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November 7, 2007

Corruption

Dear Controllers:

I could title an issue of themail “Corruption” every other week or so. It’s particularly appropriate tonight, however, since today brought the news of five arrests in a public corruption case. Two District government employees in the Office of Tax and Revenue, Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus, and three of their alleged co-conspirators, were charged with defrauding DC out of at least sixteen million dollars over the past three years (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/cfo071107b.htm). What they are accused of doing is preparing false property tax refund requests, which Walters approved in her position as manager of the DC Real Property Tax Administration Adjustments Unit, depositing the refund checks into sham corporate accounts controlled by Walters’ relatives, and then distributing the money among themselves and their relatives.

Sixteen million dollars is the largest public corruption case, indeed the largest theft of any kind, in the history of the District and of the region. The forty-plus fraudulent refund checks that the investigators have identified so far averaged over $388,000 each. The size of the fraud dwarfs the theft in the Washington Teachers Union case, and that in itself is rather impressive. What is puzzling, however, is how they were able to get away with it for so long. A single property tax refund of $388,000 would attract notice; two or three in a short period of time should have caused questions. Alarm bells should have been ringing loudly throughout the building long before forty checks that averaged that much had been issued in a three-year period.

Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi acted swiftly today, firing four top officials in the tax office, including Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Office of Tax and Revenue, Sherryl Hobbs Newman, and Chief Assessor Thomas Branham, and issuing directives to review management controls (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/cfo071107.htm). But this swift action still brings to mind the old adage about closing the barn door after the horse has run away (after the sheep have been stolen, after the cow has disappeared, etc.). Some people are always going to be dishonest, always going to try to scam the system, and some people are going to get away with it. But a sound and secure financial system should make it impossible to continue a scheme of this magnitude over a period of years. Not just the perpetrators and their immediate supervisors, but Mayors Williams and Fenty and Chief Financial Officer Gandhi himself will have to answer questions about why it was possible for the DC government to bleed sixteen million dollars without questions having being raised from inside the government.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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E-mail Update
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

On Monday afternoon, November 5, Mayor Fenty issued a new executive order, Mayor’s Order 2007-239, rescinding his previous order, Mayor’s Order 2007-207, dated September 21, that would have allowed his administration to delete government E-mails permanently after six months. Fenty’s decision made after a morning press conference at the Wilson Building where two councilmembers — Council Chairman Vincent Gray and Government Operations Committee Chair Carol Schwartz — indicated they would introduce a bill at Tuesday’s legislative session to classify E-mails as “public records” that must be retained under the District’s Public Records Management Act of 1985. By the time the mayor reversed his position, on Monday afternoon, ten of the thirteen councilmembers had signed on as co-introducers of the Gray-Schwartz bill, and all thirteen had signed on by the next day. In a statement, Mayor Fenty indicated that he was responding “to reasonable concerns raised by the council.”

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Save the Jesse Baltimore House from Demolition
Mary Rowse, merowse@aol.com

Your help is urgently needed to save the Jesse Baltimore House from demolition. The mayor and the city council need to hear from you if you or someone you know would like the chance to own and restore this classic 1925 Sears “Fullerton” kit house at 5136 Sherier Place, NW, in the heart of the Palisades neighborhood. This two-story, three-bedroom home made of high-quality, first-growth wood has been neglected by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation for decades. Now the agency and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh want to tear it down or move it off site, ignoring the wishes of over a thousand Ward 3 residents and another four hundred fifty people across the metro area who signed individual letters asking that the home be put back into private hands and restored in place by a new owner. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D voted overwhelmingly to support the home’s return to private ownership and preservation in place, but Councilmember Cheh is ignoring this as well.

Would you like the chance to own and restore this home right where it is? Do you know someone else who would? Do you think it’s right for the city to destroy this valuable historic home that they turned into an “eyesore,” when the home can just as easily be brought back to life at the hands of a private owner? Washington, DC, is filled with teachers, firefighters, police officers, and others who haven’t been able to afford to buy a home but who could find the resources to bring this one back to life if the mayor and the city council would make it available to a lucky recipient. Here’s a “Close to Home” opinion piece on the Jesse Baltimore House from the Sunday, November 4, Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201681.html. Here’s some history on the house, on Jesse Baltimore and his family, and on the Palisades neighborhood: http://www.victoriansecrets.net/jessebaltimore.html.

Please E-mail the mayor and the city council and tell them you want the Jesse Baltimore House given to someone who will restore it in place and put it back on the city’s tax rolls, from which it has been absent for fifty years. Tell the mayor and the city council not to let the Department of Parks and Recreation and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh destroy this valuable and historic neighborhood resource that many people want the chance to own and restore in place. Send your E-mail now to the Mayor, the Councilmembers and their chiefs of staff: Adrian.Fenty@dc.gov, vgray@dccouncil.us, DSlonneger@dccouncil.us, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, BRWheeler@dccouncil.us, cschwartz@dccouncil.us, jabbot@dccouncil.us, kbrown@dccouncil.us, dcatania@dccouncil.us, byoung@dccouncil.us, jgraham@dccouncil.us, tloza@dccouncil.us, jackevans@dccouncil.us, sgrant@dccouncil.us, mcheh@dccouncil.us, jwillingham@dccouncil.us, mbowser@dccouncil.us, jholland@dccouncil.us, hthomas@dccouncil.us, glewis@dccouncil.us, twells@dccouncil.us, callen@dccouncil.us, yalexander@dccouncil.us, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us, mbarry@dccouncil.us, kperry@dccouncil.us, merowse@aol.com

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Lerners Take Nats Gala to Maryland
Tom Monroe, tmonroe77@yahoo.com

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/06/AR2007110602296.html?hpid=topnews: “District officials are outraged that the Washington Nationals plan to go to Maryland for major events celebrating the team’s first season in the city-funded $611 million stadium complex. The baseball club’s charitable arm will host its annual black tie ‘Dream Gala’ in Prince George’s County, and the team will hold its FanFest, a day-long celebration, in Bethesda. Last fiscal year, $36 million in business and nonresidential utility taxes, including those from hotels, were collected to help repay the money borrowed for the stadium. ‘I guess we’re like Charlie Brown or Rodney Dangerfield. We can’t get respect,’ Vincent Gray said yesterday. ‘This is just an outrage.’” Why would the city get any respect after it gave up the sweetest of sweetheart deals to Major League Baseball and failed to improve the city’s part of the deal when the opportunity arose to renegotiate the lease with MLB? When it comes to helping the city financially or their own bottom line, MLB and the Lerners simply chose to continue taking the best deal for themselves.

“‘We gave them a $611 million free stadium. I think that entitles us to have their gala at our businesses,’ Carol Schwartz said. Jim Graham called the move ‘offensive.’ ‘That’s like taking a stick and poking your eye. What a level of ingratitude. The timing is worse than ever. We’re opening the $611 million stadium and . . . to have the annual banquet in Prince George’s County, that’s staggering,’ he said. ‘This once again truly demonstrates why we should have been a little shrewder about selecting owners for the Nationals,’ Marion Barry said.” Welcome to wouulda-shoulda-coulda land! All of these calls for what the city is entitled to or what the city should have done before mean nothing because of the council’s gutless actions when they had a chance to make demands of MLB and their ownership group multiple times from 2004 when the team was on its way to 2006 when the lease was finalized.

“Gray called a closed-door meeting with council members yesterday to discuss the situation and how to address it. Minutes later, Jack Evans, one of the Nationals’ biggest cheerleaders and chairman of the committee on finance and revenue, was on the phone with Kasten. Evans was one of the most irate members yesterday, telling Kasten that ‘the Nationals have an obligation to hold their gala here.’ Gray was trying to contact Mayor Fenty to dial up Nationals principal owner Theodore Lerner. Kasten, interviewed after his conversation with Evans, said there are no plans to change the venue.” How pathetic of a scenario is this! Did they really think they’d make Lerner and Kasten cancel a freebie arrangement over an "obligation" to the city? There is no obligation, Jack, because you and your gang gave away the right to make any demands on the team and its owners in your haste to secure a team over Virginia. This is what happens when you let private concerns, whose highest obligation is to their own pockets, call the shots.

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Surveillance of Citizens Through Drivers License Chip
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com

From http://www.examiner.com/a-1031230~D_C__DMV_to_build_SmarTrip_chips_into_driver_s_licenses.html:  “Privacy advocates are alarmed by a DC Department of Motor Vehicles initiative to embed SmarTrip computer chips inside every new DC driver’s license, making it easier than ever to track DC residents on their travels through the transit system.”

Besides being a back door to a virtually mandatory tracking system to be used by private entities and DC bureaucracy alike (the latter of which has such a history of ethical lapses and incompetence that we should safeguard as much of our privacy as possible from them), using chips of this sort in DC drivers licenses is a ridiculous idea from a practicality standpoint. I’ve had the chips in my SmarTrip card die on me multiple times. Does that mean that I would have to involve the DMV every time this happens and go through the hassle of getting a new license? No thank you; I’d just prefer to go to Metro Center and not burden the city bureaucracy. Let’s leave all of these types of snoopy chips out of the basic city IDs.

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Support Neighborhood Dog Parks
Kathy Silva, kathysilva@rcn.com

The October 12 revised version of dog park regulations are fair, balanced, and provide for accountability. Over two thousand people have already signed the online petition -- dog owners and non-dog owners. Please sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/DCDOGTF/petition.html.

You must live in the District, and in order for signature to be valid, you must enter your full name, E-mail address (not seen publicly), and zip code. Other fields are optional, but would be helpful. More than one person in the same household can sign. Share with your friends. Deadline is November 8.

Read about the new regulations on: http://www.dpr.dc.gov. Read more about dog parks at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/10/27/ST2007102700599.html?hpid=artslot,. Learn more about efforts in DCDOG and join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DCDOG/.

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Mary Cheh: Do as I Vote, Not as I Wrote
Frank Winstead, Forest Hills, frank.winstead@gmail.com

In the November 4 issue of themail, Gary Imhoff cites the Washington Post’s quotation from Councilmember Mary Cheh on the financial risks to the DC government of underwriting the Greater Southeast Community Hospital sale: “We’re all keeping our fingers crossed. We’re not entirely sure that it’s going to work,” In 1981, the District of Columbia Bar published “How to Read and Analyze a Financial Statement,” by Mary Cheh.

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When You’ve Got to Tell the World about a Book You Like
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

I work at a public library here in the DC area and hear a lot from people who just read a book they like a lot. I’ve been wondering about ways that could be used to capture that enthusiasm for sharing on the Internet. Experiments I’ve tried with videoconferencing software called SightSpeed PLUS have been encouraging. I’m blogging about this on the PCWorld.com web site at http://tinyurl.com/397tqv, with links to the video I captured.

The upshot of this is that it’s now possible for anyone with a high speed Internet connection to conduct their own Charlie Rose style interview — and share that video for free via the Internet Archive and other video sharing sites. The technical hurdles are not that difficult. The artistic challenges of producing an engaging video interview are worth pursuing. The product may even be used as a thread in weaving social fabric.

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DPW Recycling Pledge and Contest
Nancee Lorn, nancee.lorn@yahoo.com

DC Department of Public Works (DPW) recycling inspectors will scour District neighborhoods, from November 5 to November 16, in search of the “Perfect Set Out.” A gift package, including a $50 check, will be given to one resident in each ward who sets out a recycling bin containing acceptable recycled materials in the proper manner. Winners will be announced in the week of November 26 to recognize America Recycles Day, which will be celebrated nationally on November 15. District residents are also encouraged to take the National Recycling Coalition’s America Recycles 2007 Pledge. Submitting the pledge card enters participants into a drawing for prizes that include a $300 gift certificate at a bicycle shop and a $500 grant to a DC Public School environmental club or project of the winner’s choice. Pledge forms will be made available at DPW Headquarters at 2000 14th Street, NW (6th floor) and online at http://www.mwcog.org/environment/recycling/recyclesday/pledge.asp.

The District recycles glass, plastic bottles, metal cans, and mixed paper. Residents should place all recyclables in their DC government-issued recycling can or bin. All recycled items should be emptied and rinsed. Any lids or labels can remain on the item. Acceptable glass: clear, brown, and green glass food and beverage containers. Not acceptable glass: dishes, light bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, windows, mirrored glass, or glass cookware. Acceptable plastic bottles: narrow-necked bottles including water, soda, milk, juice, and detergent bottles. Not acceptable plastic bottles: bottles from automotive products, pesticides, or other toxins; butter tubs, medicine bottles, Styrofoam, plastic food wrapping, toys, and grocery (or other) plastic bags. Acceptable metal: tin, aluminum (including foil and pie plates), and steel food and beverage cans. Do not crush metal containers. Not acceptable metal: auto parts, kitchen supplies, bicycles, and furniture. Acceptable paper: recycle all papers together including white and colored papers, envelopes, forms, file folders, tablets, junk mail, cereal boxes, wrapping paper, catalogs, magazines and phone books. It is okay to include metal staples, clips, glue, labels, and plastic windows on envelopes. Paper-based egg cartons are okay, if clean. Please remove plastic bindings and dividers. Photos are okay, but not “instant” film (Polaroids). All paper-based inserts that come with the newspaper can be recycled. Put them loosely into the cart. Corrugated cardboard boxes and brown paper bags; remove packaging, then flatten and place in cart or bin. Place shredded fiber into a paper bag. Not acceptable paper: plastic-coated paper, blueprints, waxed cardboard, cups/plates, milk or juice cartons, disposable “drink boxes,” food-contaminated paper, tissues, paper towels, or “instant” film (Polaroids).

For more information, please call 727-1000 or visit DPW’s web site at http://www.dpw.dc.gov.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Parents United Meeting, November 9
DCPS Budget Community Meeting and Hearing, November 15

Marc Borbely, borberly@fixourschools.com

Chancellor Rhee has scheduled a public hearing on next year’s DCPS budget, after receiving a letter signed by ninety-nine parents, teachers, alumni, and neighbors, reminding her of the law that requires this hearing. The official hearing will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 15, at 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 5th floor. To testify, contact Traci Higgins at Traci.Higgins@dc.gov or 442-5615 no later than 5 p.m. the day before. The full notice is at http://www.k12.dc.us/media/PressReleases/Press%20Release%20Budget%20Hearing%202009.pdf.

At this hearing, DCPS is required to solicit testimony and exhibits, among other things, on 1) educational needs and programs that can meet those needs, 2) support systems needed for safety and efficiency, 3) historical levels of funding, 4) the levels of funding required according to professional studies and commissions, and 5) the levels of funding in surrounding jurisdictions. The Chancellor is required to “give due consideration” to the testimony and exhibits presented at this hearing, when she submits her proposed budget to the Mayor at least 45 days later.

To help us prepare for the November 15 hearing, Parents United for the DC Public Schools will host a community meeting this Friday, November 9, from 4-6 p.m., at the offices of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs: 11 Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 400 (entrance is on New Hampshire Avenue, next to the Books-a-Million). Budget expert Mary Levy will make a brief presentation and will be on hand to answer questions. If you can make it to the meeting this Friday, please RSVP if possible to Nancy Huvendick at nhuvendick@21csf.org, so we have a sense of how many people are coming.

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Wilson High School Musical, November 15-17
Don Squires, dsquires - at - erols dot com

This year’s Wilson Fall Musical is Into the Woods, November 15, 16, and 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wilson auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and $3 for Wilson students. Tickets will be available at the door. Into the Woods blends well-loved fairy tales with the story of a childless baker and his wife, who go into the woods on a search for items for a magic potion which reverse a curse placed on their family by a witch. The woods are filled with familiar characters such as Cinderella, Jack ( of Beanstalk fame), Prince Charming, a Mysterious Man, Little Red Riding Hood, her Granny, and the Wolf. What happens when all of these characters meet in the woods while looking to fulfill their wishes? And what happens when they actually get what they want? Ultimately, Into the Woods explores the theme of happily ever after.

Into the Woods opened on Broadway in 1987 and won three Tony Awards (best score, best book, and best actress) and the Drama Desk Award for best musical. It was revived on Broadway in 2002, featuring Vanessa Williams as the Witch. Wilson’s production features a cast and crew of sixty students and will be fabulous. Fun for the whole family!

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