Huge
Dear Contributors:
Huge issue tonight; I’ll be quiet.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Washington Seeks a Way to Shout, “Come
Visit”
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com
The New York Times: “In its hunt for slogans to lure
tourists, the nation’s capital has never lit on the elegance of a ‘Virginia
Is for Lovers’ or the panache of a ‘What Happens Here, Stays Here,’”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/washington/22slogan.html?th&emc=th.
###############
As We Celebrate Earth Day
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Last week, when Mayor Fenty held a press conference to announce his
selection of George S. Hawkins to head the DC Department of the
Environment, little information was provided to the press or public
regarding his background. The press release simply indicated that
Hawkins, an attorney, was currently the Executive Director of New Jersey
Future. On its web site, http://www.njfuture.org,
NJ Future describes itself as a nonprofit “smart growth advocacy
group” that seeks to “advance smarter land-use and growth
policies” with a focus “on policies for curbing sprawl and spurring
community development.” Despite the large pool of environmentalists in
the DC region, Fenty went to New Jersey to find an appointee who is more
an urban planner than an environmental expert. DC residents, especially
those in Cleveland Park, Tenleytown, and other communities near subway
stations who are concerned about over development, should be concerned
about what Mr. Hawkins’ job portfolio will be.
And all DC property owners should be concerned. Hawkins is a strong
proponent and supporter of the government’s use of eminent domain for
economic development purposes. In a May 2005 article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger,
Hawkins states that, “Eminent domain can break the impasse to
progress. And the community benefits of its use have been enormous” (http://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.item&thisitem=430).
In a June 24, 2005, press statement following the Supreme Court decision
in the Kelo eminent domain case, Hawkins exulted, “The Supreme
Court affirmed two things in this ruling: the importance of having a
sound plan for a community’s redevelopment, and the role eminent
domain can play in lifting up the benefits of that plan to the entire
community” (http://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.item&ThisItem=447&ContentCat=3&ContentSubCat1=15&ContentSubCat2=39).
In light of Hawkins’ background, I was curious as to why Fenty
chose him. Despite Fenty’s comment to me that he was selected because
he is an “environmental visionary,” Hawkins told me in a telephone
conversation that he learned about the position from Harriet Tregonning,
Fenty’s newly appointed Director of the Office of Planning. Tregonning
is also a smart-growth advocate, and previously served as the executive
director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and as Maryland’s
Secretary for Smart Growth. Hawkins also indicated that "the folks
at the Brookings Institute" pushed for his appointment.
By the way, if you are trying to reach the DC Department of the
Environment, good luck. No one in the DC government, not the government
web site, the city call center, or the mayor’s office, has the correct
telephone number or address for it. DCWatchers should know that the
Department is currently located in the Washington Urban League Building,
3501 14th Street, NW, and can be reached at 535-2600.
###############
Use of City Property to Promote Muriel Bowser
Steve Hill, steve_12481632@yahoo.com
On Saturday, April 20, at 10:50 a.m., I pulled over to the side of
14th Street because a fire truck with sirens was going northbound on
14th Street. As it neared, I saw the firefighters waving, and as it
passed I saw there was a banner on the side of the truck promoting
Muriel Bowser for city council. The DC Fire Department and Ms. Bowser
need to explain to the citizens whether city property is being used to
promote partisan candidates. If so, the Fire Department needs to take
action to prevent future uses of DC property for partisan campaigning
and to punish the perpetrators. Ms. Bowser needs to explain why her
campaign is needlessly raising alarms in the community to promote her
candidacy. It seems unlikely that it is legal for emergency vehicles to
use sirens when there is no emergency; using sirens unnecessarily
diminishes drivers’ sense of urgency when they hear the real thing.
###############
DC Fire Truck with Muriel Bowser Banner
T.A. Uqdah, uqdah44@aol.com
The following was sent to the Office of the Inspector General, Board
of Elections and Ethics, Office of Campaign Finance and the DC Fire
Department: I am formally requesting that your office conduct a thorough
and independent investigation into the numerous E-mails and telephone
complaints we have received from Ward 4 residents alleging the improper
use of an emergency vehicle by a private citizen. The crux of the
complaints noted, that on Saturday, April 21, as early as 11:00 a.m. to
as late as 1:00 p.m., fellow Ward 4 City council candidate Muriel Bowser
was seen campaigning throughout the Ward on a DC fire truck.
The emergency vehicle, equipped with campaign banners, T-shirted
campaign staffers, and firemen was seen, at times, moving slowly along
DC streets with flashing lights and sirens blaring as Ms. Bowser and
others waved to onlookers. This is not only a clear violation of
campaign rules and law, but also a violation of fire department rules,
procedures, and professionalism. However, in my mind, there are more
serious issues of accountability, unfettered access, taxpayer waste, and
inefficiency that when closely examined could rise to the level of a
misdemeanor criminal act. Depending on Ms. Bowser’s culpability in
acquiring this taxpayer-purchased emergency vehicle as well as her being
an accessory both before and after the fact, it incenses me to think
that any ordinary person could commandeer a government vehicle and use
it for her personal campaign use.
Despite the obvious political implications (Ms. Bowser has been
endorsed by the current mayor), as well as my own Ward 4 candidacy,
(being one of eighteen others), I would expect your office to complete
its ethical as well as legal responsibility to investigate this matter
and issue what you believe to be the appropriate action(s).
###############
On a recent weekend in New York City that included a lot of walking,
I never once had to leave the sidewalk while passing construction. That
was because every construction site — and there were many — had a
walk-through passageway protected on top and on both sides. There was
even wooden flooring. Obviously that’s the law in New York. At
Washington construction sites, however, what you get is a sign telling
you the sidewalk is closed and in effect to take your chances with the
street and traffic. If you don’t like it, tough. Time we stopped this
and caught up with New York.
###############
Several Wednesdays ago, amid sunlight and freshly planted pansies, DC
Public Library marked the grand opening of an "interim"
library facility in Anacostia. The mayor and council chairman were in
attendance, as were many school children, happy about the field trip.
But Committee Chair Harry Thomas was absent, as was most of the press.
Wouldn’t DCPL want as many people as possible to know that, at long
last, bookworms have reappeared in the library park on Good Hope Road?
New Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper told me she was “disappointed with
the media coverage,” but in the eight months that she’s been here,
Cooper has proven she knows how to get things done. So what gives? Could
it be Library Trustees don’t want any more attention drawn to the fact
that the community in Anacostia has been without its branch for more
than two years, as have those in Benning and Shaw? (A storefront interim
library in Tenley had an intentionally unpublicized opening in late
November, to allow staff to work out the kinks.)
Still, even an interim is a sign of life from the formerly moribund
DCPL. Chief Cooper aims for the Anacostia interim to offer a taste of
things to come with a fresh look, large open service desk, and twenty
public computers. The old branch had only four, when they were working.
Cooper seems to have succeeded at that. One Anacostia mother delighted
volubly that her son had been ensconced at the interim every night since
it opened on March 12. Over in Benning, where another library remains
closed, its interim yet to come on line, residents want their old branch
reopened, expanded, and renovated, not demolished. Their library
building (like ten others built under a Public Works Project) was
designed for growth, structurally engineered to have another story
added. Benning residents are more than fed up with delay. They fear that
their library, located half a block up from the valuable intersection of
Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue — both Great Streets projects —
will be sold off to developers. They have every reason to be worried in
light of the LEAD Act of 2006, http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/images/00001/20060113144639.pdf,
which authorized the sale of all DCPL property, and they have every
reason to be skeptical of the Trustees’ intentions. If the Trustees
had proceeded to rebuild as originally planned when they allowed four
libraries to be closed in December 2004, new full service libraries
would be opening now, not mere interims.
One way for the Trustees to earn the Benning community’s trust
would be to commit to a meaningful process of public input for the new
redesign of the branch — leaving everything on the table, including
renovation/expansion. Given all the time already wasted, and in view of
the good start Chief Cooper has made, holding off on demolition in order
to consult the community is the only decent course. Read more about
Benning http://www.savedclibraries.org/index.php?/archives/38-Survey-Results-not-Mixed.html.
###############
Response from the Police Is Sad
David McCullough, mccullo3@hotmail.com
Check out this personal account from another neighbor that lives in
the Shaw neighborhood: http://www.nbdinz.com/tribunal/entries/04_2007/0419_2007.html.
This is what we have to deal with: cops that for the most part that do
not want to be bothered with following up on crimes. I have experienced
this twice now with the DC police force. First, when my house was caught
on fire by a contractor that was not licensed in DC doing illegal
renovations to a neighbor’s house. The work crew set my house on fire,
then poured water down the dryer vent to put out the flames. They did
not call the fire department, just left it for me to discover when I got
home. When I told the police I wanted to press charges, they said arson
was not the case here.
Second, when my house was broken into last spring, the police once
again did very little investigative work, even though I gave them leads
on where the person I believed to be the perpetrator lived. Also, in
that case the thieves in this case took a towel and wrapped it around a
light in the bathroom. It was smoldering when I discovered it. Once
again, I wanted arson as a charge. The officers once again rebuffed me.
This is ridiculous. The DC police department is a mockery! The court
system is laughable, as when the police do rarely do catch the
perpetrators, they are rarely sent to jail for more then a few weeks, if
that. Am I the only one getting tired of this crap the judicial system
is expecting us to take?
###############
City’s Quid Pro Quo
with Pollin Is Tip of the Iceberg
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902588.html:
“Pollin has agreed to give the city a rent-free 24-seat luxury suite
with numerous amenities and a clear view of the floor.” This is what
it’s really all about for the boosters of public spending on sports,
like Jack Evans and his close friend and plaintiff Herb Miller, and
though it took ten years, the private perk of a luxury box at the
Verizon Center for use by DC politicos and whoever they shower their
favors on — which was initially ruled illegal — is now in control of
the politicos and the private interests that pushed this, from the
Federal City Council to the DCSEC and so on. This single-minded effort
on behalf of DC’s political and economic elite was underway from the
start, and was illustrated in detail by the City Paper in 1998
(via a sorely needed but rarely implemented in-depth investigation of
the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, et al.): “According
to DCSEC minutes, the commission spent its first year-and-a-half in
business conspiring to lease a luxury box at the MCI Center. DC’s
financial control board nixed the idea early on, in the fall of 1996.
Not used to sitting in the cheap seats, Joseph Gildenhorn, Bill Hall,
and Paul Wolff were dispatched on diplomatic missions to the control
board’s One Thomas Circle offices to revisit the issue. In late 1997,
the board relented and approved a $625,000 five-year lease of a luxury
suite at the arena. When word leaked out, though, it was Barry who took
the blame for this extravagance amidst financial crisis. Lurid media
accounts suggested that Barry and his cronies would watch the Wizards
from climate-controlled, theater-style seats, dine on catered food, and
avoid the rabble by using private johns, all on the city’s dime. The
control board quickly withdrew approval for the lease, and the deal
died."
Unfortunately for the residents and businesses of the District who
aren’t invited by Jack Evans to be wined and dined in the growing
number of city-controlled suites, this defeat was the main impetus for
Hall, Wolff, etc. to pursue a ballpark in the District that would be
ostensibly publicly owned but controlled by the DCSEC’s ruling elite
to ensure that they would get as many publicly financed and controlled
luxury suites and club seats as they wanted, all of which led to the
money pit and its nearly billion dollar cost (especially if you leave in
all of the budget line items from transportation to parking and
infrastructure that the city has since moved out of the budget). The
true cost of the DC council’s knee-buckling on the massive
overspending for the cut-rate greenhouse known as the new ballpark
further escalated with its indication to Pollin of a willingness to
trade tens of millions (to start) of public money from a tax increase
that could have gone to other city uses for its long-sought-after
publicly funded playground, also known as a luxury box, for select city
officials and their hand-picked playmates. It looks like we should’ve
forsaken accountability tens years ago (which the schemers heeded while
honing a long-term strategy) and let the schemers have their MCI Center
lease, as they would’ve only have wasted $1.25 million of public money
to get their as opposed to funneling $50 million of public money
directly into luxury box upgrades for private business concerns -- not
to mention the astronomical cost in public funding of the ballpark,
which was pursued by the same schemers in order to secure DC bigwigs
their fancy personal playgrounds while being able to have to have the
city pay the freight instead of out of the bigwigs’ own pockets after
having failed to secure that from the MCI Center ten years ago.
“Council member Mary Cheh said she remained unconvinced that Pollin
could not pay for the repairs and feared that other sports franchises
will come looking for city dollars. ‘I view this as a kind of stalking
horse for other requests,’ she said.” Of course it is, but the time
for this battle to be fought has already passed. The continued coffer
raids and creative accounting from the DC government to keep money in
the pockets of DC politicos and their cronies while indulging their
champagne tastes is a direct byproduct of the ballpark process during
which the schemers found that a concerted Tammany Hall-type effort to
skirt public scrutiny, basic oversight, and public procedures with the
assistance of key parts of the local media and the ever-scheming Herb
Millers of the world could not only perpetrate a scheme but prop it up
when the cost and location of the scheme was found to be completely
unsuitable, and against existing statutes (as in the case of siting the
cut-rate greenhouse where the costs greatly exceeded every cap that was
supposedly in place).
Despite the tremendous public opposition to the initial scheme and
the subsequent bungling and deceit of historic proportions associated
with that boondoggle, the DC council and the current mayor found that
they could continue along the path prescribed by the private interests
to pay the ever-escalating costs with as much public money and budget
shifting as needed. The outrage and calls for accountability were
sufficiently muted as they acted as group to rubber-stamp every existing
and new demand from MLB and the Lerners. With an outcome like this and a
pliant and knee-buckling mayor and council performing like trained seals
for the private interests, of course it’s going to embolden every
schemer out there looking for free money (and a dissection of the soccer
boondoggle and the motives of the west coast schemer looking for an easy
pot of gold at taxpayer’s expense is on its way). Of course the
private interests located in DC from sports owners to developers are
going to be trying to perpetrate all sorts of schemes that have public
money of the tens and hundreds of millions of dollar variety carrying
the freight. The victory of greed is only going to encourage more of the
same; and while it’s going to be hard to turn the tide back to a point
where the DC government respects the public and its money, it’s a
fight that must be fought to avoid slipping back to the bad old days,
which miscalculations on this massive a scale could bring sooner rather
than later.
###############
Guide to the IG’s Report on the 2006 Wilson
Graduation
Erich Martel, ehmartel at starpower dot net
On April 5, the Inspector General released its audit of the Wilson
High School class of 2006’s completion of graduation requirements.
Everyone concerned about the integrity of the graduation process at
Wilson High School and all DCPS and charter high schools should read
this report, online at http://www.oig.dc.gov
or http://tinyurl.com/2nukmj.
The statistics and findings of the IG Report confirm my reports of
ineligible graduates and mismanaged scheduling and determination of
eligibility for graduation.
I do not dispute any of the IG findings, but I want to help readers
understand why the media reported “17 ineligible graduates,” while
the IG Report says, “We found 35 ineligible to graduate” (page 12)
and why the IG auditors’ sample included only the 93 students whose
names appeared on the official graduation list that the principal would
not permit teachers to see. The IG audit team did not review 110 of the
names I had reported, because they were not on the official “list of
graduates.” If the principal had informed the Wilson High School
faculty of the names of the 120 seniors not included on the official
"list of graduates" (110 of which I had reported as
ineligible), my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have
dropped from 203 to 93 (203-110). If the principal had informed the
faculty that 18 of the names on the official list of graduates sent to
the superintendent were really “non-graduates” (“During our audit,
Wilson SHS officials indicated that 18 of these students were
non-graduates and were not permitted to graduate,” IG Report, page
12), then my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have dropped
to 75 (93-18). If the principal had informed the faculty in November,
that another 12 were found to have me their graduation requirements,
when the IG auditors brought my specific allegations to the attention of
WHS officials (IG Report, p. 8), I would have gladly affirmed that fact
and my list of potentially ineligible graduates would have dropped to 63
(75-12).
But when a school administration regards a basic matter eligibility
for graduation as a secret from which the teachers of our students are
excluded, the truth will be embarrassing when it finally is revealed.
That truth is as follows: of the 420 seniors listed as “candidates for
graduation” on the June 5, 2006, graduation day program (eleven
additional others, not included in the below numbers), 276 graduated
legitimately (65.7 percent), and 144 did not (34.3 percent). Eleven high
schools had a higher senior completion rate (number of official reported
June graduates divided by the number of seniors in the October SEA
enrollment audit). There is no doubt that a similar audit of other high
schools would discover many students who graduated without completing
requirements, so Wilson’s 65.7 percent senior completion rate would
end up as one of the highest in DCPS. That’s hardly something to brag
about.
Everyone should face up to this reality, starting with Wilson
parents, teachers, the school administration, and city leaders: stop
trying to hide this enormous failure behind the well-earned success of
our high-performing 25-30 percent and behind new versions and excuses
for secrecy and special privilege. Wilson and our other high schools
need to be run like a centers of learning, not community centers where
learning and behavior are options and privileged staff can reinvent
their jobs or just choose not to do them. The 2006 Wilson graduation
scandal was much larger that the one in 2002. There will be no
improvement until school officials, from the Board and Superintendent
down to school administrators, are no longer free to reinterpret rules
and regulations and contracts as they please and run the schools like a
private club.
###############
Historic District Designation
Laura Elkins, laura@3plystudios.com
The DC council should act immediately on Jack McKay’s suggestion [themail,
April 14] to require council approval for historic district as well as
individual property designations. I would also suggest council review of
all existing historic district designations. The Historic Preservation
Review Board is not an elected body that answers directly to
constituents, and therefore these actions amount to a takings. I
understand that the DC HPRB is the only preservation board in the
country that can declare historic districts without city council
approval. DC citizens deserve another layer of review as well as an
additional forum for debate. As Mr. McKay states, the requirements of
historic district designation can be costly and onerous to property
owners.
In addition, because of the unusual position of the District as a
“city-state,” the DC HPO/HPRB acts on both state and local levels at
once, cutting out an additional level of review that citizens in
"real" states enjoy. For instance, the director of the local
preservation office is also the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO),
and the local review board is also the State Review Board. Where
citizens in states have designations reviewed at both local and state
levels and can appeal a local decision to the state (and have state
officials who monitor that designations are done properly by local
officials), DC residents have, in essence, no appellate rights and no
objective oversight. DC citizens wishing to appeal a local designation
decision must turn to the SHPO, the very person who submitted the
designation in the first place. This Catch-22 makes council review even
more important.
The potential for conflict of interest and preemption of individual
rights regarding historic district designation at HPO/HPRB, a body that
already functions as both city and state governments, makes me question
how we will resolve these issues throughout the District government if
DC becomes a state.
###############
Historic Preservation
Saved the City of Washington
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
[Re: Jack McKay’s piece, themail, April 18]: Historic preservation
is too often made out to be the “bad guy” in terms of putting
“restrictions” on people and their ability to do whatever they want
to their buildings, without any care or concern with how such individual
decisions can negatively impact others, especially property values. In
many respects, historic preservation is about protecting the majority
from the bad taste of the minority. This is part of what Foglesong, in Planning
the Capitalist City, calls the property contradiction of balancing
private property interests vis-a-vis social needs and character
of the land, and the need for protection against the possible bad
decisions of others, which by the way, is the entire legal justification
of zoning.
More importantly with regard to the center cities and revitalization,
historic preservation of neighborhoods has been absolutely essential,
the foundation of the only sustainable strategies for resident retention
and attraction, stabilization, and revitalization. If you don’t
believe me, look at the results of urban renewal. These days, most every
significant urban renewal project of the 1950s-1980s is being reworked,
because of a lack of success (a.k.a. failure). DC would not be a great
place to live, it would be like Detroit or Newark, if it weren’t for
the preservation movement. Preservationists stabilized DC neighborhoods
that likely would have been abandoned or remade over by urban renewal,
if it weren’t for their willingness to buck the trends of outmigration
from the center cities. They stayed and toughed it out and put in the
hard slog to make things better, rather than to just move away to
something new, without the problems that could only be rectified by hard
work, effort, and community organizing.
I joke that the crotchety preservationists today who are now in their
60s and 70s (in DC, think Dick Wolf, president of the Capitol Hill
Restoration Society) were the hip urban pioneers of the 1950s, 1960s,
and 1970s. These are the people who saved the city for those of us who
willingly enjoy the fruits of their efforts and are moving back to the
center city today. And there is no question that Washington can ill
afford the constant desire to dumb down the quality of the built
environment through little changes that cumulatively have a huge impact.
Even the legacy of L’Enfant and the pre-1930 builders and artisans who
built residences and commercial buildings of great beauty and
distinction cannot withstand death from 1,000 cuts. No Toll Brothers or
K. Hovnanian subdivision, or even a New Urbanism community like
Kentlands in Montgomery County, can compare to the vernacular beauty and
charm of DC neighborhoods constructed before 1935. Given the sprawl and
mass production of housing that typifies the subdivisions created
further and further out from the center city, I wish the Washington
Post and its columnists would take the time to do features on the
people in this city through their hard, often selfless, and too often
ignored and unappreciated efforts over the past more than years to keep
this city and its neighborhoods viable when all the trends favored the
suburbs.
Last fall I was poking through back issues of the Journal of the
American Planning Association, and generally issues of the journal
from the 1960s through the early 1990s contained articles that for the
most part figured that center cities were beyond redemption, that
contraction was the only hope, and that somehow ways had to be found to
help those lowest income residents who tended to concentrate in center
cities to reconnect themselves and their neighborhoods to increasingly
disinterested suburbs.
Times have changed — cities like Washington and New York are
thriving. Other cities like Philadelphia and Boston are stabilized and
improving, despite overall negative trends. Chicago has been stable all
along. And downtowns and neighborhoods in many center cities are
managing to recover, stabilize, and attract new residents and
businesses. But it was hardly an overnight process. It has been a long
slog of decades, and historic preservation has been the heart and soul
of the revitalization. Forget that at your peril.
And if you don’t believe me, read Cities: Back from the Edge,
The Living City, and Changing Places to educate yourself.
Then we might be able to have an intelligent conversation. Until then,
we’ll be talking past each other, because you’ll want to focus on
uniqueness, whereas I want to focus on drawing out meta-lessons, what
works, why, and replicating success.
###############
The Fenty Post
or The Washington Post
Dennis Moore, dennis@dcindependents.org
It’s abundantly clear that journalistic and corporate interests at The
Washington Post have lost credibility. When substantive coverage of
DC’s deeper socioeconomic and fiscal problems is trampled by their
fascination with personality and hype, the Post becomes just a
creatively rewritten Adrian Fenty press release. The Washington Post
should put a disclaimer on every story they write about the Fenty
Administration: "This is a rewrite of information and insights we
feel benefits the status quo, and our mayoral choice. The
perspectives and concerns of District residents are secondary or
irrelevant."
Then again, the disclaimer may not be necessary. Declining District
resident readership, individual newspaper sales, and subscriptions are
our way of saying you don’t speak for us, or to us. They should help
the environment by not printing so many copies that don’t sell.
Despite their ongoing series of slants and slights against what’s
really happening in our city-state, DC is not an abbreviation for dumb
citizens or docile constituents. From his handling of MRDDA (Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration) to the clumsy
pickup after a lightweight snowstorm, we have a glimpse of worse things
to come under Mayor Fenty. The devil is in the details, most of which
Mr. Fenty disguises or fails to provide to the public (against the
Freedom of Information Act). Seeking voting rights from the US Congress
on one hand, and then sneaking up to Capitol Hill to demolish due
process of a citizens referendum is beyond the Washington Post’s
willingness to cover.
Have we elected, and pay with our tax dollars, DC public officials
who smile in our face while stabbing us in the back? Well, it isn’t
the first time. If it weren’t for DC council members Phil Mendelson
(Democrat) and Carol Schwartz (Republican), we would have forgotten that
Mayor Fenty has administrative deficit disorder. Stay tuned for when he
gets bored of tackling the deep and dirty details of improving our
schools, while handling other District issues. Their bipartisan warning
of things to come is the red flag and loud alarm about the Fenty some
media cheerleaders choose to ignore. Beyond MRDDA, we may have to watch
out for ADDRM (administrative deficit disorder ruining the
municipality). Follow the money. Watch what happens in the months ahead
when all the hype and promises made can’t be backed up with
administrative competence, genuine accountability, and the upfront money
needed to fund them. Mayor Fenty is not paying bigger bucks to keep CFO
Gandhi close for nothing. Natwar knows where all the bodies are buried,
and who put them there. Again, follow the money. The Washington Post
and a few other so-called DC news organizations should realize that
pretentious and token coverage of real day-to-day District issues is not
a substitute for journalistic credibility and integrity. We know a puff
piece when we read it.
###############
As John Henrik Clarke stated shortly before he died (I am
paraphrasing), marching was an effective strategy at one time, now it is
a waste of good shoe leather. In addition, to have marched would have
been schizophrenic and not in my best interest. Why should I march for
Federal voting rights when my local voting rights are being trampled?
How, you ask? Fenty and Gray are circumventing the DC electorate in
their drive to amend the Home Rule Charter to effectuate the school
takeover. Read Section 303(a) of the Home Rule Charter for the
procedures to amend the Charter. Instead of proceeding to referendum as
required by law, they are running to Congress to have their vision
imposed on the city. If my local elected representatives are going to do
that, why should I march with them for anything? It is a truism that all
politics is local. Therefore, if I am not represented locally, what
difference does federal representation make? None!
In addition, the city council has historically shown a lack of
respect for District voters. Remember term limits? DC voters approved
them. What did our council do? In an act of blatant self-interest,
repealed them. Why give them (our so-called elected leaders) an even
higher ladder to climb?
###############
Why Channel 9 Didn’t Broadcast the March
Bruce Johnson, WUSA-TV9, brucejohnson@msn.com
I can’t speak for any other reporters, but Channel 9 wasn’t there
for the DC Voting Rights march because of the Virginia Tech massacre; to
read anything else into our no-show would simply be wrong.
###############
I believe that the Davis-Norton scheme is unconstitutional.
Furthermore, it still does not gain us equity with the rest of the
people who live in the United States, nor do I believe that this is a
step toward statehood. I have been working for DC Statehood since 1971
because, as much as I try, I have not been able to see another option
that gives us firm, complete, and permanent equal status with the rest
of the country who have the same responsibilities we do — e.g.,
federal taxes. I hope that, once we have finished with this sidetracking
enterprise, we can get back to working for full and equal representation
in the form of statehood for New Columbia. Imagine where we might be now
on this issue if all this time and money spent on this effort had been
directed at gaining statehood and explaining to people who dismiss it
out of hand that there would still be a federal enclave, we would not
need a constitutional amendment, and that the state of New Columbia,
with more people in it than Wyoming, could flourish as the fifty-first
state. Plans were made and proposed boundaries drawn back in the ’80s
and ’90s that addressed the need to protect the federal interests.
They are easily available for updating and review.
Third, I did not join the DC Statehood protesters because it was just
too nasty a day for me to be out in it. Thanks to all who braved the
weather. Fourth, the hypocrisy of our new mayor and DC council trying to
change the DC Charter without bringing it to a vote, and also
disenfranchising Wards 4 and 7 by voting on the mayor’s proposal to
take over the schools before they have a chance to install new Council
reps — it’s just too disappointing for words.
###############
Marching
Malcolm L Wiseman, Jr, Washington FreeDC.org, mal@wiseman.ws
As in earlier comment on the SEA Literacy Report having too many
pictures, Mr. Imhoff takes this familiar low road calling Monday’s
march a “failure.” I’m a statehooder, and I didn’t support the
subsuming of Emancipation Day by the “voting rights march” camp. I
loathe making a connection between voting rights and freedom. Still, the
event was successful, at least in the eyes I saw of most anyone there.
I attended the march with our raucous contingent of statehooders,
whole-loafers who fight everyday for equal treatment. Many and all kinds
of people were at the march. It was the largest and most diverse event
that I have seen at any previous DC democracy event. My guess was about
three thousand yelling people, and I’ll bet it was the first protest
for DC civil rights for a lot of folks. I didn’t see anybody counting,
so my guess is as good as anyone’s.
Numbers aside, to pronounce the march a success or failure is
immaterial. There was a march. Many people were there, and in differing
ways for the same good cause. Everybody who was there saw each other,
and now they know they can do it again and again, rain, wind or shine. I
hope when we do it next time, we will have learned more to appreciate
the non-connection of “voting rights” and freedom enough to reorder
our agenda to territory-hood or statehood. Nobody got shot? It was a
success!
###############
I went. I put the number at around two thousand. Of all the possible
solutions to the DC vote problem, I like this one the least — I’d
much prefer having full statehood, or (even better) not paying federal
taxes at all, cutting out the other half of "taxation without
representation."
That said, I think it’s at least a reasonable first step. The one
thing I came away from the rally with is that Eleanor Holmes Norton is,
at best, totally incoherent, but from citizenry that can manage to elect
Marion Barry over and over again, I’m not surprised.
###############
The Bipartisan/Partisan Non-Equal/Equal Rights
Vote
Timothy Cooper, Worldright@aol.com
Last Thursday’s 241-to-177 vote in favor of the DC Voting Rights
Act was a partisan, not bipartisan, vote. Only twenty-two Republicans
voted in favor of the Utah/DC-linked bill, with just six Democrats
voting against it. Even if all twenty-two Republicans (approximately 10
percent of voting Republicans) who supported the bill had voted against
it, and the identical number of Democrats voted "nay," the
final tally would have been 219 in favor, 199 against. Which raises an
important strategic question: If under the leadership of Rep. Nancy
Pelosi the Democrats had sufficient votes to pass voting rights
legislation, why wasn’t an equal voting rights bill (i.e., two US
Senators and one House representative) put before the newly
Democratically controlled Congress for an up or down vote? Why was a
bill which granted DC residents only one-third congressional
representation, a holdover from a bygone Republican-congressional era,
championed by DC’s leaders as the best deal they could get? As DC
Delegate Norton said prior to the vote: you get what you can.
As it turns out, Democrats had all the votes required to pass an
equal voting rights bill for DC residents, just not the will. Why was
that?
###############
I kind of like the tag line on E-mails a friend sends: “Politicians
and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed
regularly and for the same reason!”
To the extent that sentiment reflects people’s thinking, they won’t
come out to support a cause like voting rights. Frankly, we are
complacent. Look at the paltry crowds that have come out to protest the
war in Iraq. Given the polls numbers of people opposed to the war, why
are there not consistently 100,000 people in the streets? In comparison,
1,500 people as a first serious attempt for a DC Vote rally on a bad
weather day and a day of horrific news is not bad (although I attended
with a feeling that under the circumstances this was a pretty
insignificant event and it would probably have been better if it had
been postponed). I attended because you have to start somewhere. What I
would like to see our leaders do is push for equal treatment under the
law. If only the several states can be given a vote in the Congress,
then ignoring the use of that same language the several states and
allowing DC residents to be taxed strikes me as unconstitutional. You
want a long term fix to DC tax problems? Make DC a federal tax-free
District. We’ll have so many rich folks moving to the District that we
won’t need any federal subsidy offset loss of taxes! Heck, even the
Republicans will want to live here!
###############
Goodwill Toward Voting
Rights Effort Shattered Over Schools Takeover Vote
Kathryn A. Pearson-West, wkpw3@aol.com
Not long ago, one might hear most citizens talk positively and
enthusiastically about the pursuit of Congressional voting rights for
the nation’s capital. Today the struggle for DC voting rights is met
with disbelief over the actions of city leaders on the schools takeover
and a feeling that city leaders are acting hypocritically when it comes
to citizens’ voting rights. Too many citizens now equate the voting
rights march with hypocrisy by our elected leaders. Why should citizens
be expected to march for a vote in Congress when our own DC elected
officials strip us of an empowered elected school board and the right to
vote on a change in governance, as the DC home rule charter requires in
the form of a referendum? The controversial schools takeover coup
sullied the movement for DC voting rights in the eyes of the average
citizen. The goodwill and trust that many citizens had for their city
leaders have been nullified by a rushed Council vote stripping citizens
of their rights. Some now read messages from the new administration and
its media machine/appendage with disdain and distrust.
Instead of rejoicing over the progress made with the voting rights
effort for DC, citizens are now questioning the mindset and wisdom of
city leaders that turned Emancipation Day into a voting rights day,
voted to take over the school governance without a referendum vote, and
in the same breath asked citizens to march for freedom with Mayor
Blackberry and his cohorts on the council. In response to these actions,
one constantly hears similar retorts when asked about their
participation in the voting rights march. The refrain is notably one
that includes comments on the takeover of the schools. For example, it
is often heard, “Why should I march when the mayor and council are
going to do what they want to do anyway?” “Democracy begins at
home.” “I couldn’t in good conscience march for voting rights for
Norton when city leaders are taking away our democratic rights with the
school takeover.” “How dare someone ask me to march for voting
rights when they’re taking away my right to a referendum vote?”
“Why march when the city leaders are only going to listen to certain
power players behind the scenes and not to the citizens that elected
them?“ ”I’m so disappointed in the city leadership that I couldn’t
fathom marching in such a hypocritical gesture.” Sentiments expressed
about the voting rights march are astounding and with it being on
Emancipation Day, too, the criticisms were sharp.
Residents continue the disappointed diatribes with something like:
“Giving a five-year term to determine if this hodgepodge school plan
will work is too long! Give it two years with a proviso that the Mayor
is automatically recalled if it isn’t working.” Some say, “If
there is no referendum; then how about a recall in 2008?” Still others
tend to say, “It’s time for a lawsuit against the city. I’m not
thinking about a vote for Norton right now when the mayor and the
council are taking over?” “The voting rights march was probably
filled mostly with people paid by the government or by people that need
or want something from this administration.” “Wouldn’t it be just
dessert if the people on the school board ran for office and kicked out
of office the current officeholders?” “Why is it that we only have
two leaders in the city — Councilmembers Schwartz and Mendelson —
that are willing to stand up for the citizens?” “It is so surprising
that the native Washingtonians in office are the first to give in/sell
out.” “We might as well go back to the commissioner form of
governance with this group we have in office.” “What did Mayor
Bloomberg do to help with the voting rights issue? Where is he now?”
“The takeover of the schools has overshadowed any good these leaders
might do. Hopefully, some will have only one term in office.”
“Voting rights is not worth selling my soul and conscience for the
city.” “It’s an oxymoron to have an elected school board that is
advisory. Why should I give up an elected school board for an ombudsman’s
office? Does accountability mean ‘will fix it’ or just that one
person is responsible for messing up?” “New York schools don’t
seem to be all that good, so why are we following their lead? What’s
Bloomberg doing for DC and why isn’t he at the mayor’s side now with
the backlash for the takeover? Many New Yorkers don’t seem enamored
with their takeover plan, only they have a chancellor that may be a
little more equipped to handle the challenges. Would DC’s mayor of
education still be on the school board if he hadn’t been whisked away
by the mayor who was impressed with his leadership with DC schools or
with his standing in certain high powered organizations.”
Just four months into a new term, and our city leaders have managed
to alienate so many people that they aren’t even getting excited about
voting rights, no matter how close we get to winning the prize. At one
time citizens’ venom was pointed at Congress as our oppressors; now we
look at DC leaders as becoming the oppressors. How sad that we are
losing the trust in our public leaders and no longer respect them as
leaders willing to stand up for what matters in the city, but rather
standing up for their own agenda and a power grab that benefits them.
Citizens were not fooled by the takeover and know that positive things
could have happened with the schools by first having buy-in by the
stakeholders and not relying on sham public hearings and media
endorsements. They know wonder what actions and incompetence are being
overshadowed by the talk of the takeover and voting rights. What else
lurks behind the scenes waiting to pounce on unsuspecting DC voters?
All our elected officials had to do was say that the voice of the
people is so important that they will wait a month until there is
elected leadership on the council for Wards 4 and 7 and then insists
upon a referendum to ratify the vote by Council. Instead, they chose to
disenfranchise wards bearing about 25 percent of the electorate by not
waiting for Wards 4 and 7 to elect council members. Then, city leaders
disenfranchised the entire city by ignoring the mandate of the D.C. home
rule charter by circumventing the right to a referendum vote by going
straight to Congress. And should Congress approve this nonsensical law
without a referendum, they become accomplices in the further
disenfranchisement of the citizens’ of the nation’s capital. They
will be no better than our elected leaders.
On the positive side of all of this, at least many more citizens did
not have to take off of work to brave the elements to join a march that
sent contradictory messages. Those that were off from work did not have
to spend money to get to the protest. And many did not have to feel
hypocritical about what some march supporters feel is for the greater
good. The weather on the day of the march was a record for being just
horrible. Some say that a higher power did not like ugly and the weather
was a reflection of that. Many citizens may now begin to lament some of
the voting choices we made in the primary and realize that leaders
knocked on doors before the primary vote so that they don’t have to
listen to voters any more. At least this can-do spirit of new leaders
let’s us know that our leaders can do it all without us and they do
not need us to remain loyal and overly supportive because in the end,
the citizens don’t really matter. Creating a new bureaucracy with high
paid staff and opening the doors to tyranny by setting a precedent to
move without citizen approval is what really matters. To the victors go
the spoils and to the rest of us, we sit on the sidelines waiting for a
new day when home rule and citizen input are once again respected. We
can have good schools, voting rights, respect for citizens, and legal
process but that seems to be a novel thought only for the unelected,
general citizenry. Now let’s up city leaders don’t find a way to
censor citizen thoughts and put a muzzle on their speech against actions
for which they disagree. Maybe it won’t be too late when everybody
wakes up as to what has transpired and how citizens allowed their rights
to be trampled on by their own elected leaders. Let’s have the next
voting protest march to call for democracy at home and leave the
hypocrisy elsewhere.
###############
This is to advise that the April 2007 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 (the accompanying images can be seen
in the archived PDF version). Also included are all current classified
ads. The complete issue (along with prior issues back to July 2003) also
is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge
simply by clicking the link in the Current & Back Issues Archive.
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
May 11 (the second 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: “DC’s Historic Preservation
Process, Policies Debated at Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Forum —
Residents Protest Program is Too Inflexible”; “Sheridan-Kalorama
Unveils Old Call Boxes with Art to Reveal Neighborhood Lore”; “Local
Hardware Stores Joining Grassroots Efforts to Reduce Inner-City CO2
Emissions”; “MPD Foot Patrol Program in Mt. Pleasant Being Hailed
for Improving Security.”
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Nikki Giovanni UDC Reading Postponed, April 23
Michael Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu
World renowned poet, writer, and educator Nikki Giovanni has
postponed her visit to the campus of the University of the District of
Columbia scheduled for Monday, April 23. Ms. Giovanni, a University
Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, notified UDC through her
representative that, due to the tragedy at Virginia Tech this past week,
and particularly because next Monday will be the reopening of the campus
following this tragedy, she is compelled to be on the Virginia Tech
campus next week.
Ms. Giovanni was to conduct a reading of her poetry and lecture as
part of the University’s Literature-Live Reading Series, which
promotes the culture of reading and writing across the curriculum and
the academic community. She has previously scheduled to appear at UDC on
February 14, but that appearance was postponed due to inclement weather.
She will do everything possible to find another acceptable date to
reschedule her appearance.
###############
The Fairfax County Public Library invites you to an evening with
David Rakoff at 7:30 p.m. on April 24 at the McLean Community Center.
Rakoff, a contributor to Public Radio International’s “This American
Life,” is known for his edgy and humorous insights into contemporary
American life. He is the author of two books of essays, and he also
writes for The New York Times Magazine, Outside, and GQ.
Rakoff can be seen in the films “Strangers With Candy” and
“Capote”; to listen to a ten-minute interview with Rakoff on your
computer, go here: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/bookcast/.
###############
Equal Pay Day Rally, April 24
Hazel Thomas, thomashazelb@aol.com
The DC Federation of Business and Professional Women (DC/BPW) will
mobilize with other women’s groups on Tuesday, April 24, to call
attention to the wage gap. Women, on average, are paid 77 cents for
every dollar paid to men. To commemorate Equal Pay Day, DC/BPW will
rally under the theme, “Women Work! Pay Them Fairly!” on Capitol
Hill’s West Lawn from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Guest speakers for the rally
will include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Tom Harkins, and
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.
April is symbolic of the point into the next year that a woman must
work in order to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous year.
Because women typically earn less, they must work longer for the same
pay. Over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average
American woman and her family an estimated $523,000 in lost wages. This
year, BPW/USA is encouraging employers to take advantage of the equal
pay self-audit that is available at http://www.bpwusa.org.
In the District of Columbia we are also encouraging members of the
business community to review their pay practices to ensure that women
are not discriminated against by performing an Equal Pay Self-Audit.
###############
DC Public Library Events, April 24-25
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Tuesday, April 24, 12:00 p.m., West End Neighborhood Library, 1101
24th Street, NW. West End Library Film Club. Bring your lunch and enjoy
watching a film. For more information, call 724-8707.
Tuesday, April 24, 6:30 p.m., Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 7th
Street, SE. Capitol Hill Book Club. Please call 698-3377 for the April
book title.
Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 p.m., Takoma Park Neighborhood Library, 416
Cedar Street, NW. Book discussion. For more information, call 576-7252.
Wednesday, April 25, 4:00 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park
Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Young adult video
presentation. We will watch the film version of Their Eyes Were Watching
God, starring Halle Berry. Refreshments will be served. For more
information, call 541-3966.
Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m., Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330
7th Street, NE. “The Richness of Zora Neale Hurston’s Imagination
and Language.” Pontheola Mack Abernathy will perform readings from Their
Eyes Were Watching God. Refreshments will be provided by the
Southeast/Northeast Library Friends. For more information, call
698-3320.
###############
Save the Anacostia River, April 28
Sam Jordan, samunomas@msn.com
On Saturday, April 28, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., join in a
community canoe experience. Assemble at the Anacostia Park Skating Rink
at 9:00 a.m. for a chartered bus trip to the Bladensburg Waterfront Park
(4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg, MD). Depart from the Waterfront Park
at 10:00 a.m. for a three-hour guided canoeing experience down the
Anacostia River. Learn about the river’s ecology and the urgency of
efforts to Save the Anacostia. It is recommended that you wear a hat and
bring bottled water. Canoes and guides will be provided by the Anacostia
Watershed Society. Space is limited to 43 people, so hurry and reserve
your space.
From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., come to a save the Anacostia community
rally and picnic. Disembark from canoes at the Anacostia Park Skating
Rink or meet at the park. Lunch will be provided. Donation: $25 per
person. Includes bus transportation to Canoe Experience, return trip to
the rally and picnic by canoe, and lunch. Youth (25 and under)
participation is encouraged with a half-price discount, $12.50 per
person. Scholarships are also available, but hurry, because we need a
reliable roster of participants by Thursday, April 26 in case more
canoes are required. Contact Sam Jordan at samunomas@msn.com
or 388-6661.
###############
Zora Neale Hurston Lecture at Cleveland Park
Branch, May 5
Beth Meyer, lmeyer8090@aol.com
Deborah Macanic, exhibit developer and project manager at the
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, will give a
PowerPoint presentation on “Zora Neale Hurston in Context” on
Saturday, May 5, at 3 p.m. in the first floor auditorium of the
Cleveland Park Branch of the DC Public Library, Connecticut and Macomb
Streets, NW. This program is part of the Big Read, a major initiative
from the National Endowment of the Arts. DC’s Big Read will consist of
activities for a “city read” of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes
Were Watching God from April 19-May 19. Also included in the program
will be a brief talk by a library staff person about how to form a book
club. Refreshments will be provided courtesy of Friends of the Cleveland
Park Library.
Ms. Macanic will talk about Zora Neale Hurston and the events around
her in the Twenties and Thirties. She will review Hurston’s writing in
the context of the Harlem Renaissance and the American South. Ms.
Macanic has had more than thirty years of arts and museum experience.
She has managed the following exhibitions: Beyond Category: The Musical
Genius of Duke Ellington, Latin Jazz, and The Jazz Age in Paris. The
Cleveland Park Branch of the D.C. 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 Library at 282-3080.
###############
Letters About Literature 2007, May 5
Patricia Pasqual, patricia.pasqual@dc.gov
District winners and finalists will be honored for their
participation in the annual national essay contest, Letters About
Literature 2007. The students, along with their family, friends and
fellow students, will attend a special ceremony to be held on Saturday,
May 5, at 10:30 am, in Room 443 of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library. Children’s author Pamela Ehrenber of the book, Ethan,
Suspended, will address the students. The top three students in each
category will read their letters and receive gift certificates from
Target Stores and Borders Books and Music. The DC regional finalists
will receive incentives provided by the Junior League of Washington. The
festivities will conclude with a reception hosted by the Junior League.
This year over six hundred students in the District participated in
Letters About Literature 2007, a writing program that ask students to
write letters to an author living or dead, explaining how their work
changed their view of the world or themselves. Students submitted
letters on a wide variety of books, including the Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe, Sista Souljahs’s No Disrespect, Robinson Crusoe,
A Time to Kill, and many others. One student was moved by poems in
Tears for Water by recording artist Alicia Keys. In her letter, she
relates how one poem entitled P.O.W. (Prisoner of Words) captured
exactly the way she felt when reading the book. In fact, feeling like a
P.O.W. was the way many of the students felt when composing their
letters.
Letters About Literature 2007 is a national project of the Center for
the Book at the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores.
The DC Center for the Book at the District of Columbia Public Library is
the local organizer for the contest. Borders Books and Music and the
Junior League are local sponsors. There are both local and national
winners.
First place DC regional winners: level one, Abigail Melick, sixth
grade, Oyster Bilingual School, Chew on This by Eric Schlosser
and Charles Wilson; level two, John Nessman, eighth grade, individual
entry, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes; level three, Talia
Harris, eleventh grade, SEED School, No Disrespect by Sista
Souljah. Second place DC regional winners: level one, Julie Winkler, Key
Elementary School, fifth grade, Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of
Hypnotism by Georgia Byng; level two, Jon Murphy, eighth grade,
Blessed Sacrament, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.
Lewis; level three, Thomas Harrison, eleventh grade, SEED School, Amazing
Grace by Jonathan Kozol. Third place DC regional winners: level one,
Theodros Alemu, fifth grade, individual entry, The Forgotten Door
by Alexander Key; level two, Phoebe Joaquin, eighth grade, Blessed
Sacrament School, In My Hands by Jennifer Armstrong; level three,
Charnice Cunningham, eleventh grade, SEED School, The Bluest Eye
by Toni Morrison.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED
Does anyone have a Windows XP Professional boot CD? I use an IBM
clone with Windows Pro XP as its operating system. The computer won’t
boot up for some reason. All my belongings are in boxes, so I can’t
find my operating system or a boot-up disk. Without a disk, can anyone
give me advice on what to do?
###############
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