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April 15, 2009

Petty and Petulant

Dear Adult and Mature Correspondents:

The bully in the school yard — “all the toys are mine, mine, mine” — has struck again. Last year, Mayor Fenty hoarded for himself all the free luxury skybox tickets to Nationals baseball games that are given to the mayor and councilmembers as one of their perquisites of power. It caused a prolonged struggle that succeeded in making everyone look bad until the bully could himself be bullied into sharing fairly. So this year, what did Mayor Fenty do? He demonstrated that he learned nothing from last year’s mistake by again hoarding all the tickets for himself. Yesterday, reporters cornered Fenty and asked him to explain his bad behavior. See http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/04/14/fenty-few-answers-on-nats-tickets/ for an account of that encounter, and play the whole six-and-a-half minutes of the MP3 recording of the reporters’ questioning and Fenty’s awkward attempts not to answer their questions to get the full flavor of it.

Of course, the issue of who gets tickets to Nationals baseball games is petty, but a petty and petulant little boy is in power in our city, and he acts in the same petty way whether the issue is big or small. No, you can’t get the tickets. No, press and public information officers aren’t allowed to tell the press and public anything. No, we’re not going to let government officials testify before the council. No, we’re not going to tell who’s really behind giving away the fire truck. No, it’s my way or nothing; I want it my way, my way, my way.

I’m for Kwame Brown’s proposed skybox legislation; I want to see Brown really introduce it, and I want to see it come to a vote in the council, and I want to see it pass. The city should auction off the two skyboxes at the stadium that were given to the mayor and the council pursuant to the stadium legislation, and the money should go into the general fund, and not to Peaceoholics. If the mayor and councilmembers want to go to sports events, they can and should pay for the tickets themselves. When the kids won’t stop squabbling over the toys, sweep the toys into the toy box and lock it.

Do you remember the scene in Annie Hall when Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are in a movie line, and a fatuous Columbia University professor annoys Woody by loudly and wrongly expounding on Marshall McLuhan’s theories (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY)? If you don’t remember it, watch it now, because I’m going to give away the punch line. To argue against the professor, Woody simply pulls McLuhan from behind a film poster to say, “You know nothing of my work. . . . How you ever got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing.” “Boy, if life were only like this,” Woody says to the camera. Well, life is like that in this issue of themail. Unfortunately, I play the role of the professor, whose discussion of the 1978 DC Voting Rights Amendment in the April 12 issue of themail was seriously flawed, and Johnny Barnes plays the role of Marshall McLuhan, who gets to write, “I wrote that amendment, and. . . .” The point that Barnes and others make is that the 1978 act attempted to treat DC as a state without making it a state, and that required a constitutional amendment; whereas simply admitting the District (or any other jurisdiction) to the union as a state would be a simpler process.

Simpler, I’d say, but not necessarily easier. For most places in the union, I’d speculate, it would be easier to swallow DC as being something like a state, but not really a state, than to admit DC to full statehood status. The sticking point won’t be the issue of individual rights, but the symbolic equality of political entities. Why should that little pipsqueak of a city be treated as the equal of our big and mighty state, people will ask their representatives and senators. We have three cities bigger than that in our state; are you going to give each of them statehood, too?

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington
Melinda Roth, Mroth@worldbank.org

The Washington Post recently covered the story about the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW) closing some of the area clubs, sending all remaining employees on twenty-six-day furloughs and firing 16 percent of the rest of the staff, and also trimming executive salaries by only 10 percent [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/08/AR2009040803241.html, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041202323.html]. Part of this so-called strategy focuses on the closure of the treasured Jelleff property, located in Georgetown, and the only club of the twenty-two managed by BGCGW that consistently makes money and has not needed to be subsidized. It is the one of the shining examples of diversity in this city, with kids from all over the area and all walks of life participating in its programs, including eight hundred boys and girls in the basketball league alone that Jelleff has managed for years.

In the mayor’s proposed budget, there is a $15 million line item to buy Jelleff and maintain it as a recreational center for kids. While I want Jelleff to remain open, I am against the city’s paying a penny down the black hole of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. In the Post article, BGCGW’s management blames the economy for their financial woes. Sadly, the organization has been several million dollars in debt for a number of years. This is not something that happened with the recession. Yes, the economy has probably hurt them even more, as donations and grants are harder to come by, but this organization has been bleeding for well over four years.

They have eyed the Jelleff prize, thinking they could develop the site and make millions. They thought the same thing with the Columbia Heights club on 14th Street. But they had no idea of the community support that rallied against the sale of Police Clubhouse #10 on 14th Street, and that sale withered several years ago. They have stopped and started the Jelleff sale several times in the past few years, but this time it is for real. There will be no summer camp this year, and the staff has been notified that the schools which rent the gym may have to look elsewhere. At one point Councilman Jack Evans threatened eminent domain if they thought they could close Jelleff. But now, thanks to good lobbying and a huge lack of transparency, there is a proposal for the city to pay $15 million to the BGCGW for the Jelleff property. Can someone explain to me why the city would even consider making such a ransom payment?

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Baseball Tix
Dino Drudi, drudi.dino@bls.gov

The parliament-of-whores city council that voted to saddle DC with the baseball stadium did so in no small part so they could have their luxury seating. Although several who did this to us are no longer there, some, such as Gray and Barry who ran against the stadium and did a volte face after getting elected, are still there. Denying them their tix is the way to go, by nixing the fruits of their saddling taxpayers with a really bad investment so they could enjoy luxury seating while the rest of us slave to pay for the stadium and bear the brunt of strip clubs relocated, etc.

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Privatizing Schools
Roger Newell, rnewell@teamster.org

Mayor Fenty appeared on MSNBC to trumpet his “education reform” efforts [Morning Joe, April 13, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#30190168]. Fenty was asked directly on MSNBC, “What’s the best way to privatize schools?” and he outlined the steps that he is using to do just that. One of the key items was getting rid of union contracts so that school employees — teachers, custodians, administrators — can be fired at the drop of a hat.

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DCPS Unfairness
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com

Understanding who gets supported in the DC Public Schools is really quite simple [introduction to themail, April 5]. Because Harry Jaffe’s previously cited column [http://tinyurl.com/dg3854] didn’t provide a good analysis of why Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee treats seemingly equally capable performers quite differently, writers in themail appear to be having a hard time getting to the root of the issue.

The reason that Shaw Junior High School gets well-treated by the Chancellor, while Dr. Art Siebens does not, is pretty simple. Chancellor Rhee hired the principal of Shaw; she didn’t hire Dr. Siebens. Acknowledging extant excellence within the DC Public School system doesn’t fly with the dominant narrative of Michelle Rhee — “everybody else is stupid, I have to fire everybody and hire new people, me, me, me” — therefore, extant excellence isn’t supported in the present day DC school system.

That’s why quality teachers get fired or transferred and principals fear “telling the truth to the power” (so mis-discussed in the TV show “West Wing” because for the most part power isn’t interested in truth, power wants to be stroked and supported and sanctioned). I happened to write a piece in my blog about this broad issue last week (http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2009/04/missing-most-fundamental-point-about.html). Sadly, this kind of practice isn’t limited to DCPS.

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It’s Possible . . .
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom

. . . though not very likely, that the Nationals will lose all of the remaining 156 games. One surprise for opening day at Nationals’ Park yesterday was that Half Street Southeast was mostly cleared of debris from the taking down of the old buildings, and was passable for those large crowds coming to the park via Metro. Opening Day at any Major League Park is a festive occasion. This one was delightful. President Obama blew off the opportunity to throw out the first pitch and rolled Easter eggs instead. Five members of the US Armed Forces branches threw out first pitches to five catchers — a nice tribute. Two huge flags were unfurled by members of the DC National Guard — another nice touch.

There were probably more than five thousand Phillies fans at the game in the huge throng of attendees (were they all in the center field stands with me?), who really enjoyed the home run balls hit into our section by the strong arms of the Philly batters. The Nats gave the game away early with three unearned runs on three errors. Another oh for.

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What Do We Want?
Denise Wiktor, Denisewiktor@yahoo.com

I think Gary raises some interesting questions in his introduction [themail, April 12]. I am not sure what the residents of DC want. They do not want Congress to attach the gun measure to the voting rights bill, but a vocal group (though I am not sure how many are DC residents) want the continuation of school vouchers — which was one of many “pilots” tried out on the District first because it could not fly in the representatives’ home jurisdiction. We have had many pilots imposed upon us. Tom DeLay had a full-time staff person attending DC local meetings, and had a large hand in forcing the Court Appointed Special Advocates program in DC; a former staffer of his is on the CASA board.

My personal belief is that if we want to function as a full autonomous jurisdiction we have to reject the “good” (such as money for tuition, that is not available to every other state) and the “bad” (such as Congressionally imposed gun laws). After the loss of the Lorton property we also need to do an inventory of what properties are still in the name of the Feds. We have hundreds of acres in Maryland to use but is not in our name, as well a numerous federal reservations in the District. Even as Hope VI went forward, we found that many titles of the land public housing was on were never transferred to the District. We need to know what the “District,” as opposed to the Federal, properties are before we can assert what part should be a state.

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Closing the Department of Mental Health
Bob Levine, rilevine@cpcug.org

I don’t know why not. The council, mayor’s office, and the rest of the city government doesn’t seem to have any mental health, so why should they need a department of it?

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Gay Marriage and Home Rule
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc@yahoo.com

I am all for not only honoring gay marriage, but having gay marriage in the District. I worry less about what this will do for statehood than whether it can be done at all. The argument can legitimately be made that the District Government is a federal instrumentality. As long as it is, the existence of the Defense of Marriage Act may preclude the council’s latest action. Of course, challenging the District act based on DOMA may just be an avenue to have DOMA itself overturned. It would certainly give the Human Rights Campaign a local case to work with. If the District action is overturned judicially, it also provides an impetus for the gay community to wake up and get with the statehood program. In other words, there is no downside to pursuing District recognition of gay marriages, since even by losing you win (since the biggest enemy to statehood is popular acceptance of the status quo).

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Statehood
Johnny Barnes, johnny.barnes@aclu-nca.org

Gary, I agree with many of the statements in your recent article regarding political standing and sovereignty for the people of Washington, DC. However, as the drafter and principal congressional staff person responsible for House Joint Resolution 554, the 1978 proposed Constitutional Amendment, I would like to correct a few factual matters. First, the vote was not on statehood for DC. It was a vote to amend the Constitution to “treat the District as if it were a state.” Had H.J. Res. 554 been ratified by 38 states, we would today have two voting senators; the number of voting representatives our population allows; and the number of presidential electors required by the Constitution.

The Joint Resolution passed by extraordinary majorities (two-thirds) in the House and Senate. Senators such as Strom Thurmond, Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole, and Howard Baker voted with us. Because H.J. Res. 554 proposed to amend the Constitution, the President had no role; so after passing by extraordinary majorities in the House and Senate, it went to the states for ratification. In the states, we encountered the same opponents who had just defeated another proposed amendment to the Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment. You can imagine that if Tom Delay (who was at that time not in Congress), ALEC, a group of seven hundred conservative state legislators, and persons like Phyllis Schaffly overpowered fifty-one percent of the population (women), those of us in Washington, DC, were clearly outgunned. Nonetheless, we did get a total of sixteen states (much more than that if you count those where one legislative body in a state voted to ratify, while another did not) within the seven-year period. Unlike the Equal Rights Amendment, our seven-year limitation was written into the Article of Amendment itself, so we could not get any extension of time.

I personally do not believe we should go that route again. It is a difficult path to take. More importantly, it is not necessary to achieve political standing and sovereignty for the people of Washington, DC. The simplest and most constitutionally permissible route is statehood. Statehood for DC requires a simple majority vote by both Houses of Congress and the signature of the President, and Mr. Obama has said he would sign a DC Statehood Bill. One statehood is instituted, it cannot be revoked. It is permanent. Given those who supported House Joint Resolution 554, it is clear that supporting our most precious right, the right to vote, is something that can be effectively communicated to a majority of the Congress and could be passed, given the will of our elected officials and the resolve of our citizens. By the way, Gary, the only time there has been a popular vote on this matter, the voters of DC voted in favor of statehood. I trust you will continue to keep this issue alive on your blog. It is most important that you do.

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Statehood in themail
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc@yahoo.com

The 1978 Voting Rights Amendment had nothing to do with statehood. Statehood does not require a constitutional amendment. A simple majority of each house of Congress could do it, although to get through the Senate would require sixty votes as a practical matter. If the right wing of the Republican Party keeps piling on Senators Collins, Specter, and Snowe, that sixty votes might be easier to get than we imagine. The reason some statehood opponents claim statehood is unconstitutional is because the part of DC not left as the national capital may be considered part of Maryland, and you cannot make a state from the territory of another state without its consent. Others argue that the original cession makes that unnecessary. Loughboro v. Maryland denied a District resident the right to run for Congress specifically because of that cession. Howard v. Maryland denied senatorial representation through Maryland for the same reason. Opponents of democracy cannot have it both ways — either no prior consent from Maryland is required or District residents are already entitled to representation through Maryland.

The constitutionality of S. 160 is a serious concern. The issue has already been litigated. Under Alexander v. Mineta, District residents were found not to have a constitutional right to representation in Congress, either through Maryland or as a stand alone enterprise. While Walter Smith and Delegate Norton do not believe that this decision forecloses Congress from extending this representation to the District, I found nothing in the decision on Alexander to indicate that the court was open to this possibility. The risk was that Utah would get a seat while the District would not once the law was struck down, however the severability clause was modified in the bill to take the seat away from Utah should the District lose its seat as well. Losing in court on this issue is not necessarily a bad thing, since the voting rights drive has raised popular expectations. The only option remaining will be statehood and, once statehood is passed, any congressional actions relating to the District’s gun laws will be null and void.

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Statehood Much Simpler
Ann Loikow, aloikow@verizon.net

Statehood does not require a constitutional amendment. It merely requires a majority vote in each house of Congress (i.e., passing a normal law) and the signature of the President. The 1978 amendment was a constitutional amendment to provide voting rights for DC in both houses of Congress and to give us the number of electoral college votes as our population determined (i.e., it repealed the 23rd amendment and substituted new language). It would not have affected Congress’s control over our local/state government. We would still not have sovereignty. We would have much more like Algeria when it was a French colony, but had a vote in the French National Assembly.

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Live Free or Maybe Not
Larry Lesser, lblesser@aol.com

Your question as to what would be different for DC residents partly answers itself. If the difference were crucial to us, we would live somewhere else or would wish we lived somewhere else. People who support statehood or a vote in Congress or even retrocession are for the most part willing to live with the current status — pretty much by definition.

But that’s true of lots of political questions. There aren’t very many issues that deserve the New Hampshire state motto attached to them: Live free or die. Most of the time we’ll settle for something in between.

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Voting Rights and Statehood
Bill Mosley, billmosley@comcast.net

In Sunday’s posting, Gary Imhoff writes that “Admitting the District to the Union as a state would require the full statehood process outlined in Section 3, Clause 1, of the Constitution. This was tried previously in 1978, when Congress passed the DC Voting Rights Amendment.”

In fact, the Voting Rights Amendment of 1978 (which was never ratified) would not have granted statehood to the District, but merely voting representation in Congress. Statehood does not require a constitutional amendment, but only a majority vote of both houses of Congress and the signature of the President. The only congressional vote on statehood came in 1993 when the House considered, and defeated, a bill for statehood.

Also, “Section 3, Clause 1, of the Constitution” is incomplete as a reference to constitutional language. The Constitution is divided into seven articles, each of which is divided into sections and clauses — there are several “Section 3s.” He’s apparently referring to Article IV, Section 3, the language on admission of new states.

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Take the Save the Anacostia River Trust and License Tag Survey Now
Samuel Jordan, samunomas@msn.com

If you would like to contribute to the clean up and restoration of the Anacostia River and its tributaries with the option of a completely voluntary program, please register your support at http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=HODJM_18be1340. I wrote about this survey in the last issue of themail, April 12, but some people may not have been able to access it. If you had trouble with the survey, or if you haven’t completed it yet, please do so now. The survey asks whether you support the creation of the Save The Anacostia River Trust and License Tag program (START). The results of the survey will be submitted to members of the DC council on April 30. The more support, the greater the chance that START will be enacted.

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Capitol Community News Papers Online
Andrew Lightman, andrew@hillrag.com

The April Hill Rag, East of the River, and DC North are online at http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/.

The Nose rants about the stupid security surrounding the Capitol: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/54-56_EOR_0409.pdf
There is an extensive column in EOR on Ward 8’s only sit-down restaurant, IHOP: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/html/JacksonsInvestments.cfm
Curious Minds takes an interesting look at the new Capitol Visitors’ Center: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/20-21_EOR_0409.pdf

East of the River features the EOR Community Court: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/html/EORCommunityCourt.cfm
George Gurley is remembered: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/32_EOR_0409.pdf
Ed Lazere tackles the Fenty budget: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_April/26-27_EOR_0409.pdf
Segraves writes about Fenty’s travel and the Jacks case: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/hillrag/2009_April/html/DistrictBeat.cfm
Get the latest on the Eastern Market renovation in Market Watch: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/hillrag/2009_April/html/EasternMarketWatch.cfm
Elise Bernarch, author of Frozen Topics, pens her first H Street Life column: http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/hillrag/2009_April/html/HStreetLife.cfm

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Department of Parks and Recreation Events, April 16-19
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov

Thursday, April 16, 12:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310 Childress Street, NE. Seniors beautification day for ages 50 and up. Seniors will clean up outside the recreation center and plant beautiful flowers and trees. For more information, call Nadine Bell at 576-6818.

Thursday, April 16, 3:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310 Childress Street, NE. Young Youth Community Service for ages 6–12. Participants will clean up the inside and outside of the Recreation Center. For more information, call Anthony Higginbotham at 727-1293.

Friday, April 17, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Fort Stevens Recreation Center, 1327 Van Buren Street, NW. Tee Ball Explosion for ages 5-8. Youth will participate in various exhibition games during this one day tee ball/baseball tournament. For more information, call Larry Kinney at 541-3754.

Friday, April 17, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Malcolm X Recreation Center, 1351 Alabama Avenue, SE. The Family Feud for ages 13 and up. Teens will participate in a family oriented game show; light refreshments will be served. For more information, call Zakiya Brown at 391-2215.

Friday, April 17, 7:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m., various locations. Teen Night for ages 13–19. Call 671-0451 or visit dpr.dc.gov for a list of locations and times.

Saturday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m, Barry Farms Recreation Center, 1230 Sumner Road, SE. ., Ward 8 Cook Out for Baseball Teams for ages 5-15. Youth will assist with a cook out for the Ward 8 baseball teams (T-Ball, Soft Ball, little league etc.) Each team will participate and have fun catching and batting. Everybody wins! For more information, call Charles Lowe, 645-3896

Saturday, April 18, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Petworth Recreation Center, 801 Taylor Street, NW. Easter egg hunt for ages 5-12. Youth will enjoy the day hunting for the special Easter egg for fun and games. For more information, call Richard Evans at 576-6850.

Saturday, April 18, 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Columbia Heights Community Center, 15th and Girard Streets, NW. Bum Rush the Boards for ages 5-12. Columbia Heights Community Center hosts the fourth annual “Bum Rush the Boards” Chess Tournament. DPR welcomes program partner Words Beats and Life to Columbia Heights for its Hip Hop Chess Tournament. This year’s tournament will include four rounds of chess with sections for both youth and adults. There will also be workshops and exhibitions taking place throughout the day on visual arts, poetry, graffiti, chess, and more. For more information, contact Words Beats and Life program manager Lester Wallace at 667-1192.

Saturday, April 18, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m., Joseph Cole Recreation Center, 1200 Morse Street, NE.

Easter egg hunt for ages 6 -12. The youth will participate in making colorful baskets to fill with treats including Easter eggs found during the Easter egg hunt. For more information, call K’Yanna Blackwell at 724-4876.

Sunday, April 19-Sunday, June 7, 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Friendship Recreation Center (baseball field), 4500 Van Ness Street, NW. Adapted baseball for ages 6-17. Beginning Sunday, April 19, and continuing every Sunday until June 7, the TR Center will host adapted baseball for children with special needs. For more information, call Victoria Cole-Rolon at 645-6516.

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An Afternoon of Chess and Folk Music, April 18
Beth Meyer, kensingtonbookevents@gmal.com

Allan Savage, US Life Master and former Maryland State Champion, will be present for a couple hours to play chess against anyone. In this mini simultaneous exhibition, he will play multiple opponents at the same time. Chess sets and refreshments will be provided. Allan is a native Washingtonian who lives in Kensington. He has competed in international tournaments, authored several chess books, written for numerous chess magazines, and taught chess for over thirty years in four states. He has performed simultaneous exhibitions at past Day of the Book celebrations in Kensington. On May 28, he will be giving a talk on chess and books here at the bookshop.

Doris Justis has been a mainstay of the local folk and acoustic scene for over twenty-five years — producing concerts, coffeehouse events, and her own live radio program. Her first love is singing and performing. Now she debuts her first solo CD, Who to Turn to, presenting originals, contemporary and traditional tunes and new arrangements of old favorites with her band. She also performs in the popular duet, Side by Side, with Sean McGhee, and of course, solo. Her web site is http://www.dorisjustis.com. Saturday, April 18, 1:00-3:00 p.m., at Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington, MD.

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Green Together, April 19
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org

Sunday, April 19, 1:00-3:00 p.m., For Families: Green Together. Help your family get ready for Earth Day with this action-packed workshop. Turn your trash into treasure with a special recycled craftmaking activity. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.

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Gertrude Stein Democratic Club on Marriage Equality, April 20
Jeffrey Hops, jeffhops@yahoo.com

Join the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club for our April community discussion on marriage equality in the District of Columbia. Monday, April 20, at the John A. Wilson Building, Room 412, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Monthly business meeting, 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; community discussion, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

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Free Workshops on Funding for Community Organizations, April 21
Lisa Alfred, lalfred@wdchumanities.org

Tuesday April 21, 5:30-7:00 p.m., Southeast Neighborhood Library, 403 7th Street SE. Workshop on funding for community organizations. The Humanities Council of Washington, DC, is offering funding to tell your neighborhood or community story. Stop by the grant workshop to find out about funding requirements. Free. For further information, call 387-8391, or RSVP at http://www.wdchumanities.org.

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Federation of Citizens Associations on Contracting and Procurement, April 28
Anne Renshaw, milrddc@aol.com

The Federation of Citizens Associations of the District of Columbia will examine the District’s controversial contracting and procurement system at its monthly Assembly on Tuesday, April 28, 6:45 p.m., at The Charles Sumner School, 1201 Seventeenth Street, NW (at M Street).

In a discussion on Government Contracting and Procurement System: Open Opportunity or Closed Door?, Councilmember Mary Cheh and Chief Procurement Officer David Gragan will delve into the complex and intricate infrastructure of city contracting and procurement Following the city council’s riveting hearings into the recent donation of a DC fire truck and ambulance to a Dominican Republic beach resort, Councilmember Mary Cheh, Government Operations Committee Chair, and Chief Procurement Officer David Gragan will meet again to discuss, explain and enlighten us on the city’s complex contracting and procurement system. Councilmember Cheh, who is known for her insightfulness, will elaborate on her Committee’s oversight responsibilities and ongoing investigations into the disposition of city property. CPO Gragan will outline the mission of the Office of Contracting and Procurement and how it protects the taxpayer’s dollars. For further information: contact Anne Renshaw, Federation President, 202-363-6880.

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Ward 3 Republican Meeting, May 13
Paul D. Craney, pauldcraney@yahoo.com

There will be a Ward 3 Republican meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., in which DC Republicans and anyone who wishes to attend are more then welcome to attend. This is not a political or fundraising event, rather a time when we can come together in our community. Below are the details. Special guest speakers will be Malcolm “Mike” Peabody, Chairman and Founder of FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools) and Virginia Walden Ford, Executive Director of DC Parents for School Choice. Mr. Peabody is one of the District’s leaders for the charter school movement. DC has the second highest percentage of public school children enrolled in charter schools, only behind New Orleans. Ms. Ford heads an advocacy group for the DC Opportunity Scholarship Fund, or commonly known as the DC School Voucher Program. Ms. Ford and Mr. Peabody will discuss the importance of education options and school choice for the District.

The meeting will be at the home of Tony Parker. Tony’s home is located at 4881 Potomac Avenue, NW (go to MacArthur and W Streets, go to the river, take left on Potomac Avenue). Because it’s fun and a great opportunity for our community to come together. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to all open-minded DC residents. Please feel free to reach me to RSVP or with any questions.

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