Debt
Dear Debtors:
On Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi sent a letter to
Mayor Adrian Fenty and City council Chairman Vincent Gray warning about
the dangerous level of debt that the city government had accumulated —
“The District has the highest debt per capita of any major
municipality in the nation: $10,429 per person. . .” — and warning
against increased borrowing for additional ambitious monuments to
politically favored developers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002299.html).
Actually, he didn’t use exactly that phrasing, but that was his point.
The Fenty administration’s reaction, or lack of reaction, has been
illuminating. The only public comment on Gandhi’s letter came on
Friday from Neil Albert, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic
Development, on the DC Politics Hour on WAMU-FM. Albert said that the
letter was simply the “CFO’s recommendation,” and that “it’s
really the starting point of a dialogue that the CFO is going to have
with the Fenty administration on how we finance the infrastructure
support for the development functions of the District of Columbia” (http://www.wamu.org/audio/kn/07/06/k1070622-16175.asx,
starting at about 13.30 minutes). “We just see it as an invitation
from the CFO to start a dialogue about how we meet the infrastructure
needs of the city and continue the economic development that was started
a few years ago in DC.”
In other words, responsible financial behavior is just an opening
gambit from the CFO, something against which to negotiate in order to
support all the giveaway plans on the table. Governmental debt of
$10,429 a person is just the starting point; let’s see how much it can
be increased in four years.
We’re still experimenting with sorbets and ice creams. The most
unusual flavor in the past couple weeks has been avocado coconut ice
cream, which is actually quite good; but the most successful flavor was
cantaloupe sorbet. Sorbet is a good and very simple way to improve any
melon that isn’t quite sweet enough on its own. (Blend together any
melon, sugar, lemon juice, and optional vodka, and put it in an ice
cream freezer. That’s all there is to it.) Who needs meat, fish, or
vegetables, when ice cream is on the table?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Community Policing in PSA 107 Falters Once
Again
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
PSA 107, located in southeast DC near the Potomac Avenue Metro, is in
the midst of its worst crime wave in ten years and thing are only going
to get worse when summer comes. Last Thursday evening a large number of
concerned citizens went to the PSA’s monthly meeting to find out what
the police plan to do about it. The commander, inspector, and lieutenant
didn’t show up. Sergeant Jones told the group that he and the rest of
the PSA officers were leaving the PSA because of a new shift
“matrix” or staffing plan. In July new officers will be assigned.
The PSA won’t meet again until the third Thursday in September.
Meanwhile the citizens wonder
Community policing can work. But it takes both the community and the
police to participate to make community policing work. The community
turned out for the PSA 107 meeting. What’s going on with the police in
the First District? I have great respect for Commander Groomes. But I
don’t think the citizens should have to wait until after Labor Day to
hear how the police plan to deal with the rising crime and what
information and action the police need from the community to keep the
lid on crime during the hot summer weeks ahead.
Once again the citizens of PSA 107 have to start from square one with
new officers unfamiliar with the neighborhood. They have done that
dozens of times in the past. But it adds insult to injury to have to
wait until September to start the process. Is this what we can expect
from our new police chief? A continuance of what happened under Chief
Charles Ramsey?
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A week ago the city lost another stellar employee. Bill Crews was
told to vacate the Zoning Administrator’s office, and it seems clear
the mayor had problems with the scrutiny being paid to developers’
plans. After all, it takes money to run the city and this mayor is as
deep in the pockets of developers as his predecessor.
What’s amazing is how quickly Mr. Fenty has been compromised after
promising there would be changes in the way business is done in this
town. Well, six months into his first term and it’s business as usual
in Washington. Developers are running the mayor. Even the Ward Three
councilmember ran on a platform of Smart Growth and, while she knows
nothing about where growth is needed in the city, she knows development
money got her to the Wilson Building. She is in good company. Her
colleagues Jim Graham and Jack Evans openly promote their funders at
every opportunity and don’t hesitate to let the mayor know when plans
have hit an unacceptable snag. Friends, honesty, and integrity are
virtues your grandparents embraced that are obviously not held high by
the youthful Fenty administration. Men like Bill Crews and Merrit
Drucker stand out because they refused to be compromised. Thanks to both
of them for sharing their high standards with the residents of the city.
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Let’s Trade
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Metro wants to raise fares. Let’s trade. Retrofit the Metrorail
escalators (all of ‘em) in exchange for raising the fares. All we are
doing with the escalators we have today is replacing failed parts and
assemblies. The basic design of the DC Metrorail escalators is seriously
flawed and maintenance can never correct that. The bones of these
escalators are bad and the only solution is a complete retrofit. There’s
a very capable outfit in Finland named Kone that designs and
manufactures people moving machinery. Kone recently retrofitted the
escalators in the Trump Towers in NY and at the Moscone Center in San
Francisco in a very short time. Metro should sign up for a prototype
retrofit on one of the worst performing station escalators.
[And, Ed, as part of that deal require WMATA to do regular rat
abatement in the stations. You know it’s bad when the rats are
scurrying around the stations with the morning rush hour crowds. —
Dorothy Brizill]
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Electronic filing of tax returns is pricey, but the cost may be
justified by the elimination of the possibility of transcription errors
by clerks keyboarding information from paper returns. But is the
District Office of Tax and Revenue is still employing such clerks,
typing in the numbers read off E-filed computer printouts?
I was dismayed to have my E-filed TurboTax return challenged by the
District Office of Tax and Revenue, and our $280 District tax refund
transformed into a $150 tax bill, plus penalty and interest. “Total
credits do not match the amount claimed on the return,” the letter
from the District Office of Tax and Revenue said, not very
informatively. Well, off to 941 North Capitol Street to find out what
this credit was that they were questioning (forget trying to resolve
such problems by mail or phone; been there, done that, failed). The
pleasant clerk there said that our tax forms were missing my wife’s
Social Security Number. Um, how could that be, given that her SSN was
right there on the TurboTax printout, page one, top and center? Somehow
that essential and elementary bit of information got E-slipped. Then,
after some mysterious fiddling at his terminal, the clerk announced that
our original calculation was correct, and the District does indeed owe
me and my wife the aforesaid $280. What was the problem? “It wasn’t
coded right,” he explained, cryptically. How can an E-filed return not
be "coded right," if the data is communicated computer to
computer?
So if all goes well we’ll get our tax refund, just a few months
late. Hm, on that tax bill they dunned me $18 additional for
underpayment penalty and interest. Do you suppose that the District will
pay us penalty and interest for their late payment, due to their error,
of our tax refund? Yah, right.
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It’s Hard to Say
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
It’s hard to say just how much Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s takeover
of the New York City schools affected the recent surge in math
proficiency for grades 3 through 8, but it sure beats the old top-heavy
bureaucracy’s results of years past. According to the NY State
Education Department, 65.1 percent of the city’s public-school
students in grades three through eight demonstrated proficiency in a
statewide math exam. That’s an 8 percent increase over the test
results of 2006 in New York City. That’s quite a contrast to DC, test
results and it will be most interesting to track scores in the DC
schools over the next few years with Mayor Fenty controlling the
schools.
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Adrian Fenty for President 2008
Jonathan R. Rees, jrrees2006@verizon.net
After reading Arthur H. Jackson’s comments on running Mayor Adrian
Fenty for president of the United States [themail, June 20], I thought
that the idea might have some merit if Mr. Jackson would sell that idea
to the producers of the TV show “The Last Comic Standing.” DC has
often been the butt of jokes around the country and a Fenty for
President campaign would definitely have the entire USA in stitches,
laughing at us once again.
Mr. Jackson, running Fenty for president based upon your logic would
assure that DC won’t get a vote for a long time to come.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Public Library Events
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Monday, June 25, 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. How to Get an SBA 7(a) loan. Learn how
to finance your business through the Small Business Administration (SBA)
7(a) loan guaranty program. Find out how it works, where to apply and
what lenders look for on your application. For more information, call
727-2241.
Monday, June 25, 7:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 222. All the World’s a Stage Book
Club. We will discuss The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad.
For more information, call 727-1161.
Tuesday, June 26, 2:30 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Enhanced Business Information Center (e-BIC),
A-level, e-BIC Conference Center. Starting a Home-Based Business. This
session walks you through the tax and licensing requirements for a sole
proprietor consultant who is doing business out of their home. Please
call 727-2241 to reserve a seat.
Tuesday, June 26, 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. How to Find and Finance Commercial
Property. This class will teach a step-by-step process to finding
commercial real estate in Washington, DC You will become familiar with
the DC real estate market and learn about the demographics of the
various business districts in the city. For more information, call
727-2241.
Tuesday, June 26, 7:00 p.m., Takoma Park Neighborhood Library, 416
Cedar Street, NW. Takoma Park Book Club. To find out what book will be
discussed, please call 576-7252.
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Kidsave Champions vs. the WHUR 96er’s, June
30
Susan Punnett, susan@kidsave.org
The Kidsave Champions will play the WHUR 96ers (a team of on-air
personalities and staff) in a basketball game to help recruit volunteer
host families and raise community awareness for the Weekend Miracles
program, which helps older children in foster care find permanent,
loving families.
Saturday, June 30; 4 to 6 p.m.; Turkey Thicket Recreation Center
(1100 Michigan Avenue, NW; near the Brookland-CUA Metro station).
Kidsave Weekend Miracles is a new program dedicated to helping older
children in DC foster care find loving adoptive families. This
innovative approach helps children find families through a combination
of host family visits, advocacy and outreach. For more information: http://www.kidsave.org.
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