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June 20, 2007

Open and Lawful

Dear Washingtonians:

DCWatch is what is known as a good government organization. As such, it doesn’t have partisan aims, and it doesn’t even support policy positions very frequently. Instead, it promotes what are very simple and basic principles about government, principles that we hope most people in a democracy would agree upon: the government should operate openly and publicly; the government itself should follow the law; and elected and appointed government officials should serve the public, rather than the public’s serving them. Most of the time, these principles aren’t controversial, but sometimes they are. This is one of those times.

The mayor and his supporters in the press and public just don’t see why the mayor should have to operate openly and publicly, or what’s wrong with his making decisions unilaterally or in secret meetings and then imposing them. They don’t understand what’s wrong with the mayor’s short-circuiting or evading the law, as long as that makes it easier for him to accomplish his aims. And they don’t understand why people are insisting that the mayor listen to them, rather than their following the mayor’s wishes. The reason is that democracy isn’t just a way of running occasional elections -- democracy is also a way of governing between elections. Democracy between elections is about the rule of law and about government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Last week, the Washington City Paper’s Loose Lips wrote about Peter J. Nickles, the General Counsel to the mayor (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=1797). Nickles is one of Fenty’s closest and most trusted advisors; he has been a longtime friend of Fenty’s parents, and he represented Fenty when he faced legal charges related to his own law practice. Nickles lives on a horse farm in rural Virginia; when Fenty appointed him he promised to move into the city because of his commitment to the city and the job. Now he is reneging on that promise, and he wants to get a waiver from the residency requirement so that he doesn’t have to live close to the people over whose lives he has such a decisive role. Today, the Washington Post editorialized against residency requirements and in favor of Nickles’ commuting lifestyle (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061901947.html).  Of course, the Post sees little value to living in the city; since Colbert King resigned from the editorial board, does any member of the board who writes about city affairs live in the city?

But the issue about Nickles goes deeper than where he lives. Nickles enables and encourages Fenty’s worst instincts. Instead of being a legal advisor who tells Fenty what the law is and how to follow it, he tailors his opinions to give Fenty the latitude to bend, twist, and evade the law. Here are just three examples. In the first days of Fenty’s administration, when Fenty wanted to keep in office temporary appointees who had already served long after the 180 days allowed for temporary service, Nickles said that was acceptable under his interpretation of the law, though he couldn’t point to any provision of the law that supported his interpretation. (He also claimed that an Attorney General’s opinion supported him, though he could never produce that opinion.) When Fenty backdated the appointment of Robert Lowery as chairman of the Board of Elections and Ethics, and then said that would have no effect on decisions that had been made by the Board in that interim period, Nickles said his reading of the code supported that even though, again, he could point to no provision in the code. And last week, when Fenty evaded his own law’s provisions about the process of appointing a school chancellor, and Council Chairman Gray wrote questioning it, Nickles replied with a nonresponsive letter that said that Fenty couldn’t have obeyed the letter of the law because there was a potential referendum in process, even though the two things had no relationship (http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/070613.htm).

There’s the DC Code, and then there’s the DC Code according to Nickles, and the two bear little resemblance to each other. In Nickles’ code, the mayor is a law unto himself. Fenty doesn’t need any encouragement in that direction. Instead, he needs a general counsel who will give him good legal advice and keep his antidemocratic tendencies in check — a lawyer, not a consigliore.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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DC School Furor: I Don’t Get It
Sam Freund, sam_freund_dc@yahoo.com

OK, I’ve been reading themail for a while now, and I will admit I just don’t get the continuing collective angst around DC schools, from the “takeover,” to the plagiarized plan, to back-room appointments. Working under the assumption that DC schools are broken in an extremely bad way and have been for years (please correct me if I’m wrong on this, but I somehow doubt it), what’s the problem? Clearly the status quo isn’t working, either because or in spite of citizen oversight, complaints, etc. And frankly, it doesn’t matter which — the bottom line is that the schools are broken. Props to Fenty for trying some out-of-the-box thinking. Will it work? Probably not, but it’s worth a shot.

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Critical of the Mayor’s Selection Process?
Ed Wulkan, ewulkan at starpower dot net

In my mind, Mayor Fenty has staked his political career on the improvement of the education of our children. Therefore, he should be able to select those leaders who he thinks are best to travel that road with him. Parents, School Board members, and the city counsel have had their shot at improving the education of DC children for quite a while with limited success. I don’t think anyone would say that we have a school system to be proud of. Adrian Fenty was elected mayor, at least partially, on his platform to take responsibility for the public schools of the District of Columbia. I say to all his critics, not unlike any CEO who is responsible to shareholders, he must be permitted to hire those individuals whom he thinks best to do the job. We voted for him, and now we must give him the time to succeed or fail with his choices.

Like his choices for police chief, fire chief, and others he has selected to administer the city’s business, if his choice for head of the DC schools does not produce the desired results, in four years, we will have the opportunity to replace him with someone who promises to do better.

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Adrian Fenty for President 2008
Arthur H Jackson, Ahjgroup2005@yahoo.com

In the spring of 2006, I joined other visionary District residents in endorsing Adrian Fenty for mayor, because as the nation’s first elected eighteen-year-old city councilman in 1975, I encountered the same keep of opposition that Mayor Fenty is facing from the status quo. And today I continue to support Adrian Fenty, and other young political leaders, because they are leaders planning the future of our city, and shaping politics, economics, and education reform. to ensure that our city does not repeat the problems of the past.

In the upcoming Democratic presidential primary, we need to make Democratic candidates for president point to Republicans in the White House and Congress who are standing in the doorway blocking democratic rights of 500,000 plus taxpayers from receiving the same Democratic rights as the other two hundred million American taxpayers. We can force the issue if the DC Democratic State Committee and the city’s highest ranking Democrats were to unite behind a plan to run and support Adrian Fenty as our favorite son candidate for president, and holding our city’s delegates to the convention for the first round in support of Mayor Fenty. This would bring national exposure to the issue of democracy’s being denied in the capital of world democracy.

As a fan of Fenty, I would volunteer my time to assist in building a national network to support the favorite son candidacy of Mayor Fenty for president. And I will encourage all major Democratic candidates to refrain from entering the DC primary in respect for our desire to make democracy denied a global issue at the 2008 Democratic convention.

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Big Critters
Ed T Barron, edtb1@mac.com

It’s been a while since I’ve seen some large deer on my early a.m. walkabout with Trudy (pomeroodle?). My trusty hunter sensed something in the bushes at my neighbors’ house and ventured to the end of the leash to see what was there. Sure enough, as I peered through the bushes and under the trees there were two deer, a full sized buck and a smaller doe. I rushed home (just two doors away on Massachusetts Avenue), got my camera and went back. Got some nice pictures of these two just as my neighbor returned from his early a.m. gym workout to witness the invasion.

There was a straw poll last night (Tuesday) for registered Ward 3 Democrats to vote for the candidate that they would vote for in a Presidential election. All the usual suspects who have announced their candidacy were on the ballot along with Al Gore, a potential draftee. The results of the 76 ballots cast by elected delegates was somewhat predictable for Ward 3, with Clinton getting 22 votes, Obama 15, Edwards 11, Richardson 9, and Gore 8. The rest distributed among the also rans. These results are not likely to be replicated in other wards of DC if those wards hold a similar straw poll.

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Inkscape Drawing Software Holds Lots of Fun for Youth (and Adults)
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

Do you know some DC youth who could use a creative boost this summer? Inkscape, a free vector drawing program, is immensely fun to learn and play with. You can jump into using this program even if you don’t have much artistic talent. To help others learn what this software can make, I’ve put together a 4.5 minute musical slideshow on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/22764l  — showcasing some of the best graphics on the web created using Inkscape.

Do you see that beautiful Easter bunny drawing at the end of the presentation? That was sent by an artist to the programmers of Inkscape as a way of saying thanks for creating this software. Now that’s creative thinking.

Speaking of encouraging creativity, did you know that Walt Disney got his creative start from a barber who paid him small amounts of money for his sketches and drawings? Are there ways we can unlock creativity in our youth, letting them flourish right before our eyes? You bet there are. Thanks for doing your part. It takes a village. (Inkscape can be downloaded from http://www.inkscape.org. Hmmm, I wonder if we could get this software installed on the computers in the Young Adult Services Division at MLK library.)

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Energy Star Rebate Extended
Candace McCrae, candace.mccrae@dc.gov

The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) has extended the Energy Star Appliances Rebate Program until September 7. Eligible District residents can receive rebates on Energy Star rated clothes washers ($150), refrigerators ($100), and window air conditioning units ($50). The Energy Star appliances can be purchased anywhere in the United States; any retailer receipt for a refrigerator or window air conditioner unit dated on or after April 13, 2006, qualifies. Energy Star clothes washer receipts dated on or after June 1, 2006, qualify as well. There is a limit of one refrigerator, one washing machine, and two window air conditioners per household.

Residents must complete the mail-in rebate form, attach the sales receipt, and mail or hand deliver it to the District Department of the Environment, Energy Star Appliances Rebate Program, 2000 14th Street NW, Suite 300 East, Washington, DC 20009. Applications that are mailed will be accepted until August 17; those that are hand delivered will be accepted until September 7.

DDOE encourages consumers to purchase Energy Star rated appliances and products to conserve energy, save money, and help protect the environment. An Energy Star rated washing machine will save approximately $110 per year compared to a model without the Energy Star rating, manufactured before 1994. Also, an Energy Star rated washing machine uses 50 percent less water per load. For more details on the Energy Star Appliances Rebate Program, please call the Energy Hotline at 673-6750, or visit the DDOE web site: http://www.ddoe.dc.gov.

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Residential Parking Enforcement
Judy Walton, professor2hu@yahoo.com

[In response to “Residential Parking and Enforcement,” themail, July 17] I, too, would like to find out how and why parking enforcement is enforced in these areas of vacant lots and not enforced, regularly and aggressively, in my Ward 7, 1300 block of 28th Street, SE, where people with no stickers can park for days, out-of-state people park, questionable persons park their cars and walk two to three blocks to their house destination — leaving their car parked for days, and people use our street as free parking lots to catch Metro — even as we residents call and call requesting parking enforcement.

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Qualifications to Be an Administrative Law Judge
Paula Miller, crestview306@hotmail.com

[Re: “Qualifications to Be an Administrative Law Judge,” themail, June 17] Whether or not Leslie A. Meek is a member of the DC bar is immaterial to the issue of qualifications to review employment and disability compensation cases or others. She can be a member of any bar and serve well and responsibly. What I’d like to know is what are her qualifications, track record, and experiences dealing with labor, employment, employee disabilities, and compensation issues? If she’s had the requisite exposure to such matters and demonstrated the capability to successfully handle them to constituent satisfaction, then I, for one, really don’t care if she’s barred in Alaska, New York, or Pago Pago.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Anti-Loan Sharking Rally, June 21
Jillian Aldebron, jillian@responsiblelending.org

Payday lenders are legal loan sharks, doling out easy money at exorbitant interest rates topping 391 percent annual percent rate that drive already struggling people even deeper in debt. Once a borrower is on the hook, they are often forced to pay hundreds of dollars more than the amount of the loan in fees, without getting any more money and without paying off the existing principal, just to keep the payday lender from cashing and bouncing their loan check. In the District, borrowers pay back on average $708 for a loan of just $325. There is a bill pending before the DC Council, B17-132, that would put a stop to the abusive practices of payday lenders. The bill is sponsored by Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Marion Barry.

On Thursday, June 21, at 11:00 a.m., there will be a rally on the steps of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, preceding the hearing on the payday repeal bill that will be held in the fifth floor Council Chamber at 1:00 p.m. The rally is sponsored by the Center for Responsible Lending, ACORN, NAACP, SEIU, Rev. Graylan S. Hagler, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, and others. For more information, contact Belinda Ferrell (ACORN), 547-9292, dcacorn@acorn.org; or Jillian Aldebron (CRL), 349-1868, jillian@responsiblelending.org.

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DC Public Library Events, June 22-24
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov

Friday, June 22, 11:00 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Children’s Division, Room 200. Washington Nationals: Become an All-Star Reader. Step up to the plate with this summer reading program, which raises community awareness and demonstrates how easy it is to make reading an enjoyable daily habit. Every DC Public Library will offer Washington Nationals summer reading logs, recommended for ages 5 to 14. A Nationals baseball player will visit four library locations, beginning with For more information, call 727-1248.

Saturday, June 23, 2:00 p.m., Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library, 3660 Alabama Avenue, SE. Historian C.R. Gibbs will present a lecture, “Freedom Rising: The Abolition of Slavery in the Western Hemisphere.” For more information, call 645-4297.

Saturday, June 23, 3:00 p.m. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 443. Author Mitali Perkins celebrates the publication of First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, with a book launch party. For ages 12-19. For more information, call 727-5535.

Sunday, June 24, 2:00 p.m., Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 7th Street, SE. Join the Friends of Southeast Library and Library Journal Magazine for a special unveiling of the newly renovated first floor of the Southeast Neighborhood Library. Library Journal selected this library location for a makeover in time for the American Library Association’s National Conference. For more information, call 724-8599.

Sunday, June 24, 3:00 p.m., Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Neighborhood Library, 7420 Georgia Avenue, NW. Rose Marie Simms’ students from the Shepherd Park Community will perform a piano recital. For more information, call 541-6100.

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Capitol View Community Clean Up, June 23
Sylvia Brown, sylviabrown1@verizon.net

Ward 7’s Capitol View neighbors will host a community cleanup and block party on Saturday, June 23, from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Cleanup supplies will be provided. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. at Hughes Memorial Church at 25 53rd Street, NE (make a left off East Capitol Street, NE).

To volunteer or for more information, contact CCPW Working Group, 396-8483 or khaliq_e@yahoo.com.

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National Building Museum Events, June 26-28
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org

Tuesday, June 26, 6:30-8:30 p.m., an Eastern Market celebration. For over 150 years public markets have long played a vital public role in the Washington, DC community. Originally intended to centralize food distribution and to promote hygiene, Eastern Market has become a treasured civic gathering place. Designed by renowned architect Adolph Cluss and located in the Capitol Hill District, Eastern Market has long served at the heart of this vibrant community. A panel of government representatives, community members, writers, and vendors will examine the past, present, and future of Eastern Market as well as offer the public the chance to celebrate its significance in the community. Panelists include Stephen Ackerman, writer and Capitol Hill native; Tommy Glasgow, Eastern Market Vendor; Donna Scheeder, Head of the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee; Lars Etzkorn, Director, DC Office of Property Management. The program will conclude with recollections and testimonials from the community on the continued value of Eastern Market. Councilmember Tommy Wells will provide opening remarks. Free. Registration required. To register, visit www.nbm.org, or call 202.272.2448, ext. 5903. Walk-in registration based on availability.

Thursday, June 28, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Smart Growth: Mapping the Impacts of Economic Development Incentives. Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, will discuss results from three unique studies mapping the geographic distribution of 5,000 economic development incentive deals in Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. The data helps to analyze the land use and social equity implications. Finding that they clearly contribute to sprawl, the studies conclude with promising policy innovations from a few states that begin to integrate economic development with land use planning. Free. Registration not required. Both events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.

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Talk for Change Toastmasters Club, July 4
Corey Jenkins Schaut, tfctoastmasters@yahoo.com

This newly formed Toastmasters Club is seeking new members who would like to take advantage of a great personal development and networking opportunity. We can help you improve your communication and public speaking skills; Conduct meetings; manage a department or business; lead, delegate and motivate others; and meet great and interesting people. We meet the first and third Wednesdays of the month at a convenient location on K Street, NW, right off McPherson Square.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, July 4, at 6:45 p.m. at the Teach for America offices at 1413 K Street, NW, 7th floor. For more information, please E-mail tfctoastmasters@yahoo.com.

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