MLK Memorial Dedication
Dear Dedicators:
The dedication events for the Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial will
start in just a few days. A description of the National Memorial
Dedication Week is at http://dc.gov/DC/Mayor/Initiatives/MLK+Memorial+Dedication+Week.
District residents will be able to preview the memorial on Tuesday,
August 23, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. A limited number of tickets will
be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and information about
how to request these tickets will be available later on this web page.
To see a schedule of the local events that are oriented toward residents
of the District of Columbia, go to http://dc.gov/DC/Mayor/Initiatives/MLK+Memorial+Dedication+Week/District+of+Columbia+Events.
Information about the nationally oriented events and information about
buying tickets for those events is at http://www.dedicatethedream.org/site/c.4nJHJQPoEiKWE/b.6715605/k.BDE7/Home.htm.
#####
In the last issue of themail, I encouraged you either to run for the
city council yourself or to name and support a good candidate. No one
has stepped forward yet. The field is wide open. As the last mayoral
election showed, even an enormous financial advantage can’t guarantee
the reelection of an unpopular incumbent. If not yourself, who in your
neighborhood has made a positive contribution, has organized a community
group or led a community project, has helped neighbors who have had
problems with the city government? Who is a fresh, new face and an
unblemished reputation? Who has retired from a successful career, but
wants to devote a few years to public service by spending one or two
terms on the city council? Who cares about the he or she can do for the
city more than about what he or she can get out of winning public
office? Who actually cares about cleaning up the city council and
raising its ethical standards? Who knows how to do it? Who will step
forward?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
DC Gambling Outreach Meetings in Dead of
August
Andy Litsky, ANC Commissioner 6D-04, alitsky@aol.com
If you think that the last two weeks of August and Labor Day week
presents best opportunity for a citywide outreach on how Internet
gambling will be introduced in the District of Columbia, then read no
further. The information below is from the DC Lottery Commission web
site. You can log on to see what the Lottery Commission — and our DC
council — consider appropriate “community outreach” regarding the
introduction of Internet gambling in each and every neighborhood in the
District of Columbia, http://www.dclottery.com/AboutUs/igaminginfo.aspx
But no need to click. Here’s precisely what they consider proper
public outreach: 1) the ANC chairs from across the city were purportedly
mailed notice on August 4 requesting their attendance at a meeting with
the DC Lottery on August 16 to discuss the introduction of Internet
gambling in our communities as soon as this October. 2) There will be
eight ward meetings, each scheduled for just two hours apiece and held
in small meeting rooms at local DC Public Libraries — which may, or
may not, be eventual sites for Internet gambling. The DC Lottery
Commission still hasn’t ruled that out. Yep. That’s it. That’s the
extent of public outreach — in the dead of August. There will be no
visits by Lottery Officials to seek additional concerns from the general
public, or at local ANC meetings or from our community, civic, or
business associations.
But it’s August, and the Lottery Commission hopes to do this when
most of the city is on vacation, when the council is on recess and
virtually everybody else is out of town or out of session. Unless the
members of the media and interested citizenry begin to speak up, we risk
that this may become the new standard for adopting legislation in the
District of Columbia — quick, down, dirty, and out of public view. We
should expect greater accountability from our elected officials and from
those whom they appoint to manage our District affairs. Regardless of
whether you believe that Internet gambling is bad public policy, the
very least that we ought to insist upon is a proper and thorough
vetting. It is particularly galling that this faux community outreach
schedule appears to be acceptable to our city council, the DC Lottery
Commission, and the mayor.
Hundreds of small businesses currently contracted to sell lottery
tickets must be notified that they may lose significant revenue if
lottery tickets are to be sold online. The Alcohol Beverage Control
Commission must hold a noticed and open meeting to decide whether
gambling on premises should be considered “a substantial change”
under the law for hundreds of their license holders. It’s pretty
simple. The public ought to know what’s going on. So why the rush? If
this is how our government is handling a simple matter of public
outreach, how accountable do you imagine that they are going to be once
gambling is on the table and we’re awash with real coin? Remember, it’s
August. See if you can get through for comments from the ward
councilmembers anyway, the at-large councilmembers, and the chairman.
Call the mayor and ask him if he approves of the manner in which his
Lottery Commission is proceeding on this. And while you’re at it, call
Buddy Roogow, Director of the DC Lottery Commission, and ask him to lay
his cards on the table. We need to slow this thing down. This must be
done when everyone is back in town, properly noticed and focusing on
this issue — not during the last two weeks of August and the week of
Labor Day. What a sham. What a shame.
###############
Volunteer Opportunities for DC Statehood
During the MLK Memorial Weekend
Bill O’Field, wofield@gmail.com
The ACLU-National Capital Area’s DC Statehood’s Welcome and Host
Committee Coalition for the MLK Memorial Weekend is looking for
volunteers to serve as hosts during the week of August 24-28. Over three
hundred thousand people will converge on Washington, DC, to honor Dr.
Martin Luther King and participate in the dedication of the new MLK
Memorial. Among others, this will be an opportunity for DC residents to
connect Dr. King’s dream to the plight of the over six hundred
thousand disenfranchised citizens who live in DC and dream for equal
footing with all other US citizens.
Visitors should leave DC with a pleasant memory of having been here;
have a memento from the historic weekend that they will keep (a
brochure); and have been enlightened and educated about the political
and social problems that those of us who live here experience.
To sign up for a training session, send an E-mail including your home
address, phone numbers, Facebook information, or Twitter handle, etc.,
to Beverly@aclu-nca.org or,
for more information, call 457-0800.
###############
I just wanted to say that I appreciate your note [themail, August 3]
about changing DC’s politics by getting personally involved. While not
for a city council seat, I did today file for an open ANC Commissioner
seat and believe strongly in getting all of us involved in the political
process.
This is a great city with capable, good, and intelligent people, and
we all deserve to be better represented. It’s a tiny sphere of
influence, but I hope to do the same from 2F02.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
A Drumming Ceremony in Memory of Dr. King,
August 27
Afrika M. Asha Abney, afrikamaabney@yahoo.com
Please join us on August 27 for a drumming ceremony to honor Dr.
King, Jr., on the DC Historical Society Grounds, 801 K Street, NW, in
Washington, DC, at 3:30 p.m. We welcome folks of all races and ethnic
groups. Men and women are encouraged to participate in the celebration.
Please bring a drum, a friend, and your wonderful energy. For more
information about this event, please contact Doc Powell, founder of the
Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers, at 459-8157, or Chuck Hicks at 421-8608
###############
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art
Bank Submission Deadline, September 30
Zoma Wallace, zoma.wallace@dc.gov
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is seeking to purchase
two- and three-dimensional works of art including, but not limited to,
prints, drawings, mixed media compositions, paintings, photographs,
ceramics, and moveable sculptures to be included in the Art Bank
Collection. We also strongly encourage submission by video artists and
other technological innovators as we look to expand the Art Bank
Collection to include more diverse and dynamic forms of contemporary
art. Representational, conceptual, and abstract works will be equally
considered.
This year, the Art Bank application process will be done entirely
online. Please go to http://dcarts.slideroom.com
to find the Art Bank 2011 Call to Artists. In order to access the
application, all applicants will first be prompted to create a SlideRoom
account, at no cost. Once an applicant artist is logged into his or her
new account, he or she will be allowed to submit up to ten labeled
images to be considered by acquisition into the Art Bank. All artworks
submitted must be available for purchase upon submission and must be
created with archival materials. An artwork shall not exceed 96 inches
in any direction or one hundred pounds in weight. This call is open to
all artists who reside or maintain studio space in the Washington, DC,
metropolitan area. However, preference will be given to District
residents. Deadline for submissions in Friday, September 30, at 11:59
p.m. For more information, contact Zoma Wallace, curator and art
collections manager of DCCAH at zoma.wallace@dc.gov
or 724-5613.
###############
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.
