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November 27, 2011

Naming the Board

Dear Namers:

A week ago in themail, Dorothy and I wrote that one of the problems with the “ethics board” that Councilmember Bowser proposes to establish in her new ethics bill is that the members of the board, who will oversee the mayor and members of the city council, will be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the councilmembers. If the problem were how to find, isolate, and discipline one bad apple in the government, that might not be a fatal flaw to the ethics board approach. But there is a widespread and justified public suspicion that the problem is not one bad apple, but that the apple’s rottenness has spread throughout the barrel. Our city’s political leaders may not be uniformly corrupt, but they tolerate and do not discipline or even express disapproval of those among them who are corrupt. How then can we trust the mayor and council to appoint people who will really hold them to high standards, when they have given every sign that they do not want to be held to high standards? How can the newly appointed members of such a board escape the taint and suspicion that will cling to them because of the circumstances of their appointment?

To that observation, one reader who wants to remain anonymous asked a penetrating question: “I’m curious — how would you have the ethics officials appointed. . . ?” Viewed from one perspective, that question would seem to trump our objection to the “ethics board.” Who, if not officials elected by the public, would have the authority and power to appoint the members of an ethics board? But viewed from another perspective, the question exposes even more starkly the problem that the ethics board proposal poses. The politicians who will be appointing and confirming ethics board members are now so compromised that their appointees will inevitably be suspect and their independence questioned. If so, then the proposal itself is lethally defective.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Time Is Running Out for DC Bond Holders
Alma Gates, ahg71139@aol.com

As the remaining weeks of 2011 tick away, time is running out for DC bond holders to make decisions regarding their financial future. Until recently, one of the benefits for retirees living in the District of Columbia was tax-free bond income, but that benefit substantially disappeared in September 2011 under emergency legislation passed by the DC Council. DC residents who are bondholders were grandfathered from taxes on income from currently held bonds. Moving forward to January 1, 2012, any bond sales or income from new bonds would be taxed at a rate of 8.5 percent, the current DC tax rate on income under $350,000.

The council has not made this emergency legislation permanent and the Office of Tax and Revenue has failed to formally notify bond holders of what they face in the New Year. If you are a bondholder living in the District of Columbia, it might be a good idea to let the DC council know that you are concerned about the state of the legislation and its associated hardships with regard to income reporting. The tax implications are fairly clear for individually held bonds, but an accounting nightmare awaits taxpayers with obligations held indirectly through a financial institution or by various investment companies. In a November 17 news release, http://newsroom.dc.gov/show.aspx/agency/otr/section/2/release/22692/year/2011, the Office of Tax and Revenue states the reporting perimeters. Income from state and municipal bond funds will be subject to DC income tax if the income is not income from federally exempt bonds or from DC and Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority bonds, and the bonds were purchased by the fund after December 31, 2011.

Council action has made bonds a less attractive investment tool for retirees. Limited options, low rates of return, tax liability, and accounting difficulties are factors that should influence bond holders’ decisions prior to the end of 2011. Moving forward, tax-free bond options will be limited to, tax exempt state or municipal bonds acquired before January 1, 2012; bonds that are exempt by federal law, such as from possessions of the United States (Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa); and DC bonds, including those issued under DC official code 9-921 for the Metropolitan Washington Regional Airport Authority.

Reporting will begin on sales of individually held bonds or obligations held indirectly through a financial institution or by various investment companies as well as income from new fund purchases after January 1, 2012; and, estimated taxes on income over $100.00 are due to be filed on April 15, 2012.

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Metro Madness
Paula Miller, crestview306@hotmail.com

[Stephanie Clipper, cyradaria@yahoo.com, themail, November 23] is so right about Metro riding insanity. It’s a mess. As for Metro’s so-called emergency number — 962-2121 — forgetaboutit! I was assaulted on the escalator at Crystal City last year, I dialed Metro’s emergency number, hoping to get Metro’s security personnel or the police to at least come to Crystal City and take a report. But noooo! The Metro person on the end of the phone line, answering that number, was far less than humane — was nasty, rude, and impatient, and certainly not empathetic in any way. She said there was nothing Metro could do to help me. I kid you not. Nothing. And if I wanted to file a report, I’d have to contact the police. I was astounded, to say the least. The “emergency” number they constantly announce in the stations is useless. Please don’t anyone waste their time dialing it because you will just get lame excuses, and you, the victim, will be accused of causing the problem yourself. And they’ll just tell you to call the police anyway. I don’t even know why Metro bothers. That number is just a facade of “security.” All promo show and no substance. Make no mistake people, when you ride Metro, you assume all the risk. Metro will not take responsibility and they will do their best to not help you. When you ride Metro you are on your own.

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Yes, It’s About Klingle Road
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net

In the November 16 issue of themail I noted that the Ward Four ANC redistricting task force has tried to define an ANC 4A that extended south along Rock Creek to Klingle Road, in a vain attempt to assert standing for advocating the reopening of the long-closed portion of the road to automobile traffic. Nobody from Ward Four has responded, but a contrary reply did appear, from none other than Laurie Collins, the most prominent and persistent and renowned advocate of the road in the District. The Ward Four tactic has nothing to do with the Klingle Road dispute, she writes; it’s merely an innocent effort “to make the city follow the law which, in the DC Code, already recognizes Klingle Road in the boundary definition for Ward 4.”

Indeed, but that section of the Code is being revised by the “Ward Redistricting Amendment Act of 2011,” Council Act A19-097, enacted on July 11 of this year. That act changed some ward boundaries, and the ANC redistricting task forces are naturally expected to work with the new ward boundaries, not the old ones. The Ward Four boundary in this area is “[south] along said Rock Creek to the intersection of a line projected from the end of Piney Branch Parkway; thence along said projected line to Piney Branch Parkway NW; thence in an easterly direction along said Piney Branch Parkway, NW, to Sixteenth Street, NW” Piney Branch Parkway, and this projection to Rock Creek, lie to the north of Klingle Road. So ANC 4A must similarly terminate at Piney Branch Parkway, not at Klingle Road.

Did the Ward Four redistricting task force people not know this? Last July 18, I advised one participant of exactly this fact, that Ward Four nowhere touches Klingle Road, and I even included a bit of the map provided to the task forces by the Office of Planning clearly showing the Ward Four boundary not at Klingle Road, but north of it. The Ward Four folks cannot now claim to have been unaware of it. Their ANC 4A boundary designation was clearly an attempt to evade that change in the ward boundary, with no discernible purpose other than to establish a claim to Klingle Road. But the Office of Planning will put paid to this little ploy.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Gray and Cheh at Ward 3 Democratic Committee Meeting, November 29
Shelley Tomkin, shelltomk@aol.com

The Ward 3 Democratic Committee will hold a community dialogue with Mayor Vincent Gray and Councilmember Mary Cheh on Tuesday, November 29. The meeting will begin at 7:15 p.m. at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Albemarle Street, NW. Open to the public.

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Barney Frank on Cutting Military Spending, November 29
Patricia Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com

On Tuesday, November 29, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat from Massachusetts, will speak on “The Central Role of Reductions in Military Spending in Making Rational Cuts in the Deficit” at a luncheon at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Representative Frank, a ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, is a leader in Congress in bipartisan efforts to scale back America’s worldwide military commitments. For decades, the subject of military expenditures has been glaringly absent from public debate. The Pentagon budget is more than all other discretionary spending programs combined. If we do not make substantial cuts, we will incur substantial damage to our economy and reduce our quality of life. Rebuilding our economy and creating jobs remains our nations top priority. Congressman Frank will discuss the issue of excessive military spending in order to ensure prosperity in the future.

The bar opens at 11:30 a.m.; lunch at 12:15 p.m.; lecture, presentation and question and answer session at 1:00 p.m. Cost: $25, members; $30, nonmembers; $10, lecture only. Register at https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=33275. For more information, contact 232-7363 or pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org

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December Author Talks at Tenley-Friendship Library, December 3, 7, 12
Sue Hemberger, smithhemb@aol.com

We have a busy schedule this month. Whether you’re looking for gift ideas or a respite from shopping, check out our December author talks. Saturday December 3, 3:00 p.m., downstairs in the Childrens’ Room: Jen Allison, author of the Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator books. The series is a fun choice for tweens and young teens, especially Harriet the Spy fans. http://www.gildajoyce.com/

Wednesday, December 7, 7:00 p.m., upstairs: John Burgess, author of Stories in Stone: the Sdok Kok Thom Inscription and the Enigma of Khmer History. A former Washington Post foreign correspondent, Burgess tells the story of how his research into an inscription in the ruins of a Cambodian temple sheds light on the history of the early Khmer empire. http://www.stories-in-stone.net/Khmer-Inscription.aspx

Monday, December 12, 7:00 p.m., upstairs: Sasha Gong and Scott D. Seligman, authors of The Cultural Revolution Cookbook: Simple, Healthy Recipes from China’s Countryside. This beautifully illustrated (vegetarian-friendly) cookbook offers a fascinating mix of politics, biography, and food. Highly giftable! http://www.culturalrevolutioncookbook.com/

All events are free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase (cash or check only). Light refreshments are provided at the evening talks. The Tenley-Friendship Library is located at 4450 Wisconsin Avenue (at Albemarle), half a block from the Tenleytown Metrorail station (and on the 30s bus lines). And our new building is worth a look, if you haven’t already visited.

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