Task Forces

Dear Taskers:

Tom Knott, in Thursday’s Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/tknott.htm), writes about the continuing parking dispute between the suburban congregations of downtown churches and the beleaguered residents of those churches’ neighborhoods. Knott’s take: “It is against the law to double-park, except, apparently, if you are attending a church service on Sunday morning, when you are permitted to park anywhere you please. This longtime exemption continues to baffle DC lawmakers and frustrate the residents of Logan Circle, many of whom find themselves living in a freeze zone on Sunday mornings. Residents are obligated to plan their Sunday mornings around the illegally parked vehicles of the churchgoers that form a barricade. God help the residents of Logan Circle if something unplanned comes up — such as a medical emergency. So you’re having chest pains? Take two aspirin and wait out the pastor’s sermon. If that does not work, have a nice afterlife.”

As we all know, the city government has punted, thrown out the compromise plan that DDOT had worked out before it even started, and returned to its refusal to enforce the parking laws on Sundays in some, but far from all, neighborhoods. The mayor has assembled a second task force to go over the dispute again, and to delay any decision to enforce the law against double parking. Knott’s suggestion is: “Perhaps the residents of Logan Circle could bring a sense of clarity to the situation by double-parking their vehicles at the meeting place of the deep thinkers of Task Force II.” That’s good, but I think I can go one better. Most of the residents think that having their cars blocked in by double-parked cars is a real inconvenience; and most of the pastors and congregations who do it argue that it is at most a minor inconvenience that the residents shouldn’t complain about. So why don’t they switch places? My proposal is that in the neighborhoods where the police allow church congregations to double park without being ticketed, the residents should move their cars just before the congregants usually arrive, leaving the curb spaces free for the churchgoers. Then, once all the curb spaces have been taken, the residents should move their cars back into their own blocks, double-parking and blocking in the congregants. The residents will then be able to use their cars whenever they need them or want them, and the ministers and their flocks won’t complain about not being able to get out of their parking spaces, since they’ve already argued that being blocked in by double-parking isn’t a serious problem, and that only small-minded, selfish people would object.

That should last for two or three Sundays at most, before the mayor’s new task force either arrives at a quick solution or the Metropolitan Police Department starts issuing tickets to double parkers.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Little White Lies, Part 2
Jonetta Rose Barras. Rosebook1@aol.com

When DC City Administrator Robert Bobb was presented two weeks ago with information about how Department of Parks and Recreation Director Kimberley Flowers had circumvented personnel laws to bring five friends from Baltimore into positions especially created or upgraded for them, he said he would investigate the hirings. He placed Marceline Alexander in charge of that investigation. She is the person he recruited three years ago to develop initial reforms and a plan for improving what was then the Youth Services Administration; Alexander did a fairly decent job in that position. But she wasn’t the right individual for the DPR review. She is, after all, the DPR’s general counsel, and when Flowers took eleven people on a trip to Indianapolis recently, Alexander was the executive in charge of the Department while the others were away. Last week, Bobb indicated via E-mail that the mayor’s general counsel, Len Becker, will take over the investigations. We can only hope it won’t take him much longer to conclude his review. Roslyn Johnson, one of the individuals hired by Flowers, continues to draw her $105,588 salary, although she inflated her resume. Anyone found to have provided false information to receive his or her employment with the government can be terminated immediately and may be subject to criminal prosecution, according to DC personnel laws.

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DC Public Libraries Fare Well in 2007 Budget
Richard Huffine, Federation of Friends of the DC Public Library, richardhuffine@yahoo.com

The recent news reports of the 2007 DC budget (approved by the DC council on May 9) failed to mention the good news for the District’s Public Library System. The DC council has approved a 22 percent increase in funding for the public libraries next year. The majority of these increases are in one-time funding to address the serious issues of library collections and facilities management. The council also included funding that will add Sunday hours at every neighborhood library, and will hopefully improve the number and quality of public access computers available at library branches throughout the city.

In addition to these very real improvements in the library operating budget, the District committed a substantial amount of capital funds (both local and federal) to renovate and/or replace aging library facilities. In addition to funds already in place to rebuild libraries in Shaw, Tenley, Anacostia, and Benning, funds are now available to do substantial projects in Georgetown, Mount Pleasant/Columbia Heights, Petworth, Southeast, and Ward 7 (Francis Gregory). The public library system is in the process now of prequalifying a number of architecture and engineering firms so that once these projects are ready for design, the selection of a firm will be much quicker than normal.

The mayor’s proposal to lease the Mies van der Rohe building at 901 G Street, NW, was removed from the Budget Support Act and will be considered as separate legislation prior to the Council recess scheduled for mid-July. No decisions are set in stone regarding the relocation of the central library or the approach the District will use to renovating or rebuilding branch libraries. Your input is still needed to make sure that public libraries continue to be the valuable centers of community life that they need to be.

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Field Notes
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Last Friday was a major benchmark in the 2006 election season; it was the first day that candidates could pick up nominating petitions for the September 12 primary at the DC Board of Elections and Ethics. The list of candidates who picked up petitions that day is at http://www.dcwatch.com/election2006. The Board’s election year calendar and details regarding candidate qualifications are posted at http://www.dcboee.org.

Last Thursday, the council’s Judiciary Committee held the latest in a series of oversight hearings on the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Service. On the eve of the hearing, however, citizens learned that the committee chair, Phil Mendelson, had finally decided on the members of the task force that will study the performance of the District’s ambulance service and report to him. Mendelson had initially announced that he would create the task force last October. Mendelson’s office said the members of the task force would be Fire Department Battalion Chief Brian Lee and Assistant Battalion Chief Rafael Sa’hada; Paul Maniscalco, director of George Washington University’s Emergency Service Management Program; Gary Ludwig, deputy fire chief in Memphis, Tennessee; David Milzman, who specializes in emergency medicine at Washington Hospital Center; and Howard Freed, who practices emergency medicine at Howard University Hospital. The composition of the task force has been criticized because two of its members are employed by the Fire Department and a third works for Howard University Hospital, which is under investigation for its role in the death of David Rosenbaum in January. Meanwhile, there are no public citizens on the task force. Moreover, as Anne Renshaw, Vice President of the Federation of Citizens Associations, has noted, nothing has been said about the task force’s mission, budget, staffing, schedule, and deliverables.

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Attention Reporters
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

Three weeks ago, an incident occurred on H Street, NE, that may be worthy of a story in the local newspapers. Reverend William Bynum’s H Street Church was evicted by US Marshals for not paying rent to the building’s owner, Mr. Lee. According to an official representing Mr. Lee, Reverend Bynum owed $80,000 and had not paid rent since 2004.

Bynum rented three apartments above the church. Apparently the tenants paid Bynum their rent but he failed to forward the money to Mr. Lee. The tenants were evicted along with Bynum. Word is some of them plan to take Bynum to court. The incident is mystifying because Bynum is a community leader of impeccable character.

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What the Media Didn’t Tell Us This Week
Kerry Stowell, Johns for Mayor Ward 2 Coordinator, kstowell@erols.com

Listen — if you want to see how the candidates for mayor are doing, go to one of their meetings. The last meeting was a perfect example. All five candidates were at the Gertrude Stein forum, but it was Marie Johns who quickly became the audience favorite. Starting as an unknown candidate, she has quickly found a following that has been attracted to her ability to target areas of need with a bright and common sense approach.

A former CEO of Verizon Washington, her business background showed her to be a woman of value. The audience understood the difference, and their applause confirmed the belief that she was the superior candidate. She’s good. Very, very good, and if the citizens of DC have any say on September 12 she will be the next mayor of DC — and what a gift that would be.

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Marie Johns Show
Liz Rose, Johns for Mayor Campaign, Lizrosej@aol.com

Below are airing dates for May’s discussions on the Marie Johns Show. Shows will air on DCTV (which is Channel 95 on Comcast and on Channel 8 on RCN) The Marie Johns Show: A Conversation about Affordable Housing, May 16, 2:30 p.m.; May 17, 5:00 p.m.; May 30, 8:30 p.m. The Marie Johns Show: A Conversation about Economic Inclusion, May 21, 1:00 p.m.; May 23, 8:30 p.m.; May 31, 4:00 p.m.

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Are Political Endorsements Necessary?
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees2006@verizon.net

In this current election cycle, candidates are running around like chickens with their heads cut off in search of endorsements from one organization after another with the belief that it can secure them an election. When those questionnaires come through the mail, candidates get cracking to crank out the sweetest one liners possible. Yet, are political endorsements really needed in these times to win your respective race? I think the answer is no.

The only real endorsement any candidate should be seeking is that from the voters on election day, not from organizations voters may or may not belong to. A careful examination of the many organizations that hand out endorsements and/or ratings will show that candidates will receive endorsements from a variety of organizations but often those endorsements can split the voter in half, as John Q. Public might respect the endorsement given by both the MPD and the DCFD but each has endorsed a different candidate. Thus, with so many organizations giving out endorsements and very few candidates ever getting the lion’s share, these endorsements have historically resulted in canceling each other out in the minds of most voters and have turned voters off not on, leaving voters to ignore them and going back and judging each candidate on what they are saying.

Of course, often candidates that have received the endorsement of our notable Washington Post have gone down in defeat, as was the case with former Councilman John Ray. Even John Ray’s campaign manager conceded that the mood among voters was: “Ray is the establishment candidate. He can’t be for you when the Washington Post is for him.” With each new election year, endorsements are becoming less and less effective in swaying voters, the number of organizations endorsing are too many for voters to count, and candidates are spending too much time trying to win over these organizations than voters. In 2006, a smart candidate will just take her/his position on those issues of importance straight to the people who will vote and not to those organizations handing out endorsements and ratings, and when those questionnaires come in the mail, you didn’t get them because you were just too busy knocking on doors and being a tangible candidate, not a name without a face.

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Krugler Publishes This Is Only a Test
Matthew Gilmore, dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu

[This is the press release from the book’s publisher.] Iowa is a long way from Washington, DC, but during one of the Cold War’s most dangerous phases, President John F. Kennedy entrusted homeland security to Dubuque lawyer Edward McDermott. In 1961, McDermott moved to Washington to head the Office of Emergency Planning, a forerunner of FEMA. McDermott’s job was to prepare both the capital and the country to survive nuclear war, a frightening prospect that almost became reality during the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

McDermott’s responsibilities are detailed in This Is Only a Test: How Washington DC, Prepared for Nuclear War, a new book by David Krugler. Krugler tells the story of nuclear age urban planning, civil defense, and continuity of government programs in one of the nation’s critical cold war targets: Washington, DC. Spanning the years 1940-1962, the book uses Washington’s often conflicting identities — capital, city, and symbol — to explore the connections between the attempted dispersal of vital government offices, the District’s Office of Civil Defense, and the creation of the secretive Federal Relocation Arc. Measures to protect the federal government resulted in the widening gap between capital and city, while the failures of the city’s local program symbolized federal ambivalence toward civil defense. Krugler, a native of the Milwaukee area, said he became interested in the subject as he was driving into Washington, DC, for the first time and noticed that many of the government’s functions were located far from the city’s center. “What was the thinking that went into that? For example, the Atomic Energy Commission was located 20 miles away in Germantown, MD. That led me to the discovery that it was intentionally located outside the nuclear blast zone if Washington, DC, were to be targeted,” he explained. Krugler said that although it is a scholarly work, This Is Only a Test is meant to appeal to a wide audience. According to Krugler, anyone interested in learning why the government seemed so ill-prepared for Hurricane Katrina, or college students who came of age since the 9/11 attacks, might be interested in learning some of the history of homeland security. “There is precedent for the fact that the federal government isn’t well-equipped to deal with homeland security. During the Cold War, in every other area of national security the government was in charge, but when it came to civil defense, Americans were expected to take the lead. It’s a challenge that transcends party politics,” he said.

This is Krugler’s second book. The first, The Voice of America and the Domestic Propaganda Battles, 1945-1953, was published in 2000. He has been teaching modern American history at UW-Platteville since 1997. This Is Only a Test is published by Palgrave Macmillan, which can be accessed at http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1403965544. Anyone interested in learning more about Krugler’s work may contact him at okruglerd@uwplatt.edu.

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What’s in It for the Mayor?
Leo Alexander, Ward 4, leo_alexander1@yahoo.com

For three years, the Mayor toyed with, lied to, and just BS’d the folks at Howard University, and had them believing that he was seriously going to partner with them in a 400-million-dollar endeavor to provide a Level-1 trauma center east of North Capitol Street. Why? Because he could, and he saw an opportunity to use this healthcare crisis as a trump card in his search for his next gig. This is what I believe. Not because he told me so in that face-to-face meeting that never happened, but because I know what a “safe Negro” does. You can always count on them to look out for themselves, even if that means selling out a community of 200,000 who look like him — what better way to show your loyalty to the Svengali.

Howard University President Patrick Swygert, should be commended for telling the Mayor to take a hike, and not acquiescing to his bogus invitation to join a card game with a crooked dealer. After all, what’s the point when MedStar’s folks have already marked the cards? My sources in the Wilson building are finally giving it up. Ward 6 Councilmember Sharon Ambrose doesn’t want anything for black folks on the old DC General Hospital site. Period. She wants to see some high-end commercial and residential development on that property which would attract more affluent white folks to Ward 6 — to hell with healthcare for DC’s poor. Message received. At-Large Councilman David Catania thinks he can get Ambrose to go along with putting an ambulatory care facility on that site, which is what Bob Malson of the DC Hospital Association has feverishly pitched, much like the one promised to the folks after they closed DC General’s doors five years ago. After which, they would put trauma services at Greater Southeast in Ward 8. Now this is where Marion Barry comes in. Barry wants the District to spend whatever necessary to ramp up services at Greater Southeast, even though this third-world hospital has been in bankruptcy court twice in the last few years. Mind you, the District gave the owners of Greater Southeast approximately 15 million dollars for just that purpose right after the closure of DC General. Today the joint looks like any clinic you’d find in the back alleys of Bangladesh. Poor blacks tolerate this because they’ve been preconditioned to accept second-rate service, or else they would vote in larger numbers. White citizens, and the current majority white city council, would have a fit if this same operation were intended for their use. Meanwhile, the owners of Greater Southeast released a figure just last week of 188 million dollars for the complete renovation of this decrepit facility. Wow, I wonder where they got that magic number? Could it be that the owners of this private, for-profit hospital were listening and saw an opportunity to shake down the District after they heard how much cash the city planned to spend on the National Capital Medical Center? Nah, that would be just too cynical, even for me. Why would Barry trust them with more money after they have proven they can’t be trusted?

But it only gets better, MedStar has been secretly negotiating with the owners of Greater Southeast to purchase that troubled facility. If this goes through, MedStar will own Washington Hospital Center, Georgetown University Hospital, and Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Then they will have all the leverage they need to get the city council to boost their rates for reimbursement. Now who wins in this scenario? MedStar is behind the curtain pulling the strings, and our mayor is dancing. They will have three hospitals in the city, and two of them will be Level-1 trauma centers. More importantly, this will enable them to get the lion’s share of reimbursements from the DC Healthcare Alliance vault. Councilmembers Catania and Barry can pat each other on the back and say they saved the deal -- providing much needed services to this fragile community.

Who loses? Every other hospital in the District that has been providing healthcare through the alliance will now get fewer patients, and even less money. And the sole hospital — African American owned and operated — that answered the mayor’s SOS three years ago stands to lose the most. Not only did Mayor Williams allow MedStar to come in and break a signed contract at the eleventh hour, but there’s also a certain level of indignity, pain, and disgrace that black folks internalize anytime we suffer treachery. But it’s worse when it’s done in public, and committed by the hands of one of our own. Even for a proud institution like Howard University, which dates back to 1867, this dose of disrespect is tough to swallow. It just makes you wonder, what’s in it for the Mayor?

[This is the third message from Leo Alexander that attacks the mayor as being insufficiently or incorrectly black. It’s time to call a moratorium. When the task force on the NCMC completes its deliberations and issues its report, or when there are developments regarding Greater Southeast Community Hospital, anyone can then respond in themail — on factual grounds. — Gary Imhoff]

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Legitimate Candidates
Bob Summersgill, bob at summersgill dot net

Christopher Jerry [themail, May 10] asked the question who is a legitimate candidate, in particular who should be invited to forums. Groups holding forums, endorsements, or ratings would be helpful in explicitly stating what their criteria for including candidates are, as Mr. Jerry is attempting to do. The Office of Campaign Finance (OCF) is probably the best single source early on, as the Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE) doesn’t require a filing until July to get on the ballot, and even later if you are an independent. The OCF list is prone to leaving off recently announced candidates who have just gotten started, so I would combine the lists.

One group of “declared” candidates that might be left out are the ones who are exempted from filing with the OCF because they will not raise or spend more than $500. No one running for mayor or council on that modest sum can be considered serious. The OCF list of candidates indicates who they are. However, the OCF list does not indicate if a candidate has decided to drop out of the race, such as Keith Perry in Ward 6.

It may be harder to determine which of the remaining candidates are not serious, but some perennial candidates may be obvious. In some of the Ward races, particularly Ward 5 with fourteen candidates, you run the risk of having more candidates than audience.

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Declared Candidates
Dave Bosserman, orilla@comcast.net

Christopher Jerry asks [themail, May 10] “What Determines a Declared Candidate?” for setting up candidate forums. Start with BOEE’s list of people who have filed a declaration of candidacy. On May 11, there were nine folks who had declared for mayor; seven were Democrats, one Republican, and one Green. Of course, many have not yet filed declarations, so don’t stop there.

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Fall Short
Edward Cowan, edcowan1114@yahoo.com

In the intro to themail of May 10, [Gary Imhoff] writes “fall short” twice in summarizing Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi’s comments about the real estate boom cooling. What does “fall short” mean in this context? Does it mean fall below last year’s level? Surely the CFO’s competent forecasters would anticipate that in their projections. That would not be a bad thing, by the way.

Fall below Gandhi’s staff’s projections of revenue? That would seem to be unlikely, given his practice of cautious forecasting. Or does it mean they may grow at a slower rate than they have — crimping the Council’s propensity to spend more and more?

Given the upward trend of property taxes in this decade, ameliorated a little by the 2005 rate reduction and homestead exemption increase, a leveling off of house prices and assessments is a consummation to be desired, though perhaps not by those looking to sell. Such cooling might even force the council to accept greater discipline in spending. It is spending that prevents greater rate relief for payers of property taxes.

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May 2006 InTowner
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the May 2006 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials (including prior months' archived), restaurant reviews (prior months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to December 2002) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link provided. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on June 9 (the 2nd Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.

To read this month's lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Historic Modernist MLK Library Building Fate, Relocation Plan Angers Majority of Residents Attending Mayor's Meeting”; 2) “Long-Awaited Major Columbia Heights Project Underway”; 3) “Shaw Heritage Trail Dedication Draws Crowd of Near 200”; 4) “Adams Morgan Pioneers Bike Racks Plan Put Forth by MainStreets.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Creating Community Between Schools Through the Arts, May 16
Dorothy Marschak, dmarschak@chime-dc.org

You are invited to a workshop on forming collaborative Music/Arts projects between different DC schools or after-school programs. CHIME volunteer Claire Davis will report on, and show video clips from, her Choral Connections project this year between Stoddert and Amidon Elementary schools, and then participants will share ideas about forming other such projects. These projects not only bring kids together from different neighborhoods and backgrounds, but also serve to bring their parents together and strengthen parent organizations. The workshop will be in the Music Room of Amidon Elementary School, 4th and I Street SW, on May 16 from 4-6 p.m. Please RSVP to dmarschak@chime-dc.org. Refreshments.

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Scandalous Lives of Royal Women at Cleveland Park, May 18
Beth Meyer, lmeyer@aol.com

Eleanor Herman, author of Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics will give a lecture on "Scandalous Lives of Royal Women" on Thursday, May 18, at 6: 30 p.m. in the first floor auditorium of the Cleveland Park Branch of the DC Public Library, Connecticut and Macomb Streets, NW. A book sale and signing of Sex with the Queen courtesy of the Trover Shop will follow.

Ms. Herman will offer a fascinating exploration of sex, politics, power, and royalty from the perspective of the queen’s boudoir including such colorful characters as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Queen Victoria, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Named after Eleanor of Aquitaine, her grandmother twenty-eight times removed, Ms. Herman is related to most of the royal families of Europe. Her first book was Sex with Kings.

The Cleveland Park Branch of the DC Public Library is located near the Cleveland Park Metrorail Station. All District of Columbia Public Library activities are open to the public free of charge. For further information, please call the Cleveland Park Branch Library at 282-3080.

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National Minority Business Coalition Mayoral Candidates Forum, May 18
Vanessa Brooks, setpointinc@starpower.net

The National Minority Business Coalition will host a mayoral candidates forum on Thursday, May 18, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at The Arc, 1901 Mississippi Avenue, SE. NMBC is a Washington-based trade association that represents the political, legislative and economic interests of minority-owned businesses in the District and Washington metropolitan area. Its membership is comprised of firms in diverse industries, including construction, insurance, information technology, electrical supply, law, and other professional services. Most are certified as Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (LSDBE).

The forum will be an opportunity for the candidates running for Mayor to address the specific concerns of the minority business community, in particular, greater inclusion of LSDBE firms in the District Government’s economic development and procurement activities. Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of the Washington Informer, will moderate the forum, and panelists will include Sam Ford of ABC News Channel 7 and Askia Mohammed of WPFW radio. A reception will follow immediately after the forum.

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Comprehensive Plan Public Meetings, May and June
Corinna J. Moebius, cmoebius@bordercross.com

The revised Comprehensive Plan for the District of Columbia is coming to life. A working draft of the entire document is being assembled now and will be available for preview soon. At public meetings and ANC Briefings held throughout 2005, you shared your thoughts and views on the future of our city. The Office of Planning has drafted a revised Comprehensive Plan based on guidance provided by the Comprehensive Plan Revision Task Force, dozens of DC government leaders, and thousands of residents from across the city, who shared thoughts and views on the future of our city at public meetings and ANC Briefings held over the last eighteen months. The draft Comprehensive Plan tackles tough issues like affordable housing, environmental quality and traffic congestion. It provides a road map to a growing a more inclusive, dynamic city. Come to one of the Comp Plan presentations in May or June and find out how.

The upcoming presentations will provide an overview of proposed revisions to the Comprehensive Plan, and changes to the city’s Future Land Use Map. While there have been many opportunities for input over the past eighteen months, these presentations will be the first time to hear about and preview the draft document before it is revised and sent to the council this summer. Other opportunities to weigh in are planned, including a mayor’s public hearing on June 13 and council public hearings in the fall. However, the upcoming presentations are your best chance to preview the plan, ask questions, and make your voices heard. We look forward to seeing you at one of the presentations in May or June. Use the WMATA RideGuide (http://www.wmata.com) to find the best way to get to a meeting using public transportation.

Presentation dates and locations: Monday, May 22, 6-8:30 p.m., Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street, NW, Community Room, 2nd Floor. Metro: U Street/Cardozo Station, Bus: 66, 68, 90, 92, 93, 96, 98, X3. Tuesday, May 23, 6-8:30 p.m., McKinley High School, 151 T Street, NE. Metro: Rhode Island Avenue Station, Bus: 81, 82, 83, 86, 84, 85, B8, B9, D8, H8, H9, M31, P6, S41, T18. Wednesday, May 24, 6-8:30 p.m., Kelly-Miller Middle School, 301 49th Street, NE. Metro: Benning Road Station, Bus: 96, 97, E32, U5, U6, U8, W4, W54. Tuesday, May 30, 6-8:30 p.m., University of the District of Columbia, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Building 38, Windows Lounge. Metro: Van Ness Station, Bus: D32, H2, L1, L2, L4, N8. Thursday, June 1, 6-8:30 p.m., WVSA/SAIL Public Charter School, 1100 16th Street, NW. Metro: Farragut North or West Stations. Monday, June 5, 6-8:30 p.m., Petey Green Center, 2907 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE. Metro Station: Anacostia Station, Bus: A2, A4, A8. Wednesday, June 7, 6-8:30 p.m., King Greenleaf Recreation Center, 201 N Street, SW. Metro: Waterfront Station-SEU, Bus: 70, 71, A42, A46, A48, A9, P1, P2, V7, V8, V9. Thursday, June 8, 6-8:30 p.m., Emery Recreation Center, Georgia Avenue and Madison Street, NW. Metro: Georgia Avenue/Petworth Station, Bus: 60, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, H8. Mayor’s Public Hearing, Tuesday, June 13, 1-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m., 441 4th Street, NW, Old Council Chambers.

Call 442-8812 to sign up to testify. We will post a copy of the working draft of the revised Comp Plan on our web site, http://www.inclusivecity.org, after May 15. In the meantime, you can view and review working drafts of all of the Citywide Elements of the revised Comp Plan at http://www.inclusivecity.org/docs.php?ogid=1000001023. For further information, please call 442-8812.

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Gastronomy and Art, May 25
Barbara Ruesga-Pelayo, bruesga@sre.gob.mx

Thursday May 25, 7:00 p.m., at the Cultural Institute of Mexico, 2829 16th Street, NW. "Gastronomy in Art and Art in Gastronomy," opening exhibit and culinary demonstration by Eugenia Marcos.

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Ward Three and Four Democrats Mayoral Candidates Forum, May 31
Ann Loikow, aloikow@verizon.net

The Ward Three Democratic Committee and the Ward 4 Democrats, Inc., are sponsoring a public forum for DC mayoral candidates, moderated by Colby King of The Washington Post, on Wednesday, May 31 from 7:00-9:00 p.m., at Woodrow Wilson High School, 3950 Chesapeake Street, NW. For more information, please call Ward Three Democratic Committee Chair Robert M. Brandon at 331-1550 or E-mail him at rmbrand@robertbrandon.com, or the Ward 4 Democrats’ President Dwayne M. Toliver (585-8852 or dtoliver@nixonpeabody.com). The doors open at 6:30 p.m. Please use the side auditorium entrance across from Hollywood Video on 40th Street/Fort Drive.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

FlexCar or ZipCar
Simon Craddock Lee, scraddocklee@starpower.net

I live in Adams Morgan. I just gave up my own car as both a pragmatic and eco-driven decision. Do people have opinions about which distributed vehicle service is better or are they interchangeable? Recommendations with relevant rationales appreciated.

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