Dear Washingtonians:
There were a couple significant political developments this week.
First, the DC council passed Councilmember Tommy Wells’ “Ban the Box”
bill on its first reading. This bill bans businesses in the District
from inquiring into the criminal records of councilmembers applying for
employment.
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Second, the DC Court of Appeals overturned the city council’s action
postponing the first election for an independent attorney general. The
charter amendment that was approved by 75 percent of the voters
establishing the independent Attorney General office required the first
election to take place “after January 1, 2014,” which everybody and the
Court of Appeals read to mean in 2014, but which the current
(non-independent) Attorney General, Irv Nathan, argued meant in any year
after 2014, not necessarily in this century. The Court of Appeals’
decision is a victory for Paul Zuckerberg, the only person who announced
as a candidate to be Attorney General, who brought the lawsuit to force
the city council and the Board of Elections to obey the law. Because the
decision allowed Zuckerberg to declare victory and because of what
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Newstalk called Irv Nathan’s
“stubbornness,” which he corrected to “persistence,” the Office of the
Attorney General has announced that it will appeal the decision and ask
the full Court of Appeals to rehear the case en banc.
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In the last issue of themail, one letter in a link was wrong, making
the article by Lark Turner on the Zoning Commission’s hearing on
McMillan Reservoir unobtainable. The correct link is
http://tinyurl.com/mozkqoc
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Arrogant City Council, Part I
Dorothy Brizill,
dorothy@dcwatch.com
Within the District government, the Public Service Commission is
charged with regulating utilities, including electric, natural gas, and
telecommunications companies, in the city. With its broad mandate, the
work of the PSC touches the life of every resident and every business
that operates in Washington. Several weeks ago, I wrote in themail about
my concern regarding the work and composition of the three-member PSC.
PSC chairman Betty Ann Kane’s term as chairman was going to end on June
30, although she could continue to serve as a holdover member of the PSC
for an additional 180 days after her term expired. Another seat,
previously held by Richard Morgan, had been vacant since December 2011.
But on Thursday afternoon, July 5, with virtually no advance public
notice, Kenyon McDuffie, chairman of the council’s Government Operations
Committee, held a confirmation hearing on two nominations to the PSC
that Mayor Gray forwarded to the council just this past Thursday.
Detailed below are excerpts from my E-mail correspondence on Thursday
morning with Mr. McDuffie and his staff asking him to delay the
confirmation hearing until there was adequate public notice.
First, I wrote: “Early this morning, while reviewing the council’s
calendar on its web site, I was shocked and surprised that a
confirmation hearing was taking place today at 2:00 p.m., with little or
no public notice, for two nominees to the Public Service Commission. . .
. The council’s web site indicates that the two confirmation bills (PR
20-811 and PR 20-812) were introduced in the council last Thursday, May
29, at the request of the mayor. Council records further indicate that
the two nominations weren’t referred to the council’s Government
Operations Committee until just this past Tuesday, June 3. Now, on June
5 at 2:00 p.m., you are holding a confirmation hearing for these two
positions. A review of the posted witness list confirms the lack of
public notice, since the only witnesses currently scheduled are the
nominees themselves. At the very least, citizens should be afforded an
opportunity to comment on Betty Ann Kane’s tenure as chair of the PSC
for the past four years and should have time to review the background
and qualities of Willie Phillips. I urge you to reschedule the
confirmation hearing and provide residents and the business community
adequate public notice before rescheduling it.”
I got a reply from Ronan Gulstone, staff director of the Government
Operations Committee, that “Councilmember McDuffie plans to continue
with the roundtable, however we will be keeping the record open longer
than originally anticipated to accept further comment.” I wrote back: “I
am disappointed in your reply to my E-mail. Many of us have been
concerned about the seat on the Public Service Commission that has been
vacant for nearly two years. Moreover, any consideration of Ms. Kane’s
reappointment to a new four year term must include a thorough review of
her tenure to date as PSC chairman. . . . You wrote that certain members
of the council and council staff knew about the nominations in advance,
even though the public wasn’t informed. And the timetable you detailed —
the nominating resolutions were filed by the mayor with the council on
Friday, notice of the plans to hold a roundtable were filed by the
Government Operations Committee with the Secretary of the council on
Monday, and notice of the Thursday roundtable was posted on the council
web site on Wednesday — is shockingly rushed and confirms my belief that
there was a deliberate effort to conceal these two important nominations
and discourage public participation in their consideration. Frankly, it
doesn’t matter if you keep the record open after the hearing for the
submission of written testimony. The die is cast when citizens are
denied the ability under council rules to participate in a confirmation
hearing simply by not giving the public adequate advance notice of the
hearing.”
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This is in reference to the articles on streetcars (themail, May 28).
Why is it no one wants to talk about the fact that the DC government is
in gross violation of the Federal Law issued by the 50th Congress that
forbids the erection of power lines of any kind over the streets,
alleys, and avenues of the City of Washington. Allow me to provide the
Law as was written. The Law of July 18, Ch.676, 25 Stat. 314, providing
for the District of Columbia appropriations for the 1889 fiscal year,
included language requiring that, “The Commissioners of the District of
Columbia shall not, after the fifteenth day of September 1888, permit or
authorize any additional telegraph, telephone, electric lighting or
other wires to be erected or maintained on or over any of the streets,
Alleys or avenues of the City of Washington (etc.)”
The language appeared on page 323 of said statute. Also the last line
of the statue reads, “such privileges as may be granted hereunder to be
revocable at the will of Congress without compensation and no such
authority to be exercised after the termination of the present
Congress.” Which means that the mayor or the DC Government (DDOT) cannot
overturn or modify this law by any initiative or bill; only congress
can. The question then becomes why DDOT is continuing to plan to extend
the streetcar lines into the City, knowing full well that once they
cross the City Boundary they cannot power the streetcars from overhead
power lines.
There are other dangers that involve overhead power lines. Potential
health risk concerns about overhead power lines were first raised in a
1979 study which associated increased risk of childhood leukemia with
residential proximity to overhead power lines. Farmers have reported
that the electrical magnetic fields (EMF) that emanate from high-power
power lines that convey DC voltage have had effects on their cows
producing milk. Also, the overhead power lines disrupt the sight lines
when you want to view the city on a clear day. If you want to see the
effect of overhead power lines on a city, all you have to do is look at
the pictures of Baltimore before and after they got rid of the electric
buses that traversed the city.
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At last Mayor Gray is leaving public office before he gives away all
the money the city has in its bank account. Whatever gave him the idea
that the building of the soccer (sucker) stadium would bring commercial
development in and around it where it is envisioned to be built? Only a
fool would believe that. Stadiums built in the last two decades in
Maryland and DC have done nothing for the communities in which they are
located. The greedy developers will be the only ones that will reap the
wild wind while they ease away with pockets full of our money. To build
a stadium that for four months will have games and remain dark for the
next eight months — some attraction it isn’t. Just look at M Street, SE,
after the stadium was built for baseball. Do you see vast amount of
commercial businesses taking shape around National Stadium? Once a
sucker, always a sucker. We never seem to learn.
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[In themail, May 28, Gary wrote: “Every once in a while, the DC
government surprises us and does something right, or at least refrains
from doing something stupid.”] Why do you have to be so negative on DC?
I would expect to — and, indeed do — hear, such comments from a
Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Hawaii, or Minnesota resident (all places I
have lived in at one time or another) — that is, from someone in one of
those states one who does not know how local government works.
But to have this sort of negative statement come from an expert such
as you via themail is most disheartening. I have worked all over the
country and the world with local governments, and the reality is that DC
ranks among the very best as a well- run, financially sustainable, and
participatory government. A bit of cheerleading is merited.
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In themail, May 28, Gary wrote: “Every once in a while, the DC
government surprises us and does something right, or at least refrains
from doing something stupid.”] This sounds like something we have come
to expect from a DC-bashing suburban author, and not from someone who
knows DC from an intensely urban perspective. Yes, “stupidity” is our
reputation out there among many, whether deserved or not. We read and
hear daily the many jokes about our supposed stupidity. When traveling,
people sometimes tell us that they can’t imagine why we would live
inside “third world” DC. We know what that means. It is all code and has
been that way for many decades. Let’s not allow ourselves to be
subservient to that pernicious misperception.
DC is faced with a variety of poverty-related issues that the ’burbs
can only begin to imagine. Yes, the suburbs do have poverty issues to a
lesser extent, but they managed to zone out many of those issues long
ago. The suburbs are still benefiting financially (although not morally
or ethically) from their explicit governmental and social decisions. We
are perceived as stupid and bumbling to those who do not face the
challenges to the extent that we do.
DC is thriving, relatively speaking (compared to many urban
jurisdictions). Our workforce is diverse, and largely dedicated and
intelligent. We cope with our urban issues much better than could many
of the suburban people who routinely laugh at us. Our elected leaders
also face a variety of difficult issues, and they get it right much more
often than they are given credit for. We live within our means,
financially speaking, while helping those who need our help the most. I
am grateful that we are ridding ourselves of much corruption among our
elected leaders, and the trend is excellent in that regard as well. We
can and should be a state, especially with our growing population and
economy, although we are dependent in that regard on the US becoming a
more enlightened nation. We also must be more positive in how we regard
ourselves.
Are we usually stupid, as you imply? We are not only not “stupid” but
we are rather wise and far-sighted in most our actions. Of course, we
all must be ever vigilant, and I appreciate all you do in that regard.
[All I can say to Robert and Ed is that Pangloss was a piker. If we
live not just in the best of all possible worlds, but under the best of
all possible city governments, we must be blessed beyond measure. Even
Voltaire could not have imagined our good fortune. — Gary Imhoff]
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Hispanics: A Rising Tide of Diverse Voters
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
A roundtable on Hispanic voters will be held at the National Woman's
Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on Tuesday, June 10,
6:00-8:00 p.m. Cost $15, members; $20, non-members, with one
complimentary drink. Keynote speaker, Congressman Xavier Becerra (D),
California 34th Congressional District. Moderator, Margaret (Peggy)
Sands Orchowski, Ph.D. Panelists: Mark Hugo Lopez, Director of Hispanic
Research, Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project; Esther Aguilera,
President and CEO, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; Laura
Maristany, DC Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, NALEO
Educational Fund; Ethan Roder, Executive Director, New Organizing
Institute.
Please join us for a panel discussion to answer “What Kind of Voting
Block Are They?”
The Hispanic voting block is growing, powerful, and fluid. Investment
in them will hold the future balance of political power in the
presidential, congressional, and local elections. There are great
opportunities for Democrats to capitalize on this growing political
influence. Today, there are nearly 53 million Hispanics in the US, of
which 34 million are US-born Hispanics and an additional 2 million are
foreign-born US citizens. California alone has 14.5 million Hispanics
and the states with large Hispanic population are among the swing
states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania. Come listen to experts discuss the demographics of the
Latino voters, their process of immigration to integration and full
participation, including as elected officials, the issues important to
them and how to outreach to them.
Reserve by telephone, 232-7363, ext. 3003 or online at
https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=423252
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