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July 26, 2009

Traveling Light

Dear Travelers:

In the twentieth century, there was explosive development in two areas of daily life: transportation and entertainment. Travel over both land and sea hadn’t changed much for centuries before the nineteenth century. Land travel meant walking and riding horses and horse carts; sea travel involved row boats and sailing ships. The invention of the steam engine in the late 1700’s led to both steam trains and steam ships in the nineteenth century. But in the twentieth century, methods of travel changed dramatically. Horses were replaced by automobiles except for sport riding. (This was, by the way, a great boon for cities, which became much less noisy, dirty, and smelly as a result.) Airplanes were invented and progressively improved until they became the major method of long-distance travel, replacing ships and trains for practical transportation, and reducing ships and trains to use for cargo transport and leisure travel.

In 1903, the twin transportation fascinations of trains and horses met in the first western movie, The Great Train Robbery, and they have dominated western movies ever since. The year before, Georges Melies made one of the first major movie hits, Le Voyage dans la lune, about astronomers’ trip to the moon. For the remainder of the century, motion pictures were literally about motion — the wonders of automobiles, airplanes, space travel — and about thrilling audiences by showing motion. (The most fascinating sequence of Martin Scorcese’s The Aviator relates how Howard Hughes solved the problem of showing the speed of airplanes while filming Wings. Airplanes looked slow or even standing still when filmed against an empty sky; they looked fast only when filmed in front of clouds, which gave a reference point by which to judge their relative speed.) From the beginning of the century, movies chronicled the growth of the automobile and aviation industries.

Prior to the twentieth century, all entertainment except for personal reading was live and in person. The twentieth century brought audio recordings, radio, movies, television, and then video recordings — dominating the entertainment world and pushing live performances to the edge. (The irony is that digital technology has made copying music and video so easy that the economic model for art in the twentieth century — selling recorded copies — is now endangered. Live performances are replacing recordings as the primary income source for hit musicians, and even writers are exploring lecture tours, like those Dickens and Mark Twain did in the nineteenth century, as major sources of income.) Because of the ability to record motion, movies preserved the record of the development of cars and planes from their earliest days, and indulged our fascination with them.

The romance of the open — and even of the clogged — road is not over. “Smart growth” advocates will do everything they can to make driving more inconvenient and expensive, but the vast majority of people will continue to prefer the flexibility, freedom, and — yes — fun of driving to mass transit or bicycling. An excerpt from P.J. O’Rourke’s latest book, Driving Like Crazy, was published in the Wall Street Journal. It celebrates the joy of driving and the romance of the road, but claims that those days are over (“The End of the Affair,” http://tinyurl.com/lboga2). O’Rourke’s mistake is to think of driving fun in narrow terms. Fun isn’t just sports cars and muscle cars going twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit. It’s also the toy cars — Volkswagen bugs in the 1960’s and smart cars today — that make everybody smile. (Conservatives are making a mistake demonizing smart cars and other inexpensive “cute” cars — they’re a joy to have in the driveway, not a sign of snobbish liberal environmentalism.) Fun is also the comfy, cushy sedans associated with staid uncles and aunts. (The much derided long commute may be boring to some, but to many others a solo hour or half hour in the luxury sedan is a great relief — time alone with their own thoughts, in a driver’s seat as comfortable as the best chair in the house, listening to the music they choose and want to hear.) Fun is the pickups that let their owners feel they can do any job they need to do. Subways and buses are the appliances, conveniences that can be appreciated but are never loved. Cars of all types may just be four wheels and a motor to some, but to most they provide the independence and freedom they want.

Here’s the DC connection: drive the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, and if your timing is right you can see a thrilling sight. On the bridge will be cars, bicycles, and pedestrians; on the next two bridges will be a train and a subway car; underneath will be boats on the Potomac; and above will be airplanes coming in for a landing at Reagan National Airport. It’s the history of transportation, of the twentieth century, in one spot.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Christmas in July for Harry Thomas
Paul Craney, pauldcraney@yahoo.com

DC councilmembers are the gift that keeps on giving. As we go into our Christmas in July weekend, Councilmember Harry Thomas (Ward 5-Dem) will be in noncompliance for filing his Constituent Service Fund with the DC Office of Campaign Finance, which was due on July 1. Currently, the DC Office of Campaign Finance has sent him a letter demanding he file with them and Councilmember Thomas has still neglected to file his fund with the OCF. Currently, this matter has been sent to the General Counsel’s office.

So why does Thomas not file? Maybe he is learning a lesson or two from his council colleagues. Councilmembers like to use their Constituent Service Funds for good deeds like paying for funeral arrangements for a constituent’s death but they also find ways to spend their funds on non-related expenses. Like drinks at Starbucks or shopping sprees at H&M or Best Buy. Maybe Councilmember Thomas doesn’t want to file his Constituent Service Fund, yet, until after the holiday weekend, District residents are just left in the dark.

Until District residents are willing to register as DC Republicans, our elected officials will continue to abuse their positions in power at the expense of District residents.

[On July 24, Tim Craig reported (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2009/07/better_late_then_never.html) that Harry Thomas again promised to file his constituent services report that day. — Gary Imhoff]

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Sosua, The Next Chapter
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

The investigation into how senior District officials in the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOH) and a friend of the mayor tried to send a surplus District fire truck and ambulance to the Dominican Republic is still underway, although progress has been slow. Subpoenas have been issued and depositions scheduled by Councilmembers Mendelson and Cheh for David Jannerone, Director of Development, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development; Andrew “Chip” Richardson, Interim General Counsel to the Mayor; Thorn Pozen, Special Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General and DC Ethic Counselor; Wilbur C. Giles, former Chief and Staff and Chief of the Personal Property Division in the Office of Contracting and Procurement, and currently the Deputy Director of Contracts and Procurement at the Office of Property Management, overseeing the Construction Division; and Sinclair Skinner, a principal with Liberty Engineering and Design and friend extraordinaire of Mayor Fenty. The depositions have been rescheduled several times over the past few weeks because Attorney General Peter Nickles has tried to impede the investigation by insisting that attorneys from his office be allowed to attend the depositions. Meanwhile, Sinclair Skinner, who is not a District government employee, has retained A. Scott Bolden, with Reed Smith, to serve as his legal counsel.

To assist Mendelson and Cheh in their investigation, the council, at its last legislative session adopted PR 18-409, which amends the council’s Rules of Organization and Procedure to allow the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, chaired by Cheh, and the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, chaired by Mendelson, to “hold a public hearing or roundtable, notice and take depositions, or take any other action necessary to conduct an investigation” during the period of the council’s summer recess.

The District’s Inspector General’s office, which is also investigating “Sosuagate,” met for the first time last week with a key principle in the controversy, William Walker.

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One Brick — Volunteering Made Easy
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

Want to volunteer some of your time, but prefer not to commit to a weekly volunteer schedule? One Brick is a nonprofit organization that will match you with a volunteering opportunity here in the DC-area. This is a good idea. See http://tinyurl.com/62hbfj

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Stamp Out the Ben Franklin Station Post Office
Ann Carper, rochester54@verizon.net

I spent a frustrating twenty minutes yesterday at the post office at 12th and Pennsylvania. Although it was a little before the noon lunch hour, there was only one clerk handling the six people ahead of me when I arrived and the fifteen or so behind me when I left. (And there was also a long line at the self-serve.) When I asked the clerk, nicely, whom I could complain to about the inadequate staffing, she replied, also nicely, that the postmaster general didn’t care and she had been detailed from a Department of Defense branch. A visiting Australian behind me said in his country the retail aspects of the postal service are franchises, so the owners have an incentive to run the business well. I wonder if it could work here?

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The DCPS Stories Project Wants to Hear From You
Michele Baskin, DCPS Stories Project, dcstories@gmail.com

Are you a DCPS stakeholder? A student, parent, or DCPS staff member? Do you think you have a story to tell that is not being heard? Are you frustrated by Special Education services? The violence in your school? The level of respect in the classrooms, hallways, staff rooms? Do you have triumphs that you feel are going ignored? Know about amazing students, teachers, school leaders whose stories need to be told? There are people who want to hear from you. I, along with concerned others are involved in the DCPS Stories Project to gather the stories of DCPS teachers and staff , parents, students and other citizens regarding their experiences with DCPS educational reform.

We are collecting first hand narratives from students, parents, and DCPS staff members to use to tell the full story of DCPS and put a human face on it. Initially, these stories will be presented to the DC council and Chairman Vincent Gray, and then possibly to the US Senate Subcommittee focusing on DCPS. We want to hear from you. Your confidentiality is guaranteed.

To be the most effective, we need the following information in your story; your age or age range, your ward if you live in DC, and how you are related to DCPS (student, parent, staff). At this time we are only interested in first person accounts. You can write your account as a word document and attach it to an E-mail, or simply E-mail us directly. We would like to have as many stories by July 31 as possible; we will continue accepting stories after July 31. Please E-mail all stories to dcstories@gmail.com and send the word to others who might have something to say. You will receive a reply E-mail that will ask to confirm some of your information so that we may maintain validity as much as possible.

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Councilmember Driving Skills
Elizabeth Howard, miriam4oes@yahoo.com

On July 22, while driving home from work, I found that I was behind Councilmember Jack Evans’ vehicle. We were traveling north on 13th Street, NW. An interesting side note is that his vehicle has a hand mirror taped to what was the driver-side mirror of the car; not sure if that will past DC vehicle inspection. But I digress. What was the most interesting part of the drive is as we crossed L Street he changed to the left inside lane, and at the corner of 13th and Massachusetts Avenue, NW, he made an illegal left turn! As many drivers know, but some fail to see, is the rather large neon sign on the northwest pole which is the universal signage for no left turn (at least until after 6:30 p.m., per the signage). Maybe someone can enlighten me as to when councilmembers got a free pass on not following traffic regulations? It just seems a little suspect that, with distinctive councilmember tags, that someone who has sworn to uphold the laws of the city would flagrantly violate them and think no one would notice.

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Beware the Yellow Line
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom

Ignore this warning and you’ll likely get a $50 parking ticket in DC. There’s a long yellow stripe painted along the curb in front of Janney School on Albemarle Street, NW. Park there, like I did along with lots of other cars, and you’ll get a ticket for parking in a fire zone. The signs clearly say that this yellow line depicts a bus parking area when Janney school is in session. Try telling that to the new parking enforcement personnel. It won’t work. They’ll write the ticket, and you’ll have to photograph where your car was parked and the signs as well. Then you’ll have to spend a couple of hours at the Department of Motor Vehicles on C Street waiting for a hearing. Alternatively, you can take your chances with a mail-in appeal that will take, according to the DMV folks, six months to resolve. I took no chances and made a personal appearance at the DMV today. The hearing official told me that every other yellow strip in the District means it’s a fire zone and parking in a fire zone is a $50 ticketable parking offense. I won’t be taking any chances with the parking enforcement folks in northwest DC (who might not be able to read the signs correctly), and will park elsewhere when heading to my volunteer assignment at the Newseum.

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Parking Reform
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc@yahoo.com

I was on the parking task force as part of the regulatory reform effort in 1998. I asked the question about multilevel structures like those found in Montgomery County. Someone with the Control Board staff remarked that this would never happen, because the commercial parking operators give too much money to the reelection of members of the DC council. Follow the money, and if you are parking downtown for more than the time on the meter, bite the bullet and park in a paid commercial structure.

Until DC voters get the ability to amend the Charter by initiative and pass campaign finance restrictions, kiss any real reform to the parking rules goodbye.

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Public Parking Versus Public Transit
John Wheeler, wheels-dc@att.net

My response to T. Lassoc [themail, July 22], who says, “DC really ought to consider multilevel public parking facilities with long-term metered spaces as is done in Montgomery County,” is that T. Lassoc really ought to consider public transit.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Department of Parks and Recreation Events, July 28, 31
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov

July 28-August 2, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC. USA Track and Field Junior Olympics National Championships. The National Junior Olympics Championships are held for athletes aged 9-18, including all USA Track and Field club members from around the country. This event is the pinnacle of Summer Track and Field for youth in USATF, and the top 3 in each region will compete. The event will be held at Irwin Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information, call 671-1700.

July 31, 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m., Congress Heights Recreation Center, Alabama Avenue, SE, and Randle Place, SE. Field Day for all ages. The youth will participate in various outdoor activities for fun prizes. For more information, call Tara Bell, Recreation Specialist, at 645-3981.

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CLASSIFIEDS — DAYCARE

Two Daycare Sublet Spaces Available
Josh Gibson, Adams Morgan, joshuadavidgibson@gmail.com

Two pairs of expectant parents have two slots available in an infant daycare program in northwest Washington, five days a week, for up to for to five months (one slot runs September 21 to early February, the other September 21 to March 21), when our two children will move into that slot. Commitments from three months and up will be considered. Do you need six months of infant day care from September to February? Need three months from October to January? Let us know.

This is a great way to ensure gap coverage while you are awaiting a permanent daycare solution. The day care is a wonderful facility, with a great, highly-trained staff, a nurturing philosophy, and a family-centered culture. Staff with advanced degrees in early childhood education (at least a Bachelor’s, more often a Master’s) anchors each classroom. This is our very first choice daycare, which is why we are holding the slot for our own children to start in February/March. Please contact joshgibson@alumni.ksg.harvard.edu for pricing and more info.

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