Emergencies
Dear Emergency Responders:
A longtime employee of the city council called on Friday to ask
whether we knew that at Tuesday’s legislative session the city council
is going to be voting on forty-one pieces of emergency legislation.
Forty-one different bills and resolutions that sell off District
property; confirm crucial appointments to critical departments,
agencies, and boards; approve the fiscal year 2008 budget support act
and the library procurement act, and so on. For almost all of these
bills, there is no real reason to pass them through an emergency
legislative procedure. The bills don’t address true emergencies.
Instead, in many instances the council is abusing its emergency
legislation procedure to avoid holding public hearings with adequate
public notice, to avoid alerting citizens to its actions until after
they are taken.
In fact, for several of these bills, no written legislation has been
made available to the public or even to members of the council, and no
written legislation will be made available to councilmembers until
Monday afternoon or to the public until a week or more after the
legislative session. Councilmembers will be voting blind for legislation
that many will have never read or even seen. There have been complaints
in past council periods that the council abused emergency legislation in
order to bypass proper legislative procedures, but it has never before
been done in such a wholesale fashion. This overuse and abuse of
emergency legislation signals an emergency for the people — a
breakdown of the legislative process, a breakdown of good government, a
massive failure of respect by elected officials for the citizens of the
District.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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DC Throws Good Government to the Wind to Sell
Public Property
David J. Mallof, mallof@verizon.net
About a month ago, the Economic Development Committee tried to sell
three pieces of public property that were not yet formally approved as
"surplus" by the Government Operations Committee and the full
DC Council. So the Economic Development Committee withdrew and regrouped
after being informed the properties were not formally “surplussed.”
(Did anyone in DC Government formally ask the neighborhoods, their ANCs,
and their civic/citizens associations to provide input and insight about
other potential public uses that might preclude sale to private
parties?)
With short public notice, a combined public roundtable then was
hastily convened the day after the Fourth of July holiday by Ms.
Schwartz’s Government Operations Committee and Mr. Brown’s Economic
Development Committee, in order to advance these three parcels to the
full DC Council for a single, final vote this Tuesday — without two
separate and sequential public hearings and without adequate time to air
the points in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the public to see
and understand.
At least in one case, a property on Barnaby Road is being sold
without an open public bidding process that could yield the best price
for the city. In order to move the process along without open bidding,
one group made seemingly laudable yet significantly varying verbal
representations that it would provide "affordable housing,"
but its verbal promises were significantly different from the much
looser written guarantees that were supposedly in the Agreement for
Purchase and Sale. This Agreement was not made available by the Office
of Property Management in advance of the hearing. The matter is now
slated to be approved by the council by Public Resolution 17-323 (http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/images/00001/20070622101908.pdf)
on Tuesday. This favoritism toward particular developers, rapid pace of
hearings without adequate public notice, lack of public input, and lack
of full disclosure is now typical of council actions in DC. I suspect
the council will vote to approve the public resolution on Tuesday,
without asking for written guarantees that are consistent with the
verbal promises, and without allowing the public to have the opportunity
for full, open review and comment in two properly sequenced public
hearings. I think the public is fed up with all this, really.
In this case, there is another interested bidder: me. I informed the
committees on Friday afternoon that I am willing to put down $50,000 as
earnest money to enter an auction for the 47,500 square feet of land
supposedly appraised at $430,000 (I believe few people have seen the
appraisal.) Of course, if the verbal representations that provide for
really affordable housing are inserted to correct the “mistaken”
language in the nonpublic Agreement for Purchase and Sale, then I have
less of a problem with there being no auction in this case. Therefore,
until the public can see real guarantees on affordable housing
consistent with the verbal testimony, I will await receipt a bidders
information packet and instructions from the Office of Property
Management on where to send my deposit to enter the auction. Will the
Committees demand that the deal match the promises, and defer to the
public to comment on the real deal as well?
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A Week at the Beach for Mayor Fenty
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Whether it is because of Mayor Tony Williams’ frequent junkets or
because he wants his aides to feel they’re not supposed to have any
free time, Adrian Fenty is sensitive about the suggestion that he may
ever take a vacation. Last Tuesday, I became aware that Mayor Fenty was
vacationing at the beach, but it was never announced on his public
schedule. Instead, day by day last week, his schedule simply noted that
he wasn’t attending any public events.
To get official confirmation that Fenty was on vacation, on Tuesday,
July 3, I sent an E-mail to the mayor’s press secretary, Carrie
Brooks: “Mayor Fenty’s vacation hasn’t been officially announced,
but I understand that he is at the beach. Can you reveal where he is
vacationing and when he will return?” I didn’t get a reply that day,
but on July 4 I got this reply: “The Mayor is in town and will be
attending the Palisades July 4th parade today.” That wasn’t quite
responsive to my question, so I sent a more detailed question on the
evening of the Fourth: “I know that he was in town Monday morning
prior to Michelle Rhee’s confirmation hearing, and that he was in town
for the Palisades parade. Other than that, has he been and will he be
out of town and at the beach? If so, where?” I didn’t get any reply
on July 5 or during the day on July 6, so on the evening of the sixth I
resent that question, prefacing it with, “Carrie, I haven’t received
a reply to this, so I’m resending it in case you didn’t receive it
the first time.” A minute later, I got the honest answer: “The Mayor
spent a few days this week in Rehoboth Beach with his family.”
I have some professional advice for Mayor Fenty’s press office. Be
honest and forthcoming. If you’ll try to mislead and deceive us about
an innocent thing like the mayor’s taking a few days at the beach
during a hot summer week, how can we trust you to tell us the straight
story about anything controversial? Moreover, by the time most people in
the press come to the mayor’s office with a question, we already know
the answer and are simply trying to confirm it. Lying to us, or being
evasive with us, doesn’t help you or the mayor.
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Strange Things Are Happening
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
There’s some demolition going on at the Tenley-Friendship Library.
A contractor is working there and tearing up the inside of the old
building. Glad to see something happening there, but I am wondering just
what the final objective is. Is there a real plan in effect for this
building? I have not heard of any agreement between the city and any
contractor regarding renovation of the old building and adding dwellings
above the library. Will there be an agreement that also helps add to and
renovate Janney School? What’s happening?
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Boosting Literacy Using Free Software
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Many adults and youth in our city have needs to increase their
literacy. Are there ways of doing so using free software, creating
multimedia that is distributed for free via the Internet Archive, which
provides free web hosting? Yes, there are. To show how this is possible,
here’s a narrated Flash slide show I created this weekend. The story
in this slide show is a children’s story I wrote a few years ago.
Adults would enjoy reading this short story, too. See http://tinyurl.com/2m3zve.
I created this freely distributable multimedia using some free
Windows software called PowerBullet. PowerBullet is easier to use than
PowerPoint and creates Flash files, viewable on just about any computer
on the planet — including many donated Windows 95, 98, and 2000
computers — as well as Macintosh and Linux computers. A friendly note
about viewing the above multimedia. To progress through the multimedia
use the small red arrows at the bottom of the screen. The arrow pointing
to the right only appears after the narration for the screen you’re
viewing has come to an end. You can navigate back through the story,
too, using the left arrow. The above example uses some fiction, but
PowerBullet would work equally well distributing narrated nonfiction.
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My Experience With a Mayflower Madam
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
It was in the winter of 1986-1987, just before relocating to DC, that
I was in my room at the Mayflower Hotel watching Sunday Night Football.
There was a knock on the door and, sure that it was my business
associate, I answered the door in my pajamas. It certainly was not my
business partner but rather a tall, attractive, well-endowed, and
well-decked out young woman. She addressed me by my full name and
inquired if she could spend the evening in my room. She did not look
like an avid football fan, so I declined with the excuse that I had an
early meeting the next day at NASA.
Convinced that I had been set up by my business partner, I confronted
him at breakfast the next morning. Though my pal has a sense of humor,
he is not inclined to practical jokes, and he convincingly assured me
that he had not played any part in the event. He went with me to the
front desk to inquire how anyone could have obtained my name and room
number. The front desk supervisor could not, or would not, offer any
real explanation. I sent a letter to the hotel manager later that week
but did not get any response or explanation. In retrospect, I should
have sent a copy of the letter to the Washington Post. Though,
some twenty years earlier, it may be likely that hotels offering
dalliances between consenting heterosexual adults was not a newsworthy
event.
It will be interesting now that the judge has ruled that the DC Madam
owns her phone records and lists and can do what she wants with them. I
see two things happening. First, there will be a rush to the local phone
companies to change phone numbers. Secondly, there will be a lot of
straining and groaning as many men await the inevitable phone call
requesting a sizable, "voluntary" donation to the DC Mayflower
Madam’s defense fund. I won’t be getting a call.
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An important correction to Dorothy’s message in the last issue of
themail (July 4) was sent by Ted Gest, tgest@sas.upenn.edu. The quote,
“Where do I go to get my reputation back?” was said by Ray Donovan,
Secretary of Labor in the Reagan administration, not by John Volpe,
Secretary of Transportation in the Nixon Administration. Donovan and his
codefendents were acquitted of all charges at trial, and Donovan
supposedly said this immediately after his trial. However, according to
Wikipedia, this is one of the many famous quotations that have been
improved on retelling. Wikipedia, citing Joe Klein’s book, The
Natural, gives the quote as: “Which office do I go to to get my
reputation back?” By the way, I think I’m on the track of the actual
origin of “no good deed goes unpunished,” which we tried to trace a
few years ago in themail. I’ll let you know when I know more.)
A second correction, to my message in the July 4 issue: the correct
spelling is Cardozo High School.
A third correction: the Ward 5 Democrats have sent an addition to
their announcement of the election of officers in the June 1 issue:
Robert Brannum was elected to the Assistant Recording Secretary
position.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Public Library Events
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov
Thursday, July 12, 10:00 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Enhanced Business Information Center (e-BIC),
A-level, e-BIC Conference Center. The Business Planning Process. Learn
the steps you need to take to start a business in DC. This class is free
and cosponsored by DC’s Small Business Development Center. For more
information, call 727-2241.
Thursday, July 12, 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.
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Ward 4 Democrats Elections, July 10
Erwin C. Miller, ecm.jazz@comcast.net
In keeping with our bylaws, at our July meeting the Ward 4 Democrats
will elect the following officers for two-year terms: president, first
vice president, second vice president, recording secretary,
corresponding secretary, treasurer, and financial secretary. The
election will be held on Tuesday, July 10, at 7:00 p.m. sharp, at the
Fourth District Police Precinct, 6001 Georgia Avenue, NW, community
room.
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National Building Museum Events, July 11, 14
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
Wednesday, July 11, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Home builders in major markets
are attracting buyers with net-zero-energy homes (ZEH), which bring
their owners comfort, style, and value by incorporating integrated
photovoltaic and solar-thermal systems, properly designed heating and
cooling equipment, efficient building envelopes, and high-performance
appliances. Powerful whole-house systems are capable of cutting energy
bills by up to 70 percent, and ultimately reaching ZEH performance.
These homes help eliminate energy shortages and rolling blackouts, and
reduce carbon emissions — and can even send power back to the utility
grid. Michael Baechler, program manager of Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory, will provide a brief introduction to state-of-the-art
photovoltaic and solar-thermal building practices, and will discuss the
lessons learned from successful building projects around the country --
touching on building design, materials selection, mounting techniques,
business plans, and marketing opportunities. Free. Registration not
required.
Saturday, July 14, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Educator workshop: Designing
Our World: Teaching Students the Design Process. Join Museum educators
for a hands-on teacher workshop about the design process. What is it?
How can you use it in your classroom? The workshop will offer educators
an opportunity to learn by doing, as they explore the new David Macaulay:
The Art of Drawing Architecture exhibition and learn strategies for
incorporating the multidisciplinary design process and drawing into
existing curricula. The workshop will include: hands-on activities for
classroom use, a curator-led tour of the new David Macaulay exhibition,
lesson plans, resource lists, and a chance to brainstorm ideas and
lessons for your specific needs. $20. Prepaid registration required.
Both events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary
Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
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