Promises
Dear Promised:
The Washington Post today editorially encourages the city
council to be skeptical of the Board of Education’s school reform
plan, which it dismisses as “empty promises” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001571.html).
The council doesn’t need the paper’s encouragement; at yesterday’s
hearing, some councilmembers treated members of the school board and any
citizens who opposed the mayor’s takeover proposal not with
skepticism, but with mean-spirited, caustic hostility. Meanwhile, both
the paper and the council feign naiveness and pretend to swallow the
mayor’s empty promises.
Read the mayor’s proposed bill (http://www.dcwatch.com/council17/17-001.htm)
and the Board of Education’s proposed bill (http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/070129a.htm)
for yourself, and compare them with an open mind. The BOE’s proposal
is far from perfect — the Board members couldn’t kept themselves
from trying to settle a few old scores along the way. But one thing
stands out as the outstanding difference between them. The mayor’s
bill promises only a power grab, and delivers only a seizure of power
from the Board of Education and the building of a cumbersome,
multi-layered new school management bureaucracy in the mayor’s office.
It doesn’t talk at all about educating children or about improving the
schools. The Board of Education’s bill, in sharp contrast, is all
about education — it promises giving students a better education, and
delivers measurable goals for improving the schools.
It’s easy to see why people would be skeptical of the Board of
Education, but it’s almost impossible to see why anyone would trust
the mayor and the council to do a better job. Certainly, if the mayor’s
bill is passed, the mayor and the city council will immediately move on
to other issues, other parts of city government for which they are
already responsible that are performing as poorly or worse than the
schools. Their attention will be elsewhere and, since the Board of
Education will have been stripped of its powers, there will be no
elected officials who will pay more than fleeting attention to giving
good schools and a good education to our children.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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DC Board of Ed Needs to Reconsider No-Bid
Contract
Mai Abdul Rahman, spotlightoneducation@yahoo.com
V. Dion Haynes of the Washington Post wrote [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500546.html]:
“The DC Board of Education is considering a no-bid contract with a
little-experienced but politically connected organization to upgrade
academics and facilities in some low-performing schools.” The schools
considered include Rudolph Elementary School and MacFarland Middle
School, both in Ward 4. According to Haynes, EdBuild lacks construction
management experience and less than a year experience in teacher
training. EdBuild began operation in 2005 and was headed by Neil Albert,
a current Fenty appointee.
On the surface, the endorsement of a no-bid contract should be an
anathema in a democratic society. When it comes to the expenditure of
public dollars, it is expected that those services which cannot be
performed in-house are contracted with the best and most qualified
company. In order to locate the most qualified company, the Board is
required to conduct open and transparent hearings. Otherwise the Board
gives the appearance of favoritism and back room deals.
The citizens of Washington, DC, are putting their trust and faith
that the school board will judiciously, openly and carefully dispense
one billion dollars of public funding to repair and upgrade our schools.
The School Board’s failure to carryout a thorough and transparent
debate about this contract adds fuel to those who have charged that the
school system cannot be trusted to spend our dollars effectively. Ed
Build illustrates a process that devalues input, degrades our children
and deprives our communities of a transparent and democratic process.
Clearly our students and the citizens of this city deserve better.
Just as the Pentagon was forced to reconsider its no-bid contract
with Halliburton for work involving the rebuilding of Iraq’s oil
infrastructure, the Board of Education needs to reconsider this no-bid
contract with EdBuild.
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Helping to Balance DC’s Budget
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
When I heard about DC’s $300 million surplus, a certain amount
pride swelled in my chest at the contributions I’ve made via the
parking tickets I’ve paid. People commonly view parking tickets as an
annoyance, but if you truly love this city, you’ll begin to view
parking tickets as a beautiful way of giving back.
Think of the kind of city we could have if each of us chose to park
illegally just two or three more times each month. It’s time that each
of chose this selfless way of supporting our communities. You might not
think you’re doing much for the city by paying your parking tickets,
but every bit counts. And it’s not only the monetary payment that
benefits the city. It’s the gesture that counts. It shows that you
care.
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I read an article a couple of weeks ago in the Post’s sports
section [“The Dominican Pipeline to D.C.: Nats Use Baseball Academy to
Boost Flagging Presence,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011802089.html]
about a new partnership between the Washington Nationals and a baseball
academy in the Dominican Republic. The story basically explained why the
brain trust of the Nationals felt this was an absolute must move on
their part to find a possible big-leaguer on this talent-rich Caribbean
island. So I began thinking, “What if. . . .” Now that our city
leaders have agreed to cough up the $611 million for the stadium and
another eight-figure sum for parking, what is the community getting back
for its investment, besides a beautiful state-of-the-art park where
billionaire owners can watch their millionaire jocks play a game? Here’s
a thought . . . how about a baseball academy to attract and nurture
young talent from our own community?
Over the next several years, the Nationals plan to funnel millions of
dollars into a foreign country through a first class baseball academy in
the hopes of finding the next Pedro or Sammy Sosa. At this facility, the
prospects live around the clock and receive professional coaching,
tutoring, mentoring and a balanced diet. What if the Nationals and the
Office of the Mayor formed a public/private partnership along with Major
League Baseball (MLB), the DC Department of Parks and Recreation, DC
Public Schools, and the DC Department of Health to create an academy in
the heart of the District, and provided the same level of enrichment for
our local youth that they plan for the kids down in the Dominican
Republic? Imagine what would happen if our local Satchel Paige and Babe
Ruth little leagues were organized as farm teams to identify young
talent in its early stages, and then channel that talent to this special
baseball academy. It would be ground breaking. The Lerners would be
credited with promoting a new approach to education, athletics, and
healthy living in this one initiative. This blueprint will be copied in
every major league city across the nation because everyone wins — the
owners, the communities and more importantly our young men. After all,
our children have the basic motor skills needed to play on an advanced
level, but lack a couple of key ingredients — the will and vision on
MLB’s part to find the next Cal Ripken or Frank Robinson right here at
home.
I’d like to see the Nationals think outside the box and resist the
urge to follow the other MLB teams out of the country, and instead
cultivate our city for major league talent. Our young men are begging
for an opportunity to be positively engaged away from the beckoning call
of the mean streets. Think of all the community relations’ goodwill
and pride this will inspire, not to mention the hope it will instill in
a young life from the feeling that someone really cares. I believe our
community is full of potential Hall of Famers just waiting for this
opportunity. Like in the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they
will come.”
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Historic Preservation and Adaptive Use
David Maloney, Deputy State Historic Preservation
Officer, DC Office of Planning, david.maloney@dc.gov
Jack McKay’s posting [themail, January 28] repeats the inaccurate
and needlessly divisive assertion that preservation regulations have
absolute priority over the needs of residents. That statement is simply
not borne out by the law or the facts of the Walbridge Place case that
he cites. Residents all over the city successfully update their historic
buildings to suit their needs. During the past five years our office has
worked with dozens of property owners to solve access issues for their
historic homes, churches, schools, and offices. That is because the
purpose of the preservation law is to retain and enhance historic
buildings and to encourage their adaptation for current use. The needs
and desires of residents are among all kinds of practical
considerations, including personal hardships that the Historic
Preservation Review Board and its staff routinely consider when
reviewing renovation proposals.
In the case of the house on Walbridge Place, the HPRB is considering
a proposal to gut the house down to the studs and to convert it into two
rental units. Half the front porch would be demolished for a basement
entry court. The HPRB and its staff suggested several reasonable ways
that the owner could design the project to allow his elderly parents to
live safely and comfortably on either the main floors of the house or in
the basement, whichever they prefer to return to, when the overhaul is
complete. We gave very careful consideration to the realities of their
situation. Regardless of historic preservation concerns, the owner’s
plan for the basement entry court would be hazardous under any
circumstance, much less during an emergency. He proposed building a
narrow staircase without handrails in the middle of a steep ramp (a
slope four times steeper than recommended by the ADA). The design simply
doesn’t meet the building code.
Perhaps encouraged by the nature of the media coverage, the owner has
so far declined to consider our suggested alternatives. DCRA now has the
application under review, and when we have a DCRA-approved plan we will
continue to work cooperatively with the owner to convert the house to
the rental units he proposes.
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District’s Historic Preservation Law
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
As a student and practitioner of urban revitalization, I am always
struck by a contradiction -- the reality of historic preservation’s
being the primary stabilizer of the city’s neighborhoods during the
many decades in which demographic trends did not favor city living
versus the attitude in some quarters about “hysteric preservation”
and an unwillingness to pay heed to the architectural integrity of
houses and neighborhoods; all the while choosing to live in the city and
benefit from what preservationists have in fact preserved.
The recent case in Mt. Pleasant that Mr. McKay has publicized,
including in the last issue of themail, twists our concerns for seniors
and for social justice to denigrate historic preservation more
generally. The fact of the matter is that from a good government
perspective it’s always a bad idea to use really bad examples to
change or criticize laws, although this is the way the legislative
process tends to work in DC. An unwilling-to-be-reasonable property
owner and a lousy architect is the problem in Mt. Pleasant -- not social
justice, not inflexible historic preservation laws.
I am not a big fan of believing in “unique” and “exceptional”
situations. Generally, while every place and building (except for retail
chains) is unique, few places and situations are exceptional. I believe
that this is in fact so in this case. If not, please make the case why
the property owner should have gotten what they requested — a
bastardization of the front elevation for a handicapped ramp that would
not provide unassisted use, when the house already has a rear entrance
at grade for the basement apartment. The fact is that the architectural
integrity of houses contributes to the integrity of neighborhoods. It’s
not just a matter of “the houses being pretty,” it also affects the
property values of immediate neighbors and the overall value and
perception of neighborhoods. Architectural integrity of neighborhoods is
one of the significant contributors to the city’s identity and
authenticity — it’s what makes our neighborhoods different from a
Toll Brothers subdivision in Fairfax County. And it makes our city
different from Bethesda or Rockville or Tysons Corner or anywhere else.
Anything that we do that would diminish the identity and quality of life
in our city must be considered very carefully. I have yet to see a good
argument provided by “the other side.” Appeals to emotion yes. That’s
not enough. We need appeals to reason.
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African Americans, Immigrants, and Janitorial
Work
Roger Scott, roger.scott@earthlink.net
[Re: Carolyn Long, “African Americans or Illegal Immigrants,”
themail, January 28] As an African American, a native Washingtonian, and
with a ten-year background in facilities management with janitorial
oversight, I can provide some insight to this question. There are
several contributing factors.
For the most part, African American workers are being priced out of
the cleaning industry. Increase in profit margins and extensive
competition among companies drive down wages. Should I even bother to
mention the cost of living in the DC metro area? Think about it: it is
reasonable to think a family of four (average) could live comfortably in
this area on $10/hour per person? This is about $21,000 a year per
person. A large majority of the immigrant population exists under a
“community-concept” of living. They share money, skills,
transportation, housing, childcare, etc. This is not as common in the
African-American community, or most American communities, for that
matter. The media and educational system demonize the janitorial
industry. In crude terms, “It isn’t cool to mop floors.” So yes,
it is demeaning to some, but this is only because it has been
unofficially designated as an undesirable job. It does not help that
some individuals treat office cleaners, of all races, as less than
people. I have had to address too many staffers for disrespecting our
workers.
As it relates to the immigration issue — if the employers stopped
hiring illegal workers, the immigrants would stop coming. Thus you can
not blame the workers, in lieu of the employer! “Build it and they
will come.” In conclusion, my opinion is that the low wages and the
high cost of living have a higher impact on the lack of African-American
in janitorial services than the stigma. If a living wage were paid to
cleaners, the industry would be more diverse. Nevertheless, I will not
completely dismiss the effects of the negative media portrayal of this
industry on the mindset of the American public. I hope this helps.
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Awash in DDoT City-Strangling Fetishes
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
Congratulations to Clyde Howard [themail, January 28] for pointing
out the folly of putting a traffic circle at South Capitol Street and
Potomac Avenue. That plan was in place well before the baseball stadium
site was picked, and remains unchanged. Why make extensive plans to
increase the safety of pedestrians, joggers, and bikers crossing the new
bridge, only to kill them at the traffic circle? All pedestrian
circulation around and into the stadium is also at grade level. But Mr.
Howard has only identified the fetish on the nose of the DDoT camel.
There are many more all over this peculiar Tangherlini-raised animal.
All are intended to discourage modern forms of vehicular travel on DC’s
marginal surface streets and arteries, and to freeze, if not reduce,
transportation modes above or below the ground plane. From its
inception, DDoT’s vision of smart growth has appeared to be no growth.
There is the go-it-alone fetish that leaves transportation
infrastructure planning outside DC’s comprehensive/economic planning
process. There is the anti-commuter fetish to try to force the region’s
suburban families to live down in a city with third-world services.
There is the great street fetish to turn major arteries (rather than
secondary streets) into entertainment venues; the boulevard fetish to
turn regional truck/commuter arteries into parks (rather than create
separated promenades); the no-more Metro fetish, even though expansion
would be primarily federally-funded; the trolley fetish to clog existing
streets with outdated, track-limited, remotely-powered, emergency-averse
local amusement rides; the protruding bus-stop fetish to assure no
traffic moves faster than buses; the no city-owned off-street parking
fetish which denies needed revenues; and the anti-technology fetish
which ignores the revenue potential in automated user/abuser-fee
collection. There is even a drawbridge fetish willing to pay $200
million to preserve the last five hundred yards of deep-draft channel up
the Anacostia River to nowhere. While DC’s almost intractable public
school problems occupy center stage, its easily reversible mobility
problems languish.
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[Re: Clyde Howard, themail, January 28] I suggest you research
traffic circles in this city. Some, I think, are required by
Congressional law. I understand your distress about driving in, through,
and around circles, but this just might be something with which planners
are stuck.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS AND CLASSES
All the World’s a Stage, February 6
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
Tuesday, February 6, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Lecture: All the World’s a
Stage: The Performance of Space. Architectural space plays a major, yet
sometimes overlooked role in movies and stage productions, setting
moods, influencing actions, and providing backdrop. Barbara Romer,
Ph.D., founder of The New Globe Theater, and John Coyne, theater
consultant and set designer, have diverse professional perspectives on
the interrelationships between theatrical productions and the physical
spaces that accommodate them. Moderated by Martin Moeller, senior vice
president at the National Building Museum and curator of the exhibition
Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century, the
panel will discuss the dynamic intersections between architecture and
performance. This program is held in conjunction with the exhibition
Reinventing the Globe, which will be open for viewing. $12 Museum
members and students; $20 nonmembers. Prepaid registration required.
Walk-in registration based on availability.
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DC Public Library Events, February 7 and
following
India Young, india.young@dc.gov
Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 12:00 p.m.., Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Great Hall. Harrine Freeman, author
of How to Get Out of Debt: Get an “A” Credit Rating for Free
Using the System I’ve Used Successfully with Thousands of Clients,
will discuss issues such as bankruptcies, judgments, student loans,
delinquent debts, repossessions, how to correct errors, and more. For
more information, call 727-1181.
February 7, February 15, February 21, and February 28, 2007, 6:00
p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room
A-5. Eighteenth Annual Audiovisual Division Black Film Festival.
Wednesday, February 7, Uptown Saturday Night; Thursday, February 15,
Inside Man; Wednesday, February 21, Cooley High; Wednesday, February 28,
Crash. For more information, call the Audiovisual Division at 727-1265.
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Shepherd Elementary School IB/Dual Language
Open House, February 8
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com
Dan Robinson, Principal of Shepherd Elementary School, writes:
Shepherd Elementary School, 14th and Kalmia Streets. NW, is one of four
DC public schools approved for International Baccalaureate programs. The
school will hold the first of its 2007 Dual Language/IB Open Houses on
Thursday, February 8, 9-11 a.m. Non-Shepherd Park residents with
four-year olds who speak French, Spanish, or another language are
encouraged to consider the Shepherd program. There are ten spots for
French speakers and ten for Spanish speakers pre-K. The lottery drawing
for non-SP residents will take place in March. For more information,
E-mail June Confer at june.confer@k12.dc.us
or call her at 576-6140. We hope to see you on the 8th!
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HIV Prevention Education Emergency, February 8
Samuel Jordan, samunomas@msn.com
Although the District refers to the HIV crisis in the city as an
epidemic, there is an anomalous deficit in investments in HIV Prevention
Education. Very few organizations offer a systematic program of
educational activities and training. Therefore, I am hoping to recruit
as many as possible to attend the training offered by the American Red
Cross. The HIV Starter Facts class is scheduled for Thursday, February
8, at 5:30-9:30 p.m. at 2025 E Street, NW, National Red Cross
Headquarters. Tuition is $38. I will teach this class and many of the
upcoming monthly sessions, as I have for the past two years. It has been
recommended for agency certification, promotions, Peace Corps
candidates, faith community representatives, community based
organization leaders, students, and those who wish to take the next
steps: Instructor and Instructor of Instructors. At whatever level you
aspire to attain, we need your help.
To enroll, please call Jeanne Cunningham at 303-4518 or go to the web
site at http://www.redcrossnca.org.
If you cannot take the course, but are associated with an organization
or agency that would want to host a training at an off-site location for
at least ten participants, please call me at 388-6661. Another
alternative is to organize at least ten students who will take the
course without the cost of certification. You may call me to make
arrangements. I am a Red Cross Authorized Provider. We must respond now.
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Guy Mason Recreation Center Courses
Toni Ritzenberg, taritzdc@aol.com
Registration is now open for additional courses being offered this
winter at the Guy Mason Recreation Center (3600 Calvert Street, NW).
Intermediate knitting starts February 17 and runs for four weeks, ending
March 3. Classes are held on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., and
are for ages 16 and over. The cost is $60 for DC residents and $65 for
nonresidents. There is a $35 materials fee.
There are new four-week sessions of Pilates starting February 6 and
running through February 27. Level II, for students who have attended
previous Pilates classes, is offered on Tuesdays from 7:00 p.m.-9:00
p.m.; and Basic is on Tuesdays from 8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m . The cost is $55
for DC residents and $60 for nonresidents. Art class, teaching
introductory painting will be for four weeks beginning on February 8 and
running through March 1. Classes will be held on Thursdays from 6:00
p.m.-8:00 p.m., with the cost being $45 for DC residents and $50 for
nonresidents. Every Wednesday beginning on February 7, from 8:00
p.m.-9:45 p.m., poetry for adults will be held at the Center. Poets are
encouraged to express, share, and offer positive feedback with each
other.
Registration is now, so visit the Center at 3600 Calvert Street or
call Bob Haldeman/Caryl King at 282-2180 if you need additional
information.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
AARP DC Volunteer Leader Position
Grier Mendel, gmendel@aarp.org
Are you a DC resident who knows the city, is committed to improving
the experience of aging in the District, and has advocacy or outreach
experience? Have you held a leadership position in a community group,
government advisory body, fraternal or religious organization, social
welfare organization, or trade association? If so, we may have the
perfect volunteer opportunity for you. AARP DC seeks two leadership
volunteers to join its Executive Council, help set annual priorities and
guide efforts to benefit our community. If this seems like a great match
for you or someone you know, please visit http://www.aarp.org/dc,
E-mail cpage@aarp.org, or call C.A.
Page at 434-7703 for more information.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Traveling Around DC?
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
There’s a real neat web site that will help anyone traveling from
point A to point B anywhere in the city. You input where you are and
where you want to get to, the time you want to leave where you are, and
the program will tell you which Metrobus or Metrorail (or a combination
of the two) to take. The program will also tell you what time the
Metrobus leaves your stop or what time the Metrorail train leaves your
station. The site is http://www.hopstop.com.
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