Civil Discourse
Dear Contributors:
I’ve done something in this issue of themail that I don’t like to
do, and that I recall having done only once before. I’m not running
some submissions because of their content. In the introduction to the
last edition, I wrote a brief notice of the death of Jonathan Rees, a
frequent contributor to themail in the past few years. In response, I
received more than one submission attacking and denigrating Rees
personally.
The Internet is a wild and woolly place, but themail hasn’t been
like most other open discussion groups. It has been a haven of civil,
respectful political discussion, where people can disagree, often
vehemently, over issues and ideas without attacking each other
personally. In fact, that’s been a rule here, though I haven’t had
to repeat it frequently because of the inherent good nature of our
contributors: don’t hesitate to criticize each others’ ideas,
proposals, and positions — just don’t attack each other.
If you took the occasion of Rees’ death to assail him one last
time, feel free to be angry at me for not publishing it. But I’m
confident that in time you’ll be glad that you won’t be immortalized
in the timeless archives of the Internet for speaking ill of the dead.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Bringing the Inauguration Close to Home
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
The news is full of reports about how awful it’s going to be on the
Mall on January 20, with millions of people crowding the Mall, our
transit systems overloaded, and security personnel attempting to search
each and every one of the millions. Few will actually see anything but
what’s on the nearest Jumbotron. Many District residents will stay
home, unwilling to contend with the crowds, and perhaps unable to walk
so far and stand for hours in the cold.
Well, here’s an idea. Let’s make neighborhood parks into
extensions of the Mall, with the same Jumbotron displays that will serve
the crowds downtown. Meridian Hill Park in Columbia Heights is one such
location, capable of hosting many hundreds of residents, allowing them
to participate in the big day much as if they were on the Mall, but
without the long cold trek downtown and back. This will ease the burden
on the Mall, on transit, and on security, while permitting District
residents, including those with physical limitations preventing them
from hiking to the Mall, to participate in this historic day.
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Cheery Real Estate News
Gabe Goldberg, gabe at gabegold dot com (but I’m only
the messenger)
On November 28, the New York Times carried the story, “Got a
Room? Inauguration Is a Windfall,” by Katharine Q. Seelye, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/us/politics/28inaug.html?th&emc=th:
“It’s the capital’s newest parlor game, literally: How much is
your parlor worth? More precisely, how much is it worth to someone who
is coming to town for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in
January and needs a place to stay? One three-bedroom house in suburban
Virginia is said to have gone for $57,000 for inauguration week. A week
at a four-bedroom in suburban Maryland was listed at $60,000, though
that, like other offerings, may be wishful thinking.”
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“Taxation Without Representation” Street
Gabe Fineman, Porter Street, NW, gfineman@advsol.com
If any section of a street should be renamed to promote statehood, it
should be the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.
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Ward Six Visitor Parking Permits
Commissioner David Sobelsohn, anc6d02@capaccess.org
To cope with increased parking demands because of the new Nationals
Park, the DC Department of Transportation tightened up permissible
on-street parking in my Southwest neighborhood (ANC6D), as well as other
parts of the neighborhood (specifically, ANC6B). To make sure residents
and their guests could still park on the street, earlier this year DDOT
mailed one free visitor permit per household to neighborhood residents
who participated in the Residential Parking Permit program. (Those not
already in the RPP program had to know of the visitor-pass option and
then ask DDOT for a pass. Many, of course, did not. Presumably they and
their guests got parking tickets.) Each of these visitor permits carries
on its face, an expiration date of December 31, 2008.
DDOT has decided not to issue renewal permits until mid-January,
weeks after the current permits apparently expire. Here’s the
explanation from DDOT’s Damon Harvey, damon.harvey@dc.gov:
“DDOT and DPW will continue to honor existing passes until the new
ones have been delivered to residents. DDOT is waiting until January
2009 to mail out the new passes because: 1) The department does not want
to send out these passes in the middle of December and run the risk
these passes will get mixed in with holiday mail. 2) The department does
not want to put out a new parking pass while relevant city departments
are gearing up for the upcoming inaugural. Bottom line, all ANC 6B and
6D are valid until new passes arrive in the mail. Feel free to give me a
call at 671-0493 if you have any questions.”
As an ANC commissioner, on Wednesday, November 19, I told Mr. Harvey
that delaying issuing new visitor passes until mid-January was a serious
mistake. (I also informed him then of the importance, to my neighborhood
and the city, of the date January 20, 2009. He claimed not to know.) The
old passes say they expire on December 31. It’s nice that DDOT and the
Department of Public Works will continue to honor them past their
apparent expiration date. But unless DDOT makes an effort to communicate
that point to residents of our neighborhood, few residents will know
that. Moreover, promising to honor the old, ostensibly expired passes
“until the new ones have been delivered to residents” gives no
specific true expiration date for the old passes. This will generate
uncertainty for our residents and for law-enforcement as well regarding
how long these old passes, which say they expire December 31, will
really be honored. Since, in the nature of postal-mail delivery, some
passes will get delivered before others, unless DPW honors the old
passes for weeks after the new passes are mailed, inevitably some
residents or their guests will get undeserved parking tickets.
Dismissing those tickets will take time, and lead some residents and
visitors to pay tickets they shouldn’t have been issued just to save
themselves time. I will let others provide the right adjectives for a
city agency’s decision to set up a system likely to lead to issuing
undeserved parking tickets. Of course, on the other hand, honoring the
old passes until well after mailing of the new passes will mean some
lucky residents for some period of time will have double the number of
usable passes they should have — if they know to use them. Finally, if
by “the middle of January 2009,” Mr. Harvey is using words in their
ordinary meaning, DDOT plans to send out the new visitor passes around
January 15, in time for them to arrive just before the Inauguration,
generating exactly the complication DDOT purports to avoid by delaying
issuing the new passes. DDOT should issue the new visitor passes as soon
as they are ready, not wait until mid-January. Those who read this
interchange should save it, remember that DDOT first heard this warning
November 19, and hold DDOT accountable.
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Wonderful Washington Winter
John A. Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
“Wonderful Washington Winter,” the agency’s 2009 Winter
Activity Guide, is now available to residents throughout the District.
The guide, which features activities and events for children, teens,
adults, adults with special needs, families, and seniors, was made
available to the public weeks earlier than it has been in previous
years. The 2009 Winter Activity Guide includes an updated directory of
Department of Parks and Recreation facilities, a guide to educational
and child care programs, a directory of recreation and enrichment
programs, sports and fitness resources, a listing of senior services,
and a directory of therapeutic recreation services.
The majority of the programs listed in the 2009 Winter Activity Guide
are free of charge to District residents; nominal fees are charged to
nonresidents. To register for DPR programs, one can visit the agency’s
web site at http://dpr.dc.gov and click
on “Register for Programs..” One guide per family is available at
agency facilities while supplies last. Winter programs begin on December
21. “Wonderful Washington Winter” can also be downloaded from the
DPR web site at http://tinyurl.com/68ncou
(in PDF format).
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DC Cab Fuel Surcharge
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
Jim Champagne wondered in themail (November 26], why the fuel
surcharge is still in effect. I have asked a few drivers and all I get
is that it’s not been rescinded by the Taxi Commission or the District
government. I wrote to suggest it be removed.
The response on November 28, with my name spelled incorrectly
(clearly they are taking lessons from DCRA!), was: “Thank you for
contacting the DC Taxicab Commission. This issue has been addressed and
will be handled accordingly. We are working towards dropping the
gasoline surcharge. DC Taxicab Commission.” I wrote back to ask what
exactly that meant and what the timeline was. I’ll update when I hear.
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Reading Peter Orvetti’s post about DCRA [themail, November 26] and
the (poorly written and incorrect) packet he received from them and the
lack of response, helped me remember that I too have had so little
response from them. I called in the last ten days to ask questions and
complain about the recurring “demonstrations” outside 901 E Street,
NW, by people who are hired by the union to make lots of noise which is
supposed to, I guess, cause the building to use workers other than those
they are using.
A union supporter, I’d be more in favor of the demonstrations if a)
they were by the union instead of “hired help” (yeah, I know, they
may be homeless people who are earning money and that’s great but isn’t
there a better way to do so?), and b) they weren’t so loud. Living and
working on the same street is a nightmare when this goes on — the
noise is so bad that even phone calls are impossible.
But I digress; it’s DCRA that is the greater problem. All the
outgoing messages (if you can get through to voice mail that is not full
and won’t accept messages) say that they will return the call in
twenty-four hours. Maybe those are “dog hours,” so it means
twenty-four hours times seven, but, you know, it’s still longer than
that.
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Accidental Insult or Clue to Priorities?
Susan Ousley, Es El Ousley AT AYE OH EL dot cOM
This year’s One Fund online, http://www.unitedwaynca.org/regions/regions.html,
has lots of interesting information. For instance, you’ll find that
the District is listed dead last under “regions.” Anyone know what
that says about how funds are being allocated?
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Fixing DC Schools
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
The most important part of the educational services occurs in the
classroom. Many folks, however, are clamoring for improved facilities.
Super, high-tech facilities won’t make a significant difference in
improving the educational processes it is only the teachers and
principals that can educate our children. I agree that the tools these
teachers use must be up to date and in good working order and that
facilities that are used every day (bathrooms, lunch rooms, etc.) should
be clean and serviceable. But the buildings themselves need not be
palaces. They need only to be safe and comfortable. If money is to be
spent improving the education of our kids then that money should be
spent in the classrooms not in creating Taj Mahals out of the buildings.
Our very own School Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, graces the cover of
the December 8 issue of Time Magazine [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1862444,00.html].
Though I’m out here in the other Washington, I manage to keep up
daily, via the Internet and the Washington Post, with events in
DC.. Rhee is pictured on the Time cover holding a large broom.
Some will suggest that Rhee is a witch or something that rhymes with
witch. In fact, Rhee is sweeping the school system clean of those
elements that prevent our students from getting the education they
deserve (and that we pay for). The five-page article in Time,
entitled “Can She Save Our Schools,” will give Rhee some national
recognition. Note the word “Our” in the article title. This can’t
hurt Rhee in her battle against the recalcitrant DC Teachers’ Union
and should also help now that she also faces strong resistance from the
“dumb down” American Federation of Teachers. Perhaps President-elect
Obama, who mistakenly has not made education one of his top priorities,
will read the article and lend some support to the Rhee/Fenty cause.
The surest way to fix the DC schools that have terrible bathrooms and
poor lunchrooms is to get rid of the custodians and the custodians’
union and replace them with contracted custodial service organizations.
Much like the teachers’ unions, the custodians have long been an
impediment to making the school facilities safe and comfortable for the
students. The custodians will say that they have not had enough money to
accomplish their assigned work. That is no excuse for the poor state of
our schools. Put that work up for competitive bids to maintain our
schools and you will see just how much better the condition and
functioning of the schools will be.
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I have been reading about violence in the city schools and by youths
on the city streets with great concern. I understand that we must
educate our children and show special mercy to minors, but it is also
very necessary for society to be protected from its members that prey on
others and commit violent acts. Schools must be places that the students
can feel free to get an education without fear of violence, and our
citizens need to be able to walk the streets without fear of roving
youth gang violence. Violence in the school cannot be acted on
effectively because the students cannot be suspended and there is no
disciplinary action that seems to exist that has any effect at all. The
same situation exists in our greater society for minors that are
arrested for violent crimes, prosecuted through the court system, and
quickly released back into the society. There is no punishment for the
offender, and our citizens do not feel safe in their homes and walking
the streets. All of this has led me to the belief we must change our
laws so that that violence by minors must lead to strict incarceration
— with education available within the institution, of course — but
the society must have the recourse to remove violent offenders, no
matter what their age. The nonviolent among us have the right to feel
safe in our society, and violent offenders should be strictly punished
no matter what their age. This posting comes from a person who believes
himself to be a lifelong progressive, but also one who feels that our
city is not safe for our law-abiding citizens. I understand the horror
that some who read this will feel at the suggestion, but I also
understand the fear of violent youths that many of our city feel.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Forbidden Loves
,
December 7
Ed Bruske, euclidarms@yahoo.com
Sunday, December 7, 2:30-4:00 p.m., Historical Society of Washington,
DC, 801 K Street, NW. Free admission. HSW Author and Lecture Series: Forbidden
Loves: Paris Between The Wars, by Patricia Daly-Lipe, visits an age
of transition in the aftershock of the Great War and in the shadows of
the next world war when Paris was the cultural capital of the Western
world. This is a story replete with historical detail, universal
conflict, and sensational romance. Basically, it is a true story: the
protagonist is the author’s mother who died when she was eighteen. “
I have had to fictionalize her persona. However, the characters she
knew, including James Joyce, are well researched and accurate.” Forbidden
Loves: Paris Between the Wars includes Lindbergh’s flight across
the Atlantic; Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Joseph Campbell and Hemingway
in their own words; the Surrealist movement; lady pilots Bessie Coleman
and Amelia Earhart; Black Thursday; the ravages from and newspaper
clipping of the Great War; omens of a new war brewing; and much more.
Ages sixteen to adults. RSVP@historydc.org
or 383-1828.
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