Repeal the Bill
Dear Repealers:
There’s a warning in Sam Skolnik’s Salon article, “What
Our Gambling Problem Is Really Costing Us,” an except from High
Stakes: The Rising Cost of America’s Gambling Addiction, http://www.salon.com/news/gambling/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2011/07/16/high_stakes:
“State leaders don’t relinquish these income streams
easily. And in many recession-wracked states currently burdened with
unprecedented budget gaps, officials are clamoring for more gambling. In
2009 and 2010, officials in at least thirty-seven states — three out
of four — pushed for new or expanded gambling. The evidence is clear
that the gambling industry and their politician partners are gearing up
for more battles than ever.”
The warning is that politicians who don’t care about the ethical
implications of their states’ encouraging gambling addictions care
only about the easy money they can skim off partnering with gambling
promoters. In DC, Councilmember Michael Brown sneaked a provision
allowing Internet gambling — including an Internet slots gambling game
— into a supplemental budget bill, with no public notice and no public
discussion. Several councilmembers claimed that they were not even aware
of the provision or aware that they had voted for it. After a public
outcry, Councilmember Jack Evans agreed to hold a public hearing on the
Internet gambling plan. But the only result of that hearing was that the
implementation of Internet gambling was put off for a couple months, in
the hope that the public’s attention would move on to other issues.
The council took no adverse action against the Internet gambling scheme.
It’s still on the books and still ready to be implemented whenever the
Office of the Chief Financial Officer, which is in charge of the DC
Lottery Board, decides to go ahead with its plans.
Councilmembers are just hoping that they’ll be able to shirk their
own responsibility by shifting the decision making to the OCF. They’ll
be the innocent ones again, taken by surprise when the Chief Financial
Officer opens the slots to bettors. “But the legislation has already
been passed,” they’ll whine. “What can we do about it?” The
answer is clear. Any councilmember can do it, and so far not one has.
Repeal the Internet gambling bill. Introduce a new bill to repeal it. If
you’re not part of the solution, you’re the problem yourself.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued “you’re fired”
letters this past week to 206 DC teachers. Before DC teachers knew of
their own fates, on Friday, July 15, the Office of the Chancellor (OOC)
sent a lengthy DCPS press packet to the mainstream media, lauding the
teacher terminations and celebrating highly effective teachers eligible
for merit pay. Bill Turque, staff writer for the Washington Post,
reported on the details of the DCPS firings as early as July 15. Turque
wrote: “Of the 206 fired, DC officials said, 65 were rated ineffective
this year and 141 were judged minimally effective for the second
consecutive year, triggering dismissal.” An additional twenty-one
teachers who were effective and/or highly effective were also terminated
by DCPS because they could not find a permanent placement.
Friday’s teacher firings are a continuation of Michelle Rhee’s
educational plan to terminate a significant share of the DC teaching
workforce while establishing job loss as a likely consequence of their
students’ poor classroom test scores on standardized tests. In DC,
fifty-five percent of a teacher’s performance evaluation is tied to
student test scores in the testing grades. Prior to getting elected as
DC mayor in 2010, Vincent C. Gray, who was then Chairman of the DC city
council, stated that there was controversy over IMPACT teacher
evaluations after the announcement of 241 teacher firings. At the time,
Gray stated that he wanted to look further into the 2010 teacher
dismissals. Fast-forward to 2011. We haven’t heard nary a word from
Mayor Vincent Gray on this issue, now that he has been elected as city
mayor. I guess with all of the ethical dilemmas the Gray administration
has faced during his short tenure as mayor that teachers’ dismissals
aren’t the priority they once were while he was campaigning. If Gray
doesn’t take the time to review the IMPACT controversy, then shame on
him.
Given that the USA Today newspaper broke the story on March
28, 2011 that half of all DC Schools likely corrected students mistakes
and cheated on standardized tests, one has to wonder why Chancellor Kaya
Henderson is moving forward with the dismissal of teachers based on
flawed standardized test score data. Unfortunately, it took Henderson
three years to finally support an investigation into allegations of a
DCPS cheating scandal that was previously made known to the Rhee/Henderson
administration by former State Superintendent Deborah Gist in 2008. It
begs the question, can we really trust that a comprehensive
investigation will be completed by the DC Inspector General Charles J.
Willoughby, who appears to be a one-man operation? Given that the USA
Today newspaper had an entire investigative team of twelve
reporters, and former Governor Sonny Perdue had Georgia law enforcement
take over the investigation into the 2010 Atlanta public schools high
erasure scandal after he declared a local investigation was “woefully
inadequate,” why should we expect anything less in our nation’s
capital?
Now is the time to support the end to the test driven culture in
Washington, DC. I concur with teachers and parents for education reform
that we must demand a call to action and insist on a thorough federal
investigation of the extent of cheating in DC Public Schools over the
past three years, the causes, the consequences, and needed corrections
in our school system culture. This investigation must address specific
allegations of erasure and falsification on answer sheets, as well as
any district actions that might have encouraged cheating, or that were
taken to cover it up. It is also time to call for a moratorium on the
IMPACT evaluation system and teacher terminations until a federal probe
has been conducted into the DCPS cheating scandal. Anything less would
be a real tragedy.
###############
It has been almost five years since I first started with DC Child
Support. I feel like I am the only person that hasn’t been let in on
the joke . . . that I am never going to receive child support in DC. I
have filed complaints with various supervisors within the child support
agency, Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, and the Director of Child
Support. I thought that my case would be resolved when I wrote themail
about a year ago and started receiving E-mails from Mayor Gray’s
office. Now that I look back, they probably wrote me because he was
running for mayor at the time. Today, I attempted to call Chairman Kwame
Brown’s office, but I became frustrated when a representative from his
office asked me what office child support is run out of. I mean, really?
I have family and friends who have no problems in obtaining child
support because they have collected public assistance or experienced
domestic violence. When I spoke with Mrs. Ramirez today, she told me
that my case has not been updated since December, so she had to send a
referral so that the next step could take place. I really would like to
know who makes the decision not to proceed on a four-year-old case? I
also would like to know, had I not called today, how long would it have
taken for the case to be moved? I need help. I want help. Is there
anyone who can help?
###############
While searching for as much information as I could find about a long
vacant home on MLK, Jr., Avenue, SE, I found the image of former Mayor
Anthony Williams on a “How-To-Search Instruction” site through the
Real Property Tax Database Search web site. From http://tinyurl.com/3am9fy,
if you click on “How-To-Search Instructions” you are kicked here —
http://tinyurl.com/66m2hyj —
which gives you a granular set of screen shots with the image of former
Mayor Williams on the banner.
Yeah, yeah, the murder rate was higher, we had no idea yet who
Michelle Rhee was, and the pestilence of yup-yups had yet to swarm and
engulf Columbia Heights (which at the time still had massive holes in
the ground). I do miss those days when you could get a paper transfer
early in the morning, pick up a discarded one from yesterday that
covered the whole day, and while being clever and crafty use a slip of
scotch tape to put the two together and ride free for the rest of the
day. Gone, too, are the rail-to-bus transfers making the bus ride $0.35,
Freestyle Fridays at Capital City Records on U Street, the memorial of
fallen young people at MLK Avenue and Good Hope Road, and any other
number of places, folks, memories, and emotions I associate with Mayor
Williams.
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DC Minority Women’s Health
Jo Ann Smoak, execdir@snma.org
This past week’s tributes to former first lady Betty Ford commended
her candid and public revelations about her drug dependency and her
struggles with breast cancer, crediting her with raising awareness about
the treatment and prevention of these and other women’s health issues.
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, so designated
in 2008 to raise awareness about mental illness in minority communities.
The stigma mentally ill minorities face within their communities is
especially devastating to minority women who are most often juggling
multiple roles along with the material hardships associated with
low-income communities. These disparate stressors ultimately effect both
physical and mental health and well-being.
Nearly a quarter of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States
were among women and girls, with black women accounting for two thirds
of new infections among women. The most common way women present with
heart disease in this country is “dead on arrival.” Women veterans
are one of the fastest growing segments of the veteran population
evidencing signs of mental illness. And it’s not just structural
inequalities that are responsible for the disparities in mental and
physical health of women. Although environmental vulnerabilities like
high poverty rates and lack of access to quality healthcare negatively
impact the health of minority women, researchers have found that middle-
and upper-class blacks under pressure to be “model minorities” also
suffer.
In the District of Columbia, over half of DC residents live in
medially undeserved areas where they are three times as likely to suffer
from a chronic condition, but who, according to a report by the DC
Primary Care Association, lack access to regular medical care. In DC,
women represent a higher portion of TB cases, higher rates of diabetics,
and are more likely to present with end stage renal disease. The
District ranks first among all states for breast cancer mortality and
cervical cancer mortality — potentially curable diseases if caught in
time through a regular program of screening. And as women go, so go
their children and families, for which we all pay. Black women are about
60 percent more likely than white women to deliver babies early, and
black infants are about 230 percent more likely than white infants to
die before their first birthday. DC has some of the worse statistics in
the nation when it comes to infant mortality. These health disparities
add to the challenges of being a minority woman with a mental illness.
Our former first lady had the right idea: a solution begins with
awareness.
###############
As a professional transportation planner for the past thirty-seven
years — never mind as a third-generation Washingtonian — I confess
to having a rather large dog in this particular fight. But we should all
be upset over this last little midnight massacre in the Wilson Building.
I am particularly upset over Kwame Brown’s ill-advised removal of
Councilmember Wells from the WMATA board at precisely the time when the
District, of all three core WMATA jurisdictions, badly needs
clear-minded, citizen-sensitive strategic thinking from our
representatives in the Jack Graham Building. This is not rearranging the
deck chairs on the WMATA Titanic. It is grabbing the tiller and guiding
the ship right into the iceberg, and we need to “call” Kwame Brown
for doing this.
Councilmember Wells proved himself to be one of the more
transit-literate councilmembers we have ever had on the council. (And I
am old enough to go back to the very first elected council (1975), when
woolly mammoths still roamed Freedom Plaza.) Frankly the District has
been consistently poorly served by the councilmembers who have been on
the WMATA board and, to a lesser extent, on the Transportation Planning
Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. For one
thing, almost all the councilmanic appointees to the WMATA board have,
as a rule, treated it as one of those “other duties as assigned.”
And their usually irresponsible and shortsighted parliamentary conduct
in the Jackson Graham Building has been proof of their cavalier attitude
toward their responsibilities there.
I, for one, regard many of the criticisms of “part-time-ism” and
“lack of professional focus on the true strategic policy needs of and
at [WMATA]” that were made by the GAO, Metro Riders’ Advisory
Council, and the COG-Board of Trade reports on how to fix the
dysfunctional WMATA board to be mostly aimed at our councilman reps
there. (Particularly those criticisms of rampant absenteeism and
irregular attendance on the board subcommittees which, trust me, is
where the real work gets done at WMATA, as it is in Congress. In point
of fact, with the partial exceptions of Frank Smith (and perhaps Jim
Graham every so often), I cannot think either professionally or as a
citizen of any other Councilmember director of WMATA with a better track
record than Wells had in the comparatively short time he was on the
board. (And, again: I know whereof I speak here because for twelve years
I worked in WMATA oversight in the original DC Department of
Transportation and, as such, was staff support to the District
delegation to the WMATA board. So I not only know where many of these
particular bodies are buried: I was an eyewitness to the shootings, so
to speak.)
Unlike almost all of his councilmanic predecessors at WMATA Wells has
been both commendably engaged and involved enough to have ably
represented the city, particularly the most transit-dependent residents
of the city, at a time when the regional debate on what WMATA should be
when it finally grows up has been more about what level and quality of
transit service the region can afford, rather than how that level will
affect the 25 percent to 39 percent of the region’s residents who rely
on nothing but public transportation to meet almost all of their
mobility needs. That latter debate has not even begun at either WMATA or
the Transportation Planning Board down the street at the Council of
Governments. And the District is the big loser if WMATA is fixed in such
a way that it continues to serve regional commuters who can afford it
but still underserves or neglects transit-dependent District riders who
will be unable to afford the higher priced, post-crisis WMATA. Wells
showed that he got it and, more importantly, acted out on that
recognition at WMATA.
I work in another WMATA jurisdiction whose representatives on the
WMATA board spoke highly of Wells’ understanding of the needs of
Metrorail’s and, more importantly, Metrobus’, core or base “market.”
(Now if we could just get Wells to “Get Religion” on the need to
keep Wal-Mart’s small business-destroying, union-busting, and frankly
racialist presence out of the city, I would give him a perfect score.)
You know, if you think about this foolishness, it tends to say
something very uncomplimentary — downright troubling, in fact —
about just how much is wrong with city government. I mean, in effect,
with this last little snakebite, Brown is now saying appointing a
qualified and able council colleague to an increasingly critical
position like WMATA director was something he now clearly regrets. So
when the right councilmember gets the right appointment these days, it
is, in fact, a mistake. This recent retaliation by K. Brown is, to me,
both hypocritical and a classic case of cutting the citizens’ noses to
spite a political rival’s face. He clearly is punishing Wells for
telling the truth about “SUV-Gate,” all those pious,
intelligence-insulting denials notwithstanding.
At a time when there is clearly much more serious work for the
council to do, the entire city is being distracted and having its time
and resources wasted by these petty little food fights between
councilmembers who ought to be attending to the people’s business.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Health Insurance You Can Afford, July 21
Michelle Phipps-Evans, michelle.phipps-evans@dc.gov
The Mayor’s Health Reform Implementation Committee (HRIC) cordially
invites you to a community dialogue on the future of health care in the
District of Columbia. This meeting, which is open to the community, will
be Thursday, July 21, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Pennsylvania Avenue
Baptist Church at 3000 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Parking is available.
President Barack Obama signed the health care reform bill into law in
March 2010, and the HRIC is heading the effort to implement the law in
the District. The HRIC wants to know from you how the District’s
health insurance marketplace should operate; who should it serve; and to
get your input on affordability. If you’re a small business owner; a
single or married mom; uninsured or underinsured; insured through your
job; have a preexisting condition such as diabetes, high blood pressure
or cancer; a civic association or ANC leader; or run a health ministry,
this is for you. This meeting is part of a series of forums and other
events that are being conducted by the HRIC to obtain public input. And
a lot of information is available on health reform — what it is and
what it will mean for you, your family, and business. We need as much
input as possible to make sure that the District’s health insurance
marketplace offers high quality insurance at a price you can afford.
For additional background on the HRIC and its undertakings, visit the
web site at http://www.healthreform.dc.gov.
If you have questions or need more information before the meeting,
please contact either Brendan Rose, Health Policy Analyst, Department of
Insurance, Securities, and Banking, 442-7811, Brendan.Rose@dc.gov;
or Dorinda White, Office of Public Affairs, Department of Health Care
Finance, 442-8992, dorinda.white@dc.gov.
###############
Smart Meter Education Workshop, July 21
Sandra Mattavous-Frye, info@dc-opc.gov
The DC Office of the People’s Counsel and Advisory Neighborhood
Commission 6A and 6C, in conjunction with the AARP District of Columbia
State Office, present a Smart Meter Education Workshop on Thursday, July
21, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., at Sherwood Recreation Center, 641 G Street,
NE. Consumers will learn what to do to prepare for the meter exchange,
how to alert PEPCO that someone in your home has special medical needs,
the steps of the meter installation process, and about proposed features
and benefits. For additional information, contact OPC at 727-3071.
###############
Civil War to Civil Rights: The Path to Racial
Healing, July 21
Patricia Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com
A luncheon with Dr. Frank Smith will be held at the Woman’s
National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on July 21. Dr.
Frank Smith is noted for his involvement and leadership role in planning
and executing protests and marches in Greenwood, Mississippi, during the
Freedom Summer of 1964. He is also chairman of the board and chief
executive officer of the organization that established the African
American Civil War Memorial and Museum, the only national memorial to
the African American troops who fought in the Civil War. Visit http://www.afroamcivilwar.org
for the memorial’s July 2011 grand opening celebration information.
Smith is also a commentator, civil rights activist, and politician. His
talk will be informative and refreshingly honest. A special guest at the
luncheon will be John Moody, Jr., who as a Freedom Rider in the 1960’s
was jailed for 39 days in Jackson, Mississippi.
The bar opens at 11:30 a.m.; lunch is at 12:15 p.m.; the presentation
and question and answer session will be at 1:00 p.m. $25, members; $30,
nonmembers; $10, lecture only. For more information, contact 232-7363 or
pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.
###############
Join Councilmember Muriel Bowser for her Women of Power Birthday
Celebration Fundraiser in support of her reelection as Ward 4
Councilmember. Suggested contribution, $51. Thursday, July 28, 6:30-8:30
p.m., Intown Uptown Inn, 4907 14th Street, NW. RSVP to rsvp4murielbowser@gmail.com.
Please make check payable to Bowser 2012. Host committee: Honorable
Charlene Drew Jarvis, Honorable Carol Schwartz, Honorable Sharon
Ambrose, Honorable Kathy Patterson, Honorable Eydie Whittington.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FREE
Free Stuff for Someone Who Is or Knows a “Margaret
Quinn”
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
I ordered handheld heart-shape plastic fans with blue handles that
are imprinted “I’m Margaret Quinn’s Fan” and
red/white/yellow/green/blue bubble bottle necklaces that are imprinted
“I ‘heart’ Margaret Quinn” for a party. We have more than we
need! About 75 fans and 75 bubble bottles more. I’d be happy to give
them away to someone who’ll pick them up from a downtown DC address.
If you know someone or are someone, E-mail me off-list. They are nice
and need a good home.
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