Boo
Dear Halloweeners:
Last year, for the Halloween issue of themail (http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/06-10-29.htm),
I wrote about the trashy and the great horror movies of the thirties
through the fifties and the pleasant nightmares they gave us. I
neglected to mention two important things: the gloomy, atmospheric,
black-and-white movies produced by Val Lewton (The Cat People, I Walked
with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, and so on), and the Hammer Films of
the late sixties and the seventies, which found a way to continue and
extend the horror tradition in its richly colored retellings of the
Frankenstein, Dracula, and Mummy stories.
At the end of that introduction to themail, which was published just
a week before last year’s general election, I wrote, “That brings me
to the November general election, which will be here before you expect
it. Who will you be voting for, Frankenstein’s monster or Dracula, the
Wolfman or the Mummy, Freddie or Jason? Can anybody be trusted to
protect us and not turn on us? Will they protect our city’s assets or
loot them to benefit their friends? Will they protect MLK Library and
the branch libraries, the schools and their students, the health care
system and its patients, and our neighborhoods, or will they answer to
other masters? As we walk down this dark corridor, what’s around the
next turn? Are you dreaming or having nightmares?”
Well, from your standpoint, who won the election, and how have they
been doing? Has it been a dream, a nightmare, or something else?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Sounding the Alarm, Part 2
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
In the last issue of themail (October 28), I wrote about Mayor Fenty’s
proposed citywide E-mail deletion policy and how “under the proposed
policy, OCTO (the Office of the Chief Technology Officer) will store all
E-mail on DC government E-mail servers for six months, then delete it
automatically and permanently” (October 3 memorandum of Peter Nickles,
General Counsel to the Mayor, http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/octo071003.htm).
Now, in addition to civic and community leaders, the press is also
raising its concerns about the mayor’s policy. In an October 22 letter
to Fenty, the Washington chapter of the Society of Professional
Journalists urged the mayor to postpone the implementation of the policy
and noted that, “the Federal government as well as Virginia, Maryland,
and other states exercise significantly longer preservation periods” (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/071022b.htm).
In the past week, some confusion has arisen about the chronology of
events regarding the mayor’s proposed E-mail policy, leading to the
mistaken belief that at one time the mayor had rescinded the policy. To
correct that impression, here is the timeline of events again. On July
5, Fenty issued Mayor’s Order 2007-157, setting out the policy to
destroy the record of government E-mails. On September 21, Fenty issues
Mayor’s Order 2007-207, which set forth the same policy, but clarified
that the effective starting date of the policy would be January 5, 2008.
On October 3, General Counsel Peter Nickles issued a memorandum to DC
agency directors and general counsels outlining the citywide policy to
destroy E-mails. And on October 15, Mayor’s Order 2007-228 rescinded
the first Mayor’s Order of July 5, to eliminate any small differences
that existed between the July 5 and September 21 orders. Some
councilmembers and council staffers, who were not aware that the policy
of destroying E-mails had been restated in the September 21 mayor’s
order, assumed that the October 15 rescinding order meant that the mayor
was stepping back from wanting to erase the legal and historical record
of government actions, and the mayor’s office let them believe that.
(All these documents are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/octo.htm.)
Implementation of the deletion policy is scheduled to begin on
January 5, 2008. Despite outrage from citizens and the press, the mayor’s
office is obdurate. The only avenues to stop implementation are
litigation and action by the city council. There are only two
legislative meetings of the council currently scheduled, on November 6
and December 4, before the policy goes into effect. The council has not
to date scheduled a hearing or roundtable on this issue. Given the short
time frame, citizens are asking the council, at a minimum, to adopt a
bill that would prevent the mayor from implementing his plan and also to
create a committee with representatives of the groups that would be most
affected — community groups, the press, historians, and the legal and
telecommunications/technology sectors — to submit a written report by
September 2008 recommending an E-mail retention and management policy
that the council would enact by legislation.
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Retaliation
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Taxi drivers in DC have demonstrated that they care little for the
folks who pay for their services and have inconvenienced a whole lot of
folks. It’s time for payback. All those who would normally use a taxi
in the coming week should forego using a cab and find an alternate way
of traveling in the city. On my next trip to National Airport I will
schedule my flight out so that I can get to the airport by Metro. It’s
a fare strike to retaliate.
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Universities and the Urban Policy Question
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
Surprisingly, most of the universities in DC have weak urban studies
and urban sociology programs. There is no graduate degree of urban
planning offered at a DC-based university. No DC-based university is a
member of the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities. CUMU
describes its mission as “bring[ing] together universities that share
the mission of striving for national excellence while contributing to
the economic development, social health, and cultural vitality of the
urban or metropolitan centers served.”
That being said, I am working on developing a conference on
universities and urban revitalization. More about that later.
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Recognition for Good Teachers
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
In an unprecedented turnaround the United Federation of Teachers (UFT,
the New York affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers), has
endorsed bonuses for teachers based solely on performance in
under-performing schools. New York City has approved a $20 million fund
that will be used by under-performing schools to award the bonuses via a
compensation committee in each of the schools. Don’t ever call this
merit pay, the kokomoko words in the UFT. But, it is clearly a way to
compensate and recognize good teachers and good performance. let’s
hope that DC’s Mayor Fenty will provide money for performance bonuses
in low-performing DC schools and the local chapter of the AFT endorses
the bonus plan. I won’t bet on that endorsement.
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LoDo Was Not Fixed by Baseball
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
Despite claims by Ed Barron and others, the success of the LoDo
neighborhood in Denver was built on the efforts of many people, starting
with Dana Crawford, decades before baseball was ever on the horizon.
LoDo was discussed in a case study in the book Cities: Back from the
Edge, published in 1991 — years before Coors Stadium opened. You
can check it out at MLK Library. It proves the value of historic
preservation as the only real sustainable strategy for urban
revitalization.
What baseball in LoDo does show is the value of layering, of
providing many things to do to make a district; and of leveraging extant
investments. Going to Coors Stadium likely wouldn’t be much fun if
they built it at Stapleton Airport, but it is fun because it was located
in an area that is already interesting, active, and successful.
For example, there is an interesting travel story from March 2005,
which I wrote about in my blog http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/03/denvers-delightful-lodo-area-lesson.html.
I find this to be worthy because this story talks about how great LoDo
is and why to visit . . . in the winter! So how important is baseball
really to the success of LoDo? Rather than belabor the obvious about
“creating” a baseball district in DC, I suggest people read my old
blog entry.
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It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
I think Sam Smith is great. And I think that DCWatch and its
producers are great. But I disagree with you both about the roots of the
problems with Greater Southeast Hospital being based on the closure of
DC General. The problems at Greater Southeast and DC General, along with
the Prince George’s County Hospital System, Hadley, the old Capitol
Hill Hospital, and probably other situations I don’t know much about,
are all indicators of a more serious issue — how to provide health
care and wellness care more generally, how to provide catastrophic care,
and how to deal with chronic health conditions (asthma, diabetes,
obesity, etc.), that need to be managed in an ongoing fashion, teaching
proper nutrition, etc.
Health care provision is different from insurance, and we must
recognize that the development of health insurance plans grew out of a
desire for hospitals to regularize their income stream during difficult
economic times (the Depression). The Williams Administration didn’t
produce a health, wellness, and hospital care plan — maybe no city has
such a plan — but they needed to, to make the health care system work.
I agreed with the closure of DC General Hospital because there is no
question that DC’s hospitals have too many beds, which makes the fixed
cost of providing health care overly high in the city. And hospitals
aren’t the place, until it’s too late, to provide the care that most
people require on a day-to-day basis, rather than catastrophic health
care.
The closure of DC General needed to be paired with the creation of a
true public health care system with a fair amount of care provided for
and delivered in the field. If CVS drug stores and supermarkets can have
clinics in higher income neighborhoods, why can’t health care be
delivered similarly, as it once was, at the very least for managing
chronic and persistent conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity,
hypertension, etc. Without such a plan, and Councilmember Catania is
capable of moving such a plan forward, Band-Aids, tourniquets, and casts
costing $79 million and more will continue to be needed to stanch the
bleeding and fix the broken bones of the health care system in DC and
the region. (Compare the success of the INOVA system in Northern
Virginia, which for the most part serves higher income patients and
demands less in the way of trauma care, and the provision of care to the
poor.)
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
National Building Museum Events, November 4-5
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org
Sunday, November 4, 12:00-4:00 p.m., Family program: Block Kids:
Building Contest. Join the Museum and the Washington Chapter of the
National Association of Women in Construction for a hands-on building
competition for children in grades 1– 6. Participants will take part
in the Museum’s “City by Design” land-use program and will then
design and create a building for the contest. $5 per child participant
(includes take away). For 1st – 6th graders. Registration required by
Monday, October 22. Registration limited to 120. Call 301-272-8275 to
register.
Sunday, November 4, 8:00-9:00 p.m. Ghost Tour. Explore the haunted
past of the National Building Museum. See a different side of the Museum
on this lantern-light tour led by costumed Civil War veterans. Who are
the irritable rider on horseback and the footless figure? Why are there
mysterious faces swirling in the 75-foot Corinthian columns? And, why do
these ghosts (and more!) call the National Building Museum their home?
All will be revealed on this behind-the scenes glimpse of the mysteries
of the Museum. $12 museum members; $14 nonmembers. Recommended for ages
10 and older. Prepaid registration required. Register online at http://www.nbm.org
or by calling the Museum at 272-2448.
Monday, November 5, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Building for the 21st Century:
Creating an Energy-Efficient School System on a Tight Budget.
Maintaining six separate school buildings with an average age of sixty
years is a challenge in the best of circumstances, but especially in a
rural school district with limited resources. Roy Whitaker, of Sussex
County, Delaware’s Seaford School District, will discuss how
application of ENERGYSTAR’s benchmarking program to track energy use
and identify required structural improvements helped save more than
$200,000 annually in energy costs. Free. Registration not required.
All 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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Talk for Change Toastmasters Club, November 7
Corey Jenkins Schaut, tfctoastmasters@gmail.com
Please join us this Wednesday, November 7, at 6:45 p.m. for our next
meeting of Talk for Change Toastmasters. We meet at the Teach for
America offices, located at 1413 K Street, NW, on the 7th floor. At Talk
for Change, we believe in the power of education. By following the
Toastmasters curriculum, we have an opportunity to continue to develop
and improve our leadership and speaking skills in a safe environment.
Many of us our former teachers and alumni of Teach for America. Many of
us are making a difference in our community through work in the
nonprofit sector. And many of us just value the opportunity to keep
learning. We welcome anyone to join our friendly, fun-loving group. Are
you curious what Talk for Change can do for you? We welcome you to join
us at an upcoming meeting to see what we are all about. We meet on the
first and third Wednesdays of every month.
As your improved communication skills become obvious within the
workplace, increased visibility, recognition and promotion will follow.
Your improved presentation skills will win you the respect and
admiration of your colleagues and employees, and make them wonder what
you did to change! Leadership skills acquired through participation in
Toastmasters will increase your management potential. You will acquire
an increased ability to motivate and persuade, making you more effective
as a supervisor or manager. You’ll have access to a wide range of
educational materials, including books, CDs, DVDs and seminar programs,
available at reduced cost through the Toastmasters International Supply
Catalog. We look forward to welcoming you as our newest member. If you
have questions, feel free to send us an e-mail at tfctoastmasters@gmail.com.
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The DC Department of Health will be conducting a mass vaccination
clinic to test the District’s capability to respond to a pandemic or
other public health emergencies. Free flu shots and pneumococcal
vaccinations will be provided to District residents aged nine and up on
Thursday, November 8, at the Kennedy Recreation Center, 1401 7th Street,
NW, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and at the DC Armory, 2001 E. Capitol
Street, SE, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Anyone under the age of
eighteen must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, please
contact the DOH Call Center, 671-8000.
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ITVS Community Cinema, November 11
Michon Boston, mboston_tv@yahoo.com
ITVS Community Cinema-DC goes back to Y2K and the presidential
election that challenged the very definition of democracy. An
Unreasonable Man (2006) (a sixty-minute excerpt prior to its PBS
broadcast) and Today I Vote for My Joey (2003) (twenty minutes), a
tragic comedy about the 2000 presidential elections in Palm Beach
County. A film by Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg).
Sunday, November 11, at 5 p.m., at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th
Street, NW. No admission fee. RSVP requested; E-mail unreasonableman@communitycinema-dc.org
or call 939-0794. Visit http://www.communitycinema-dc.org.
An Unreasonable Man airs on WHUT Channel 32, on December 29 (check local
listings). Join us for a lively discussion as we look back at 2000 and
forward to 2008 with filmmaker Aviva Kempner, civil rights attorney
Kristen Clarke, and Elinor Hart of the League of Women Voters of the
District of Columbia.
The Busboys and Poets screening of An Unreasonable Man and Today I
Vote for My Joey is presented by ITVS Community Cinema-DC and WHUT in
partnership with Busboys and Poets (http://www.busboysandpoets.com),
S.A.L.S.A. (http://www.hotsalsa.org),
and the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia (http://www.lwvdc.org).
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Aftershock of a Devastating Diagnosis,
November 13
Patricia Pasqual, patricia.pasqual@dc.gov
A conversation with Jessie Gruman, Ph.D., author of AfterShock:
What to Do When the Doctor Gives You or Someone You Love – a
Devastating Diagnosis, http://www.aftershockbook.com
will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 6:00 p.m., at Martin Luther King,
Jr., Memorial Library, Great Hall, 901 G Street NW. Metro: Gallery
Place, Galleries Entrance. The book will be available for purchase at
the event.
Jessie Gruman is a social psychologist who has had personal
experience with cancer and a serious heart condition. She offers
practical advice on topics such as getting a second opinion, paying for
care, and handling the stress and anxiety that affects patients and
those who care for them. Tom Brokaw says of Aftershock that it is
a “must have for every family, healthy or otherwise.” RSVP’s
appreciated but not required to patricia.pasqual@dc.gov,
727-2313.
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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES
Historic Facade Easements and Give the Gift of
History for the Holidays
Paul K. Williams, dchousehistory@aol.com
Congress has assured that the historic facade easement program was
reviewed and renewed with many new requirements for appraisers and
facilitators. Our facade easement processing service is the only one in
town that comes with a full house history, something the other
facilitators simply can’t offer. We also have never sent direct,
unsolicited mail to potential new clients. With deadlines in
mid-December, the time is now to begin the lengthy process to be able to
donate before the end of the year! Visit our easement page on
WashingtonHistory.com for details.
Our full house history reports are familiar to many themail readers,
and we’ve been able to significantly expand our research of late to
include newspaper accounts and articles on your house or the people that
once lived there. In addition, our expertise genealogical research can
frequently locate living members of the original owners of your house;
the people that have those rare interior and exterior pictures included
in their family photo albums. If you are looking for a truly unique
gift, consider giving a house history this holiday. Visit
WashingtonHistory.com for a sample and free estimate.
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