Under Vote
Dear Abstainers:
In the week since the April Fool’s primary, commentators have been
making all sorts of excuses for the low turnout of voters — the early
date of the vote, the bad weather of the winter months during the
campaign season, and so on. What almost nobody has said is that
nonvoters made a choice to abstain from voting, that they didn’t much
like the options that were presented to them and made a conscious
decision to stay away from the polls.
To get people out to the polls, some candidate or candidates have to
excite voters, either positively or negatively. People have to think
their votes will make a difference, that they will be able to vote in a
candidate that will give them hope for a better government or to vote
out a candidate that they actively dislike. In this primary, at the head
of the Democratic ticket, voters were presented with several candidates
that they didn’t think stood a chance and with two candidates that
didn’t move them either way. They had to choose between an incumbent
mayor who had told them for the past three years that on the advice of
his lawyer he couldn’t speak openly and honestly with them and a leading
challenger who promised a restoration of the Fenty administration that
they had enthusiastically rejected three years before. As between Gray
and Bowser, it made good sense for voters to keep their distance from
the polls. No excuses were necessary.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Last week, the District had the lowest voter turnout for a primary
election in thirty years. Only 22.5 percent of all registered voters
went to the pools, with only 11.47 percent in Ward 8 and 16.48 percent
in Ward 7. Yet, despite the low number of votes cast, the DC Board of
Elections again proved unable to conduct the election and tabulate the
votes properly. I visited all the early voting sites between March 17
and March 29, and nearly twenty polling precincts on April 1, and I
witnessed serious problems that raised concerns about the BOE’s ability
to conduct elections. For example, electronic voting machines and poll
books didn’t work, precinct captains were left to fend for themselves
and repair equipment, several poll workers were poorly trained, supplies
at polling precincts were inadequate, etc. On election night, as has
already been reported (http://tinyurl.com/lfk6bg3),
the BOE was unable to tabulate the turns in a timely and accurate
manner.
On April 29 at 1:00 p.m., Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the chairman
of the council’s Government Operations Committee, will conduct a hearing
regarding the BOE’s conduct of the April 1 primary and the problems that
arose. Prior to the hearing it would be helpful if voters and poll
workers sent me E-mails detailing the issues and/or problems they
encountered when they voted, whether at an early voting center or a
voting precinct on election day. I hope to hear from concerned citizens
and research the problems that arose, and to make recommendations for
fixes to be made prior to the general election on November 4. Please
send your comments to me directly at dorothy@dcwatch.com or at
202-234-6982.
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Testimony to City Council Committee on
Transportation and the Environment
Daniel Goldon Wolkoff,
amglassart@yahoo.com
I was very encouraged to hear the council’s Environment Committee
Roundtable on March 24, especially concerning combining food, nutrition,
physical activity, and urban farming. It’s not a lost cause; just the
opposite, it’s an incredible opportunity for large scale sustainable
adaptive reuse to benefit the environment, all the people of DC, the
nation, and international visitors for generations. I was encouraged by
Councilmember Cheh’s compliment last year, and offered additional
testimony to the March 24 hearing. I’m connecting the rapidly growing
movement to save a “Great Place” with Ms. Cheh’s hearing on “indoor
agriculture, a DC food hub.” We need an urban nutrition and exercise
hub, which would be a DC Eco-Campus, very much. We have the place —
McMillan Park. By preserving all twenty-five acres of historically
protected surface park and twenty acres of existing mystical underground
galleries we could create the exciting potential for sustainable large
scale “indoor agriculture” and aqua-ponic fish production, and get
unlimited other potential benefits.
Enlightened urban planning, would start the process with McMillan
Park, and keep going to include the entire 113 acre McMillan Reservoir,
save the Harewood Road wetlands, and reopen the parkland at Armed Forces
Retirement Home for wooded hiking, biking, and jogging paths, the “green
emerald necklace” of Senator McMillan’s vision. We’ll create community
gardens and a food, nutrition, and healthy exercise complex with jogging
around the reservoir, like in New York’s Central Park, where residents
and visitors can come and enjoy the outdoors, the sunsets, and stroll
and meet at our “Sustainable Eco-Campus.” DC needs a “Great Place” for
music and film festivals, art studios, yoga classes, a “ DC Glen Echo,”
with sustainable energy demonstrations, even an urban sand beach when we
“sunlight” Tiber Creek. Please see this fascinating video on the
vertical farming process at
http://youtu.be/ILzWmw53Wwo
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How is enrollment for the Affordable Care Act coming along in
Washington, DC?
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
How to Get a Job in the Obama Administration,
April 16
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
Have you ever wondered how some people get Presidential appointments
and others don’t? What events you should attend, people you should meet
and activities you should volunteer for to expand your network and
better your chances? Meet a panel of appointees from across the
administration for advice and best practices on how to position yourself
as the best candidate for a job you are interested in. Join us for a
panel discussion with Mekell Mikell, senior administration employee;
Niara Phillips, Small Business Liaison, US Department of Commerce; and
others to be announced. Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New
Hampshire Avenue, NW, Wednesday, April 16, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Members, $15;
nonmembers, $20, including one complimentary drink.
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