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November 14, 2007

Thirty Million Reasons

Dear Reasoners:

The amount that investigators say was embezzled from the DC Real Property Tax Administration Adjustments Unit of the Office of Tax and Revenue has now climbed to over thirty million dollars. I’m impressed. I’m particularly impressed because the embezzlement scheme seems to have been so simple and easy to carry out over many years. One detail of the whole affair amused the press corps when it was revealed in the Washington Post this morning (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/14/AR2007111400723.html). OTR employees named one of the shell companies that they created to get fraudulent property tax refunds the “Bilkemor” Company. All that they neglected to do was to list Dewey, Cheatam, and Howe, the Marx Brothers’ favorite law firm, as the firm representing Bilkemor. After everything that the conspirators did to call attention to themselves — greedily escalating the number of refunds they claimed and the size of those refunds, flaunting their newfound wealth at the office with their colleagues — it gets to be more and more amazing that they got away with bilking the taxpayers for so many years.

There was lots of sound and fury over the situation at the Wilson Building today, as the mayor and the city council held dueling press conferences to claim that they were on top of the situation. The city council held an afternoon press conference, which it announced yesterday, to announce that it was going to conduct oversight hearings on the Office of Tax and Revenue, though Chairman Gray insisted that council oversight over the Office had been vigorous, thorough, and complete in the past. Gray also announced that the council would hire outside legal counsel and a financial auditing firm to assist it to determine exactly what happened and what the council should do, although he was unable to explain how the council could obtain evidence and interview witnesses over the next year or so, while the criminal investigation will be ongoing (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/cfo071114b.htm).

Early this morning, the mayor announced he would hold a morning press conference with Chief Financial Officer Gandhi to announce the further steps that Gandhi was taking to investigate the embezzlement and prevent future thefts. Gandhi announced six new appointments, including the appointment of Ben Lorigo, the CFO’s current Director of the Office of Integrity and Oversight, as the new Director of the Office of Tax and Revenue. Gandhi also announced that retired Judge Stanley Sporkin would act as his personal advisor, and would review the operations of the Office of Tax and Revenue (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/cfo071114.htm).

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Nationals Can Easily Provide Bike Valet Parking at New Stadium
Steven Seelig, Chevy Chase, DC, steven.seeling@watsonwyatt.com

Here’s a good place to start for the Nationals to give something back to DC: provide numerous bicycle parking options at the Nationals Stadium. To date, the Nationals have not committed to funding a valet bike parking service where ticket holders can park their bikes in an enclosed, secure location free of charge. The Transportation Operations Plan for the stadium, created to ensure safe and efficient traffic operations on game days, has recommended creating this service, which is already being provided at Wrigley Field in Chicago and Safeco Field in San Francisco, among others. Check out this link to see how it works in San Francisco: http://www.sfbike.org/?giants.

The new stadium’s location is perfectly suited to accommodate bicyclists: it sits at a key location in the southeast-southwest bikeway network and just one block from the future Anacostia Riverwalk and Trail. In addition, proposed designs for the new South Capitol Street Bridge will improve bike and pedestrian access across river, greatly increasing non-motorized transportation options for the residents of Anacostia. For less than the cost of three parking spaces (or approximately 1/677th the cost of the stadium itself), the Nationals could provide safe and secure valet bike parking at every home game during the season.

Whether or not the service will be provided remains to be seen. But by providing such an amenity, the Nationals could help create a better fan experience by reducing demand for parking, improving congestion in local neighborhoods, easing crowding at Metro stations in the vicinity of the stadium.

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E-mails Again
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

There are two reasons that Mayor Adrian Fenty should breath a huge sigh of relief that he was browbeaten and dragged kicking and screaming into rescinding his mayoral order to destroy government E-mails after six months. First, yesterday, in a court case in a strongly similar situation, US District Court Judge Henry Kennedy ordered the White House to preserve all its E-mails “in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether the White House has destroyed E-mails in violation of federal law” (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/12/white.house.email.ap/index.html).

Second, the scandal surrounding the embezzlement from the Office of Tax and Revenue makes it clear why even government E-mails that on their face may seem mundane and disposable have to be preserved. If the mayor’s order had gone into effect and the scandal were revealed just a few months later, years of E-mails among employees of the Real Property Tax Administration Adjustment Office, and between those employees and their coconspirators on the outside, would have been lost as potential evidence.

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Cheh on Transportation: Hydrogen or Hot Air
Frank Winstead, Forest Hills, frank.winstead@gmail.com

Councilmember Mary Cheh’s November eNewsletter extols her week of experimentation with a BMW Hydrogen 7. Less than a year ago, Der Spiegel reviewed this vehicle: "They’re not as green as they seem. For a start, they’re incredibly thirsty — and they will put more strain on the environment than a heavy diesel truck." The 12-cylinder engine averages 17 miles per gallon of gasoline with a range of 300 miles. The engine has the ability to burn hydrogen from a conjoined tank that occupies half the trunk space. The rest of the hydrogen-car industry uses hydrogen in lightweight, efficient fuel-cells. In this BMW, burning a full tank of hydrogen will carry you 124 miles. Current fuel-cell only cars will take you over 430 miles on the same amount of hydrogen with zero gasoline. Der Spiegel continues, “BMW has created an energy-guzzling engine that only seems to be environmentally friendly.” That old four-cylinder Outback station wagon that Cheh usually solos in rates more than twenty mpg with a range of 304 miles without a conjoined hydrogen tank. Cheh gets at least three mpg more than the BMW Hydrogen 7 gasoline engine when she is not “acting green.”

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Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Mitch Wander, mitch@mytroops.com

Robert Kabel’s comment, “DC Republican Committee on Tax and Revenue Case” [themail, November 11] implied that only Republicans dislike waste, fraud, and abuse.

On the federal level, even the Wall Street Journal, which has the reputation of being fiscally conservative, no longer subscribes to the myth that only the Republican Party can safeguard taxpayer funds. From the October 30 issue, “Since Democrats took control of Congress this year, they’ve reversed the huge growth under Republican rule of earmarks — narrow, special-interest items that are added to the budget with little public scrutiny, sidestepping the usual competitive-bidding process. In the House, the value of earmarks in all pending budget bills is an estimated $5.6 billion, down by half from last year, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.”

DC taxpayers welcome suggestions and improvements from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

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November 2007 InTowner
P.L. Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

This is to advise that the November 2007 on-line edition has been uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials (including prior months’ archived), restaurant reviews (prior months’ also archived), and the text from the ever-popular "Scenes from the Past" feature (the accompanying images can be seen in the archived PDF version). The complete issue (along with prior issues back to January 2002) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by clicking the link in the Current & Back Issues Archive. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on December 14 (the second Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.

To read this month’s lead stories, simply click the link on the home page to the following headlines: 1) “Gentrification Accompanies Historic Preservation in Adams Morgan — New Projects Featuring Excellent Design Applauded But Tenants’ Rights at Risk”; 2) “DC Real Estate Sales Said to be Bleak Yet Insiders Contradict Popular View”; 3) “Logan Circle House Tour to Reveal Vintage Houses and Contemporary Lofts.”

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

“From the Right to Vote, the Power to Lead,” November 15
Katie Coon, kcoon@democraticwoman.org

On Thursday, November 15, at a gala dinner, the Woman’s National Democratic Club (WNDC) celebrates its eighty-fifth anniversary by honoring Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, with the Eleanor Award. This award is given on occasion to those who best exemplify the pioneering spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt. We are very honored to have Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduce Nancy Pelosi. The three previous recipients of this award are Sen. Hillary Clinton and Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “If you put a woman in hot water, she is a lot like a tea bag: the hotter the water, the stronger she gets,” and strength is one of the many virtues we admire in the 2007 recipient of this award. To add a sense of Mrs. Roosevelt’s presence, a formal reception gown worn by her in the 1930s is on display in the WNDC’s front reception area. For more information about attending, contact Patricia Fitzgerald or Katie Coon at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 232-7363, or pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.

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Windows Networking and Wi-Fi Security, November 17
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org

Luis Garcia, IT pro with the US government, will give attendees information they can use immediately to set up secure small and home office networks. Topics to be covered include requirements, installation, setup, sharing, encryption, and testing for networking Windows computers and securing wireless Wi-FI networks. And, best of all, this won’t be just a PowerPoint presentation: attendees will see, in person, the process of network installation and setup.

Gather your colleagues, neighbors, relatives, and friends, and your questions, and bring them to this Saturday, November 17, 1:00 p.m., gathering of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (E&C SIG). These monthly events are free and open to all. This month’s event is at the Cleveland Park Branch Library (first floor large meeting room) at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW (between Macomb and Newark Streets), over a block south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail Station on the Red Line. For more information about the presentation, the speaker, and CPCUG (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization), visit http://entrepreneur.cpcug.org/1107meet.html. To RSVP, send E-mail to bconn@cpcug.org.

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The Washington Revels, a Local Tradition for 25 Years, December 8-9, 14-16
Connie Ridgway, Kaniru four at yahoo dot com

I am so happy to be able to perform once again in the Christmas Revels. This year we are celebrating the Washington Revels’ twenty-fifth year with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare. Many of the songs in the show were written by Henry VIII. We dress in period costume and perform dances and rituals of the day. The show is over two weekends in December, December 8-9 and 14-16, at GWU’s Lisner Auditorium, 21st and H Streets, NW.

Each year Revels explores how the Winter Solstice has been celebrated in a different time or place. This year, journey with us to the colorful Renaissance world of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth the First. Enjoy the comic turns of master clown Mark Jaster as Will Kemp - the royal Master of the Revels - and the grace of Katrina van Duyn as Good Queen Bess, with Oran Sandel as Lord Chamberlain, along with the antics of a group of ‘rustic actors’ and mummers. Delight in the music, dance, stories, and games of Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, the Washington Revels Brass, the Foggy Bottom Morris Men, and the Revels company of adults, teens, and children. Come sing and dance with us! Revel in glorious music, stirring spectacle, cheerful carols, merriment, wit and humor.

The celebration of the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, is at the heart of Revels. Despite “Christmas” in the title, this is not a religious pageant, but rather a unique seasonal celebration that is inclusive and meaningful to the community at large, regardless of background. Discover for yourself why the Washington Post calls The Christmas Revels "one of those rare events that delight people of all ages."

Tickets are now on sale online of by telephone. Go to http://www.washingtonrevels.tix.com or order by telephone at 723-7528 or at any hour at 1-800-595-4849. For Washington Revels general information, go to http://www.revelsdc.org or call 723-7528.

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