No Bad News
Dear Residents of Oz:
What one sentence explains Mayor Fenty’s failure to plan for,
manage, and oversee efforts to control the snow? Here’s a hint:
Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wiz, sings it as her
anthem. “Don’t nobody bring me no bad news.”
Several commentators have already criticized Fenty’s strangely
off-kilter performance on last Thursday’s “Connecting with the Mayor”
segment on WRC-TV, http://tinyurl.com/ygyn7fm.
He was sharp and sarcastic with the show’s hosts, and he came out with
a line that will define his handling of the situation forever: “The
snow has fallen, and it’s not going to be gone until the temperature
gets warm enough so that it can melt.” That was Marion Barry’s snow
removal plan when he was mayor; Fenty has now claimed it as his own. The
mayor’s disconnect was obvious. Just as he repeatedly insisted that
the major roads were clear, when it was obvious to everyone who tried to
drive them that they weren’t; and insisted that plows had gotten to
the residential streets, when everyone could see that most residential
streets hadn’t been touched; he was caught unaware defending his claim
that trash was being picked up from houses. Host Eun Yang told him that
her trash had repeatedly not been picked up, and after scornfully
dismissing her and insisting that she must not have known that trash
collections were only been done from the front of houses, he was
surprised when he finally understood what she was saying. Yang had been
putting her trash out in front; it was just that no trash trucks had
gone down her street. Fenty’s fallback response was that trash
collections may have been skipped rarely or occasionally, but that Yang’s
experience had been unusual.
A similar situation happened with Department of Transportation
Director Gabe Klein, who had been identified as the one person with whom
Fenty worked closely on snow removal. Reporter Tom Sherwood took Klein
for a drive on Wisconsin Avenue, which Klein had insisted was clear of
snow. Sherwood drove Klein past several snow banks blocking the avenue’s
right lane. Klein could only say that his records showed the street was
clear, and that he would look into it when he got back to the office.
Bryce Suderow makes the same argument, below, after noting that bus
drivers were too afraid to report to their headquarters that they couldn’t
drive the routes they had been assigned. You can’t manage, you can’t
lead an effective and efficient operation, if your subordinates are
afraid to bring you any bad news, if they can’t tell you that you’re
overpromising, that the situation is worse than you think. You end up
isolated and alone, insisting that the streets are clear, the schools
are improving, the departments’ budgets are balanced, and the people
love you.
#####
Two more articles to read on snow management: Tim Craig’s coverage
of Peter LaPorte’s testimony to the city council, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/18/AR2010021805773.html,
and Vanessa Williams’ clever comparison of the shoddy performance of
Mayor Fenty with the high standards that Councilmember Fenty demanded
for constituent service from Mayor Williams, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/18/AR2010021805773.html.
#####
Chancellor Michelle Rhee has given a partial answer to Council
Chairman Vincent Gray’s question about her claim that in her RIF of
teachers she fired teachers who had sex with students. She now claims
that she fired one teacher who had been accused of impregnating an
eighteen-year-old special education student. She says that the case was
still under investigation when she fired the teacher. Washington
Teachers Union President George Parker says that the accusation had been
fully investigated, the case resolved, and the teacher cleared. This is
a stark factual disagreement, and it can be determined who is telling
the truth, either Rhee or Parker. Documents showing the outcome of the
investigation should exist, and the school system should have copies. If
DCPS won’t produce those documents to the city council, Rhee’s story
won’t hold water.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Snow: “This One was the Real Deal”
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
“Streets were not plowed, garbage was not collected and mass
transit was staggered.” Sound familiar? No, not DC, 2010; the year was
1979, and “Chicago was the city that could not get to work.”
Displeasure over the paralysis of the city led to the ousting of the
city’s mayor. Well, Chicago is supposed to be able to handle heavy
snowfalls, and Midwesterners are quick to ridicule us District residents
for our tendency to panic when threatened by a couple of inches of the
stuff. Chicago was brought to a stop by 35 inches of snow over a
two-week period. Compare what we got, 32 inches, in just nine days. If
that was enough to paralyze Chicago, despite its being equipped to
handle twice as much winter snow as the District gets, I guess it’s
not surprising that it paralyzed DC, too. As Illinois Senator Dick
Durbin said, this was “a heck of a snowstorm . . . this one was the
real deal”.
The trouble with such a heavy snowfall is that the usual DC practice
of just shoving it to the side, stacking it in tree boxes, and waiting
for nature to melt it away, won’t do. Eighteen inches of snow on a
narrow residential street amounts to ten feet of snow piled in the tree
box. On a multilane road the stuff simply has to be loaded into trucks
and hauled away, a dreadfully slow, costly, and inefficient process.
Maybe we should be impressed that it took Mayor Fenty, and District
personnel and contractors, only one week to end the paralysis.
###############
Management Problems During the Snow Storm
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
I would not be surprised if it was true that DC has more snow plows
than Chicago. It seems to me that our problem is a management problem,
not a lack of resources. As evidence of this let me say this: I
witnessed and many other people told me they saw idle snow plows and
snow plows driving around doing nothing at a time when most side streets
had not been plowed. Either management was not telling the drivers where
to go or the drivers were goofing off and the managers weren’t aware
of this.
Speaking of management problems, during the snow storm Metro managers
were not on top of things. Last Thursday at 1:00 p.m., Metro’s web
site announced that they had just activated over thirty bus lines that
had been closed down cause of the snow storm The site directed Metro
rail riders that if they traveled to Potomac Avenue they would find
busses that would take them home. Also at that time the 90 busses
finally started their routes. I got on a 90 bus on 8th Street south of
Pennsylvania Avenue. The driver told me he was not going north. Instead
he was going to turn east at Pennsylvania Avenue and drop all of us at
Potomac Avenue Metro where we could catch another bus. When I got to
Potomac Avenue I saw about twenty people waiting for the promised
busses. One woman told me she had been there two hours and no busses had
shown up. Apparently the promised busses could not reach Potomac Avenue
Metro because of all the snow. When I suggested that the bus drivers
call their bosses at Metro they refused, replying “I just drive where
they tell me.” My driver told me he had just come on duty and had
driven south from the garage, which is located way to the north. The 90
route was clear and he could not understand why the busses simply didn’t
travel their usual route.
This week there were still problems with the 90/92 busses. On Tuesday
my driver was driving north on 8th Street but he did not know what he
should do when he reached H Street. He stopped three different busses
traveling south. Each one told him a different story on what to do: turn
onto 14th, turn onto 6th, and so forth. Again I urged him to call
management, but he wouldn’t do it even though he and the other drivers
were completely befuddled. Thus there were two problems. Management was
out of touch and the drivers were reluctant to stick their necks out by
telling management the truth.
###############
It’s the Region in themail
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc@yahoo.com
DC snow removal is on the par with the rest of the Washington region
this year. Like in DC, there are still neighborhood streets in the
suburbs that have not yet been plowed. There is no reason for outsiders
to point a finger at the District that they won’t point at Arlington,
and frankly DC residents don’t have any reason to complain — or at
least not any more reason than those who live in PG, Montgomery,
Fairfax, et al.
###############
DC Resumes Recycling Collections
Kevin B. Twine, kevin.twine@dc.gov
The DC Department of Public Works announced on Friday that recycling
collections will be resumed starting Monday, February 22. Residents are
asked to use their recycling containers — blue carts and/or bins —
and put the containers next to their trash containers (or dark plastic
bags) at the curb. DPW resumed its Household Hazardous
Waste/E-Cycling/Document Shredding services, on Saturday, February 20,
8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Ft. Totten Transfer Station, 4900 John F.
McCormack Road, NE.
DPW suspended recycling collections for two weeks due to the snow;
therefore, many households have more recyclables than will fit in the
containers. These overflow recyclables may be put in brown paper bags or
cardboard boxes and placed next to the carts or bins. Both trash and
recycling collections will follow their normal schedule this week.
Residents are asked to put their containers out between 6:30 p.m. the
day before their collection and 6:00 a.m. of their collection day.
Snow in District alleys is beginning to melt. However, not enough
melting has occurred nor are temperatures forecasted to be sufficiently
high to promote substantial melting to create certainty that DPW
collections crews safely can collect trash and recyclables from alleys
this week.
###############
Vetting Candidates for 2010 Elections to Help
DC Reach Its Promise
Kathryn Pearson-West, kap8082@aol.com
Hearing about the recent Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC)
in Washington, DC, I was wondering whether there might be a local
Moderate Political Action group formed in what is the supposedly most
left-leaning District of Columbia. At CPAC, one could tell that there
were future candidates in the making. There was the making of a platform
for potential candidates to grasp and move. The convention was more
about the principles for governing and leading more so than the party. I
know that there are religious groups reaching out to candidates to see
where they stand to make sure the city doesn’t go too far in the right
or left direction and that is a good thing that is really needed, but I
wonder if there are other groups doing the same. Will there be a
discussion about the future of the local political parties in
Washington? Are they moving in the right direction for the people and
will they work to field candidates with more middle of the road messages
and with pragmatic ideas and solutions? What are the plans to help stem
unemployment and increase job upward mobility? What are the plans for
neighborhood and family stabilization?
Is the Democratic Party, of which I am a member and a moderate,
allowing and encouraging potential candidates to speak at their groups?
Are they are on the lookout for and appreciative of new blood? Are they
grooming new leaders for the future? (The Attorney General is expected
to be an elected position in 2014.) Are they strengthening the party to
make thoughts of moving to another party untenable? Is there an
anti-incumbency movement this year for some over the issues of snow,
education, the economy? Will the six out of ten citizens that the Washington
Post reports want to see the definition of the marriage on the
ballot revolt against those candidates that denied that possibility and
imposed their own redefinition of marriage? Will voters show concern
over what leaders are doing to retain current residents and businesses
as the expense of newcomers that may be equally needed in the District?
Will special interest groups govern the elections, making sure that
their long range plans to put like-minded candidates in place
materializes in 2010 or continues to take shape? Can DC shed its
left-leaning moniker and go toward the center? Will churches turn out
multitudes of voters echoing their voice on certain issues that address
the least among us and/or the moral fabric of society?
Citizens can’t wait for the media to publicize actual and potential
candidates because they may have their own biases or may not be willing
to give perceived underdogs a shot at the chosen office. We saw in 2006
how some in the media were determined to make the mayoral race a
two-candidate race instead of reporting more on what other candidates
were about. So far we know that Leo Alexander and Adrian Fenty are
candidates for mayor, with R. Don Peebles on the horizon possibly ready
to enter the race now that he has addressed the needs of his family and
he knows what that course may entail. Alexander and Peebles, two
Democrats, will bring much to the mayoral race and will highlight
problems and pragmatic solutions. Both may be willing to stand to the
side to let the people vote on marriage and hear their will instead of
imposing their own views, which are not as important as the right for
the people to vote on this centuries-old definition. Both Peebles and
Alexander seem to be ready to take on the tough issues and call them
like they seem them. Both are ready to talk about the economy and
education and other issues that matter to everyday citizens. There may
be a solid three person mayoral race in 2010.
However, citizens are hearing little of the other races in 2010:
Delegate to Congress, Council Chair, two At-Large races, and the races
for Wards 1, 3, 5, and 6 council members. It has been said that Doug
Sloan is eying the seat for delegate. Who else is out there for needed
competition? In Wards 1, there has been mention of possible candidates
Jeffrey Smith, Byron Weaver, and Stanley Mayes. Each of these candidates
is good in his own right. Is there a strong Hispanic/Latino candidate on
the horizon to take on the incumbent? In Ward 5, there is talk of Delano
Hunter. Who is running in Wards 3 and 6? Anthony Motley is running at
large. The media may not mention who is out there, so the citizens must
report their names. This year, interest may return regarding whether
candidates attend or belong to a place of worship and whether that faith
institution wants to redefine marriage. Faith and religion are making a
comeback in people’s psyche and criteria for candidates. The onslaught
of snow made people start to think about religion for some reason since
that first major snowstorm in December followed by the historic blizzard
in 2010. Campaign finance reports are due March 10, and some may not
register the big bucks just yet. But the interest in who is running for
office is starting to gain interest. After March 10, may be a good time
for potential candidates to announce their interest in running and state
their platforms without having to show their strength in fundraising.
People are willing to listen and being an incumbent is no guarantee for
a win this year. No one is safe, despite appearances to the contrary.
The people can make a strong candidate vulnerable overnight when they
coalesce on the issues and the candidate. Wouldn’t it be something if
the religious, labor, and business communities decided to coalesce and
stand with everyday citizens behind the same candidates? Let’s talk
and provide forums for potential candidates to address the people and
their needs and see whether citizens want to stay with what they have
(in some cases, the devil they know) or move on to other possibilities
to make DC the world-class city that it can and ought to be. Citizens
want full disclosure from candidates to determine any potential
conflicts of interest and are eager and ready to vet candidates to see
who can best serve all of DC. The days of mere popularity contests and
name recognition may be over. What are candidates going to do for DC
from this day forward and how will candidates’ positions, lifestyles,
ideas, vision, and energy impact citizens and their families in this
globally competitive society? Let’s hear the candidates and move DC
forward. And let’s put a little focus on continuing to examine local
political party apparatus to make sure they are doing right by the
people they represent as well.
###############
Will Chairman Vincent Gray Investigate
Councilmember Jack Evans’ Possible Ethics Violations?
Peter Tucker, pete10506@yahoo.com
(Below is testimony I gave before the DC city council’s Committee
of the Whole on Thursday, February 18th. Video of the testimony can be
found at hour mark 03:07:00-03:11:23 at http://oct.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/February2010/02_18_10_COW_2.asx)
I testify to alert you to a grave violation of DC law by a
councilmember and his committee involving over one quarter of a billion
dollars. On Wednesday, June 24, there was a joint hearing held by the
Committee on Economic Development and the Committee on Finance and
Revenue. The subject of the hearing was the proposed convention center
hotel, and the role that the city should play in assisting Marriott in
building a $550 million, 1,100 room hotel. At the hearing,
Councilmembers Jack Evans and Kwame Brown proposed using more than $100
million in public funding to assist Marriott in building the hotel; that
number has since increased to $272 million, according to Jonathan O’Connell
of the Washington Business Journal.
At the June 24 hearing, another witness and I asked Councilmember
Evans if he had a conflict of interest. Specifically, Mr. Evans was
asked if his firm, Patton Boggs, represents Marriott, the proposed
recipient of $272 million in public money. (I mentioned that Jack Evans’
firm is Patton Boggs: for those who don’t know, Councilmember Evans,
the chair of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, is on the payroll of
the law firm/lobbying firm Patton Boggs, where he earns $240,000 a year,
on top of his council salary of more than $125,000.) Councilmember Evans
had an interesting response to our questions regarding his possible
conflict of interest: Silence. While Mr. Evans refused to answer our
questions at the hearing, just two days later he (somewhat suspiciously)
began recusing himself from voting on the matter. Two of DC’s most
respected civic organizations — the Committee of 100 on the Federal
City and the DC Federation of Citizens Associations — then sent a
joint letter to Mr. Evans asking him for information regarding any work
he has done with regards to the proposed convention center hotel on
behalf of his firm, but Mr. Evans refused to respond. Under “Conflict
of Interest,” the District of Columbia Official Code states (section
1-1106.01(b)): “No public official shall use his or her position to
obtain financial gain for . . . any business with which he or she is a
member.” If Marriott or any other company involved with the proposed
convention center hotel is a client of Patton Boggs, then it appears
that Mr. Evans has violated DC Official Code by using his position as
chair of the Committee on Finance and Revenue “to obtain financial
gain for” a “business with which he . . . is a member.”
DC Official Code also states (Section 1-204.04(c), 202(c)): “If the
participation by a chairperson of a committee . . . would be prohibited
by DC Official Code, the chairperson shall return the measure to the
Chairman for reassignment.” While Mr. Evans recused himself from
voting on the convention center hotel deal, he did not “return the
measure to the Chairman for reassignment,” but instead kept the
legislation in the Committee on Finance and Revenue, which he chairs.
Therefore, the legislation approving the public funding of the
convention center hotel may be illegitimate and may need to be brought
back to (a non-Jack Evans’ chaired) committee. Chairman Gray, in light
of Councilmember Evans’ possible conflict of interest, as well as the
amount of precious tax dollars at stake, I urge you to immediately
launch an investigation into this matter.
###############
Chris Matthews Wrong? Catch Up
Star Lawrence, jkellaw@aol.com
Chris Matthews has become increasingly manic in the last year and is
wrong and extreme so often, it’s laughable. This is just one of the
reasons MSNBC is down to a dozen viewers and also why NewsBusters.org
stays in business critiquing so-called liberal bias. Raving about DC
snow is just one of his goofy rants.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Department of Parks and Recreation Events,
February 24-26
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
February 24, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Kennedy Recreation Center, 1401 7th
Street, NW. Kennedy’s Blacks in Wax Living Museum for all ages. Come
and push the red buttons and watch history (students) come alive!
Students choose, research, and present a notable Black History figure
(past, present, or future) at the Blacks in Wax Living Museum. Also, a
Shaw Community Exhibit, videos, surprises, and more! For more
information, call Pamela Pugh, Assistant Site Manager, at 671-4792.
February 25, 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310
Childress Street, NE. Just Us Girls Winter Tea for ages six through
sixteen. Young ladies will chat and chew while learning table etiquette,
hygiene, proper table conversation, etc. while enjoying different
flavors of tea and finger food. For more information, call Tameka Borges,
Recreation Specialist, at 412-0305.
February 25, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Stead Recreation Center, 1625 P
Street, NW. Black History Quiz Bowl for ages eight through fourteen.
Participants will be divided into teams to see who knows there Black
History facts. For more information, call Vincent E. Hill at 673-4465.
February 25, 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., Lafayette Recreation Center, 5900
33rd Street, NW. Recipe Swap for ages twelve and under. Lafayette
Recreation Center’s Young Ladies on the Rise and the Boys to Men
program participants will participate in a recipe swap in celebration of
Black History Month. For more information, call Mike Thompkins, Site
Manager, at 282-2206.
February 25-26, 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.,
Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, 701 Mississippi Avenue, SE. Fourth
Annual Blacks in Wax Program, “Lift Every Voice and Stand” for all
ages. During Black History month, the SETLC will present the Fourth
Annual Blacks in Wax Program. Our vignette, entitled “Lift Every Voice
and Stand,” is a tribute to African Americans in the arts that have
used their gifts/celebrity to further justice and humanitarian causes.
Students from SETLC will portray characters from Harriet Tubman to
President Obama, from Arthur Ashe to Venus and Serena Williams, and
artists ranging from Cicely Tyson to Alicia Keys. For more information,
call Donna M. Stewart at 645-6242 or 386-4723.
###############
Law Review Symposium, February 26
Joe Libertelli, jfl@udc.edu
A Law Review Symposium on Developmental Disability Law in DC, Child
Welfare and Justice Issues, and the Impact of the Freedom of Information
Act in Keeping the Executive Branch of the DC Government Accountable to
Citizens will be held on Friday, February 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00
p.m., at the University of the District of Columbia, Building 44, A03,
right across the quad, next to the Undergraduate Library.
This year’s Symposium features three panels of nationally
recognized practitioners and advocates in the fields of Developmental
Disability, Child Welfare, and FOIA Law as it pertains to the District
of Columbia. Please see below for more information or contact KC
Tackett, the Symposium Editor, at kctackett@gmail.com.
Panels: Developmental Disability Law and Rights: Why DC Needs New
Legislation Now, 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m. Moderated by Joseph B. Tulman,
UDC-DCSL Professor of Law. Panelists include Sandy Bernstein, University
Legal Services for the District of Columbia, Legal Director; Robert L.
Burgdorf, Jr., UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, Professor of Law.
Child Welfare: Exploding the Myths, 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Moderated
by Matthew I. Fraidin, UDC-DCSL Associate Professor of Law. Panelists
include Richard Wexler, National Coalition for Child Protection Reform,
Director; Vivek Sankaran, University of Michigan Law School, Clinical
Assistant Professor of Law; Daniel Hatcher, University of Baltimore
School of Law, Associate Professor Law; Kristen Weber, Center for the
Study of Social Policy, Associate.
Does the Executive Branch of the DC Government Currently Comply with
the Various Provisions of the DC FOIA?, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Moderated by
William G. McLain, UDC-DCSL Associate Professor of Law. Panelists
include Thorn Pozen, Office of the Attorney General for the District of
Columbia, Special Counsel; Thomas Susman, Governmental Affairs Office
American Bar Association, Director; Margaret Kwoka, Public Citizen
Litigation Group, Attorney.
###############
Final Council Hearing on Recycling, March 10
Virginia Johnson, virginiamjohnson@verizon.net
Environmentalism is usually a plank in Democratic conventions. Please
consider talking to your friends and family in this overwhelmingly
Democratic city to get them fired up enough to trudge down to the Wilson
Building, wait through up to one hour’s worth of other people’s
testimony before reading their own in favor of massively increased
attentiveness to our recycling program. If that does not happen,
committee Chairman Jim Graham might well conclude that DC’s residents,
those supposed progressives, liberals, and Democrats, don’t give a
damn about recycling, and introduce some half measure, weakly try to get
it through, and perhaps shrug his shoulders when nothing gets done.
Do you know that now is the time to do something about beefing up and
indeed overhauling our recycling program? Are you going to rely on
someone else to do it? If so, it won’t get done. It just won’t.
There are thirteen business days left before the final hearing on March
10 on both commercial and residential recycling in the District of
Columbia. This is your chance to make your voice heard on recycling
whether you live in a house or an apartment building. This is it. After
this, no more chances, no more excuses.
Go into practically any food-oriented business in DC and you will
generally see no recycling and tons of commingling. This was my
experience recently at Starbucks in Adams Morgan. They said they never
recycle — they couldn’t get the customers to put them in the right
bins. Let’s tie thoughts about climate change to real action. Let’s
make the connection and do something besides E-mail each other. Let’s
go down the Wilson building and read the testimony that we wrote. Let’s
bring a real, grownup recycling program to Washington, DC.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
Awning Contractor
H. and T. Foster, Petworth, Ward 4, incanato@earthlink.net
We are looking for an insured, bonded contractor who installs fabric
(canvas) awnings on an attached residence (a row house) here in the
District. Please let us know of any awning contractors you have had a
good experience with.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To change the E-mail address for your subscription
to themail, use the Update Profile/Email address link below in the
E-mail edition. To unsubscribe, use the Safe Unsubscribe link in the
E-mail edition. An archive of all past issues is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.
