Clarification
Dear Clear-Minded Readers:
Some people may think that the positions taken by the District of
Columbia government in the past few weeks have been confusing or
contradictory. Let me help clarify and explain them. Our local elected
government officials unanimously support the Congressional bill that
would grant DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton a full vote in Congress
because of their belief that DC residents deserve and should have
equality of rights with all other citizens of the United States, and the
District should be recognized as having equality with and the status of
the states. The bill has been blocked in the House of Representatives by
an amendment offered by Republicans that would abolish DC’s absolute
ban on handguns and give full Second Amendment rights to residents of
the District. This tactic was disgracefully partisan because overturning
DC’s gun ban had broad support from Democratic members of Congress,
more than enough Democratic support to pass, and passing a bill with
bipartisan support is purely partisan politics. To avoid passing the
amendment, the Democratic leadership pulled the Norton voting bill
itself, but they may reintroduce it later under a floor rule that would
deny Republicans the right to offer any amendments, which DC officials
would welcome as a fine example of bipartisan cooperation.
DC officials opposed the gun rights amendment because if Congress had
passed it, Congress would have been acting as a local legislature for DC
and imposing a law on District residents. Local officials completely
believe that Congress acting as DC’s local legislature is a very bad
thing and oppose it under all circumstances. The mayor and city council
want Congress to act as a local legislature for DC and impose the mayor’s
school takeover bill on the District, because they believe it is better
for Congress to amend the District’s Home Rule Act than to have
District residents vote to amend the Act. Of course, when Congress
considers a bill for the mayoral school takeover, that will give
Republicans and Democrats who support the Second Amendment another
opportunity to introduce an amendment to overthrow DC’s absolute ban
on handguns. DC officials would oppose that because a gun rights
amendment would contradict their view that the Second Amendment does not
guarantee any rights to DC citizens. They believe that because they
believe the Second Amendment applies only to citizens of the states, and
that the District of Columbia is neither a state nor the equivalent of a
state. Therefore the Second Amendment has no force within the District,
and District residents do not and should not share in all the rights of
other citizens.
I hope that straightens everything out, and clarifies the crystalline
logic behind superficially contradictory positions.
One correction and one addition. The correction: in the March 21
issue of themail, my editing error introduced a mistake into the message
from William Haskett. Professor Haskett had written that at its height,
the University of the District of Columbia had ten thousand students and
five thousand “"FTE’s.” I expanded that abbreviation to
“full-time employees,” but Haskett had intended “full-time
equivalents,” meaning that UDC had a total of ten thousand students,
who were the equivalent of five thousand full-time students. The
addition: the text-only version of the report on adult literacy in the
District of Columbia by the State Education Agency of the University of
the District of Columbia, mentioned in the March 21 issue, is now online
at http://www.dcpswatch.com/sea/0703.htm.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Truth Is the Best Defense
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Gary and I started DCWatch in 1995. In 1997, we inherited DCStory,
changed its name to themail@dcwatch.com,
and started publishing it as a twice-a-week E-mail discussion forum for
citizens to share information on all aspects of life in DC, including
comments on DC government. Last week, we discovered that DCWatch, Gary,
and I had been sued for several million dollars on March 1 for postings
in themail — the first lawsuit against the web site in twelve years.
Last year, between May and July, Jonetta Rose Barras sent a number of
messages to themail about the Department of Parks and Recreation and
hirings that had been made by its Director, Kimberly Flowers. As a
result of her reports, both the DC Office of Personnel and the Inspector
General conducted investigations, and Roslyn Johnson was fired as the
Deputy Director of Programs at the DC Department of Parks and
Recreation. Johnson has now filed a lawsuit against Barras for her
reporting, against us for publishing her reports, and against the DC
government for releasing information to Barras. She charges defamation,
libel, false light action, and intentional interference with contract,
and states that, “As a direct and proximate result of the false and
defamatory statements made by Ms. Barras, the character and reputation
of Ms. Johnson were harmed, her standing and reputation in the
professional and personal community were impaired, and she suffered, and
continues to suffer mental anguish and personal humiliation.”
We’re not going to comment on this lawsuit while it remains in the
courts, but we did want to inform themail readers about it. The lawsuit
is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/parks070301.htm.
The Inspector General’s report on the case has been posted on his web
site, http://www.oig.dc.gov. On the
main page, click on Audit Reports; on that page click on 02-08-07,
“Audit of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation’s Hiring Practices.”
In the Inspector General’s report, Johnson is referred to as
“Employee A.”
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Jack Evans has proposed city welfare for poor Abe Pollin of fifty
million in bonds in exchange for a special "free" Verizon
Center skybox. Jack has done such a great job of supporting businesses
that he deserves better privileges. Let’s give away one hundred
million in bonds to Abe, and then Jack can have his pick of two
skyboxes. Let’s give Jack a choice.
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By presenting documents over documents last December, I managed to
have the 2007 assessment of my house slightly decreased from 2006.
Now I have been charged in the tax bill due next week with the ten
percent minimum cap increase, even though the value of my house is
actually a few thousand less than last year, and consequently the tax
bill should be a few dollars less. Any professional suggestions, please?
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DC Postcard Collection Finding Aid
Jerry A. McCoy, sshistory@yahoo.com
In commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary earlier this month
of the establishment of the postcard (as American society knows of them
today, where the address and message appear on one side, and the image
on the other), I have created a finding aid to the DC Public Library
Washingtoniana Division’s “Washington, DC Postcard Collection, ca.
1898-1940s.” The finding aid is available on the H-DC web site at http://www.h-net.org/~dclist/dc_postcards.html.
The collection consists of three linear feet, about 2,000 postcards
and 24 postcard folders. The earliest postcards in the collection date
from circa 1898. Due to Washington, DC’s, continual focus as a tourist
destination, contemporary postcards continue to be added to the
collection.
The greatest percentage of material dates from the 1920s to the
1940s. The collection consists almost exclusively of imprinted (ink)
postcards with fewer than a dozen being of the real-photo (gelatin
silver) variety. The collection leans heavily towards images of tourist
Washington, but many images of hometown Washington are included as well
(businesses, churches, organizations, restaurants, schools both private
and public, stores, and streets). I’m really excited about this
collection and want researchers to know about it as they might find
images contained therein that exist nowhere else.
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DC Free Content Group Formed
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Are you interested in helping to create free educational content that
others here in the city (and elsewhere) can use? A new group has formed
at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/dcfreecontent/.
This group is not listed in Yahoo (so it will not attract spammers)
and all list messages will be moderated, so no spam will reach
subscribers. We’ll be working on projects similar to http://sammybook.blogspot.com.
Experience the rewards of having people in your neighborhood -- and far
away -- learn from educational content that you’ve produced.
After all, people in the DC-area are far more creative than those
folks out on the West Coast, don’t you think? Those folks out there
are mere dabblers, I tell you. Mere dabblers.
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OSCE Finds US Government Violates Human Rights
Timothy Cooper, Worldright@aol.com
On March 9, the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in
Europe’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
issued a major report on the 2006 mid-term US congressional elections,
and concluded that the US government violates DC citizens’ basic
political rights, as well as those of US citizens living in the
territories, by denying them full representation in Congress. The OSCE
report states, among other things, that “US citizens who are not
citizens of one of the fifty states are not able to vote for members of
Congress who have the right to vote on the floor. . . . These
restrictions exist even though such US citizens are subject to US
federal law and pay federal taxes. . . . It is . . . estimated that in
Washington, DC, alone, without including US citizens of US territories,
up to half a million US citizens are not permitted to vote in federal
elections for full congressional representation. As these citizens are
subject to US laws, including taxation, the denial of full
representation, as underscored by the Constitution and Supreme Court
decisions, would appear to be a limitation of voting rights.” The OSCE
recommends that “US authorities should consider all possibilities to
provide full representation rights for all US citizens.”
The OSCE is Europe’s largest human rights monitoring body. It is
composed of 56 countries, spans the globe from Russia to Canada, and is
the world’s preeminent democratic election monitoring body, which
regularly observes elections in all OSCE countries. The US is a founding
member of the organization, and is bound by all of its human rights
commitment. The right to participate equally in one’s own national
legislature is a key OSCE democratic election standard under the 1990
Copenhagen Act. In 2002, Worldrights launched a campaign to win the OSCE’s
endorsement of full Congressional voting rights for DC residents. Since
then, Worldrights has appeared at the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension
Implementation meetings in Warsaw, Poland, pressing for the OSCE to
address the DC issue and make recommendations. The complete report may
be found at: http://www.world-rights.org.
Worldrights has also requested that the US Helsinki Commission, under
the new leadership of Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Senator Ben Cardin
(D-MD), hold hearings on US noncompliance. The Helsinki Commission
regularly monitors the human rights compliance of other OSCE countries.
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Tilting at Windmills
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Once again the DC vote advocates continue to waste time on an issue
that will not be resolved as long as the Republicans control the White
House. Why bother tilting at windmills? There are many more important
issues in DC that require attention and focus by the mayor. A march on
the Capitol is another waste of time. It’s as big a waste of time as
the Democratic Congress spends issuing subpoenas in trying to fix the
blame on the Republicans and the President. Time flies by. Why not spend
that valuable time working on things that can be fixed?
I read in the Seattle paper here on Thursday, March 22, that a
foundation based in Issaquah is providing $112 million for scholarships
for high school students bound for colleges. These scholarships will be
for low-income minority students and will be based on potential, not
grades. From Washington to Washington, with love.
Another nice perk at the Seattle airport: rocking chairs in all
terminals. Great for us senior citizens.
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The following quote in today’s Post from Brian Robinson,
spokesperson for US Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), elicited a whoa from
me: “Everyone knows Democrats are salivating at the thought of having
two guaranteed seats in the Senate.”
Apparently the Republicans now admit that they don’t care about the
issues of a majority-black city, and could never garner enough votes
here to win an election. Issues of inequality in, say, healthcare or
education, not what the GOP wants to try to win on.
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1968
Bell Clement, clement at history dc dot org
To the Washington history community — the fortieth anniversary of
the assassination of Dr. King, and the city-altering riots that followed
here in the District, is upon us. A number of us — the Historical
Society of Washington, the Washingtoniana Division of the King Library,
the DC Archives, GNU German Special Collections and the DC Humanities
Council (a group sure to grow) are partnered in an effort to find
productive ways to commemorate those events. One particular concern is
to begin collecting and documenting the still-living memories of that
period.
What are everyone’s thoughts — witnesses, scholars,
Washingtonians — about how we can best collect and preserve the record
of these events? Who is working to research and analyze the riots and
their aftermath? Is someone writing fiction? Are there great poems out
there?
And, as we collect this material, how can we use it most meaningfully
— to commemorate the events, but also as an occasion to reflect on
where we find ourselves in the city in 2008? Was 1968 just a tragic and
violent time, or do we live with its echo today? Was the violence of the
time only destructive, or did it create new opportunities? For whom? Did
68 change how we think about our community and our city? What light does
68 shed on the arguments we are having today ?
What are everyone’s thoughts, and how can we explore this further ?
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I totally disagree with Ronald E. Hampton’s comment about community
policing [themail, March 21]. As a citizen involved with the old PSA
102, I know firsthand the effects of community involvement in policing
matters that brought safer streets and neighborhoods to the District.
Under former Chief Charles Ramsey, officers had a dedication to and were
very involved in sitting down on a regular basis with members of the
community. Issues were resolved, crime was lowered, and people felt
safer. It worked. It could have worked better at times. But community
policing worked.
Mayor Fenty’s nomination of Commander Lanier to become the new
Chief of Police is a prime example of an elected official that listens
to the people that voted for him. We want safer streets, less violence,
and better protection through proactive policing.
Although there were any number of well qualified police officials,
many of them former members of the MPD, that could have been brought
back to bring all the above things to the position, Mayor Fenty wanted
to promote from within. He had a solid relationship with Lanier from her
days in the 4th District and knew her to have the talent to bring true
leadership to the position. I would suggest to Mr. Hampton that he and
others simply give this a chance and not prejudge Chief Lanier’s
abilities on anything other than the true merits of her ambitions and
qualifications.
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In Support of Cathy Lanier
Naomi J. Monk, nmonk10501@aol.com
[From my testimony to the city council in support of Acting Chief
Cathy Lanier’s appointment as Chief of Police, March 16] Acting Chief
Lanier’s profound performance of a variety of duties has distinguished
her in being selected by our Honorable Mayor Adrian Fenty and
Distinguished Past MPD Chief Charles Ramsey as the number one candidate
for Chief of the MPD. I have listed her impressive attributes at the
last few paragraphs of this testimony. Under the leadership of Chief
Ramsey and with the invaluable services provided by the Policing for
Prevention Division Personnel (PFP), Acting Chief Lanier has had
exemplary on-hand experience working with law enforcement, neighborhood
partnerships, and systemic prevention all at the same time. PFPD
personnel provided and still provides needed policy and programs to
improve community policing strategy as well as continuity, stability,
accountable, up to date technology, and knowledge management for now and
the future within the MPD.
I look forward to continuing to work with the PFPD and my First
District Commander Diane Groomes under the leadership of Chief Lanier,
as I did Chief Ramsey. In the fall of 1999, PFPD personnel trained,
civilians, police men and women to work as a team in their communities
to deter crime and improve safety. I was a participant. Southwest Police
Service Area (PSA) and Partnership for Problem Solving (PPS) units have
held and still do hold monthly community policing meeting at different
sites to share information inclusive of all locations throughout
Southwest to share information, discuss strategies collectively in order
to deter crime and improve safety. Hundreds of different and diverse
residents and some of the same community residents, agencies and others
amicably participated in stated meetings, since December 1999. These
meetings have had an everlasting positive improvement in safety concerns
in southwest DC.
Acting Chief Lanier’s record shows that she has sixteen years of
extraordinary exemplary service with MPD as Commander of the Fourth
District, Commanding Officer of the Department’s Major Narcotics
Branch and Vehicular Homicide Units, Commander of the Emergency Response
Team, Aviation and Harbor Units, Horse Mounted and Canine Units, Special
Events/Dignitary Protection Branch, and Civil Disturbance Units. She
established the agency’s first Homeland Security/Counter-Terrorism
Branch. Acting Chief Lanier educational credentials are outstanding. She
is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration’s Drug Unit Commanders Academy. She holds
Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Management from Johns Hopkins
University, and a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from
the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Acting Chief
Lanier is the proud mother of a successful and aspiring teenage son.
###############
I was amused by Anne-Marie Bairstow’s criticism of Clyde Howard [themail,
March 18] for pointing out that the DC government is a mess. What is
there about DC residents that makes them defend one of the most
dysfunctional local governments in the country? I’ve lived here
nineteen years, and I’ve watched it happen hundreds of times. I’ve
seen people defend the police, the schools, the social services, all of
which agencies are abysmal. It’s like a victim of a beating defending
the beater. Can anyone answer my question?
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Public Library Events, March 28, April 1-2
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Wednesday, March 28, 12:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5. Deaf History Month Celebration: Dr.
Yerker Andersson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, Gallaudet
University, will discuss Lawrence R. Newman’s book, Sands of Time:
NAD Presidents 1880-2003.
April 1-30, Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street,
NW, A minute for poetry over the intercom, every day at noon. To
celebrate National Poetry Month and the joy of poetry, our Library staff
will read one-minute poems every day at noon. We will present poems that
have been selected for their mind-grabbing qualities, as well as their
brevity.
Monday, April 2, 6:30 p.m., Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330 7th
Street, NE. Capitol Hill Mystery Book Club. We will discuss The
Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King. Call 698-3320 for more
information.
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First Charles H. Atherton Lecture and Framing
a Capital City Symposium, April 10-11
Sarah Kabakoff, skabakoff@nbm.org
While Washington, DC’s, L’Enfant Plan has withstood the test of
time during the city’s two-hundred-year history, the national capital
continues to evolve, balancing the permanence of monuments and memorials
with the dynamic changes of a living city. Organized collaboratively by
the US Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), the National Capital Planning
Commission (NCPC), and the National Building Museum, the first annual
Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture and Framing a Capital City
Symposium will guide the National Capital Framework Plan, a joint NCPC-CFA
initiative to plan for the 21st century.
At the Framing a Capital City Symposium, experts and authors from
across the country will discuss the landscape of commemoration and
symbolic narrative beyond the National Mall, the creation of a more
sustainable urban ecology, the evolution of the use of public space and
architecture in Washington, and the challenges facing local and federal
authorities to build a capital city that honors our nation’s
achievements while maintaining the qualities of a livable city for both
residents and tourists. Speakers include: Lucy Barber, author of Marching
on Washington the Forging of an American Political Tradition; Larry
Beasley, former Director of Planning for the City of Vancouver; Timothy
Beatley, Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, University
of Virginia School of Architecture; Joe Brown, President and CEO of
landscape architecture firm EDAW; Maurice Cox, Associate Professor,
University of Virginia School of Architecture and City Counselor for the
City of Charlottesville; Judy Scott Feldman, Chairman, National
Coalition to Save Our Mall; Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice, Harvard
Graduate School of Design Department of Urban Planning and Design; Dan
Tangherlini, City Administrator and Deputy Mayor, Washington DC;
Lawrence Vale, Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT; and
Michael Z. Wise, author of Capital Dilemma: Germany’s Search for a
New Architecture of Democracy. Robert Ivy, editor-in-chief of Architectural
Record, will moderate the Symposium.
The Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture series commemorates the life
and legacy of Charles Atherton, who served for almost four decades as
Secretary of the US Commission of Fine Arts. The program examines the
architectural, historical, and natural context of the city and its
development to promote visionary planning and design excellence in the
nation’s capital. In this inaugural program, David Childs, FAIA, will
discuss the past, present, and future of the planning of Washington, DC.
The Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture will be held at the National
Building Museum from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., on Tuesday, April 10. The
following day, April 11, the Framing a Capital City Symposium will be
held, featuring four discussion sessions throughout the day. For more
information on both events, please visit http://www.nbm.org or call
272-2448. The Charles H. Atherton Memorial lecture is supported by
generous contributions to the Charles H. Atherton Memorial Fund. Prepaid
registration is required: $12 Museum members and students; $20
nonmembers. Framing A Capital City is being hosted and sponsored by the
National Capital Planning Commission and the US Commission of Fine Arts
in partnership with the National Building Museum. Free. Registration
required. To register go to http://www.nbm.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Greater DC Cares at Servathon 2007, May 4-5
Julie Howard, jhoward@greaterdccares.org
Servathon brings together thousands of individuals for two amazing
days of volunteer service to complete projects at nonprofit
organizations in our communities around the Washington region. You, your
family, friends, and colleagues can help by volunteering your services,
skills, time, and energy on Friday, May 4 (Sponsors’ Day of Service),
and Saturday, May 5 (open to all, including sponsors). Volunteers will
participate in a very hands-on project such as landscaping, painting, or
building a playground, for the first half of the day and afterwards we
will have a celebration party with free food and free Sam Adams beer.
Registration is $20 per person. For more information or to start a team,
visit http://www.servathon.org.
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