Games
Dear Players:
On Monday, June 4, Mayor Fenty had a press conference at the
headquarters of DC Public Schools to announce the selection of two
consulting firms, Alvarez and Marsal and McKinsey and Company, to
conduct reviews of DCPS’s finances and operations at a cost of $3.34
million (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/070604.htm).
Joining Fenty at the press conference were Board of Education President
Robert Bobb, Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso, and DCPS
Superintendent Clifford Janey. In his remarks, Fenty indicated that this
was the beginning of a precedent-making partnership involving the mayor,
the city council, DCPS, the Board of Education, and the Superintendent.
However, the city council was not represented at the press conference,
and in recent weeks there has been a growing schism between Fenty and
Council Chairman Vincent Gray on the school governance issue. Also in
his opening remarks, Fenty indicated that a nonprofit organization, the
DC Education Compact (http://www.dcec.org),
had pledged to raise money to pay the two consulting firms for their
audit. Dorothy asked two questions. First, what was the process by which
these two firms were selected? Was it through an open, competitive
request for proposals, or were they given sole-source contracts? Second,
what would be the process by which funds would be raised and the firms
paid, and what specifically would be the role of DCEC?
By the time that all four participants spoke, it was clear that Fenty,
Bobb, Reinoso, and Janey had all participated in the selection of
Alvarez and McKinsey, that the selection had been a noncompetitive
process, and that the contracts had not been and would not be submitted
to the council for approval. Both Mayor Fenty and Deputy Mayor Reinoso
responded that the legal contract for the work would be between DCEC and
the two consulting firms. They both said also that DCEC would be both
raising the funds and making the payments to the firms. Dorothy asked
follow-up questions to clarify the relationship, and Fenty and Reinoso
confirmed it again. Dorothy asked why, if DCEC would be contracting with
and paying the consulting firms, it wasn’t present at the press
conference. She also asked, but never got an answer, whether this
relationship with DCEC wasn’t just a way to evade District regulations
against sole-source contracting and council approval of contracts.
Because she wasn’t comfortable with the answers she got at the
press conference, Dorothy called the DC Education Compact that
afternoon. Late that afternoon, she spoke with Donna Power Stowe, the
Executive Director of DCEC. Stowe said that in fact DCEC would have no
contract and no formal relationship with the two consulting firms; that
any contract would be between the DC government and the firms; and that
the only role DCEC had would be to help raise money, both locally and
nationally, to pay the firms. Given this direct contradiction between
what was announced publicly at the press conference and the response of
DCEC, we have attempted to get further clarification from Deputy Mayor
Reinoso and Stowe, and to get copies of any contracts with the
consulting firms from Deputy Mayor Reinoso, but our telephone calls and
E-mails have not been returned. The mayor’s press release said that
the two consulting firms began work that same day, June 4. DC
contracting law says that no firm can begin work, work for, or be paid
by the DC government without a written contract.
This is just the start of, just a small $3.34 million sample of, how
the Fenty administration will be handling the billions of dollars that
the DC government will be dispersing on the schools in the next few
years. The games have already begun, and this is how they will be
played.
Gary Imhoff and Dorothy Brizill
gary@dcwatch.com and dorothy@dcwatch.com
###############
Hypocrisy Personified
Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., Ward 7, chittams@sewkis.com
Before I get started let me say this. The event occurring at the end
of Unifest was a tragedy, not just for the individuals hit, but also for
the young woman operating the vehicle. Now, the following text may be
found in Associated Press reports related to the Unifest incident.
“Bell had until recently worked in the office of Marion Barry, former
mayor and a District of Columbia Council member, as a receptionist
employed by a temp agency. Barry’s office issued a letter terminating
its contract with NAI Personnel. ‘The behavior of your employee,
although outside of work, indicates that you may not have properly
investigated her background prior to placing her in our office,’ wrote
Keith A. Perry, Barry’s chief of staff.”
Now if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black I don’t know
what is. “Investigated her background,” said Perry. If people
considered backgrounds, Marion Barry wouldn’t be elected dogcatcher in
this city. After Barry’s stint in prison he spoke of redemption and a
second chance. I guess that only applies to him. Barry expects
forgiveness and a second, third, fourth, etc., chance, but cannot extend
it. So much for doing unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Utilizing the Perry/Barry standard of judgment, Barry should be in jail
right now for tax evasion. But no, Barry deserves another chance. The
Perry/Barry standard, when applied to others, is to throw the baby out
with the bath water. Because one employee of the agency is charged with
a crime and Barry is ducking for political cover, everyone working with
that agency is no longer eligible to work in Barry’s office. What?
What makes this situation even more egregious is that most of the temps
working for NAI are black. Because one person acted badly, an entire
group of people is going to be penalized? I thought we had gotten past
those days when one black person’s actions had an adverse impact on
the entire black community.
Well, Messrs. Barry and Perry, what about the other employees of the
agency? Can you give them a first chance? They haven’t even done
anything wrong. Marion Barry is the last person I expected to do
something like this. After all the love and chances extended to him by
the people of this city, he not only kicks someone when they are down,
but kicks everyone affiliated with that person. Wow, if I didn’t know
better I’d think Marion Barry’s full name was Marion “Bull
Connor” Barry.
###############
In the past twenty-four hours, there have been several developments
in the effort to hold a referendum on key provisions of Mayor Fenty’s
education reform initiative. On May 22, the DC Board of Elections and
Ethics held a public hearing at which it formally approved the
“Referendum on Certain Provisions of the Public Education Reform Act
of 2007” (http://www.dcwatch.com/election/ref007.htm)
as a proper subject for an initiative. At that meeting, with attorneys
representing the Board of Elections, the Office of the Attorney General,
and the DC city council present, the Board also discussed and approved
the short title and summary statement of the referendum that would
appear on voters ballots. Three days later, on Friday, May 25, on the DC
Politics Hour on WAMU-FM, Mayor Fenty talked about his displeasure with
the Board’s action and threatened BOEE Chairman Charles Lowery with
replacement (themail, May 27). On May 26, the BOEE paid for a full-page
ad in the Washington Times to publish the entire text of the
referendum, thus beginning the ten-day challenge period during which any
citizen could file an objection to the referendum in DC Superior Court.
On Thursday, May 31, the District’s Attorney General, Linda Singer, on
behalf of the mayor, sent a letter to the BOEE requesting the Board to
reconsider its referendum decision (http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/070531.htm).
On Friday, June 1, Singer filed a complaint against the BOEE’s
decision in Superior Court (http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/070601.htm).
All parties agreed to an expedited briefing and hearing schedule.
Yesterday, Tuesday, June 5, the Board of Elections filed its response
brief, and in that response it reversed its previous decision and argued
that the referendum was not a proper subject for a referendum. DC law
allows the BOEE to reconsider any decision it makes, but its decision
must be made at an open public meeting of which public notice has been
given. No such hearing was held. Indeed, the BOEE never informed the
referendum’s proponents or the public of the reversal of its decision
until it filed its brief late yesterday afternoon. At today’s public
hearing of the BOEE, Chairman Lowery said that, “You and the press are
wrong. The Board has not reversed its decision. It simply changed its
opinion.” Lowery admitted that in the Board’s court filing the Board’s
position is that the referendum is not a proper subject. When I pressed
Lowery on whether the Board had met legal requirements for holding a
public meeting to reconsider its decision, his response was that the
Board did not and had not met, so the Board hasn’t reversed its
decision, even though its brief reverses its position and even though
Mayor Fenty’s press release on June 5 brags that the BOEE reversed its
ruling.
Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz, at two court hearings today,
heard oral arguments from all parties with regards to whether or not she
can order the Board to release referendum petitions to the proponents
while any outstanding legal issues are being decided. During the court
proceedings, the judge focused on the Board’s reversal and asked
penetrating questions about the legality of their procedures, about
whether the referendum were a proper subject when the Board made its
ruling on May 22, and about whether the Board viewed its first decision
as a mistake or whether any subsequent events actually required the
Board to reverse its decision. Judge Leibovitz also focused on whether
the Board violated the District’s open meeting law.
###############
Board of Elections Reverses Itself
Cherita Whiting, cherita_whiting@yahoo.com
Well, I guess [DC Board of Elections and Ethics Chairman Charles]
Lowery decided he wanted to keep his job more so than do the right thing
for the taxpayers. Or somebody else was paid off. I don’t know which
one is fact, but I do know that DC is for sale. We are all going down
along with it!
###############
We were warned not to sign up our son to take a standardized test at
a DC public school. We had been told that the facilities are woefully
inadequate and the proctors are not up to the task. Well, we signed up
our son too late to get the location of our choice. He ended up at
Wilson High School. According to the online instructions, he was to
arrive, at the latest, by 7:45 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. start time. He was
there by 7:30. The doors to the high school were not even unlocked until
8:15 a.m. Then the students were divided by alphabet and sent off to
different locations. The building was extremely hot and stuffy. He got
to his assigned room, but the proctor did not even begin the exam until
9:20 a.m., twenty minutes after the test was supposed to have been
completed. The proctor read something to the students, but my son was
unable to understand a single thing he said. So, under the pressure of
the test, he had to figure out how to fill out the informational part of
the test form properly, find his specific test in the test book, and
then begin. How difficult is it to arrive at a test site on time and get
the test under way in an appropriate manner? Other jurisdictions seem to
manage. Are the school sites leased out to some sort of test
administrating company, or are they run by DCPS? I so wanted the
warnings to be untrue. But unfortunately they were accurate. These poor
kids are under enough pressure to perform at their best. Can’t we
adults do our part to minimize that pressure where we can?
###############
New Baseball Stadium and Metro Senior Fare
Cards
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
The new baseball stadium for the Nationals is really moving along. A
lot of activity is going on down near the Navy Yard. I cannot tell
whether they are on schedule or not, but about forty percent of the
upper deck is in place, along with the light towers for those sections.
It looks like the builders have cornered the free world’s supply of
aluminum. Good thing the stadium is not near the coast.
For those purchasing Senior Fare Cards at Metro Center, be advised
that they are asking for more than your driver’s license for ID. I was
asked for my Medicare card (wherever that is) or a Metro ID card. The
Metro ID card can be applied for when you buy your fare cards, and it is
the same card that will get seniors on the Metrobus at reduced fares. It
takes about four weeks to come in the mail and expires in five years (or
less if you do). [For more information, see http://www.wmata.com/riding/senior_disabled_id.cfm]
###############
Behind the Scenes of Last Year’s Prison
Break
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
I thought people might enjoy the behind-the-scenes story of last year’s
prison break that appeared in Monday’s Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/a-761975~The_story_behind_the_D_C__jailbreak.html.
Is our prison system’s incompetence somehow unique? I don’t think
so. I think that if similar stories that have appeared over the years
teach us one thing, it’s that every DC agency suffers from the same
kind of lame staffing.
###############
Teach Our Children by Practicing Democracy
Miriam Moore, miriam@DCIndependents.org
Mayor Fenty believes the District of Columbia parents and average
citizens who are fighting for a voter referendum on his proposed school
governance plan are hurting children. That’s the new Big Lie for 2007.
They would rather have us put democracy on our children’s "just
say no" list, and allow a speedy coronation of mayor Fenty as king
of DC schools. Many District citizens and I certainly agree that plenty
is wrong with our public school system. However, can we also agree that
the success of our children has less to do with a top-down governance
structure, and more to do with real community control of our schools? A
genuine partnership between superintendent Clifford Janey, the DC school
board, and local school communities produced our master education plan.
This plan will be in effect regardless of who runs DCPS.
Dedicated teachers will still educate our children with available
resources. They will do it in the same developer-targeted crumbling
buildings caused by long-term multilevel DC government incompetence and
politics. We will still send our kids to school and be involved in their
education while working full or part time jobs, fighting poverty,
avoiding violence, surviving DC’s coming fiscal imbalances, and
challenging self-serving elected officials on decreasing citizen rights.
My child will still get educated, whether through DCPS, charter
schools, low-cost tutors, or a more family-friendly area outside of DC.
While parents may not do it perfectly, we will do our best. The needs of
our children will always trump the phony rhetoric and plagiarized plans
of District bureaucrats. Real leaders create partnerships, not
adversaries, among the citizens that elect and pay them. A partnership
with the citizens in the education trenches should begin with a civics
lesson to our children on real democracy and due process. Supporting the
voter referendum on school governance may earn mayor Fenty a B+ among
citizens and children. Mr. Fenty, you cannot afford to fail this
important lesson in “government of the people, by the people, for the
people.”
###############
Little Style and No
Substance
Kenneth Lyons, President, AFGE Local 3721, president@local3721.org
Having watched closely the progression of the Rosenbaum incident from
within the DC Fire Department, I was resigned to be silent as the
process proceeded. Even during the fifteen months that it required for a
trial board (comprised of career firefighters and not one medical
professional that could be regarded as objective) to render a decision
resulting in anything from a slap on the wrist to termination, only to
have the final outcome be determined by an assistant chief, I maintained
my silence. So as to the disciplinary process itself I will not comment
and allow those involved the benefit of due process. However, I cannot
remain silent as the President of the IAFF Local 36 Firefighters union,
Daniel Dugan, a career firefighter and not a medical professional,
attempts to articulate his opinion as if it were fact, all the while
intimating that it was the fault of the hospital, the Inspector General,
the media, and even Mr. Rosenbaum for choosing to take a stroll on a
crisp evening in January 6, 2006. But we all know what they say about
opinions, so I will not give mine, just the facts.
Firefighter Dugan, President of the Firefighters union, makes the
point that, “In truth, there was no bleeding or other observable signs
of trauma.” This, according to Firefighter Dugan, was the reason that
the trial board, comprised of firefighters, rendered a decision that
would later be endorsed by the Assistant Fire Chief of Operations,
himself a career firefighter. What Firefighter Dugan, President of the
career firefighters union, fails to mention was that the call was
dispatched as a “Man Down” and, according to emergency medical
technician training, a patient found on the ground is to be regarded as
a trauma patient until proven otherwise. If career firefighter and local
36 president Dugan would take the time to review the District of
Columbia State Medical Protocols, particularly Section A of the General
Patient Guidelines under Trauma Patient Assessment, he would know that
the treatment of a patient found on the ground, especially with altered
mental status, is very specific, whether the injury is obvious or not.
However Lieutenant Dugan concludes, “Without any visible injuries to
Mr. Rosenbaum, the firefighters reasonably concluded that his condition
was attributable to alcohol consumption.”
Which brings me to my second medical fact. In twenty years as a
paramedic I have attended to many patients that have appeared to be
intoxicated, and even possessed the smell of alcohol on their breath.
According to Firefighter Dugan’s version of patient assessment, one
should logically conclude that such a patient would deserve nothing more
than a ride to the hospital without further assessment or concern.
However, what we do know from eyewitness accounts and the patient care
report as detailed in the media, was that Mr. Rosenbaum was exhibiting
increasing altered mental status accompanied with repeated episodes of
vomiting. Let’s stop here for a second: remember that smell of alcohol
found on the patient, on the ground, experiencing altered mental status
(GCS-3). Those of us who regard ourselves as medical professionals have
a saying, “Altered mental status in an elderly patient is head or
heart until proven otherwise.”
The District of Columbia State Medical Protocols, under the heading
of Adult Medical Emergencies: Altered Mental Status (Non-traumatic)
again has specific guidelines for the treatment of such patients. Among
other treatment and assessment requirements is a test to be performed on
patients presenting in this manner: blood glucose check. This is a
simple thirty-second test to determine the value of the blood sugar of
the patient. Why you may ask? Because, even assuming, as
Firefighter/President Dugan suggests, that there was no blood or obvious
injury, you had an elderly patient with altered mental status. Alcohol
would be the absolutely last thing to be considered as the cause of the
patient’s condition, even if the smell were present (diabetic
ketoacidosis, anyone?).
Dan Dugan espouses medical opinion as if he were a medical expert and
not primarily a firefighter. However, if Dan Dugan feels so strongly on
this issue, on June 18 there will be an EMS Task-force meeting where the
Mayor, City Administrator, Attorney General, representatives from the
Rosenbaum family and members of the community will be in attendance. It
is here where Firefighter Dugan can articulate to these individuals why
"this culture of indifference” is regarded as “…an offense,
not only to these two men but to all firefighters,” but not an offense
to the Rosenbaum family and to the community at large who are tired of
these excuses.
###############
[From testimony to the city council Judiciary Committee, May 31]
During the day, right now, sirens are bombarding my home all the time.
Emergency Medical Services sirens make living near Providence Hospital
horrible, unlivable. This situation cannot persist. District Regulations
state, “. . . when the driver of the vehicle while in motion sounds an
audible signal by siren or exhaust whistles as may be reasonably
necessary.” However, the District government has required constant
sirens on all transport, administratively protecting itself from
liability in case of auto accidents. This may save a few dollars every
year, but doesn’t the peace and quiet of our homes have some value?
The siren itself is a powerful electronically produced shock wave
agitating the air 40 decibels louder than the ear-damaging level. Other
communities have ambulance sirens that are not disturbing like ours.
What that siren selected, what testing was done?
It is reasonable to use a humane siren during critical transport,
when there is an obstruction, actual traffic, or when pedestrians are
really in the way. It is not reasonable to use excessively powerful
sirens continually when an emergency vehicle is proceeding unobstructed.
The Fire Department’s constant use of extremely loud 130 DB electronic
sirens, when the patient is stable, when there is no traffic and no
obstruction, is not reasonable. This is destroying the quality of life
in DC and is actually medically destructive both to its residents and
your personnel. Chief Martin told me “all personnel will suffer
hearing loss by the time they leave the service.” Heart disease and
stroke are caused by the increased adrenaline the siren causes; fire
fighters have 100 times greater risk for heart attack.
In Maryland, protocols guide the EMT to distinguish between emergency
transport needing sirens and quiet, routine transport, done with lights
but no sirens. Maryland protocols include Priority 1 and 2 as follows:
“If the patient’s condition has been stabilized on the scene, the
EMT or Paramedic in Charge of patient care may determine that the
patient may be transported in a routine mode.” This means lights and
no sirens. That is respectful of the community, but the same transport
DC is an hysterical disturbance. Bethesda is quiet; our neighborhoods
are a noisy bedlam. District protocols say nothing about being selective
and responding appropriately. Also, Maryland will advise "a
non-urgent patient that they do not require emergency transport and do
not warrant the use of an emergency medical vehicle." In the
District, ten percent of all emergency transports actually come from the
just twelve residences. Chief Medical Officer Michael Williams says,
“There are many medical conditions that actually require calm quiet
transport for the patients’ proper care. Some are heart attack,
epilepsy, pregnant women with eclampsia, psychiatric disorders, and many
more that we must transport properly without sirens.”
District Municipal Regulation 730.1 states, “Each motor vehicle
operated upon a highway [city streets are not open highways] shall be
equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound
audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two
hundred feet (200 ft.).” Why would your department send your
ambulances dozens and dozens of runs every day through an intersection
like 12th and Michigan dodging traffic, red lights, and violating the
specific 25 MPH limit , breaking the law all the time, sirens going like
mad? Sirens pervade our homes for a half mile around, making a quiet
residential neighborhood into a noisy bedlam. And the direction of the
siren cannot be determined, as it radiates in all directions for over a
half mile. Because people cannot tell where the sirens come from, they
ignore them.
The new technology of directional sirens would clearly be more
effective. Another innovation that would improve and add safety is a
system of “traffic preemption devices.” These systems essentially
escort ambulances by turning traffic lights green so they can move
safely through the street and intersections. Why not move ambulances
through a controlled series of green lights, rather than gamble by
running red lights and stop signs, and illegally speeding endangering
all of us?
Why can’t Emergency Medical Services stop the hysteria when the
traffic goes down in the evening, and goes to nothing at night? Flat
out, continuous, 130 DB. sirens when the traffic is minimal or there is
no traffic are simply an insult to the community.
###############
Phil Shapiro’s imaginary moment of turning off the presses at the Washington
Post after Google purchases the paper (themail, June 3) has elements
of something that I, as an editor and publisher of a specialized weekly,
experienced last year. I pulled the plug on printing. It was a momentous
decision even for a relatively small circulation publication, but I
doubt my printer or the postal service lost much sleep over it. However,
for an enterprise the size of the Post, it would not be not
trivial at all in its ramifications and it would be nowhere as simple as
he proposes. What are printers to do? What about the truckers who bring
in the paper and the distributors who take it to your door and the
sidewalk boxes? That’s a lot of local unemployment Shapiro is
proposing.
More importantly, what is the citizenry to do with diminished sources
of news? Nearly every institution has developed a myriad of ways to
stonewall reporters and, partly as a result, almost all major news
publishing operations have come to offer thinner, more poorly verified
factoids. I exclude broadcasting because, to begin with, the medium has
never had much substance. This is something that we in Washington
journalism notice. People of a certain age, mostly Boomers and Xers,
still read printed newspapers. Younger people read the Web, true, with
its flashes and bits and pieces. Electronic news can be fun, but very
little of it is subjected to an editorial process, fact-checking, and so
forth, including the fun and feisty themail.
Shapiro raises an important issue. What will the future source of
news be and how good will it be? Merely improving the looks of a site
and getting a printer that I can buy cheaper today than his future
machine will cost is not quite the Jules Verne picture one would hope
for. There must be a better future. Google is an aggregator of
information. The Post is a gatherer, sifter, evaluator, and
publisher. These are two vastly different functions. Journalism is not
merely a matter of stenography and typing.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Public Library Events
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Saturday, June 9, 10:00 a.m., Palisades Neighborhood Library, 4901 V
Street, NW. Chesapeake Lace Group. For more information, call 282-3139.
Saturday, June 9, 2:00 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library,
3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Pamela Ehrenberg will discuss writing for
young adults and her inspiration for writing Ethan, Suspended. A
book sale and signing, courtesy of the Trover Shop, will follow. For
more information, call 282-3073.
Monday, June 11, 6:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Great Hall. Fifteenth annual tribute to Eddie
Kendricks. Jimi Dougans, president of the Eddie Kendricks Memorial
Foundation, Inc., and a founding member of Kendricks’ recording and
touring band, The Young Senators, hosts this tribute to Eddie Kendricks,
former lead singer of The Temptations.
Tuesdays, June 12, 19, 26, 7:00 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood
Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Book Bingo. Read, play bingo and
win prizes! For more information, call 282-3073.
###############
Tenant Rights Workshops, June 16
Delores Anderson, delores.anderson@dc.gov
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Office of the
Tenant Advocate will present "Know Your Tenant Rights" in Ward
3 on Saturday, June 16, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The educational
workshops will be held at Wilson Senior High School, located at 3950
Chesapeake Street, NW. There will be four simultaneous workshops on rent
control, tenants right of first refusal and condo conversion, how to
file a tenant petition, and the ins and outs of residential housing
inspections.
In addition to the workshops, a free legal clinic will provide
tenants with an opportunity to meet one-on-one with an attorney to
discuss their housing problems. The clinic will be staffed by volunteer
attorneys from area nonprofit legal services providers. Onsite
registration for the clinic is required. Individuals with special and/or
translation needs should contact the Office of the Tenant Advocate at
442-8359 to make arrangements. The nearest Metro Rail Station is
Tenleytown (Red line). Metro buses 32, 34 and 36 service the area. For
additional information, please contact Delores Anderson at 442-359 or Delores.Anderson@dc.gov.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
I need assistance adding hard drives to my computer. Anyone
interested can E-mail me at streetstories@juno.com.
###############
Legal Assistant, Silver Spring
Jon Katz, jon at markskatz dot com
Highly-rated criminal and Constitutional defense lawyer seeks
topnotch experienced legal assistant. Excellent pay, benefits package,
and free parking/Metro. Full details are at http://www.markskatz.com/JOBS.htm#Assist.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To subscribe, to change E-mail addresses, or to
switch between HTML and plain text versions of themail, use the
subscription form at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/subscribe.htm.
To unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to themail@dcwatch.com
with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. Archives of past messages
are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should also be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.