Selling Our History
Dear History Owners:
On February 14, Jonetta Rose Barras reported on her web site (http://jrbarras.com./site/?p=288)
that the Secretary of the District, Stephanie Scott, is negotiating an
exclusive contract with a Utah genealogical company, The Generations
Network. “The city essentially would relinquish physical and
intellectual control of the genealogical records [in the District
Archives] to TGN. These will be managed exclusively by TGN.” Barras
says that Scott’s agreement with TGN would grant “TGN the rights and
license to digitize, index, copy, publish, republish, market,
distribute, and sell the Licensed Materials anywhere in the world within
any media, including printed and electronic products of genealogical
records — birth and death certifications; marriage licenses, wills,
probate records, etc. — of the District government, located in the DC
Archives.” On H-DC, the Washington, DC, History Network’s E-mail
discussion forum, Mary Belcher asked some of the unanswered questions
about this deal: “This is a very troubling report — especially
Barras’s statement that ‘physical and intellectual control’ of the
city’s vast repository of historical records would be relinquished to
an outside entity. This is the sort of deal that could easily fly under
the radar screen of the public at large, given the fact that most people
probably don’t even know that the DC Archives exists. As a legal
question, don’t we, the District taxpayers, enjoy some kind of
ownership in these documents? Can our history be bought and sold?” And
can the Fenty administration negotiate a deal to give a private company
sole authority over the city’s public government records and the right
to charge DC residents for access to the records gathered and paid for
by taxpayer funds, without any public discussion or even notification?
The Washington Teachers Union has opened a new web site, United for
DC Kids, http://www.unitedfordckids.org,
to promote its counterproposal for a contract between the union and DC
Public Schools. According to the site, “The proposal is more than just
words on paper — it is an action plan for schools that draws from
successful, collaborative contracts from across the region and the
nation, and takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the serious
issues facing the students in DC’s Public Schools. Most importantly,
the WTU’s proposal stresses the importance of accountability,
collaboration and cooperation among all stakeholders, essential
characteristics of any successful school district.” It’s the union’s
answer to the charge that it is just opposing the Chancellor’s
proposal, but doesn’t have an alternative.
In the last issue of themail, I asked how any of us can know what DC’s
citizens really prefer among the various proposals for the relationship
between the federal and local governments. Do we want the status quo, a
floor vote in the House for the District delegate, two senators and a
House representatives without statehood, statehood, or retrocession into
Maryland? We have groups and individuals advocating each of these
alternatives, but what authority does anyone have to say he or she
speaks for the DC public, and represents what the people want? It’s
not a rhetorical question; I really want to know.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
In the last issue of themail, I wrote that Omar Nour was not
qualified to be a member of the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, the
position to which Mayor Fenty has nominated him. My criticism was based
on the fact that Nour, who first registered to vote in DC in 2005, has
no knowledge, interest, or experience regarding elections or campaign
finance issues in the District. Nour would not bring any skills or
requisite qualifications to the Board, and he would be joining a Board
that already faces widespread criticism from citizens and the city
council for its management of what has become a troubled agency. The
mayor’s office touts Nour’s IT skills; however, his company, TOT
Solutions, LLC, is a telephone answering service in Hyattsville,
Maryland, not a high-tech company. As I wrote in the last issue, this
appointment is based mostly on Nour’s being a jock buddy of the mayor’s.
This week, David Nakamura (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/02/the_pace_setter_mayors_america.html#comments)
and Mike DeBonis (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/02/17/the-fenty-athletocracy/#more-16151)
reported that Nour is one of twelve members of the American Odyssey
relay team headed by Mayor Fenty and sponsored by the Fleet Feet store
owned Fenty’s parents; this team will run in a two-hundred mile relay
race from Gettysburg to Washington on April 24-25. Nakamura listed the
names and backgrounds of the team members, and DeBonis took it one step
further by annotating that list with the Boards and Commissions to which
Fenty has nominated five of his teammates.
Another troubling aspect to Nour’s nomination is that he has made a
substantial contribution, $1794.53, to Fenty’s 2010 reelection
campaign war chest. DC Code Section 1-1001.04(b)(3) says that no member
of the Board of Elections shall “participate in or contribute to any
political campaign of any candidate in any election. . . .” Nour has
not technically violated this section, since his contribution to the
mayor’s election campaign was made in December, predating his
nomination to the Board. However, it is clear that the contribution
violates the spirit of the law, since it is for the 2010 campaign, which
would occur while he would be a member of the Board, should he be
confirmed. His political impartiality has been compromised.
Nour’s nomination is not the only problem nomination by the Fenty
administration in recent months. In his Washington Examiner column
on Tuesday, Harry Jaffe commented on the mayor’s nominees to the
Public Employee Relations Board (http://tinyurl.com/d6shhr).
Jaffe concluded that these nominees aren’t qualified and “don’t
measure up to the letter of the law.” These are just the latest in a
continuing pattern of questionable, unqualified nominees. Does the mayor
not have a wide enough circle of friends, acquaintances, and contacts,
or is he reluctant to appoint people with the knowledge, experience, and
qualifications to think for themselves and act independently as members
of independent boards and commissions?
###############
By now you may have heard or read in the news about complaints of
unexplained extraordinarily high PEPCO energy bills in the last few
weeks in the Washington Metropolitan area. In fact, the Office of the
People’s Counsel (OPC) is now hearing such complaints in the District
of Columbia, particularly Ward 3. We are aware that the Washington
Metropolitan area has experienced unusually cold weather this year, and
for at least the past five years, the electric generation rate has
increased approximately 85 percent; this rate has been completely
unregulated by the local Public Service Commission since the
deregulation of the electric industry in the District. In addition, the
PEPCO distribution rate increased in 2007. However, OPC is somewhat
surprised to hear District residents complaining of high PEPCO energy
bills during the heating season, given that 75 percent of DC residents
heat their homes with natural gas provided by Washington Natural Gas
Company.
Again, OPC has heard from a number of consumers through its consumer
complaint operations and from communication with Ward 3 consumers, but
now we need to hear from other residents in the District to find out if
extraordinarily high PEPCO energy bills is a citywide problem. OPC needs
to hear whether you have experienced unexplainably high PEPCO bills over
the past few months. If yes, please let the Office of the People’s
Counsel know via E-mail at cceo@opc-dc.gov
or by telephone at 727-3071, and provide your name, address and
telephone number so that we may contact you to obtain your consent to
review your PEPCO bills as part of our investigation of these complaints
of high PEPCO bills.
###############
What You Need to Know
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
This Friday, February 20, the city’s Drinking Water Quality Task
Force will meet from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in room 1114 at 441 4th
Street, NW (One Judiciary Square). This is your only public notice of
the meeting. Even though the meeting is supposed to be open to the
public, the DC government hasn’t issued any press release announcing
it, and the District’s web site contains no announcement that it will
be held, even on the Task Force’s dedicated page (http://ddoe.dc.gov/ddoe/cwp/view,a,1209,q,498508.asp).
The task force was created a year ago to investigate issues related to
the quality of the District’s drinking water, especially lingering
concerns about lead in the water.
When established, the task force was placed under the aegis of the
District’s Department of the Environment (DOE) and its director,
George S. Hawkins. In the intervening twelve months, the task force has
met only twice. Moreover, the existence, membership, work, and meetings
of the task force are largely unknown to most citizens. Until I raised
the issue with Hawkins’ assistant recently, even basic information
regarding the task force, including the minutes of its past meetings,
was deeply buried — six links away from the home page of DOE’s web
site. Now it has been raised to only three links away from the home
page. Nevertheless, in his testimony on February 10 at the council
hearing on water quality, Hawkins testified that he had “convened a
taskforce that includes all stakeholders, from DC WASA to
community-based organizations, and have initiated a transparent process
to design a definitive study that will close examine and carefully
analyze the District’s water quality with respect to lead. The
taskforce meetings have been honest and open. . . .”
###############
Hooey in PG: county officials are trying to portray the deal as “businesslike”
in the press, but in reality it sounds like the PG government will be
classic “dumb money” sitting on the sidelines. If the management
fails to deliver revenue, or if the stadium shuts down due to a soccer
labor dispute, etc., then the public has been given notice that it will
be on the hook to make the debt repayments. Excuse me, that’s
businesslike? Rather, if the county does not get an active seat on the
United board as any venture capital or private equity guy would demand,
at the very least if management fails to deliver for whatever reason to
cover debt servicing, the lender should end up owning the team. That’s
the public in this case. Every team wants free money and a free lunch
paid by the public. We will see if PG can sell this proposition to an
intelligent public and legislature.
Meanwhile, back in DC: congratulations to all those in DC government,
like Councilmember Jack Evans and then-member Vincent Orange, who pushed
hardest for the precedent-setting 100 percent freebie Nats Stadium. They
squandered DC’s precious fiscal maneuverability on that one deal,
leaving little dry powder, if any, for soccer (or more importantly, for
other precious community economic development deals like Georgia
Avenue, which go begging for vital financial seeding today). Then-Mayor
Williams and his naive (and possibly corrupt) council “shot the moon”
on funding an unprecedented, bloated stadium deal, leaving DC
increasingly unable to initiate or move other economic development
projects. Our indebtedness has edged up to precarious levels that are
higher than DC’s Chief Financial Officer has long forewarned are
acceptable to credit rating agencies.
Indeed, with the egregious public funding of the $770 million Nats
Stadium ($611 million borrowed and another more than $150 million
cleverly hidden here and there in other DC operating and capital
budgets, together with cost overruns finally admitted just five days
before Opening Day), Major League Baseball walked out of town with a
cool $450 million in cash, which the Lerners tithed. Of that amount that
MLB received, $120 million recouped the amount MLB paid to buy the Expos
and move the team. But the remaining massive $330 million that left town
was profit on having held that team for less than twenty-four months.
That gain was not due to any investment or improvement MLB made in the
team itself during the period. Rather, that staggering third of a
billion dollars was public value DC contributed due to DC’s superior
demographics and market, all of which the DC government just gave away.
To the Lerner family, the total deal purchase price was worth $450
million no matter where the money went, whether into MLB’s pockets or
into bricks and mortar. From a taxpayer’s viewpoint, that $330 million
should rightly be viewed as a public golden gift or subsidy. Either way,
the DC public got hosed. My guess is the $330 million gain was
distributed to MLB’s thirty teams at about $10 million each, with
about $30 million kept by MLB’s front office. Just a guess. So the
bottom line is that Mr. McFarlane and his DC United may get no public
candy or financing yeast to accelerate a deal because DC’s elected
leaders acted irresponsibly, as if on some kind of unreal fiscal high,
and as if money is printed in the basement of the Wilson Building. Now
instead, they will increasingly be looking for quarters in the sofas
there.
It’s not over till it’s over on $occer, if DC is both welcoming
and shrewd. But this is a hard balance of our elected leaders to achieve, given
the damage already done and the egregious expectations and precedents
already set.
###############
[An open letter to Mayor Adrian Fenty] I am writing this letter on
behalf of the Poplar Point Coalition. The Poplar Point Coalition is made
up of over three hundred individuals, ANC Commissioners, heads of civic
organizations, ministers, and other community people. We are outraged!
We are disappointed in the way you and your administration have
mishandled the Poplar Point development. As you know by now, DC United
is leaving the District to relocate to Prince George’s County. As you
are aware, Victor McFarland, majority owner of DC United, has worked
relentlessly to keep the team and organization in the District. But the
way you and your administration have handled the soccer team left him no
choice but to leave. The Coalition holds you personally responsible for
this fact. (Soccer is the number one sport in the world and Washington,
DC, would have been the central place where Maryland and Virginia and
others would come.)
Let me put this in perspective. On behalf of the Coalition on August
31, 2007, I indicated “For the past two years, the Advisory
Neighborhood Commissioners, heads of civic organizations, ministers, and
other community people had spent hundreds of hours in fifty to sixty
meetings discussing and inputting into what we in Ward 8 and 7 want to
see at Poplar Point.” Mr. Mayor, I have never seen the Ward 8
community so unified behind a project like Poplar Point. There are
persons who supported the project who rarely agree on hardly anything. I’d
like to refer you to my letter of August 31, 2007, where the Coalition
predicted that your approach was counterproductive and would fail. The
first blow was for the city to terminate Clark Realty’s agreement and
in a press release make it appear as though it was Clark who pulled out.
I have investigated this situation and found that Clark had done
everything the city asked them to do, including doing term sheets,
financial arrangements, etc. Let me point out that not once did you meet
with Clark. Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic
Development, did all he could do to keep Clark in the deal as well as to
keep soccer at Poplar Point. We in the Coalition know that Deputy Mayor
Albert would not terminate the agreement without your explicit approval.
The final blow was the wooing of DC United by Prince George’s
County officials and the State of Maryland. I told you some time ago
that I was in County Executive Jack Johnson’s box at a Redskins game
and that Prince George’s is serious about trying to get DC United.
Apparently this information fell on deaf ears. Now they are leaving. We
need development at Poplar Point. The city and those of us east of the
river need the thousand jobs that would have come to Poplar Point. We
needed thousands of affordable housing units and thousands of feet of
retail space that would have been part of this project. Moreover, we
needed the seventy-acre recreational space and park. The Coalition
believes you have squandered what you described as “a once in a
lifetime opportunity.” Your approach attracted only four developers
(contrary to your view that it would open up competition to many
developers). Furthermore, NEPA under your administration is six to eight
months behind schedule.
Eleanor Holmes Norton fought very hard and succeeded in getting the
federal government to transfer this 110 acres of prime land. This makes
it seem as though she fought for nothing. In that, you only have four
developers under good circumstances, it is unlikely that any major
developer would want to work with the city because of the way the city
treated Clark. Finally, on behalf of the Coalition, I reiterate my
outrage and disappointment that under the best of circumstances Poplar
Point is at least ten to fifteen years away in development. Thousands of
jobs have been lost. Thousands of affordable housing units lost and
thousands of square feet of retail space. Notwithstanding this awful
situation, in the loss of DC United, the Coalition and the community
intend to press you to personally get and stay involved to make Poplar
Point development a high priority. This is the only way that it can be
developed.
###############
How Long?
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
How long do we have to put up with a dysfunctional criminal who is a
symbol of Washington, DC? That’s Marion Barry, a twice-convicted felon
who has done nothing for the city or its constituents and yet remains,
in the eyes of those away from DC, a laughingstock symbol. Throw this
bugger off the city council and impeach him with a big public fanfare.
As I travel around the US and even overseas, I am taunted by those whom
I tell I’m from the nation’s capitol with comments about our mayor,
Marion Barry. I have to explain that Barry is not the mayor, but is on
the city council. I tell them that the city has a new mayor and a good
public school chancellor, and that the city is getting better. This city
will never be recognized as a major, important city until Barry is
tossed out.
###############
I know, what’s this got to do with themail’s focus on life in the
District and District government matters? Well, this is about our
Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s checking account, which is to say
your tax dollars. Some time ago I arranged for online access to this
account, just as I have for my home checking account. Early this month,
logging in just to track the cashing of our ANC checks, I got quite a
rude surprise: three withdrawals, totaling over a thousand dollars, by
some scammer in Alabama. That the routing number was for a bank in DC,
and the business address on the checks was in Alabama, triggered no
warnings.
Because I detected the theft just a few days after these checks were
passed, I was able to put a quick stop to it, stopping withdrawals from
that checking account. The bank has refunded the bogus withdrawals, so
little damage was done to our ANC account. But suppose I had passively
waited for the monthly bank statement, four weeks later? By that time
this enterprising scammer could have passed dozens of checks, none large
enough to trigger close inspection, but the total amounting to much more
than the thousand dollars that he evidently got away with.
I’ve advised other ANCs to arrange for online access to their
accounts, for close monitoring. Some commissioners have said that their
bank would not allow them online access, or would require stiff fees for
the service. It seems to me that online access, and frequent monitoring
of ANC checking accounts, ought to be mandatory, and banks should be
happy to provide it. Think of how much I might just have saved the Bank
of America. This applies to you and your personal checking account, too.
Keep a close eye on it, because you might be the next victim of this
kind of fraud.
###############
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions
Robert Meisnere, meisnere@yahoo.com
In response to Ron Deline’s post about ANC’s (themail, February
15): “These ANC’s are just armchair wannabe politicians, basically
busybodies that have too much time on their hands and have far too much
detrimental influence,” is an accurate statement. Last year, while
following the process to put up a fence, my family had an altercation
with a local commissioner on the Woodley Park ANC. This commissioner
harassed, intimidated, and told lies to my family. He arrived at my
house on a Friday night at 9:00 p.m., unannounced, while my wife was
putting our two kids to sleep. I was not at home, and he expected my
wife to leave the kids in the house alone so that she could show him the
plan outside. He showed his District badge through the mail slot as if
he were conducting “official business.” I rushed home because my
wife was intimidated while he stood in our kitchen.
He made it clear that I was required to ensure that we receive his
“blessing” on our proposed fence. I stood outside with him until
11:00 p.m. and listened to his repeat promises that he would support the
request. At the ANC hearing, he did not vote for it and publicly stated
that we had not implemented his suggestions in the ten days since his
unannounced visit to our house. Subsequently, he came to the Public
Space Committee hearing and was prepared to testify against us if the
committee supported our request. Once again, his presence at the
committee hearing was an effort to intimidate us and to assert his
self-contrived sense of importance and his power to control the
neighborhood.
###############
I would like to respond to some of themail’s readers about the DC
Republican Committee’s objections to Councilmember Mary Cheh’s
Restaurant Hygiene Act of 2009. The DC Republican Party agrees with Cheh
that we need to eliminate Freedom of Information Act requests when the
public wants to view DC restaurant inspections. Currently, District law
requires the public to make a FOIA request, and we can all agree this
needs to be eliminated. The DC Republican Party thinks that taking
Virginia’s model, in which reports are posted online, is the way to
go. In fact, the DC Republican Party thinks the District government
should post all its financial transactions (procurement) online to
promote transparency, but that is a different topic. The problem with
Cheh’s legislation is that it would give so much power to only a few
inspectors, which can harm some of our favorite places to eat. Does that
mean we oppose restaurant inspections? No, of course not; DC should
inspect restaurants. Restaurants that receive a poor inspection should
be shut down until their violations are corrected and, as is done
currently, when these restaurants are shut down the Washington Post
and others should publish this information.
The DC Republican Party, however, thinks that the process in the
proposed Cheh bill would be very damaging for individual restaurants and
the restaurant industry as a whole. Restaurants depend on word of mouth
to drive business. If a restaurant received a low letter grade for a
minor problem, and would have to display the letter sign for a long
period of time during which they attempt to appeal it, this would
dramatically hurt its business.
Again, we agree that restaurants that could potentially make people
sick should be shut down and the public should know, and that is
currently the case. The real problem is if restaurants get anything less
than an “A” for a minor problem The problem may be corrected
immediately, but the damage is already done. We all have experienced
pop-quizzes in school, Cheh’s legislation is like making students’
scores on one pop quiz their final, total grades for a course. So what
else can be done? Why don’t we follow what other cities do and reward
restaurants that excel at keeping their standards above average? Why
doesn’t the District give restaurants stickers or signs they can place
at their main entrance to show for their good work? Dare I say, why
doesn’t the District pay for publicity to increase business for the
District’s best restaurants? This will create an incentive for
businesses, while addressing the concern of bad places to eat to be
properly shut down.
###############
Soul of the City Seeking Youth Applicants
During Spring Break
Lisa Alfred, lalfred@wdchumanities.org
Soul of the City is the youth leadership development program of the
Humanities Council of Washington, DC. We are seeking youth aged 15-18
during spring break to participate in a week-long innovative program to
explore Washington, DC, neighborhoods. This year’s participants will
create a documentary on our great city. If you know of any DC youth that
would be interested in this program, please send them to our web site to
fill out the application at http://www.wdchumanities.org
or contact Tyra Fennell at 387-8391. Applications are due by Monday,
February 23.
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Brookland Heartbeat
January/February Issue Now Available
Abigail Padou, brooklandheartbeat@yahoo.com
The January/February issue of Brookland Heartbeat is now
available. Articles and features in this issue include: San Antonio Bar
and Grill Opens in Brookland, Sparks Fly over Proposal to Eliminate N.
Capitol “Cloverleaf’,” Neighborhood Sees Few Benefits from “Amenities,”
Local Dancer Leaps into Big Time, and Brookland Heartbeat Holiday
Pie and Cake Contest Winners! Brookland Heartbeat is mailed to
more than 9,500 homes in the greater Brookland area. Brookland
Heartbeat is also on the web at http://www.brooklandheartbeat.org.
Brookland Heartbeat is a nonprofit, all-volunteer community
newspaper. To be added to the E-mail distribution list, send your E-mail
address to brooklandheartbeat@yahoo.com.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Department of Parks and Recreation Events,
February 20-21
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
Friday, February 20, Frederick Douglass Museum, 320 A Street, NE. The
youth of Joe Cole Recreation Center will get a lesson of history when
visiting the historic Frederick Douglass Museum. Ages 8-12. For more
information, contact Kyanna Blackwell, Site Manager, 724-4876.
Friday, February 20, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Turkey Thicket Recreation
Center, 1100 Michigan Avenue, NE. Live Every Voice: seniors will enjoy
R&B, gospel, blues, and jazz. A tribute to African Americans in
music. Ages 55 and up. For more information, contact Sue Wynn,
Recreation Specialist, 576-9238.
Saturday, February 21, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Fort Davis Recreation
Center, 1400 41st Street, SE. Weekend at the museum: the staff of Fort
Davis will accompany the youth the center to several museums in downtown
DC. This will be a fun-filled learning experience for ages 8-18. For
more information, contact Mark Chisholm, 645-9212.
Saturday, February 21, 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Rosedale Recreation
Center, 17th and Gales Streets, NE. A Black history salute and brief
readings of Black American poetry and spoken word during a brunch to
learn about all the important figures of the past who have paved the
way. All ages. For more information, contact Brian Williams, 724-5405.
Saturday, February 21, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Hillcrest Recreation
Center, 3100 Denver Street, SE. Music therapy with table harps for
children with special needs, ages 7-12. Program is scheduled on
Saturdays from February 21 to March 28. Cost is $25.00 per person. For
more information, contact the TR Center, 645-6516.
###############
Cashing in Through a Web Presence, February 21
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org
Every small business, consultant, writer, and freelancer needs a
presence on the Internet — that’s where potential customers expect
to find you. This session will discuss the reasons why, and walk you
through the steps involved in establishing a domain name and web site,
inexpensively and easily. We’ll also have a brief discussion of search
engine rankings. Learn how to bust through the jargon, and learn enough
to do it on your own or to confidently hire someone. No technical
expertise is needed — just your own good business savvy.
Gather your colleagues (whether consultants, small business owners,
entrepreneurs, soon-to-be small business owners, writers, freelancers,
or free agents), and your questions, and bring them to this Saturday,
February 21, 1:00 p.m., gathering of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG)
Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special Interest Group (E&C SIG).
There will be a handout. 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), Washington, DC — 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/209meet.html.
To RSVP, send E-mail to bconn@cpcug.org.
###############
Black History Month Literary Arts Events,
February 23-25
Maresha Tadesse, maresha.tadesse@dc.gov
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is proud to promote the
literary arts scene in Washington during Black History Month. Immerse
yourself with icons of past, living legends of today and the voice of
youth sharing their art form at special events across the District.
February 23, 12:00 p.m. E. Ethelbert Miller, Director of the African
American Resource Center at Howard University since 1974. Poetry Reading
at the Library of Congress.
February 23, 5:30 p.m. Amanda Fernandez, Poetry Out Loud National
Champion 2007. Poetry Out Loud at the Woolly Mammoth Theater.
February 24, 6:00 p.m. Langston Hughes (1902-1967), busboy at the
Wardman Hotel, won first poetry prize in DC. Event: It’s All Love by
Marita Golden, at the Langston Room at Busboys and Poets, 14th and V
Streets, NW.
February 25, 3:00 p.m. Elizabeth Alexander, inaugural poet for
President Barack Obama, talk on Black studies at Founders Library
Browsing Room, Howard University.
###############
Healthy DC, Or Not?, February 24
Anne Renshaw, milrddc@aol.com
The Federation of Citizens Associations of Washington, DC, will focus
on the state and cost of DC’s health care delivery system at its
meeting on Tuesday, February 24, 6:45-9:00 p.m., at The Charles Sumner
School, 1201 Seventeenth Street, NW (at M Street). Our guest speaker,
Councilmember David Catania, Chairman of City Council’s Committee on
Health, will summarize his committee’s investigations and priorities.
Have the city’s health agencies suffered financial shortfalls leading
to program cuts? How many DC residents are still without health
insurance? What diseases and/or chronic conditions (e.g.,
pneumonia, heart attack, stroke, drug or alcohol abuse) largely impact
the local population? Will the Department of Health (DOH) receive
federal stimulus monies to improve health facilities and services for
city residents? What benefits have resulted from the 2008 RAND Study on
the District’s health? How reliable is the management of DC’s
Medicaid program?
The District’s health care delivery system is an expensive
operation. How well does it work and is it achieving the desired results
of a healthier population? The Citizens Federation will put a
stethoscope to health care in the nation’s capital and ask
Councilmember Catania for his diagnosis. The Citizens Federation is a
citywide coordinating body for community and neighborhood associations.
Formed in 1910, the Federation is currently celebrating its 99th year of
citizen activism. For further information, contact Anne Renshaw,
Federation president, 202-363-6880.
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The Future of the Mt. Pleasant Library
Laurie Collins, lauriec@lcsystems.com
Due to expressions of concern from a variety of Mount Pleasant civic
groups as well as the ANCs of Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights
regarding the DC Public Library’s (DCPL) planned renovation of the
Mount Pleasant Public Library, the Mayor’s Office of Community
Relations and Services is coordinating a public meeting for the
community to address our concerns and issues to the DCPL and related
parties regarding the library’s proposed plans for renovation.
Please join us in open discussion to address its future renovations.
The meeting will take place at the Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library on
Tuesday, February 24, at 6:30 p.m.
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