Better Candidates, Better Voters

Dear Friends:

Can we ensure better political candidates and better politicians, fewer political scandals, and cleaner government by tinkering with our voting system? Can we improve our candidate selection by prohibiting political parties from holding primaries that are limited to voters who identify with those parties? Can we elect better politicians by having some sort of weighted voting system, rather than a direct, “one-man, one vote” system, or by forbidding political contributions from certain groups of voters?

Or can we simply recruit and vote for better politicians? What are your proposals? The more ideas, the better. Can you give an example from another city, state, or nation that does a better job, or has a better political class? What does that city do better?

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See Susan Saulny’s and Theo Embry’s article in the New York Times, “Troubles Mount in Scandal-Weary Washington,” http://tinyurl.com/c7akoyn.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Watchful Eye
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Last week, the DC Board of Ethics and Government Accountability established its own DC government web site (http://www.bega.dc.gov) and issued a public announcement regarding its first meeting: “. . . the Board will hold a public meeting followed by a closed session. Members of the public are welcome to attend. Questions about the meeting may be directed to bega@dc.gov or by calling Robert Spagnoletti, Chairman, at 202-628-4199.” However, the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability Establishment and Comprehensive Ethics Reform Act, at Sec. 104(b), clearly states that the Ethics Board “shall conduct its meetings in compliance with the Open Meetings Act” (DC Law 18-350; DC Official Code Sec. 2-571 et seq.). The Act further states that “The public policy of the District is that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the actions of those who represent them” (DC Code Sec. 2-572). Moreover, the Open Meetings Act notes that, “This subchapter shall be construed broadly to maximize public access to meetings. Exceptions shall be construed narrowly and shall permit closure of meetings only as authorized by this chapter” (DC Code Sec. 2-573). The Open Meetings Act then details those limited circumstances under which a public body, such as the Ethics Board, can convene in closed session (DC Code Sec. 2-575). Wednesday’s meeting of the Ethics Board does not appear to be a proper exception to the District’s Open Meetings law.

Another problem arises because the DC government web site and the public announcement regarding the July 25 meeting directs the general public to contact Ethics Board Chairman Robert Spagnoletti for further information. However, rather than provide a DC government telephone number, it lists the switchboard telephone number for Spagnoletti’s law firm, Schertler and Onorato. If not illegal, it is clearly improper for a DC government agency, especially an ethics board, to list the telephone number of a private company as the sole contact for a government entity. Moreover, given the concerns that had been raised regarding Spagnoletti’s appointment and his potential conflicts of interest, it was hoped that he would have erected a firewall between his work on the Ethics Board and his law firm.

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It’s Time for Utility Companies to Come to the Table
Alma Gates, ahg71139@aol.com

Friday evening a news clip showing storm water running like a river down First Street in the Bloomingdale Community was an all too familiar sight. This catastrophic flooding has existed for years, but little if anything has been done to ease the burden to homeowners of the area. Where are the City Administrator and DDOE Director? Why isn’t George Hawkins of WASA front and center when it is clear storm water capacity has been exceeded? What is the Public Service Commission thinking when the utility returns to the trough on a regular basis for rate increases? The city has had an ongoing issue with lead in drinking water but there doesn’t seem to be the same level of concern about raw sewage backing up in toilets and spilling onto basement floors. Toxic contaminants in drinking water and raw sewage in basements should be of equal concern to the City Administrator and council.

The issue of flooding in Bloomingdale is extremely timely, as a multi-acre development is planned for the McMillan Reservoir site. How will development on this large site improve or affect its surroundings?

I suggest it’s time our utility companies be required to sit at the zoning table and submit testimony on large tract development at zoning hearings. These reports should no longer be presented by the Office of Planning. Recent performance by utility companies, PEPCO on power outages and WASA on flooding and sewer back ups, has been a failure. There is no accountability.. Council hasn’t improved matters by tacking on various fees that have done little to improve the quality or quantity of performance. When the McMillan case comes before the Zoning Commission, the community deserves an answer from Mr. Hawkins to the questions, “What impacts does WASA anticipate at the McMillan site and what mitigation will WASA employ or require to assure improvement on quality of life issues in Bloomingdale?”

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Colbert I. King: Cleaning Up DC Elections
David Schwartzman, DC Statehood Green Party, dschwartzman@gmail.com

[Re: http://tinyurl.com/d44rabs] There is illegal corruption of our political process and there is legal corruption. The latter has had a bigger impact than the former, but remains hidden beyond the smoke of our mainstream political discourse. The Wilson Building has long been corporate-occupied territory with most of elected officials being beholden to the agenda of Federal City Council (FCC), the regional think tank representing the 0.1 percent, the big regional corporate sector. Tony Williams, our local architect of “balancing the budget on the backs of the poor” is the new CEO of the FCC, with its president being the Honorable Frank Keating, former Republican governor of Oklahoma and President/CEO of the American Bankers Association. See for yourself the typically multiple $100K campaign funding of our elected mayors and councilmembers on the Office of Campaign Finance web site.

King goes further than Initiative 70, which would ban direct corporate contributions to our District elections, when he says “End the ‘pay to pay’ system in which money gets to decide our policies.” Initiative 70 is a good start, especially in focusing attention on this issue, but if it makes the DC ballot and is passed, it would put District elections under federal rules, assuming the council would not repeal it (this has happened before with initiatives passed by the electorate). Federal rules now permit even less transparency, with superPAC contributions hiding corporate donors. King goes on to say, “If we cannot stop corporate contributions to DC elections and council members’ ‘constituent services funds,’ then impose strict limits and transparency requirements on corporate donors so voters know immediately who is giving — and hoping to get in return.” But only public financing of our elections would block the flood of money from the 1 percent, as individuals and corporations, to candidates of their choice.

Finally, King proposes: “Open closed primaries to all voters.” Without public financing of elections opened up by the repeal of Citizens United, “corporate personhood” (go to Move to Amend), the “pay to pay” system would remain the same as now, even worse, since the only District party with ballot status that has never accepted corporate contributions is the DC Statehood Green Party. With open primaries, corporate funded Democrats and Republicans would raid each others primaries, including our own, just as Republicans have raided the Democratic primaries in Georgia under open rules, or simply compete under the same money-dominated regime in one big primary.

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Cleaning Up Scandals, Part 1
Harold Foster, Petworth, incanato@earthlink.net

Since you asked my (well, our) opinion about the growing Gray-government (note the double adjective) scandal, I would throw back in my Standing Three Cents’ worth about the capital-C conversation all of us in this town need to have about what to do with and about DC government after it grows up. First, about Gray. I have a couple of thoughts, the lead of which is that it seems unlikely that a true smoking gun will emerge to directly link Gray with enough sufficiently egregious behavior for Machen or anyone else to give him the option of resigning or facing truly significant prosecution ad possible imprisonment. Put another way, if someone had those kinds of goods on Gray, they almost certainly would have beat a path to Machen’s door by now, if for no other reason than to avoid a severe sentence him- or herself.

Now, second, that kind of legalistic minimalism does not rebut the more important concern about whether Gray is not now so damaged that he cannot effectively govern. I suspect enough of the city has already made up their minds that he cannot that, at best, he will have to commit to not running for reelection in 2014 just to retain enough political capital to be able to work with the council, a full one-quarter of which are openly angling for his job now.

We have already suggested some semi-modest reforms to the electoral process in DC that might solve pieces of the problems that the council and Gray scandals have unearthed. At bottom, though, we really need to think more “constitutionally” in this town about what to do when an entire elected leadership, as now, is so compromised and “turbulent” (in the original Madisonian meaning of that word) that, truth be known, the entire elected District government has lost the capacity to effectively administer the city. That idea we have floated before of some kind of mass recall of the entire city government probably sounds very extreme. But how many more of the mass scandals like the ones (note use of the plural) we are trying to survive now do we have to have to be sufficiently desperate and outraged to consider some sort of process for simply resetting city elected leadership in the (we hope very rare) instances when we really do have to throw all the rascals out?

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Solicitation
Edward Cowan, edcowan1114@yahoo.com

You write [themail, July 18] that the Post “solicited” councilmembers to call for Gray’s resignation. “Solicited?” Did Post reporters ask councilmembers if they thought the mayor should resign? Does that constitute “solicitation?” Or what?

[Here’s Mike DeBonis’ tweet on July 11: “Mike DeBonis @mikedebonis: If you are DC Council member who thinks Vincent Gray should resign & you aren’t Cheh or Catania, call now if you want to be in Post tmrw.” I call that a solicitation. — Gary Imhoff]

[I take your point. That is not dispassionate polling. It is tilted. Thanks for that reply. Without bringing you into it, I will submit that to Post Ombudsman as example of skewed inquiry. — Ed Cowan]

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Gov. Gary Johnson Brings Libertarian Message to Dupont Diners and Commuters, July 23
John Vaught LaBeaume, JVLaB@ElectionDissection.com

Gov. Gary Johnson, Libertarian for President, will be greeting diners, voters, and commuters, sharing his message of defending marriage equality and calling for less regulation for small business. Johnson will also be asking voters to sign his petitions so that they can get to choose his name on November’s ballot. Johnson will visit Dupont Circle’s cafe-lined 17th Street, NW, in the historical heart of the District’s gay community. Joining Johnson will be Bruce Majors, Libertarian candidate for DC Delegate to Congress. 17th Street, NW, is also home to many bars and restaurants that enjoy loyal followings within the Dupont neighborhood but that have had to wrestle with DC government regulatory hurdles in order to do business.

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Parent Power Movie Screening and Discussion, July 24
Parisa Norouzi, Empower DC, parisa@empowerdc.org

In 1995, a small group of parents in the south Bronx discovered that only 17 percent of their elementary school children were reading at grade level. Their determined campaign to bring high-quality education to their neighborhood, one of the poorest in the nation, evolved into a citywide effort that has united thousands of parents from African American and Latino communities in all five boroughs. Together they are working to improve the future of New York City’s children. Parent Power is a thirty-minute documentary that tells their story.

This movie is a great tool to see how communities organize to get their demands met. Faced with many of the same issues here in DC, we, more than ever, need to continue to organize to ensure that District students, parents, teachers, and community members have control of our Public Education System. Tuesday, July 24, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library, 3935 Benning Road, NE. RSVP to Daniel del Pielago, 234-9119 x104, or Daniel@empowerdc.org.