Storm
Dear Storm Watchers:
Well, Bob Dylan sang that a hard rain is gonna fall, and now a hard
rain has fallen on us, and it isn’t quite over yet, since another
heavy rain is predicted for tomorrow. Various meteorologists have termed
it a rain that comes to the DC area once every hundred and fifty years
or once every three hundred years. For most of us, it hasn’t been too
bad — perhaps a fallen tree, a leaky roof, some water in the basement,
or getting caught in a particularly mean rush hour. The state of
emergency that Mayor Williams declared lasted for less than a full day.
But for others among us, it has been a full-scale disaster. Alma
Gates writes below about Caroline Quandt, who lost her house to the
rains. Dorothy and I met with Ms. Quandt over two years ago. Even then,
she had spent a couple years attempting to get the responsible city
agencies to pay attention to the disaster that she could foresee, and
she was frustrated and looking for any advice she could get about who
would take the necessary steps to help her save her and her neighbors’
houses. We gave her what advice we could, but couldn’t be very
encouraging. Now that the responsible officials have failed to avert the
disaster that she told them would occur, will any councilmembers or
members of the administration pay attention, and — more importantly
— take responsibility for failing to act responsibly earlier?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Home Loss and Flood Destruction in Palisades
Alma Gates, Chair ANC3D, ahg71139@aol.com
[An open letter to the members of the Committee on Public Works and
the Environment] The storm last evening dumped a significant amount of
water on the city, and there is devastation everywhere. One such site is
at 5320 Macomb Street, NW. Caroline Quandt lost her home last night when
water caused the foundation walls to collapse and the basement to fill
with water. Ms. Quandt has no insurance coverage, and now she has no
home.
The real tragedy in this story is that for over two years ANC 3D has
attempted to get some relief for this area of Palisades that has
suffered with every significant storm since over-development began in
the Palisades area and Frank Economides put in four large houses on
MacArthur Boulevard where two small bungalows had existed on two large
heavily vegetated lots. The Commission has been to see the Department of
Health/Environmental Health Administration on this particular matter several times and was assured
"all was well." Then, in an attempt to direct the water away
from the houses that back on the alley separating them from the
Economides houses, the Department of Transportation placed sandbags
end-to-end along the alley last summer. These older neighborhood homes
are frequently flooded due to poor grading, alley destruction, and
inadequate storm water management systems installed at the Economides
development site. WASA has agreed to replace the inadequate storm water
pipe on Macomb Street that directs water to an outflow above the Potomac
River. However, installation of the pipe is a year away, and the
destruction it was meant to prevent occurred last night.
This is not just another “feel sorry.” The money needed to repair
the District’s failing infrastructure has not been budgeted. WASA and
DDOT have not responded in a timely manner. However, development has
continued with encouragement as a revenue generator; and, the public has
been assured that it will not have an effect on the community. This is
the message ANCs hear on a regular basis at Board of Zoning Adjustment
hearings as theoretical lots subdivisions are approved for 47 houses
here, 29 houses there, and 13 houses elsewhere. Perhaps this tragedy
will help you understand the consequences of overbuilding, poor
planning, and lack of oversight. What are you, the legislators for the
city going to do to ensure we don’t have more “Quandt” tragedies?
How will you set budget priorities that include upgrades and maintenance
of the existing infrastructure before we permit more stresses on a
failing system? And, what are you going to do to help Caroline Quandt?
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A Foggy Day in London Town
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Today, Mayor Williams hastily canceled his regular weekly press
conference, “in order to inspect storm damage and visit with District
work crews.” However, instead of visiting with residents and
businesses affected by the rain damage, Mayor Williams decided to meet
only with District workers. He inspected work being done by the
Department of Transportation employees to shore up the area near the
2000 block of Belmont Street, NW, and visited with Department of Public
Works workers at 1241 W Street, NE, as they filled sand bags.
Mayor Williams’s sudden decision to leave his sixth floor sanctuary
in the Wilson Building was prompted in part by criticism from many,
including Tom Sherwood, who reported this week that, “As a citizen of
the city, would it be too much to ask for the mayor to emerge from his
office to address all the road closings, flooded buildings and homes?
Offer a reassuring statement in person and thank all the hardworking
city employees on overtime in the muck?” (http://www.nbc4.com/politics/9432922/detail.html)
Williams’s visits were also staged in the hope that it would defuse
criticism of his departure today for another week-long trip overseas. On
Thursday, he will be in London to attend a two-day conference sponsored
by the Mayors’ and Leaders’ Forum on “Leading Sustainable
Cities,” http://www.eurocities.org.
It is ironic that the stated purpose of the meeting is to “emphasize
the pivotal role that strong, strategic, and visionary leadership can
play in enabling cities to develop effective responses to common
challenges including: economic globalization, climate change, and social
exclusion.”" Following London, Williams will travel to Turkey to
deliver a commencement address and attend a Glocalization conference. In
DC, the only graduation ceremony Williams has attended for the past two
years was last month at the private SEED School.
As always, the mayor’s office has refused today to provide
important details regarding the mayor’s trip, including the list of
people traveling with the mayor, the cost of the trip, and how it is
being funded.
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What Goes Around
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
As we see Constitution Avenue under water during this monsoon period,
not many folks know that a long time ago, before even my time,
Constitution Avenue was a canal.
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If you care about teens in the District of Columbia, here’s a
chance to express yourself. DC Campaign invites all District residents
including parents, teens advocates, service providers, community
activists, and members of the faith community to "Express
Yourself" by participating in an online survey at http://www.teenpregnancydc.org.
The survey runs through July 18. Tell us how teens are faring in the
District. Your answers will be compiled into a final report and shared
with mayoral and city council candidates along with a wide range of
community stakeholders. You can make your voice be heard. Thank you for
helping DC Campaign advocate on behalf of District teens.
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Meters Versus Zones
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Although I am a proponent of the taxicab meter system, I was recently
delighted with the zone system in a (rare, but it was a hot day) cab
ride from the FDR Memorial to Union Station. That’s not very far, but
the traffic to and over the bridge at the Tidal Basin was horrendous. It
took more than 35 minutes to travel that short distance. We were in an
air conditioned cab and had time to do some slow sightseeing along the
way with our Florida house guest. The fare was $12 and the driver earned
a $3 tip for the three of us. I was glad to have the zone system that
day.
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I Think That She Is Waiting for Christmas
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees2006@verizon.net
Despite the fact that our primaries are just two months away, I am a
bit startled up here in Ward 3 that a good number of voters still think
that Kathy Patterson is seeking reelection to her Ward 3 seat, that most
people do not know who is actually running for her seat, and that the
few who do know the names of one or two of the candidates think that
they are running against Kathy Patterson. Whose fault is that? Kathy
Patterson’s campaign manager Eric Marshall.
Eric Marshall may have been a great promoter of the push for the
smoking ban, but he is proving to be a liability in getting Kathy
Patterson’s message out to people by not first letting the people of
her own ward know that she are not seeking reelection to her Ward 3 seat
but for the chair of the city council. You can also blame Eric Marshall
for the following: just go up and down the streets of Ward 3 and you
will see ten Vincent Gray yard signs for every one Kathy Patterson sign;
you will see Vincent Gray campaign literature, but nothing from Kathy
Patterson; and you will stumble on people seeking signatures for Vincent
Gray for the nomination petition in front of the grocery stores, and
none for Kathy Patterson. Sadly, these facts repeat themselves city
wide.
Kathy Patterson, take it from a man who ran three victorious
campaigns in cities bigger than DC: Eric Marshall needs to be sent to
the showers, back to the American Cancer Society, because he has become
a deadly malignancy on your campaign.
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Gary and Dorothy: you worry that establishing a right to high-quality
schools would have “disastrous consequences” for the District; you
predict there will be lawsuits galore — that enacting this right will
do nothing but line lawyers’ pockets [themail, June 25]. You have my
complete respect for the work you do for our District, but I don’t
share your views on this issue.
What about our other civil rights: right to emergency health care,
right to free speech, right to equal protection under the law, right to
be free of sexual harassment and other discrimination in the workplace,
etc.? We as a people have identified these as basic rights. We have a
court system specifically set up to defend those rights, and,
thankfully, we have lawyers to help us defend those rights when
necessary.
A high-quality education is one of the keys to economic and political
power in our society. Civil rights advocates around the country are
recognizing education as the civil right of the 21st century. The two-
or three-class unequal educational system we have perpetuates
inequality, poverty, crime, and hopelessness. It’s the current state
of affairs that is resulting in "disastrous consequences."
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Despite the recent incidents with Emergency Medical Services, I would
say our fire department is pretty darn good, and so are my neighbors. I
live in an all-wood house, and as I arrived to work one morning about a
year ago I got a call that my house was on fire. By the time I got back
home, my main office had been called. Neighbors and local stores called
me at the office and its many variations, including the Director’s
office; a teacher from my daughter’s school was passing the house, so
the school called, too. That worked well.
When I got home it was thankfully still there. The Department
determined it was a flue fire and dumped a gazillion pounds of baking
soda down the chimney. They took a second to remove some things from the
mantle before they tried (with no success) to break through the very
solid brick chimney. Other than having to buy a bunch of HEPA filters
for the vacuum, there was nothing that could not be fixed with soap and
water. We later figured it was not a flue fire per se, but that the heat
wrap around our flue liner burned — a little installation problem.
Once since then I went outside to find a number of fire trucks; a
neighbor had called in smoke. In that case we were firing the furnace up
after heavy rains and released a cloud of steam, but they thoroughly
checked the house. This has given me warm and fuzzy feelings about my
neighborhood as virtual strangers tried to locate myself or my husband.
Almost twenty years ago, after deaths due to a fire in the neighborhood,
the Fire Department came door to door to offer safety assessments of
houses, and they made recommendations on my then house for escape
routes, etc. I have, in a former job, dealt with the Department on
packrat cases and gas leaks in major buildings. The one thing that
bothered me several years ago was to see a fighter who came to an
apartment building from a fire. He had wear holes in his safety coat,
and he said he was not due for a reissuance. I hope that has improved.
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No Service Complaints Here
Malcolm L Wiseman, Jr., Washington Free DC!, mal@wiseman.ws
I have lived in north Petworth for over twenty years. I cannot
remember a single time when a trash pickup in my block didn’t happen
on schedule. Also, I have never waited more than, say, forty-five
minutes at any Department of Motor Vehicles station for renewals,
inspections, etc.
This morning at 7:30, after rain emergencies galore, the DC bulk
refuse pickup service arrived and hauled away two large appliances by
appointment, on schedule. They have changed from picking up in the alley
to requiring one to put the stuff out front. No big deal for me. How
much would I have to pay a light hauling guy to do the same? I yelled
“thank you” from my window, and they replied, “you’re welcome,
sir!” Perhaps I’m blessed!
How many thousands of times do city services occur on time as
expected? How many thousands of people are there here in the colony who
are happy overall with city services, yet don’t have the time or the
computer to tell DCWatch? How many thousands of rights are denied us
colonists each day without much complaint at all? Yet, some of us whine
endlessly on DCWatch about “potholes” and such.
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Here is what works well in DC: any situation where the DC government
can extort more money from its already overburdened residents. We
certainly are not receiving what we are over paying for, from the
schools to the lousy and corrupt permit office. But that’s our fault.
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What DC Government Does (Mostly) Right
Mark Eckenwiler, themale at ingot dot org
In the last issue (June 25), Petra Weinakht complained that she
smelled something fishy: the alleged absence of a certain DC bigwig’s
house from the Tax and Revenue real property database on the web.
Actually, as I confirmed in about ten seconds, the property is listed,
and is currently assessed at $2.9 million (in 2007, rising to $3.3
million). The owner isn’t even claiming the homestead deduction, and
— as you can see under “View Payments” — is paying his real
property taxes promptly and in full based on the current assessment.
(Most recent payment: $13,500 in March.)
In truth, OTR’s migration of real property ownership, assessment,
and tax payment data onto the web over the past seven years is one place
where DC government has made impressive progress. This isn’t to say
that the database is perfect. For some bizarre reason, the web server
unnecessarily uses secure HTTP (https) — an encryption mechanism
designed to protect confidential data -- even though these are public
records. The server also requires that you have cookies enabled,
although there’s no earthly reason for this to be so. And the
database, like many databases, includes records that contain typos
and/or are input using varying formats.
I suspect Ms. Weinakht typed the full address, “3006 Albemarle St.,
NW.” Since the quadrant (NW) is missing from the record, she found no
match. Here are two tips for using the database more effectively: 1) don’t
enter the full address. The search engine automatically does wildcard
matching, so it’s sufficient to type, say, “3006 Alb,” which is
how I pulled up the record in question. 2) When searching by square/lot,
you must use 4-digit numbers with leading zeroes, e.g., “2042 0811”
(= 3006 Albemarle).
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Response to Petra Weinakht
Natalie Wilson, Office of Tax and Revenue, natalie.wilson@dc.gov
Your recent E-mail to themail titled “Mysteries of the CFO’s
Assessment Database” [themail, June 25] is incorrect. The assessment
of the property in question is, and can be found, on our online
database. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact
me at 442-8072.
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Reply to “Mysteries of the CFO’s
Assessment Database”
Matthew Gilmore, dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Not a really mysterious problem, just a data issue. The address in
the database doesn’t have the "NW." Leave out the NW and you’ll
find it.
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