool for teachers whose
classes meet or exceed the test score standards. Give every teacher a 15
percent bonus each year that the teacher’s class meet those standards;
Use some of the money to hire "special" teachers for the
specialty schools that Janey wants to establish. And pay those teachers
well. You can’t make those specialty schools work if you’re just
going to roll over the dead wood teachers into those new school
curriculums. You need to bring in the best teachers for those
specialties. I’m sure that this proposal will strike terror in the
heart of the Teachers’ Union. So be it.
[Everett Dirksen, he for whom the building is named, was the Senator
who was credited with saying about the federal budget, “A billion
here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real
money.” It’s sounds like him, but the Dirksen Congressional Center
says that it has been unable to document it (http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_emd_billionhere.htm).
Most likely it’s like many famous near-quotes; something like what he
would have said, but improved and perfected in the retelling. — Gary
Imhoff]
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What I and all DC residents are entitled to know from every minister
that DC officials are always pandering to is: what is the exact number
of their flock and what is the exact number of those members who are DC
residents?
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The Neighborhood Objects Only to the Amplifier
David Klavitter, dklavitter@cuna.coop
There apparently is some confusion about Bryce Suderow’s post about
lawyers for street preachers on H Street [themail, March 15]. The
residents living in and around the 700 block of 8th Street, NE, support
the rights to free speech, religion, and assembly. The residents (of all
shapes, colors, and creeds) only want the fellows from the Israeli
School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK) to stop using the
electrified amplifier. The ISUPK fellows can rant on the corner as long
as they desire.
The residential homes and apartments are blasted for four to six
hours each Saturday by the amplified device, which points south down 8th
Street. The hours-long drone of amplified speech permeates homes and
apartments; windows cannot be opened, and it degrades the ability to
communicate with one another outside. The city noise inspector has
measured the volume on three occasions; each time the levels were beyond
safe and reasonable levels according to city code. The ISUPK fellows
have been approached and invited to meetings by the residents, but have
been uncooperative.
The city statutes apparently have a loophole that allows unabated
amplified noncommercial speech anywhere in the city from 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
It’s an issue that must be resolved, and that’s why the ANC is
pushing for a fix — to give residents some relief from the noise. To
learn more about the noise issue at H and 8th Street, NE, go to http://www.questforquiet.org.
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Lawyer for Street Preachers
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
Impressive misrepresentation and use of the race card by Bryce
Suderow in the last issue of the mail, ranking up there with "there
ain’t no law that’s hard and fast." The neighbors in the
vicinity of 8th and H Streets, NE, aren’t contesting street preaching,
but the amplification of such at decibel levels that interfere with the
quiet enjoyment of their properties. One of the neighbors has created a
blog, http://questforquiet.blogspot.com,
which documents their Quest for Quiet, which is not a quest for the
enjoinment of street preaching.
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[Re: “PEPCO Collects for Taxes It Never Pays,” themail, March 15]
I suggest we withhold the taxes that appear on our monthly electric
bills, until such time that assurances are given that they are being
passed on to the government. Indeed, why are the federal and local
governments not on this?
The same thing is being done by thousands of people who refuse to pay
the “war tax” that has not been removed from our telephone bills
despite the fact that the government promised to discontinue it after
the Vietnam War.
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Catching up with my reading, I just saw a recent posting from Douglas
Neumann criticizing Kathy Patterson for her vote on baseball. Although I
have not always agreed with Ms. Patterson throughout her years on the
Council, I always have been impressed that she works hard, is
accessible, and thinks through issues very carefully — always with the
best interests of residents at heart.
Any elected official can be criticized for a vote on a single issue.
Because you don’t agree with them, however, is not license for
demagogic attacks. As always on controversial issues, Ms. Patterson
spent considerable time explaining her vote to her constituents — a
vote that won a nine-person majority on the council. Mr. Neumann’s
post demonstrates that it must not be easy to be an elected official in
DC these days. As voters and residents, we all have an interest in
encouraging people, like Ms. Patterson, who have integrity and a civic
commitment, to continue to work to make our city a better place to live
and raise our children. We could use more people like her.
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Washingtonians don’t seem to spend much time comparing themselves
to other places. When they do, it tends to be places we have little in
common with: US states, our suburbs, or other large US cities without
special national functions. One of NARPAC’s longtime members has just
had his latest book of “digital watercolors” published, and this
time it is on Athens rather than DC. But some of the comparisons between
capital cities are fascinating, from really historic preservation to
really modern (street-cluttering!) trolleys. Take a look at sample
illustrations from each book in our art gallery at http://www.narpac.org/JCLEAVEATHENS.HTM.
Enjoy!
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
John Wiebenson Playground Dedication, March 22
Phil Carney, philandscoop@yahoo.com
Join us to celebrate the memory of beloved community activist and
architect John Wiebenson as we dedicate the John Wiebenson Playground at
Ross Elementary School, 1730 R Street, NW, Wednesday, March 22, 1:30
p.m. to 3:00 p.m. For more information call 904-5004. Rain date is
Thursday, March 24, 1:30 p.m.
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DC Public Library Events, March 25
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
Saturday, March 25. Super Saturday: thanks to the generous support of
the DC Public Library Foundation, Saturday, March 25, is Super Saturday!
School age children and their families can catch superlative
performances at six library locations. Singer and songwriter Deborah
Kleinmann will perform at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library
at 10:30 a.m. and the Capitol View Neighborhood Library at 1:30 p.m.
Poet Omekongo Dibinga, an educator, activist and spoken word artist,
will perform from his new book, From the Limbs of My Poetree, at
the Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library at 10:30 a.m. Griot Jali D
performs on percussion instruments in his, “Rhythm and Rhyme for Wise
Young Minds,” at the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood
Library at 10:30 a.m. Actor Erik Beatty presents an original one-man
show, “The Adventure of Detective Dictionary,” in which a private
eye sets out to solve the mysteries of the English language at the
Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library at 1:30 p.m. Musician Bruce Hutton
presents “Word of Mouth Meets the Written Word,” which links oral
tradition and children’ literature, while he plays banjo and other
folk instruments at the Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25, 10:30 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 443. Balancing Homeland Security and
Civil Liberties: a panel of Washington insiders discuss homeland
security and civil liberties in this panel discussion cosponsored by the
Sociology, Education, and Government Division of the DC Public Library
and the League of Women Voters of the National Capital Area. Featured
panelists: Lisa Graves, senior counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU); Patrice McDermott, assistant director and spokesperson on the
Patriot Act, American Library Association’s Washington Office; Steve O’Brien,
manager of disaster operations, American Red Cross National Capital
Region; David Robertson, executive director, Metropolitan Washington
Council of Governments; Lee Ruck, general counsel, Metropolitan
Washington Council of Governments; and Dr. Stephen D. Prior, director of
the National Security Health Policy Center at the Potomac Institute for
Policy Studies. Public contact: 727-1211.
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National Building Museum Events, March 25, 27
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
Both events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
Saturday, March 25, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., National Cherry Blossom
Festival family day (Opening Ceremony at 4:00 p.m.). The National
Building Museum and the National Cherry Blossom Festival celebrate the
official opening of Washington, DC’s 2006 cherry blossom season with a
family festival full of hands-on fun exploring Japanese arts and design.
Activities include creating a simple origami pop-up card and making
buildings for an origami city. Participants can also explore the design
principles found in Japanese gardens and create miniature ones to take
home. Free. $5 suggested donation. All ages. Drop-in program. Visit www.nbm.org
for more details.
Monday, March 27, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Spotlight on Design Lecture. Since
founding his own studio in 1985, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has
balanced a concern for humanity with an interest in aesthetics. In
response to the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, he designed housing
utilizing cardboard tubes. Similar quick, safe shelter was developed for
the survivors of subsequent earthquakes in India and Turkey. His
residential projects are seemingly simple explorations of form and
technology. In his first public lecture in Washington, DC, he will
discuss his pioneering work in temporary housing, and other projects,
including the Nomadic Museum (a temporary, traveling art gallery that
originated in New York), the Curtain Wall House in Tokyo, and a new
outpost for the Pompidou Center, to be built in Metz, France. Following
his lecture, he will sign copies of his books. $12 Museum members; $17
nonmembers; $10 students. Prepaid registration required. Register online
at www.nbm.org or call 202.272.2448.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
Your spring cleaning can help springboard someone into a new career!
Join Operation FedEx Special Delivery and Dress for Success for the
“Send A Suit” professional women’s clothing drive on Wednesday,
March 22, from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Your donations will help solve the
Catch-22 dilemma faced by many low-income women trying to enter the
workforce in the Washington, DC, area: Without a job, how can you afford
professional clothing? But without professional clothing, how can you
get that job? Just one item from your closet will help these women put
their best foot forward and Dress for Success!
At the corner of 1st and D Streets, SE (Capitol South Metro Station,
Blue and Orange Lines). We accept all dry cleaned contemporary women’s
suits, gently used shoes, blouses, and accessories. We ask that you only
donate clothing appropriate for the current season and that it is in
ready-to-wear condition. Operation FedEx Special Delivery is a
nationwide program that provides transportation and logistics assistance
at community events. Dress for Success is a not-for-profit organization
that offers services to help low-income women enter the workforce and
stay employed.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
My pond needs a spring cleaning. Who knows a company not too
expensive able to give me an estimate of the cost?
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