Nine Lives
Dear Livers:
This Saturday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m., the SilverDocs documentary
series will premiere “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry,” at the AFI
Silver Theater 1, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/entertainment/061609_marion_barry_movie_to_debut).
The documentary, by Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, follows the
mayor-for-life’s political career from his days at Pride, Inc., to his
current career as a Ward 8 councilmember. After the movie, Dorothy will
discuss the film on a panel with Tom Sherwood and Lawence Guyot,
moderated by Juan Williams.
A younger generation, who didn’t know Barry in his younger days,
may wonder what the source of Barry’s strong popular appeal was, while
others may find it inexplicable that so many people stuck with Barry so
long, even after his drug and alcohol addiction (and his relapse, and
his next relapse, and his next) were undeniable. I’m not sure that the
documentary answers either of those questions satisfactorily, but it
raises them again.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Fixing the Board of Elections?
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
At Tuesday’s legislative session of the city council, Mary Cheh,
chair of the council’s Government Operations Committee, introduced the
Omnibus Election Reform Act of 2009 (http://www.dcwatch.com/council18/18-345.htm). The legislation is being co-introduced by Council Chair Vincent
Gray and Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas.
Key provisions of the bill would establish an Elections Advisory
Committee with five members selected by the mayor and the city council
“to assist the Board” of Elections and Ethics; permit election-day
voter registration; allow seventeen-year-olds to register to vote;
eliminate the requirement that pollworkers live in the District of
Columbia; impose an unspecified filing fee on candidates for elected
office; allow voters to cast no-fault absentee ballots; shift the
nonpartisan Advisory Neighborhood Commission elections from the general
elections in November to the party primary elections in September;
establish a process and procedure for a post-election audit of ballots
cast; allow individuals to wear campaign paraphernalia (including
t-shirts, clothing, buttons, and badges promoting candidates or parties)
into polling places; and eliminate the prohibition against circulators
of initiative and referendum petitions making false statements about or
misrepresenting the petition in order to secure signatures.
In her remarks on Tuesday, Cheh indicated that the purpose of the
legislation is to ensure that all “votes are counted and that the
[electoral] process is fair.” Since September, Cheh has chaired a
special council committee charged with investigating the problems that
occurred last year at the February and September primaries as well as
the November general election. She suggested that the legislation was an
outgrowth of that investigation. However, only the post-election audit
provisions of the bill have anything to do with the problems that
occasioned the investigation. The other proposals, which comprise the
majority of the bill, such as moving nonpartisan ANC elections to
September primaries, have nothing to do with the problems that were
identified, and were never recommended or discussed at any of the
hearings Cheh’s special committee held. Indeed, many of the components
of the bill, such as same-day registration and elimination of the
residency requirement for pollworkers, will be difficult to implement
and administer, and will be likely to result in additional problems,
increasing the opportunity for election fraud.
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Since her confirmation by the council on October 21, 2008, Robin-Eve
Jasper has served as the Director of the DC Office of Property
Management. When she was confirmed, Jasper lived in Bethesda, Maryland,
and she 180 days, or until May 7, 2009, to move into the District, as
required by DC’s residency requirement. To date, she has not become a
District resident. On June 11, Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.,
wrote to DC’s Inspector General, Charles J. Willoughby, and to the
District’s Chief Financial Officer, Natwar Gandhi, requesting that
their offices “review the matter, and determine if Ms. Jasper is in
compliance with District law. If it is determined that there is a
failure to comply with our laws, then immediate action should be taken
to relieve Ms. Jasper of all remuneration, benefits, and any other
associations of her employment.”
Footnote: prior to her appointment as head of OPM, Jasper held other
senior administration positions in the District government. In December
2007, Mayor Fenty named her interim director of OPM to replace Lars
Eckhorn, whom he had dismissed. Prior to that appointment she had served
as senior deputy director of OPM under Eckhorn and as chief of staff to
Neil Albert when he was the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic
Development.
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The mayor seems to have forgotten the Advisory Neighborhood
Commission was where he cut his political teeth. He now seems far more
comfortable rubbing elbows with developers who want to triple the city’s
hotel occupancy rather than listen to Ward 7 and 8 residents, and
providing city services on par with Ward 3.
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Video Book Reviews on Amazon.com
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
If you’re a book lover and you own a webcam, it’s time for you to
give a shot at recording a video book review on Amazon.com. Choose a
book you like a lot and tell the rest of us why the book is worth
reading. Your video book review doesn’t need to be dry and boring.
Zest it up with some of your presentation flair. You can even take on
the role of world class curmudgeons, such as Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes.
At a staff meeting yesterday I showed the following video book review to
coworkers at the library where I work — and heard giggles, leg
slapping, and guffaws in response. (See http://www.pcworld.com/article/166808/article.html)
I’m a bit embarrassed to say that Amazon.com has been allowing
people to upload video reviews of books (and other products) since
November, 2007. It’s taken me more than a year and a half to create a
video book review. Folks, when a door opens, walk through it. That’s
step one in life. And I can’t recall hearing the aphorism, “And I
librarian shall lead them,” but we must expect as well as hope that a
librarian shall lead us. So now mount your webcams, and charge. Charge
ahead, I say.
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DCHA Family Resident Candidate
Aquarius Vann-Ghasri, vannaquarius12@yahoo.com
Cast your vote for #1 on the ballot on June 17 and 18. Vote if you
are a District of Columbia House Authority (DCHA) Family Resident.
Contrary to popular belief, crime is not just a DCHA public housing
issue; it’s an issue and concern for every ward in the District of
Columbia. It impacts single parents and parents with children of
elementary school age and above, regardless of race, color, creed, and
economic background. Crime committed by juveniles remains a significant
problem.
Cast a vote for #1 on the ballot if you are a resident aged 18 and
over, rent compliant, and on a DCHA lease living in Garfield, Greenleaf,
James Creek, Kelly Miller, Langston Dwellings, LeDroit, Montana Terrace,
Park Morton, Scattered Sites, Sibley Plaza, Sursum Corda, Syphax, Barry
Farm/Ward Apartments, Elvans Road, Fort Dupont, Highland Additions and
Dwellings, Hopkins, Kenilworth, Lincoln Heights, Potomac Garden,
Richardson Dwellings, Stoddert, The Villager, and Woodland. Ask your
property manager where to case a vote for “Heal a Parent — Heal a
Child — Build a Family” — Aquarius Vann-Ghasri.
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DTV Transition and Loss of Stations
Nan Reiner, nan.reiner@dc.gov
I am sending this quick response to your query concerning the
transition to digital TV. First, I must provide a bit of background –
a disclaimer? – for jurisdictional reasons. I am an avid reader of
themail and DCWatch, as I am a longtime employee of the District
government. But I currently reside in Fairfax County, VA, and so what I
have to say may or may not be relevant or important to you.
For those of us who subscribe to cable TV but not digital cable, the
transition to DTV has brought some unfortunate diminutions in service.
On Cox Communications’ (the monopoly provider) standard cable service
in Fairfax, we used to get PBS stations WETA, WMPT, and WHUT. WMPT and
WHUT have now moved, or been removed, to the “digital tier,” so we
are left with only one PBS station. There are a few other stations that
have moved from standard to digital only as well, but it is the loss of
these PBS offerings that truly dismays me. I don’t know if the same
holds true for standard cable subscribers in DC, but it may be worth
your checking out.
[I have heard that some cable companies are using the transition to
digital broadcast transmissions as an occasion to reduce the number of
stations in their lower-priced tiers, in order to force customers who
want those stations to order their higher-priced plans. There’s no
technical reason why the digital transition should have any effect on
cable lineups; it’s just an excuse to squeeze the customers. I haven’t
noticed any change in Comcast’s channel lineups. Has RCN made any
changes? — Gary Imhoff]
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Let’s Protect “Tradition”
Wallace Gordon Dickson, Wdickson at wdn dot com
Yeah! Let’s protect traditional marriage! Let’s just repeal all
the divorce laws! That should protect traditional marriage!
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Our moderator suggests an initiative on marriage. Unless I am reading
the Charter incorrectly, items that violate the Human Rights Act can no
more be put to the voters as an initiative than they can as a
referendum. Strictly speaking, whether the council acts or not, the
issue will be out of their hands as well. I would not read too much into
the Justice Department’s defense of the Defense of Marriage Act, as
they are charged with defending the statute regardless of the opinion of
the current President. DOMA and the whole issue of a rational basis for
denying gay marriage will soon come before the courts. It is the job of
the federal courts to determine minority rights; it is not the job of
the people, the council of the District of Columbia, the United States
Congress, or the Democratic State Committee.
Our moderator estimates that congressional action may block any
action by DC. I sincerely doubt that. The Speaker of the House
represents San Francisco. If she were to let something like that come to
a vote, she would face unholy heck at home. For the same reason, no
constitutional amendment defending marriage as between a man and a woman
will ever see the light of day while she is Speaker. Because there are
likely to be thirteen states that will not ratify such an amendment,
there will not likely be a constitutional convention to propose it —
since no one is going to that kind of trouble for an amendment that won’t
be ratified.
###############
Gary wrote: “[T]he Obama administration itself heartily endorsed
the DOMA last week in a Department of Justice brief (http://www.scribd.com/doc/16355867/Obamas-Motion-to-Dismiss-Marriage-case,
site registration required) that argued, among other things, that the
DOMA is consistent with equal protection and due process principles, is
constitutional, does not impinge on rights that have been recognized as
fundamental, does not violate the right to privacy, and cannot be said
to impinge on any right under the Ninth Amendment.”
I don’t like DOMA, but it’s not fair to say that the Department
of Justice’s brief “heartily endorsed” it. What the brief did was
defend the statute’s constitutionality. Defending the
constitutionality of federal statutes is part of DOJ’s job, whether
the incumbent President likes the statute or not. It’s the Department’s
long-standing practice to defend the constitutionality of an Act of
Congress unless no viable argument can be made in its defense — a
standard that DOMA certainly satisfies. There have been exceptions to
that practice, but they’re rare. Candidate Obama pledged to work for
DOMA’s repeal. The recent DOJ brief does not suggest that he’s
changed his mind about DOMA.
###############
[“Same-sex marriage advocates may denounce traditional Christian
beliefs as being nothing but bigotry, but they won’t talk about Islam
that way.” Gary Imhoff, themail, June 14.]
What is up with you?
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The DC BOEE and the Referendum
T. Lassoc, Cei76@aol.com
[“My guess — and it’s only a guess, since nobody is consulting
me on this — is that there will be a race between the city council and
the opponents of same-sex marriage.” Gary Imhoff, themail, June 14.]
They should be consulting you. You have considered just about every
perspective with a seemingly objective analysis and a strategy for each.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Department of Parks and Recreation Events,
June 19-21
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
June 19, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Spirit of Washington Pier 4, 6th and
Water Streets, SW. Senior Luncheon Cruise for ages 55 and up. Join the
Senior Service Division for our annual boat ride which includes a buffet
lunch, live entertainment music and dancing while cruising down the
Potomac River. The cost for the cruise is $35.00. For more information,
call Jennifer Hamilton at 664-7153.
June 19, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., Brentwood Recreation Center, 2311 14th
Street, NE. Winter Athletic Appreciation Day for ages 10 and up. Our
Pony and (senior Ward 5 champions) basketball teams will be highlighted
with certificates, light refreshments, and team photos. For more
information, call Lorenzo Carter, Site Manager, at 576-6667.
June 19, 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Kennedy Recreation Center, 1401 7th
Street, NW. Father/Son Tee Ball. Ages 5-8 and adults. Fathers and
mentors will team up with their sons and daughters to participate in a
Tee Ball game. Preregistration is required by June 12. Sign up today!
For more information, call Oscar Taylor at 671-4794.
June 19, 6:00 p.m., Kenilworth-Parkside Recreation Center, 4300
Anacostia Avenue, NE. Hershey Games Regional Qualifier Meet for ages
eighteen and under. This is the local meet held for all athletes from
the District of Columbia to qualify to compete at the annual Hershey
Games held in Hershey, PA. For more information, call Edgar Sams at
258-5790.
June 20, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Prince George’s Sports and Learning
Complex, Landover, Maryland. Potomac Valley Association Championship for
ages eighteen and under. All athletes that qualified at the Local
Championships have made it to compete at these Junior Olympics
Association Championships and the Top 5 athletes from each event will
qualify to compete at the Regional
Championships on July 11 for a chance to make it to the Junior Olympic
National Championships. For more information, call Edgar Sams at
258-5790.
June 20, 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Hardy Recreation Center, 4500 Q Street,
NW. Father’s Day Softball Game for ages eight and up. A fun filled day
playing softball. Light refreshments will be served. For more
information, call 282-2190.
June 20, 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Douglass Community Center, 2100 Stanton
Terrance, SE. Salute to Father for all ages. Participants will enjoy
competition with their dad in various games. Youth will also recite
special poems. Light refreshment will be served. For more information,
call David Freeman at 645-3980.
June 20, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., North Michigan Park Recreation Center,
1333 Emerson Street, NE. North Michigan Park Family Day. All ages will
enjoy as they take part in a fun filled atmosphere with a variety of
activities. For more information, call Joseph Clark, Site Manager, at
541-3522.
June 21, 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m., North Michigan Park Community Center,
1333 Emerson Street, NE. DC Scorpions Team Call (for the competitive
traveling team) for ages 8-18. The participants will learn basic
stunting, tumbling, cheer and dance skills then will be evaluated for
team placement. For more information, call Kyanna Blackwell at 671-0413
or kyanna.blackwell@dc.gov.
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In Search of My Father’s War, June
20
George Williams, george.williams2@dc.gov
Local writer Jan Elvin will discuss her forthcoming book, The Box
from Braunau: In Search of My Father’s War, at the Chevy Chase
Neighborhood Library on June 20. The Box from Braunau is about
the relationship between Elvin and her father Bill, a decorated World
War II veteran who fought in Patton’s Third Army. After the war, Bill
reported for The Washington Star before becoming the editor and
publisher of The McLean Providence Journal in McLean. War
memories haunted Bill and affected his relationship with his daughter.
As a child, Elvin was accustomed to her father’s moods and
unwillingness to discuss what he experienced during WWII. She adhered to
rules like only waking her father from a nap if she was across the room.
Elvin wanted to learn more about World War II, and came to understand
her father when she came across a handmade tin box given to him in
Braunau, Austria, during the war. Based on her travels to Braunau, her
exploration of her father’s letters, war journal, and newspaper
articles and her interviews of those who fought with him, Elvin presents
a new understanding of the war and its effects.
Elvin was born in Washington, DC, and raised in McLean, Virginia. She
worked with Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen group and went on to become
founding editor and chief writer of the NPP Journal, a quarterly
publication of the National Prison Project of the American Civil
Liberties Union. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband Al
Bronstein, a human rights attorney; she is the mother of one son and
four stepdaughters. The Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library is located at
5625 Connecticut Avenue, NW. The discussion will begin at 2:00 p.m.
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The Window of Opportunity, June
20
George Williams, george.williams2@dc.gov
Eddie Ellis, Jr., author of The Window of Opportunity,
discusses his transition from prison to society, noting the resources
available in the District of Columbia, on Saturday, June 20, at 2:00
p.m., at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, Social Sciences
Division, 901 G Street, NW. Each year, former prisoners return to DC
unprepared to conquer the obstacles involved in reentering a community.
As a result, many are unable to find housing, secure employment, support
their families, or manage rejection and stress. Because of the lack of
support and coping mechanisms, some return to prison. Eddie B. Ellis,
Jr., the author of The Window of Opportunity Pre-Release Handbook,
will address the difficulties faced by ex-offenders, provide advice and
list support resources.
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Calvin Woodland Foundation Father’s Day
Event, June 20
Tywannda Blount, teemilt@aol.com
The Calvin Woodland Foundation is committed to developing and
imparting programs and services that remove the barriers that negatively
impact the lives of low-income residents in the District of Columbia. We
would like to invite you to participate in our ninth annual Father’s
Day event. This year we are pulling out all of the stops to give our
fathers and their families an experience of a wonderful celebration in
honor of Fathers. We have invited the mayor of the District of Columbia,
DC councilmembers, DCPS officials and State Superintendent Office
officials, ANC Chairs, the Ward Eight Community Coordinator and 7th
District Commander, and many more.
June 20, 12:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Fort Stanton Park, 1812 Erie Street,
SE. Come out and share in the fun, food, games, and entertainment of
this annual celebration with the Calvin Woodland Senior Foundation to
see families come to together in harmony in Ward Eight.
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Tackle the Three “P’s” of Time
Management, June 20
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org
Are you busy all day but not getting the most important things done?
Chances are you’re being sabotaged by one (or more) of the three “P’s”
of time management: procrastinating, prioritizing, or processing of the
constant flow of “To-Do’s.” This Saturday, certified professional
organizer Susan Kousek will share her favorite organizing techniques to
combat these time wasters. There will also be a handout (and a door
prize).
Gather your colleagues (whether consultants, small business owners,
entrepreneurs, soon-to-be small business owners, writers, freelancers,
free agents, Web site developers, or programmers, etc.), and your
questions, and bring them to this Saturday, June 20, 1:00 p.m.,
gathering of the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and
Consultants Special Interest Group (E&C SIG). These monthly events
are free and open to all. This month’s event is at the Cleveland Park
Branch Library (first floor large meeting room) at 3310 Connecticut
Avenue, NW (between Macomb and Newark Streets), 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/609meet.html.
To RSVP, send E-mail to bconn@cpcug.org.
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DC State Board of Education on Biology as a
Graduation Requirement, June 24
Beverley Wheeler, beverley.wheeler@dc.gov
The DC State Board of Education (DCSBOE) will hold a public hearing
Wednesday, June 24. At the hearing, the DCSBOE will receive input from
the public on adding biology as a graduation requirement. The public
meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. at 441 4th Street, NW, in the District
of Columbia State Board of Education Chambers, located on the lobby
level of the building.
Constituents who wish to comment at the meeting are required to
notify the State Board of Education in advance by contacting the
Executive Director, Beverley Wheeler, by phone at 741-0884 or by E-mail
at Beverley.Wheeler@dc.gov
before the close of business Monday, June 22. Please provide one
electronic copy and bring fifteen copies to the hearing for the State
Board members to view. The meeting will air live on DSTV Comcast Channel
99 and RCN Channel 18.
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