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January 4, 2009

It’s Murder

Dear Washingtonians:

In the last issue of themail, I wrote about voters’ “rational ignorance” about conditions in the city and the operations of city government. What I wrote prompted one writer to sent me a note about “rational ignorance” of MPD performance. The writer has a current connection with law enforcement, so asked me not to publish the message with any attribution, but just to use it for my personal information if I wanted. Instead, I decided that it may be interesting to you, so I’ll pass it on anonymously.

“For the second year in a row, homicides are up in the District. In fact, since Team Fenty and Team Lanier took over, lethal violence in the city has shot up more than 10 percent (169 homicides under Ramsey’s last year, at least 186 this year). This is happening at a time when major cities such as Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia (Ramsey’s new gig) and others are reporting significant drops in their homicides. Lanier’s explanation of the 2008 homicide increase in the Washington Times (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/01/lanier-tempers-dc-homicide-count) is laughable. Every year, police departments (here and across the country) pick up ‘old’ homicides that are included in the current year count; she makes it sound as if the first time that ever happened in DC was in 2008.

“None of the facts on crime, of course, follows the Post story line of how well Fenty, Lanier, Rhee, et al., are doing on our behalf. So in the Post we get stories about useless stolen property posted on the MPD web site, but nothing on homicides. To their credit, the Examiner ran a pretty extensive story (for them) when the 2008 murder count passed the 2007 number in mid-December, but I don’t recall seeing anything from the Post regarding that milestone. But as you point out in your most recent posting, people who are ‘rationally ignorant’ of the facts don’t know that murders are up 10 percent under Fenty, and they certainly have no way of knowing, when the main news outlet in town ignores the story.”

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Metro’s Smart Cards for Seniors
William Haskett, williamhaskett@hotmail.com

I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry at Metro’s attempts to explain what was supposed to happen today. I got the idea of the Smart Card, but not the fact that it was not universally available, especially to seniors, and that when it would be available, the benefits to seniors would be so meager. I went to Metro Center to buy a senior Smart Card, only to discover that the distribution centers were all closed on Sunday, that being the day on which most people might be able to get to any one of them. Metro Center is the most prominent sales outlet for senior Smart Cards; the others, including some bus depots and a few stations, are not so obvious. They are located primarily for people who use Metro on weekdays for the journey to work. None (as Ms. Frankel discovered, in the Post story in the Metro Section, http://tinyurl.com/92p6sa) is actually open on Sunday and equipped for seniors.

The benefits to seniors (in particular) now seem diminished at any period except the rush hours, when, I presume, retirees are least likely to travel. I was informed that the 50 percent reduction for seniors was only from the regular fare in the rush-hour. Rush-hour fares will be reduced by half, sure enough, but not the fares for non-rush hours. For example, seniors will save only fifteen cents off the fare from Metro Center to Largo in non-rush hours. A senior traveling outside of the rush hours will pay more than 90 percent of the non-rush fare, rather than 50 percent of it. This is neither sensible nor generous to seniors, who will already have given Metro $5.00 for the card, and who will then be expected to feel privileged for a reduction of pennies, rather than of dollars.

Can this be correct? If it is, then Metro is committing an immense fraud on the area’s senior population. If I am mistaken, I would be pleased to hear it. The problem cannot be with the machines, which can surely be programmed to deal with the difference between the rush-hour and the non-rush-hour fare. I should like to discover that someone had blundered, rather than that the deception was deliberate.

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Happy New Year DC Public Schools
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com

The real issue, and this is tough, is to get schools to be outcomes-based, and to develop the support and professional development systems necessary to make schooling successful for all students regardless of their household income status. And to engage civic capacity in making these changes. Montgomery County, Maryland, is not the only school system that is successful at doing this. There are others. Hedrick Smith did some PBS programs on this topic. Anthony Alvarado’s work in both New York City and San Diego is featured in one of the Smith episodes and is another model.

I can speak to the DC experience with charter schools. I understand why people are driven to that model as a last resort. However, it consigns the regular school system to deeper mediocrity. When charter schools get preferences in a variety of ways, that can trump neighborhood and city planning in substantive ways that should be opposed as a matter of course by people committed to sound planning principles. For example, there is no real master plan for education in DC that incorporates both “public” charter schools as well as the traditional system. The charters get public monies but the public doesn’t own the school buildings. And there is no master curriculum planning, etc. But Congress mandated that charter schools get first dibs on closed public school buildings, etc.

The DC Public Schools “reform” effort is a whole other issue separate from the charter schools. The new mayor and the Chancellor get great press, but it is clear that other than busting unions, firing older teachers, and hiring young “energetic” inexperienced teachers, that they don’t really have a plan for building solid, robust, and resilient management and professional development systems along the lines of successful school districts such as Montgomery County (or Alvarado’s efforts), which manage to succeed without the destruction of unions and wholesale teacher firings. Therefore, in a few years, it is likely we will see continued failure in DC public education, except for some charter schools and some public schools which, because of special programs, including Montessori education, or because of being located in higher income neighborhoods and having children from higher income households as the primary students.

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DC Voting Rights: Where’s the Beef?
Samuel Jordan, samunomas@msn.com

The Washington Post’s December 27 editorial, “Call the Vote” [http://tinyurl.com/6t6wbs] urging early congressional action on DC voting rights, promotes a triumph of symbol over substance. There is no substance because there is no principle in the Post’s endorsement. What of the principle of equality for all US citizens who pay federal taxes? Such equality is not achieved with a single vote in the House and no votes in the Senate. What of the principles of legislative, judicial, and budgetary autonomy? The Post is silent. Of what benefit is one seat in the House of Representatives if residents of the District of Columbia must continue to be governed by the whim of Congress? Then there is Utah. What crisis in democracy afflicts Utah? Why is the reddest, whitest state in the union the charitable recipient of an additional seat in the House? The Post answers with a nod to maintenance of the “existing political balance” — a poor substitute for principle. Nothing short of statehood meets the combined principle and substance test. Frankly, everything else maintains the existing political balance.

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Street Closings Around the Hay-Adams
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com

The District Department of Transportation has sent the following traffic advisory about parking restrictions and street closures around President-Elect Obama’s hotel:

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) advises residents and motorists that the following street closures and parking restrictions will be put into effect to provide for security and safety around the Hay Adams Hotel during President-Elect Obama’s stay. These closures will be in place from 1 a.m. on Sunday, January 4 until midnight on January 15: 16th Street, NW, between I Street and H Street, will be closed to vehicular traffic and parking will be restricted; Connecticut Avenue, NW, between I Street and H Street, will be closed to vehicular traffic and parking will be restricted; H Street, NW, between 17th Street and Vermont Avenue, will be closed to vehicular traffic and parking will be restricted; parking will be restricted on I Street, NW, between 14th and 17th Streets.

In addition, pedestrian access may be restricted on the streets listed above. Residents will have access to their homes and delivery trucks will be permitted to make deliveries to businesses in the area after they are cleared through security checkpoints.

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Historic Districts
Matt Forman, Matthew.Forman2@verizon.net

Jack McKay claims (themail, December 28, 2008) that the historic preservation office punishes non-wealthy homeowners who try to improve their properties with “energy efficient” windows, etc. Oh? The average sales price of a row house last year in Mt. Pleasant, where Mr. McKay lives and cites historic preservation examples from, was approximately $700,000. (I referred to million-dollar homes in Chevy Chase, and Mr. McKay responded that Mt. Pleasant was different in that regard, although apparently not by much.) If Mr. McKay would suggest that the homeowners are house-rich and cash-poor, then how do they have the resources to make all these improvements that HPO is so heavily regulating? According to sources such as Consumer Reports (http://tinyurl.com/8srry5), new windows probably won’t net enough energy savings for twenty years or more. So if the homeowners are cash-strapped, the last thing they should do is put in new windows. They are better off weatherizing their existing windows and/or adding storms. Yet, if the owner of a $700,000 home can afford the luxury of money-losing replacement windows, then is it really too much to ask that the windows be consistent with the architecture, i.e., not vinyl?

As to the elderly/disabled couple, I am still unclear as to the story, and would be grateful for Mr. McKay’s elaboration. If they could not climb stairs, how were they to live in their two or three story row house, even with a ramp to the front door?

As to democracy, it is simply a difference of viewpoint. The democracy is that the city council enacted the historic preservation laws, which apply citywide to any neighborhood of historic merit. Mr. McKay presumably prefers mini-democracies, where individual neighborhoods can opt in or out. But land-use laws such as zoning and historic preservation aren’t undemocratic just because they are done citywide.

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Touch Typing
Dan Gamber, daniel at gamber.net

Phil Shapiro’s “Students Must Learn to Touch Type” in the December 22 themail was right on. The most valuable class I ever took was “personal typing” in the ninth grade. (That was nearly thirty years before the term “personal computer” was invented.) I would suggest only one change: his target of thirty words per minute is too low.

Today, virtually all jobs above physical laborer require some keyboarding. That includes trades like working on a car assembly line as well as the traditional white collar jobs. Those who cannot touch type are crippled.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

DC Public Library Martin Luther King, Jr., Events, January 7-8
George Williams, george.williams2@dc.gov

Wednesday, January 7, 10:30 a.m., Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library, 115 Atlantic Street, SW. Dr. King Story Time. Enjoy stories, films and reading activities about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ages 1 – 5. Contact: 645-5881.

Wednesday, January 7, 3:30 p.m., Palisades Neighborhood Library, 4901 V Street, NW. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Power with Words and Creating Change. Create a zine, a hand-made, self-published magazine, of Dr. King’s inspiring words and your own call for action. Ages 10-19. Contact: 282-3096.

Wednesday, January 7, 4:00 p.m., Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330 7th Street, NE. Practice Kindness: enjoy songs and stories in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Ages 3-8. Contact: 698-3298.

Thursday, January 8, 4:00 p.m., Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library, 115 Atlantic Street, SW. Poems of Dr. King’s Footsteps: read and write poems on the events of Dr. King’s footsteps. Ages 6-12. Contact: 645-5881

Thursday, January 8, 6:00 p.m., Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library, 115 Atlantic Street, SW. Black History Movie Night: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw. This film explores the life of Tupac Shakur whose work was deeply formed by his Black Panther heritage. Contact: 645-5881.

Thursday, January 8, 6:30 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Black Studies Center, Room 316. Dr. King: His International Appeal, a discussion with columnist Joe Davidson of The Washington Post Federal Diary. Among a number of world leaders, Nelson Mandela has often cited Dr. King as a major source of inspiration. Davidson assesses the leadership of both men and how they became symbols of freedom and equality. Contact: 727-1211

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DC Public Library Events, January 8
George Williams, george.williams2@dc.gov

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 a.m., Petworth Neighborhood Library, 4200 Kansas Avenue, NW, Literacy Resource Center, Room 302. Let’s Speak English — English as a Second Language Conversation Circles. English conversation circles for advanced beginners (adults who can speak and understand basic English). For more information, contact 541-6300

Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m., West End Neighborhood Library, 1101 24th Street, NW. Sahaja Yoga Meditation. The DC Public Library is not responsible, nor does it endorse health information given to participants during the program. For more information, contact 724-8707.

Thursday, January 8, 2:30 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Arts and Literature Division, Room 221. Let’s Talk about Books. Discuss The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls.

Thursday, January 8, 11:00 a.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Adaptive Services Division, Room 225. Talking Book Club. Members of the DC Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped adult book club will discuss Blue Lonesome by Bill Pronzini.

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CityVision Presentation of Penn Quarter Plans, January 9
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org

January 9, 6:00-8:00 p.m. CityVision final presentation. Come hear the students of Browne Gibbs Education Center and Howard Road Academy present their innovative development plans, prepared in collaboration with the DC Office of Planning, for the area near I-395 between Penn Quarter and Union Station. Free; registration not required. Refreshments will be served following presentations. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.

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Cleveland Park Citizens Association, January 10
George Idelson, g.idelson@verizon.net

“The Proposed Giant and the Community: What’s at stake?” is the subject of the next meeting of the Cleveland Park Citizens Association on Saturday, January 10, 10:15 a.m. at the Cleveland Park Library (Connecticut Avenue and Newark Street, NW). A panel of speakers will address an informative discussion of the zoning process as well as the history of the supermarket development and remaining community concerns.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FREE

Hospital Bed
Trish Chittams, mintrish@gmail.com

A friend is giving away a working mechanical hospital bed to whomever desires to dismantle it and pick it up. The sooner the better. Please contact me via E-mail if you are interested.

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