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December 12, 2007

Housekeeping

Dear Housekeepers:

I’ve been receiving lately an unusually large number of subscription requests from people who are already subscribed to themail, as well as questions about whether subscriptions (or themail itself) have been suspended. The problem seems to be that because themail is being sent through a new system, from a different Internet address, some peoples’ systems are filtering it out and sending it to their trash or spam folders. The new system lets me check whether deliveries to any E-mail addresses have bounced, and if an address shows more than a few bounces, I’ll contact the subscriber. If you’ve been subscribed, if you aren’t receiving themail by E-mail, and if I haven’t contacted you -- and if you therefore are reading this online — please check your trash and spam folders for the missing issues, and put themail@dcwatch.com on your whitelist.

I’ve also received more than a few messages that said that E-mails sent to themail@dcwatch.com were bouncing, or that asked why I hadn’t used a message that I hadn’t received in the first place. As I’ve said before, E-mail isn’t perfect. If your E-mail to themail isn’t used or even acknowledged by the time the next issue is published, resend it.

After this issue of themail is published, I’m not going to update the DCWatch web site for a couple weeks, so even though I’ll still be sending the E-mail version of themail, the next few issues won’t appear online until the end of the year.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished?
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net

I don’t ordinarily hike in Rock Creek Park, but a flat tire on my bicycle condemned me to a long walk on Glover Drive, off Broad Branch. Plodding along, I spotted a wallet lying in the grass alongside the road, an object I hadn’t noticed on my rather speedier ride up the hill. It turned out to be a US Park Police officer’s picture ID wallet, and I imagined some poor guy searching in vain for his lost, and rather important, official police ID. So after finally making it home, I quickly changed clothes, hopped in my Prius, and hurried on out to the Park Police station on Beach Drive. Guess I thought that the owner would be relieved to have a good citizen turn in his lost ID.

Well, guess again. The clerk at the Park Police station just couldn’t be bothered. He fiddled busily with what appeared to be a malfunctioning alarm system, utterly ignoring me, while conversing with somebody out of view. I waited, he fiddled. He fiddled, I waited. After some time of being totally ignored, not even my presence acknowledged, I decided that I had better ways to spend my time, and departed. The jerk — excuse me, clerk — ignored my departure.

Out in the parking lot, there happened to be a Park Police officer in her car, who asked if she could help. Indeed, she could, and I turned the wallet over to her, happy to be rid of the thing. But judging by the behavior of the clerk inside the station, the Park Police don’t care to be bothered by citizens trying to be helpful. Okay, next time I run across a lost Park Police officer’s ID, I’ll leave it in the weeds, undisturbed. Message received, Park Police.

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DC Fiscal Policy and Perp Walks
Dennis Moore, dennis@DCIndependents.org

Despite reports that District of Columbia coffers are flush with revenue, the reality is that many public services are stretched and stressed for general operating expenses and hard cash. Beyond the headlines and behind the lines is the ugly truth of DC’s fiscal imbalances and stolen dollars. Confidentially ask the teachers of our still faltering public schools, fire fighters still waiting for upgraded lifesaving equipment, police officers stretched to the brink with diminished street staff, and the everyday District citizen feeling that sense of dread over the weak socioeconomic safety net of our city-state. Stadiums, condos, and construction cranes don’t disguise the lies we see on the streets.

Almost one year into the mayoral takeover of our public schools, the actual evidence of measurable improvements is skimpy at best. Parents are still effectively kept out of the real information and decision loop, though it’s done with smiles and distractions. Now, it comes to pass that the money needed for academic and structural improvements was "underestimated." Nevertheless, many six-figure salaries have been doled out for dubious duties and invisible results. DC firefighters and EMS personnel answer daily emergencies risking their own lives with substandard safety equipment, and numerous fire hydrants with questionable states of operation. Lives and property are at stake through finger pointing and excuses from DC’s Water and Sewer Authority. Money for long overdue maintenance, repair and upgrades seem to drown in the continuing politricks of shell game financing, panic management, and so-called "emergency legislation." All hands are on deck, but proportionately fewer hands are available to permanently drive down and destroy the District’s crime spikes. These spikes aren’t minor if you’re the victim. Random acts of violence on DC streets and Metro facilities are still in vogue. MPD officers are still expected to take a bullet while being insulted with a pathetic paycheck, ever-demanding work schedules, plus an elusive respectable twenty-year retirement package. Some may take former chief Charles Ramsey’s recruitment offer as Philadelphia’s new top cop.

But wait! There’s more! While some so-called city leaders devise new phony fiscal schemes to find the money they said we had, dollars continue to fly out the doors of District agencies from corruption and the usual crackhead budgeting. The real questions about DC’s systemic corruption is what did or does District CFO Natwar Gandhi know, and when did he know it? Better still, why didn’t he know it? Does the “No Snitching” policy apply in DC government too? Hopefully, federal investigators and prosecutors have embedded themselves deep enough into the District’s caldron of corruption to discover the high and low level perpetrators eligible for DC’s version of the perp walk. No doubt, certain “Who’s Who” characters will try to make quiet deals behind news headlines. Fortunately, for investigators, there are many genuinely honest, competent, and overlooked District government employees. All they need is a truly safe sign that it’s all right to tell the true tale of our city. Make the true guardians of our public resources and reputation an offer they can’t refuse. Provide full immunity, absolute personal and career safety, plus a reasonable small percentage of the public tax dollars saved or taken from the sticky hands of numerous corrupt DC bureaucrats. Altogether, this is a real savings of our hard-earned tax dollars and good long-term fiscal policy.

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Graffiti, OTR, and Cheh
Frank Winstead, Forest Hills, frank.winstead@gmail.com

Today, Councilmember Mary Cheh’s Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs held a hearing on B17-270, the “Omnibus Graffiti Reduction Act of 2007,” a.k.a. the "Borf Appreciation Act of 2007." Over 70% of the bill’s text is devoted to making victims of graffiti attacks pay for the privilege of being abused. Bottom line, this is a regressive tax. Cheh’s Ward 3 land owners could see liens that are a far smaller proportion of their property values than owners in less affluent Wards. This sinister Cheh-gressive tax could force poorer owners to sell their properties when they can’t afford to remove the graffiti. Land speculators/developers would be a spray can away from a new source of DC properties. There is a brief, non-detailed mention of a once-a-year paint voucher to be made available by the DC government.

And who in the government will be water-boarding the already victimized? The bill invests authority in the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR refund scandal and the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH pants judge scandal). Buried in the bill is even a mechanism to sneak graffiti revenue into the general fund assuming the above agencies are careful and consistent in not doing their jobs properly.

Graffiti artists and Cheh are united in their desire to desecrate our city for their own ends. The former uses our structures as a medium for their vile outbursts. The latter uses our legal system. I will not detail how this bill seeks to nullify the First Amendment rights of graffiti victims nor how it could be used to legitimize Fourth Amendment rights violations against these victims by the city.

May we assume Mary Cheh, a former National Capital Area ACLU board member, will clean up these little oversights? The councilmember claims in her December 2007 newsletter, “The Council is committed to exposing corruption throughout our government and has certainly committed itself to ensuring the public trust is kept.”

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Youth Rehabilitation Services
Philip Fornaci, pfornaci@yahoo.com

Gary Imhoff and his buddy Colbert King have failed to explain just what they propose doing about juvenile crime in the District. Criticizing Vincent Schiraldi for his “1960s liberalism” in dealing with kids and crime is hardly substantive, particularly when King’s own knee-jerk “tough on crime” diatribes echo his no less romanticized 1950s conservative attitudes. Do we need long prison sentences (maybe in adult prisons?) for kids who steal cars for joyriding? Maybe the same for truancy, shoplifting, and wearing baggy pants? It will hardly “protect the community” to incarcerate teenagers for long prison terms so they can become more embittered, more alienated from the rest of society, and better-trained to commit new criminal offenses when they get out. Mr. Schiraldi is trying to intervene in these kids lives before things get worse, while Imhoff and King (and Dino Drudi) want us to lock up “bad kids” for the rest of their lives, or until they say “uncle,” whichever comes first. In a city that already has the highest incarceration rate in the country and one of the highest crime rates, it is not hard to predict the inevitable failure of the latter approach.

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Oversight
Richard Stone Rothblum, richard@rothblum.org

Everyone seems to be howling for the blood of Chief Financial Officer Gandhi. The premise is that he should have detected the theft of forty million dollars that took place at least partly on his watch. It might be instructive to read Alan Greenspan’s book, in which he states that during his years as a member of the board of directors of many companies he does not recall boards of directors ever uncovering an act of embezzlement by employees. He stated that this crime is almost always uncovered through the actions of whistle-blowers. In the case of the property tax refund fraud, it was a bank clerk who became suspicious and tipped off the authorities. Merely looking at the numbers, without launching a criminal investigation, would not have uncovered the fraud. The schemers bypassed the managers whose job it would have been to uncover the plot.

This is not to say that there was no management culpability. Procedures were violated that should have been detectable at some level, especially given the audit alarms.

A solution that holds higher and higher levels of management responsible for more and more minor matters is actually counterproductive. The high level managers don’t have time to investigate or detect discrepancies in minor matters. Their secretaries, who also have no time or qualifications for this duty, end up doing the job. The employees previously responsible for review relax because they no longer have liability. The result is less effective review and a less responsive organization.

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When, Not If
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com

“When,” not “if,” is Gandhi going to be fired?

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Replies to Ed Barron
Qawi Robinson, qrobinson@lycos.com

[Re: A Dilemma, themail, December 2] Thanks, Ed, for the story behind Kosciusko street for us who are “short in the tooth.” By your own admission, it shows that even DC citizens participate in illegal dumping. While this seems like a convenient and simple solution to the problem on Massachusetts Avenue, I’m curious to find out whether the neighbors on 48th Street were consulted or appreciated the extra bags. Rather than report such dumping, may I suggest two options that I believe are well within DPW guidelines to remedy this problem. 1) Put in a bulk trash pickup request, http://dpw.dc.gov/dpw/cwp/view,a,1203,q,518080,dpwNav,|31202|.asp. If Ed and other residents have that many bags that cannot be picked up via the vacuuming (at least on Massachusetts Avenue), a bulk trash pickup request is in order. 2) Take them to the Fort Totten Station for disposal. “If residents hire a landscaper to remove leaves, or don’t want to wait for the DPW schedule, residents may dispose leaves for free at the Fort Totten Transfer Station, located at 4900 Bates Road, NE, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Call 576-6803” (http://dpw.dc.gov/dpw/cwp/view,a,1203,q,518164,dpwNav,|31202|.asp). Worst case scenario, you can call the Mayor’s command center and request some resolution, but all citizens should be respectful of others and not infringe upon each other.

[Re: A Dirty Job, themail, December 2] The mere fact that Mr. Barron calls closing schools a dirty job raises a great deal of suspicion, even in his commentary. Surreptitious and clandestine government is neither surreptitious nor clandestine. What is done in the dark is almost always found out in the light. Even aside from the protection for Ward 3 schools, it is democratic that the public and the city council question the decisions made. This is necessary because a “proposal” usually means it is a done deal. All these public forums are to sell the public on something that is already being done. If it really were a proposal, the public or their representatives would be able to voice their opinions and potentially influence the terms of the deal. This, Mr. Barron, will not be done. Many of these public forums, ever since the Williams days, are filled with plants who may ask questions or make comments that are favorable to what is being discussed. It is almost better not to have these forums than to lull the polity in believing that they actually have a voice. I am certain that if there were no opposition, these forums wouldn’t even exist.

I read the recent Fenty File that had an outline of the school closures. While my child’s school is not in the list, it makes me question some of the logic behind where students are being sent. In reading Marc Boberly’s “Some Background to the School Closure Proposal” (themail, December 2) the fact that “A[nother] decision was made not to look initially at the percentage of students who live close to the school (one thought was to consider whether a high percentage of students live more than half a mile away, for instance)” is a travesty and a disservice to the children DCPS is supposed to serve. Just taking a simple map or using your online mapping site of choice, one can easily pinpoint the schools and realize where some of the kids are being sent are somewhat out of the way. DC does not have a busing system, and relies heavily on students being able to walk to school or in some cases catch public transportation. For example, Backus to Taft is 1.5 miles, Hine to Eliot is 1.2 miles. The schools may be a little over one mile apart linearly, but traversing through the neighborhoods on foot can be a challenge. Likewise, why Rudolph students aren’t being sent to Truesdell, which is literally six blocks away. Once again, are we serving the children or are we serving the budget? By the way, Rudolph has a mini-recreation center associated with it too, something that saved Brookland. What folks don’t realize is that the enrollment of DCPS needs to be addressed. Some are blaming vouchers, charter schools, and other things. While all are valid reasons, enrollment is down most notably because of gentrification. With all of the condos going up, transient folks moving in, and affordable single-family housing going down, where is a family expected to live? Coincidentally, Ward 4 (where Fenty lives) and Ward 1 (adjoining Ward 4) are taking serious hits in this DCPS school reorganization, and the kids at Clark, Rudolph, Bruce Monroe, and Park View will suffer. Once again, this reorganization would have a little more credibility if Fenty’s sons were enrolled in DCPS.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Writers Guilds of America Panel Discussion on Hollywood Blacklist, December 13
Esha Udyavar, eudyavar@apcoworldwide.com

The Writers Guilds of America and the National Press Club will hold a National Press Club Newsmaker panel discussion marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Hollywood Blacklist. Two notable blacklisted artists and two historians will reflect on this controversial episode in our nation’s history and discuss the lessons learned. Panelists will include Oscar-nominated blacklisted screenwriter and author Walter Bernstein, blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt, noted historian and author Victor Navasky, and WGAE President and television historian Michael Winship.

The panel discussion will be held at the National Press Club Lisagor Room on Thursday, December 13, at 1:00 p.m.

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Not All Wikis Are Encyclopedias
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org

Most web users are familiar with Wikipedia, the online free content encyclopedia. But "encyclopedia" is just one of many types of wikis. Large and small businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations have developed all kinds of wikis, and they use wikis to enable collaboration among far-flung teams, manage meetings, and develop presentations. Some have even replaced dead-end intranets with thriving wikis. During this event, we’ll review various types of wikis and discuss how a wiki might help your organization solve a communication problem.

Gather your colleagues, and your questions, and bring them to this Saturday, December 15, 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) -- just over a block south of the Cleveland Park Metrorail Station on the Red Line. For more information about the seminar, the speaker, and CPCUG (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization), visit http://entrepreneur.cpcug.org/1207meet.html. To RSVP, send E-mail to bconn@cpcug.org.

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DC Public Library Events, December 15, 18
Kandace Foreman, kandace.foreman@dc.gov

Winter wonderland festival/fun day, all ages. Saturday, December 15, 1 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library Children’s Division, Room 200,

Capitol Hill Non-Fiction Book Club, Tuesday, December 18, 6:30 p.m., Southeast Neighborhood Library.

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DC Vote Tea Party, December 16
Kevin Kiger, kkiger@dcvote.com

DCVote will hold a symbolic reenactment of the Boston Tea Party with elected officials protesting taxation without representation on Sunday, December 16, 1:30-2:30 p.m., at Georgetown Waterfront Park, Washington, DC (South of K Street between Wisconsin Avenue and 31st Street, NW). Custom-printed tea packets with an “End Taxation Without Representation” message will be distributed by activists in Colonial-era costume. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC’s shadow delegation, and local activists will attend.

On the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, more than half a million Americans living in our nation’s capital pay the second highest per capita federal taxes yet still have no voting representation in Congress. It’s well past time for an end to taxation without representation.

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Recycling the Future, December 18
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org

For the Greener Good Lecture Series, Part IV: Living in a Disposable World: Recycling the Future. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Tuesday, December 18, 6:30-8:00 p.m. As our economy is increasingly supported by products with shorter life spans, how do we put an end to the continuous growth of landfills? How are engineers creating buildings that use recycled materials and have a small ecological footprint? Can the market bear "cradle-to-grave" products and buildings with a higher price tag? Metropolis magazine’s editor-in-chief, Susan Szenasy, moderates a panel that discusses our disposable world. Panelists include, Julie Bargmann, D.I.R.T. Studio, Chris Jordan, Artist, and Tim S. Kraft, AIA. $12 members, $20 nonmembers, free for students with valid ID. Prepaid registration required. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org. Walk-in registration based on availability.

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A Very Happy Challah-Day, December 25
Leah Gross, lgross@bnaibrith.org

I’d like to bring to your attention an upcoming event. On December 25, the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, and Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington will be sponsoring an event for local Jewish families entitled A Very Happy Challah-Day. The program will run from 12:00-3:00 p.m., and will include a musical performance by acclaimed Jewish camp musician Sheldon Low, challah braiding, the opportunity to make a challah cover and participate in Aleph Bet yoga, and a variety of other activities.

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CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED

Snow Shoveler and Future Lawn Mower
Deborah Fort, deborah.fort@starpower.net

I am looking for someone living near Appleton Street and Reno Road, NW, who would be willing to shovel our front sidewalks (small house, short walks) regularly immediately after it stops snowing (even if it’s a school or work morning). I pay $15/hour (it will take considerably less than an hour, but the $15 is yours anyway). Please reply as soon as possible, so we know whether to shovel ourselves next time the white stuff comes down.

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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEER

Red Cross Project: Cards for Wounded Soldiers
Amy Slemmer, slemmera@usa.redcross.org

Volunteer with the American Red Cross this holiday season to help bring a touch of home and comfort to wounded service members recovering in military hospitals across the country. Each Saturday between now and the end of the year volunteers will gather in the cafeteria of the national headquarters of the American Red Cross to sort and bundle thousands of cards and letters sent to wounded women and men in our armed services. These messages convey hope and support for our soldiers who have been injured during their military service. Please join us Saturday December 15, 22, and 29 at 9:00 a.m. to noon at 2025 E Street, NW. Parking is available in the building. Red Cross is accepting cards and letters through December 27. If you need any additional information please contact Amy Whitcomb Slemmer via E-mail at SlemmerA@usa.redcross.org with “Wounded Soldiers” in the subject line, or call 303-4124.

To send your support and wishes for recovery to a wounded soldier, write:

We Support You During Your Recovery!
c/o American Red Cross
P.O. Box 419
Savage, MD 20763-0419

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Survey Participants
Angela Fedi, angelafe@umbc.edu

We are Mini Terri Mannarini and Angela Fedi, Italian visiting researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, running a cross-cultural study on citizen involvement together with Ken Maton, associate professor at UMBC.

We are looking for people who have been involved — as simple citizens — in one or more initiatives of citizen involvement ran by the District government, and who are willing to participate in the study by completing a questionnaire or, alternatively, being interviewed on the phone (about 15-20 minutes each). The study is designed according to the requirements of the International Review Board of the University of Maryland in terms of confidentiality, voluntary participation, and informed consent; less than minimal risks are associated with the procedures.

We will start to collect the data in the second week of January. Anyone interested in participating in the study can contact us Mini Terri Mannarini (minimann@umbc.edu) or Angela Fedi (angelafe@umbc.edu). Thank you very much for helping us with this study!

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