Instead of Reform
Dear Reformers:
Citizens want the city council to reform itself and to clean up its
members’ unethical behavior. So what did councilmembers do instead in
Tuesday’s council session? Increase taxes, which was a higher priority
for them.
Most states have a variety of highly rated tax free municipal bonds
that careful, conservative investors can purchase, usually as part of
their retirement plans. The District of Columbia doesn’t. It has, and
for several years has had, relatively few tax free municipal bonds, and
even fewer of those bonds are highly rated by investment advisors. As a
result, several years ago DC amended its tax code to allow its citizens
to buy tax free municipal bonds issued in other states and to get the
same tax benefit on DC taxes as on federal taxes. But earlier this year
the council passed a tax on other states’ tax exempt municipal bonds,
and made it retroactive so that owners of such bonds would have to pay
the tax this year.
A number of citizens who held such bonds lobbied the council about
the unfairness of passing a retroactive tax that they didn’t have a
chance of planning for, and their arguments made such sense that the
council decided to revise the law, at least to revise the retroactive
nature of it, so that citizens who had bought and already held tax free
bonds could continue to hold them without paying city taxes on them. But
the high-tax faction of the council saw this as an opportunity to raise
other taxes.
Since rescinding the retroactive tax would save citizens thirteen
million dollars a year, high-tax proponents, led by Councilmembers
Mendelson, Wells, and Graham, demanded that another tax be imposed upon
citizens. The final accounting of this year’s taxes and expenditures
showed a city surplus of eighty-nine million dollars, but advocates of a
tax increase insisted that the thirteen million dollars not come from
that surplus. Instead, they proposed raising the top tax rate in the DC
tax code, to increase taxes on top wage owners by one hundred sixty
million dollars. Councilmembers Evans and Catania argued against the tax
increase on the grounds that the new tax wasn’t needed — the city
already had a surplus and more than enough money to cover recision of
the retroactive tax. When Councilmember Graham emotionally argued that
services for the poorest citizens had been cut, Councilmember Catania
correctly countered that Graham’s argument was irrelevant; he said
both that the city’s budget grew by 8 percent the last fiscal year and
that the council was not targeting any of the money to be raised by the
higher tax for services or programs for the poor, but merely putting it
into the city’s reserves. In the end, the high-tax faction of the
council won the argument in two separate votes of seven to six. Graham,
Mendelson, Wells, Thomas, Alexander, and Michael Brown voted yes, and
the decisive vote on both vote counts was Cheh.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
At this morning’s press conference, Mayor Vincent Gray announced
appointees for all three positions on the DC Board of Elections and
Ethics: Stephen Danzansky, a retired Washington lawyer who has been very
active in national and local Republican party politics, and the son of
Joseph Danzansky (a former president of Giant Foods when it was American
owned); Devarieste Curry, a lawyer with McLeod, Watkinson, and Miller,
who is active in DC Bar and Georgetown University Law School alumni
affairs; and, as chairman, Robert Mallett, a lawyer who was the City
Administrator under Sharon Pratt Kelly when Gray served as her Director
of Human Services.
It has been traditional in the District of Columbia that nominees be
involved in civic affairs, but not be overtly partisan, so that their
decisions on the DC BOEE are not tainted by even the suspicion of
partisanship. The appointment of Danzansky, who was actively promoted by
the DC Republican Party in recent months, breaks that tradition, but
there is no legal requirement that members of the Board of Elections
abjure partisanship.
On the other hand, there is a real problem with the appointment of
Robert Mallett: he is not legally eligible to be nominated to the Board.
After he served in Kelly’s administration, Mallett moved to New York,
where he worked for Pfizer, Inc. He lived in New York for ten years, and
moved back to the District in May 2010. But the legal requirements for
Board of Elections and Ethics membership include that a nominee live in
the District for three consecutive years prior to being nominated. (DC
Code §1-1001.04(a): “A person shall not be a member of the Board
unless he or she . . . (2) Has resided in the District continuously
since the beginning of the 3-year period ending on the day he or she is
appointed. . . .”) Councilmember Mary Cheh has suggested to reporters
that the city council could simply pass a law giving Mallett a personal
exemption from that requirement. But the Board of Elections is charged
with enforcing the city’s elections and ethics laws. The chairman of
the Board cannot administer and enforce the law evenhandedly and fairly
if the city council has to give him a personal exemption from the law so
that he can take office.
###############
MLK Library to Close on Sundays
George Williams, george.williams2@dc.gov
Beginning October 2, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library,
located at 901 G Street, NW, will no longer be open on Sundays. The
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library’s new hours will be
Monday-Tuesday, noon-9:00 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
It is the Library’s priority to have the library open as many hours
as possible. When faced with having to reduce library hours as a result
of the FY2012 budget, closing the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
Library Sundays, as difficult as it is, was the least painful option.
The Library’s local FY2012 budget was reduced from $35.2 million in FY
2011 to $34.4 million. Increases to provide staff and operate the new
libraries opening in the next fiscal year were offset by cuts to the
book budget and other areas; ultimately creating a loss of $700,000.
Library users can place books on hold, download electronic books,
research electronic databases, and use live online homework help through
the Library’s web site at dclibrary.org during and after library
hours.
###############
Advisory Neighborhood Commission Redistricting
(continued)
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
Here’s a question, pertaining to the current process of ANC
redistricting, adjusting for the 2010 census results: why are there
thirty-seven ANCs in the District, ranging in size from under ten
thousand residents to over twenty-five thousand residents? And why doesn’t
it bother anybody that our ANCs are so different in population?
The District knocks itself out trying to get wards, and the
single-member districts (SMDs) of ANCs, equal in population. Equality in
voting is the argument. But it seems obvious that a resident of a
small-population ANC will have greater influence on the actions of that
ANC, and hence on the actions of District Government agencies, than a
resident of a large-population ANC. The voter choosing a member of a
six-commissioner ANC will have more influence downtown than the voter
choosing one member of a twelve-commissioner ANC. Is that fair?
The District Code is unfortunately vague when it comes to specifying
the rules for setting ANC boundaries. “The Council shall by act divide
the District into neighborhood commission areas. . . . In designating
such neighborhoods, the Council shall consider natural geographic
boundaries, election districts, and divisions of the District made for
the purpose of administration of services.” But there are many more
“neighborhoods,” at least 126, than there are ANCs. How does an ANC
represent three or four neighborhoods? A resident of a small
neighborhood incorporated in an ANC dominated by a larger neighborhood
would certainly have grounds for complaint. A resident of a small
neighborhood that has its very own ANC — well, like my own, Mount
Pleasant, with a dinky six-member ANC, soon to shrink to five —
clearly has the voting advantage. Why is the Office of Planning,
insistent that every SMD in the District have the same population,
allowing ANCs to have populations varying by factors of three and more?
In practice, during the current redistricting, the existing ANC
boundaries appear to be sacrosanct, each commission intent on preserving
every inch of its own “turf,” as if the larger the commission, the
greater its power. But the DC Code does not instruct the District
agencies receiving “advice” from these commissions to give such
advice weight in proportion to the size of the ANC. Equality in
representation ought to require ANCs of similar size. But neither the
Office of Planning nor the District Council is suggesting such a thing.
###############
Washington Post
on Twitter and Community Media
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
It’s great that 680 people follow the Outlook section on Twitter.
The paper still has about 545,000 subscribers to the printed edition,
far outweighing that number. Dino Drudi [themail, September 18]
criticizes us bloggers, etc., for the use of social media as part of
broader forms of advocacy and civic engagement. At the same time, many
community listservs are dying.
Just as important is community media. As a sometime urban historian,
I lament how the there is now only one major city newspaper, and there
is limited local news printed in the daily paper, especially about the
city and its neighborhoods.
In Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, they have the
weekly Gazette newspapers (which now are owned by the Washington Post).
The Post eliminated their “Extra” sections, which used to
provide a few extra pages of community news to the counties and DC.
Fortunately, the city still has the Current Newspapers, which covers a
goodly portion of the northwest quadrant. But the Current Newspapers don’t
cover all of northwest, nor the southeast, southwest, and northeast
quadrants, and they make it hard to find copies if you aren’t in their
free delivery areas. In the other quadrants and in northwest, Capital
Community News publishes monthly papers, but their reporting on zoning
and land use issues can be spotty.
Now at least the Washington City Paper Housing Complex blog
has stepped up and covers such issues on a (usually) daily basis. Since
a goodly portion of the city isn’t covered by the Current
Publications, digital sources are in fact important, but will likely
remain micro-audience focused, without the kind of reach that
publication in an even declining daily newspaper normally provides.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Art All Night, September 24
Alexander M. Padro, PadroANC2C@gmail.com
Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC, the first-ever DC version of Paris’
celebrated overnight arts festival, will be held from Saturday,
September 24 at 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. The
festival will feature twenty public and private spaces, indoors and out,
from the Wonder Bread Factory on S Street in Shaw to Caos on F Gallery
on F Street, NW. All venues are located along the 7th and 9th Street
commercial corridors served by Shaw Main Streets, the nonprofit
presenting the event, and several blocks of Chinatown/Gallery Place to
the south. The festival is free for all to attend, and is sponsored by
the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Douglas Development
Corporation, and the DC Department of Small and Local Business
Development.
With over forty competitively selected artists participating,
including artists from France, Germany, and Spain, Art All Night, like
the Parisian original, will be all-night, eight hour exploration and
celebration of contemporary art where nontraditional art spaces are
transformed into art galleries for one night only. The range of artists,
media and forms of expression range from performance art, sculpture,
photography, and painting, to multimedia, film, music, dance, poetry,
and graffiti. Like its French counterpart, the festival will be
pedestrian friendly.
For a complete listing of artists and venues, go to http://www.artallnightdc.com
and download the full map and program guide, which includes a listing of
where to eat and drink while in Shaw. And then prepare to be amazed at
the diversity of art in all its forms, in the heart of DC, for one night
only.
###############
National Building Museum Events, September 27
Stacy Adamson, sadamson@nbm.org
Tuesday, September 27, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Smart Growth: Making a
Community Energy Plan. With a void of federal guidance, local
governments are tackling energy and greenhouse gas challenges directly.
Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette outlines Arlington’s
transformative Community Energy Plan, which builds on the county’s
smart growth legacy to increase its economic competitiveness, energy
supply security, and environmental sustainability. Free. Registration
required. Walk-in registration based on availability.
Tuesday, September 27, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll
Live Next. Aerotropolis is a new urban form placing airports in the
center with cities growing around them, connecting workers, suppliers,
executives, and goods to the global marketplace. Greg Lindsay, author of
the book Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next, discusses how
and where we choose to live in an interconnected world. A book-signing
follows the lecture. $12 members and students, $20 nonmembers.
Registration required. Walk-in registration based on availability. At
the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square Metro
station. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
###############
Teach-In on DC Statehood, September 28
Bill Mosley, billmosley@comcast.net
The Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition (FREE DC) and Advisory
Neighborhood Commission 2C invite you to a teach-in on DC Statehood,
Wednesday, September 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Watha T. Daniel-Shaw Library
(basement meeting room), intersection of 7th Street, Rhode Island
Avenue, and R Street, NW (Shaw/Howard Metro Station). Get the facts! Why
statehood? How does it affect our budget, justice system, and other
areas of life in DC? Leading the discussion will be Joyce Robinson-Paul,
Vice President, Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition; and Michael D.
Brown, DC Statehood Senator. For information, contact Bill Mosley, billmosley@comcast.net.
###############
Thursday HHW/E-Cycling Drop-Off to Take Place
on October 6
Kevin Twine, kevin.twine@dc.gov
In August, DPW announced that in addition to monthly household
hazardous waste/fE-cycling collection events scheduled on the first
Saturday of each month, DPW would be accepting household hazardous waste
and electronic items on the Thursday before the first Saturday of the
month. It was brought to our attention that one of the dates would
conflict with a religious holiday. Initially, we announced that the
drop-off had been changed to Thursday, September 22. Because of a
scheduling conflict, the HHW/E-Cycling drop-off will take place on
Thursday, October 6, from 1:00-7:00 p.m., at the Ft. Totten Transfer
Station. While our web site indicates that the collection date is
October 6, we wanted to make you aware of the change as well. We
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
###############
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.
