Sorbets
Dear Dessert Eaters:
Okay, I’ve been a one-note singer for the past several months,
harping on the lack of wisdom behind Adrian Fenty’s plan to take over
the operation of the school system and on the unlikelihood that it will
work. So I won’t write about that today. I’ll just refer you to the
first two installments of the Washington Post’s three-part
series on “Fixing DC’s Schools,” by Dan Keating and V. Dion
Haynes, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/09/AR2007060901415.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&sub=AR
and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001496.html?hpid=topnews.
These two articles say just about exactly what I’ve been writing
for the past several months, so I think they’re full of wisdom. They
say that DC has been down this road several times before, that starting
over with yet another "reform" of DC’s schools won’t work,
and that the only thing that would work would be if all factions (the
mayor, the council, the Board of Education, and citizen school
advocates) worked together. Since the Fenty administration is determined
to have all the power itself and to go it alone — ignoring the
council, emasculating the Board of Education, and alienating and
insulting citizens interested in school reform — the most likely thing
is that it will fail as spectacularly as the Control Board did in fixing
education. I only hope that the Post editorial board reads these
articles (as well as Colbert King’s expose of the EdBuild contract (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802258.html),
and takes a clear-eyed view of Fenty’s administration of the schools.
But as I said, I’m sure you’re tired of reading about the schools
here. Dorothy and I have been celebrating the summer and warm weather by
making some great sorbets and ice creams — mango, lemon, and papaya
sorbets, Guinness and strawberry ice creams in the past two weeks, and a
pineapple and a grapefruit cooling in the refrigerator for the next two
batches. What’s your favorite flavor and recipe?
Gary Imhoff
gary@dcwatch.com
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[From http://www.examiner.com/a-767958~Contract_OK_d_despite_scathing_audit.html?cid=rss-Washington_DC]
“The price tag for legal work, performed by law firm Venable LLP, is
now millions more than anticipated and is threatening the $611 million
ballpark cost cap, D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols found. The DC Council
nevertheless approved an emergency resolution Tuesday to pay Venable up
to $3.8 million over the next two years. Council Chairman Vincent Gray
moved the resolution with ‘great reluctance,’ he said. ‘The city
is in too deep to back out of the Venable deal now,’ Gray said.” The
stadium boondoggle was always envisioned by the Baseball Brigade as
something they could sell to the public as full of benefits and promise
(like the ephemeral Community Benefits Fund) until the city was
officially on the hook for its construction. At that point, they
reasoned that it would be too much work for all involved, especially
those poor politicians who don’t like to be bothered with too many
hassles if they can just throw more public money at a problem instead,
to stop or significantly change the stadium project, because the city
was in too deep. Ever since the council refused to shift stadium sites
when it was clear the cost cap for the S. Capitol Street site had been
irrevocably breached and justified its refusal by saying the city had
spent $10 million prepping the South Cap site, this “in too deep”
mantra has been used to justify escalating costs and breaking supposedly
rock-hard cost cap figures. Just wait until revenue forecasts fall short
and it’s up to the city to make up the difference on the stadium
financing side.
“‘I have frankly not seen ever in my service a contract more
poorly administered than this one,’ Gray said. ‘I’d vote for the
city’s sweetheart deal with MLB that was so one-sided that it had
‘the city’s negotiating team agree to pay for the stadium and all
cost overruns, but it even threw in the kitchen appliances,’ a
concession that drew chuckles in baseball circles, according to MLB
sources.” (Post, 1/17/06) It’s a shame that there are so many
bad contracts and agreements to choose from now including this latest
disgrace.
“Other audit findings: Venable overbilled the city for ‘inappropriate
or improper charges’ tied to incorrect hourly rates or ineligible
expenses.” Since the city’s “in too deep,” it’s just going to
keep paying Venable despite being improperly gouged by the firm? I guess
it’s no less farcical than hiring another law office to represent it
to recoup the losses! Say, didn’t any of these people see “The
Firm”? The city should be indicting these clowns, not re-upping with
them because the city‘s "in too deep." (Hey, Hollywood‘s a
lot more believable than the way this stadium boondoggle has unfolded!)
One has to wonder precisely what that means and what Venable might be
covering up for some of these schemers. My question to Jack Evans and
the rest of the baseball boosters is: Are these millions of dollars in
cost overruns "but-for" dollars? In other words, "But for
the stadium, the city wouldn‘t be wasting these millions paying for
this legal mess and being overbilled for it in the process?"
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060600897.html:
“All contracts worth more than $1 million must be approved by the DC
Council. However, it appears the Venable contracts were renewed several
times without the matter ever appearing before the council, Nichols’s
report found.” The payment structure to Venable was designed by the
Williams administration to skirt such scrutiny by initially costing no
more than $950,000 annually. Unfortunately, as with so many other
aspects of the boondoggle, the cost escalation that should’ve
triggered the council’s oversight responsibilities on the Venable
contract slipped through the cracks until it was too late.
“A bigger problem is this: Nichols said the city must find
alternative funding sources to continue paying Venable and to recoup any
excess money paid to the law firm. And the eminent domain cases are far
from over. The report goes on to explain all the machinations in greater
detail, but the upshot is that city leaders will have some scrambling to
do to figure out how to keep fighting the eminent-domain cases — with
or without their friends from Venable.” It also would’ve been nice
for the media to have done some investigating along these lines back
when it could’ve done some good, but this continues a pattern of the Post
and other outlets — reporting on actions that could’ve slowed down
the sweetheart stadium boondoggle only after it’s too late to do
anything about them. It’s too bad too, because the city could’ve
made improvements on the deal with MLB and on the ultimate ballpark site
so that most of the stadium costs could’ve gone into the ballpark
itself and the surrounding ballpark district (which in the case of the
current site is buried under unsightly garages) rather than into land
costs as well as consulting and “overbilled” legal fees. At least
then, the crowd who say “at least we have a ballpark” would have had
one that wasn’t a cut-rate mess of a greenhouse whose access issues
are so severe that even baseball booster Tom Boswell recently indicated
on XM Radio, of all places, that “the parking and commuting problems
will be like nothing anywhere in the league” and a “disaster for
years.” With the Brigade scrambling so desperately on the parking
situation that they’re talking about bus shuttles to the stadium from
Union Station at the height of rush hour as well as shuttles from the
RFK Stadium site that Herb Miller, et al., convinced the
knee-buckling council wouldn’t work as well as the current train wreck
of a site, it’s a shame the Brigade got us “in so deep” on such a
bad stadium location and cut-rate product that we‘re stuck with (along
with the ever-escalating and cap-busting price tag) for the next several
decades.
###############
When You Did It to the Least of My Brethren. .
. .
Jonathan R. Rees @ jrrees2006@verizon.net
It is reported that out of the 560,000 residents of the District of
Columbia, 86,872 require the need of food stamps to subsist. That means
that one of every six District of Columbia resident needs food stamps to
survive. The Washington Post has pointed out that US
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and DC City Council Chairman Vincent
Gray are currently living on a $21.00-a-week food stamp allowance to see
how it feels to be on food stamps. While what they are doing sounds
noble, do not expect to see any changes in the amount of food stamps
anybody gets.
The number one culprit that takes food out of the mouths of our
children, elderly, and so on is the greedy landlords and developers who
charge twice as much in rent than they need, to turn a hefty profit. It
is time for a rent freeze or a windfall profit tax on developers and
landlords, but with Mayor Fenty and all of the city council members
having been financed in their last campaigns by developers and
landlords, you cannot expect them to bite the hands that feeds them even
if you cannot afford to feed your own family.
It is sort of ironic how the DC Democrats claim to care about our
children, elderly, and poor but they are first in line when the money is
being passed around by those who are responsible in great part for the
hunger and poverty that afflicts one of every six people in DC.
###############
Being a regular reader of this list, I have to say how disappointing
it is to see an apparent pervasive shortsightedness and lack of
imagination expressed by many contributors, as illustrated, for example,
by the various obsessive and melodramatic criticisms of the mayor’s
proposed educational restructuring as the end of democracy, and DC for
sale, or the apparently horrific impact relocating displaced clubs to
Ward 5 will have. DC schools and literacy have been in the toilet for
years, and the mayor ran openly on a platform of school reform along the
lines of New York and other cities where the executive has taken control
of the school system. This was known when Adrian Fenty ran for and was
elected to the office of mayor. The school board has repeatedly proven
itself to be incapable of running and improving the DC school system.
The mayor has new ideas and a vision, so let’s obsess about shooting
his plan down and maintaining the status quo as that worked so well. Let
the mayor roll out his reform plan, give him a term or two, and see how
he does -- that’s why we have elections.
Now, why is there not more discussion here about such imaginative
topics such as what to do about DC health care, or what can be done with
UDC (talk about a train wreck), or Phil Shapiro’s ideas on the DC
libraries, etc.?
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Tonya Bell’s Employer
Mike Licht, Ward 6, mikelicht@yahoo.com
In themail, June 6, Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., asks, regarding Tonya
Bell’s employer, NAI Personnel, “what about the other employees of
the [temp] agency [that hired Bell]?” But what about the temp agency
itself? NAI Personnel (National Associates, Inc.) is certified by the DC
Department of Small and Local Business Development (LSDBE No.
LSR00277112008) as providing “Employment Agency and Search Firm
Services (Including Background Investigations and Drug Testing for
Employment [NIGP Code 961-30-00]).” The LSDBE certification entitles
NAI to 8 "preference points" for DC government contracts and
does not expire until November 7, 2008.
In FY2005, NAI Personnel received 136 Federal Government Contracts
totaling $4,448,905 (OMB Watch). An article by Jeff Horwitz (“Working
for Peanuts,” Washington CityPaper, May 6–12, 2005) noted
that NAI-hired day-labor janitors at RFK were paid wages well below
those specified by the federal McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).
###############
This is to advise that the June 2007 online 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 October 2003) also is available
in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by
clicking the link in the Current and 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 July 13 (the
2nd 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: 1) “Recent Retail
"Exiles" Signal Shift for Dupont East’s 17th Street Strip;
Business Leaders Exploring Options”; 2) “Portions of Historic O
Street Market’s Walls to be Incorporated Within Major Shaw Area
Superblock Retail/Residential Development”; 3) “Studio Theater
Nearing Completion of Intern Residence in Time for Mid-August Occupancy
— Dupont ANC to Hear Permit Issuance Complaint.”
Readers are encouraged to print out, fill out and send back our
reader survey, which is conveniently available by clicking the link on
our home page and printing that page, filling it out and then either
scanning and attaching to an E-mail addressed to admin@intowner.com
(please do not embed into E-mail) or by faxing to 265-0949 or returning
by postal mail.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Greek/Jewish Events, June 10, 24
Diana Altman, daltman@bnaibrith.org
Apo Pou Eisai? (Where Are You From?) A panel of local Greek Jews will
share stories of their journeys from Greece to the USA and other
experiences, and son of a Righteous Greek Gentile will share
recollections of his father actively helping Greek Jews during WWII. The
audience will be invited to participate in Greek Jewish
Geography.Desserts and coffee. Cosponsor: Jewish Community Center of
Northern Virginia. Free. June 10, 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., JCC Northern
VA, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA.
Kosher Holiday Cooking à la Grecque, a cooking demonstration of
Greek holiday treats by professional chef Nina Kaplanides.Nina will have
participants rolling (and eating!) dolmas by the end of the
lesson.Cosponsored by the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue. $20 per
person. June 24, 2-4 p.m., Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, 600 I Street,
NW.
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DC Public Library Events, June 13-14
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Wednesday, June 13, 1:00 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park
Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Shepherd Park Wednesday
Afternoon Book Club. Enjoy a lively book discussion of The Full
Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency), by Alexander
McCall Smith. For more information, call 541-6100.
Thursday, June 14, 11:00 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 215. Talking Book Club. Members of the
DC Regional Library adult book club will discuss a talking book. For
more information, call Adaptive Services at 727-2142.
Thursday, June 14, 6:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Enhanced Business Information Center (e-BIC),
A-level, e-BIC Conference Center. All About Limited Liability Companies
(LLCs). This free workshop will explore the myriad of implications of
doing business as an LLC. It will cover legal liability considerations,
LLC formation, tax implications of the LLC, and treatment of single
member LLCs. For more information, call 727-2241.
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Groundbreaking Ceremony Ward One Senior
Wellness Center, June 15
Darlene Nowlin, darlene.nowlin@dc.gov
District officials and community members will be breaking ground on a
state of the art wellness center for senior residents in Ward One. The
senior wellness center will provide services that promote healthy
habits, enhance social, mental, spiritual and physical well-being and
help to prevent unnecessary and costly medical problems associated with
the aging process. The wellness center is scheduled to be complete by
late 2008. Friday, June 15, 2:30 p.m., 3531 Georgia Avenue, NW (near
Georgia Avenue and Otis Place).
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Not Your Average Music Festival, June 16-22
Ron Leve, theron@comcast.net
You might wonder where in DC you might find these events in the same
music festival: a bluegrass concert with Dead Men’s Hollow, a chamber
music concert with the Fessenden Ensemble, jazz with the Dave Yarborough
Big Band and Esther Williams, and two amazingly diverse choral events:
Orpheus, The Marriage of England and Spain, Music for King Philip II of
Spain and the English Court of Queen Mary, and a choral and orchestra
extravaganza in the Mass for Children created and led by John Rutter,
who founded the Cambridge Singers. Finally, there is an free organ
concert on a magnificent Dobson organ in a building that dates to the
early eighteenth Century. This is in addition to a number of free
daytime events.
This all takes place at the fifth annual Rock Creek Festival put on
by St. Paul’s Rock Creek Episcopal Church on the grounds containing
St. Paul Church, Rock Creek Church Road and Webster Street, NW, which
still retains portions of its original 1721 building and the Rock Creek
Cemetery with its famous Adams Memorial by Augustus St. Gaudens. The
Festival runs from 16 to 22 June. More information at http://www.stpaulsrockcreek.org.
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Girls Summer Tennis Camp, June 18
Vanessa Brooks, setpointinc@rcn.com
SET POINT, Inc., in collaboration with the US National Park Service
among other partners, will sponsor a free eight-week summer tennis,
fitness, and educational camp for ages eight and up at the Anacostia
Tennis Courts. Girls in Wards 7 and 8 are especially encouraged to
participate, but all are welcome. Camp begins Monday, June 18, from 7
a.m. to 11 a.m. and ends August 10. Contact Vanessa Brooks at 581-0406
or E-mail setpointinc@rcn.com for an application.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
You are wanted if you are a paralegal, law student, writer, or person
with similar skills and need experience working on both legal stuff and
a documentary on the Probate Courts. Call Tolu, 331-4418.
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