Forward to March 2002 Federation News — Back to Federation of Citizens Associations main page — Back to February 2002 Federation News
Volume 8, Issue 6, March 2002
3710 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 338-5164 phone/fax
Camera Surveillance Issue to
Be Aired by Blue-Ribbon Panel at Federal Assembly Election of Federation Officers and Board in June Upcoming Council Hearing on Mediation Free Parking Three Hours on Saturday and All Night Parking Every Night Federation Board of Director Meeting DC Trees Inventory to Begin in June Officers and Board Residential Real Estate Assessments Raised DC Registered Lobbyists: Part of the System 92nd Anniversary Awards Banquet, May 23 Nighttime Parking Relief Robert Brandon Appointed to Commission General Elections November 5, 2002: System Gearing Up Federation Action Alert Federation Assembly Meetings |
FEDERATION
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Camera Surveillance Issue to Be Aired by Blue-Ribbon Panel at Federal AssemblyAs the surveillance camera issue heats up, the scheduled March 26 leadership panel discussion is all the more timely. Concern over the issue seems to be gravitating toward general surveillance by camera, rather than over traffic monitoring cameras, although current and projected numbers of the latter are important to citizens. Basic questions are: (1) What to do about the new, potentially invasive improvements in surveillance technology, (2) how to continue to ensure citizen privacy with new "guidelines" or legislation, and (3) what is the organized-citizen role in all this -- other than being one target of investigative attention? Federation First Vice President Ann Loikow has assembled a blue-ribbon panel of pertinent experts to share their differing views with the assembly. DC Police Chief Charles Ramsey’s office is currently overseeing the preparation of a set of police-prepared guidelines for camera use; ACLU director Johnnie Barnes heads a coalition concerned with protecting citizens rights as the surveillance issue unfolds; Councilmember Kathy Patterson has held a hearing on the issue and reportedly is preparing DC-specific legislation; and DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s House of Representatives DC Subcommittee is holding hearings today, with a view to preparing federal legislation on the broad issue of burgeoning electronic surveillance nationwide. Viewpoints expressed by various Federation delegates cut several ways. Opinions range from hearty endorsement of traffic cameras in neighborhoods and stores to unease over the potential pervasiveness of Big Brother cameras throughout the city. Whatever one’s outlook on the surveillance issue, it will be useful as well as interesting to hear from the four pertinent DC action arms in this equation: the police, the city legislative, the federal legislation, and one viewpoint of citizens’ concerns. The Federation will not necessarily endorse all the viewpoints that will surface at the Tuesday, March 26 meeting. But every delegate will benefit from an authoritative airing of apparently increasing surveillance in the city and its impact on citizens, businesses, and neighborhoods. Election of Federation Officers and Board Members in JuneThe Federation holds leadership elections each June, and nominations will be published in the May newsletter. In addition to announced slates and individual candidacies, at the June assembly nominations will be taken from the floor. Any delegate may stand for election. Self nominations and slates or partial slates of candidates are allowed. The process is an open one, and all members are encouraged to participate in any way that they choose. Upcoming Council Hearing on MediationMediation as a conflict resolution device is high on the list of priorities of the Office of Planning as a preferred mode. On April 29, Councilmember Kathy Patterson, Judiciary Committee chair, will hold a public dialogue on "Mediation in the District of Columbia: Where We Are and Where We Should Be Going." The hearing will be in room 412 of the Wilson Building, and will begin at 10:00 a.m. The hearing is intended to be a public discussion about the current state of mediation in the District, including initiatives within the executive and judicial branches as well as other projects throughout the city. The meeting will also explore practices from around the region and the country, in order to address whether any legislation regarding mediation should be enacted in the District of Columbia. Delegates who wish to participate should contact Mr. Jesse Ginsburg, Senior Counsel to the Committee on the Judiciary, at 724-7808, by April 17, 2002. Written statements may be sent to Ms. Phyllis Jones, Secretary to the Council, Suite 5, Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20004. The record will officially close on May 10. Free Parking Three Hours on Saturday and All Night Parking Every NightPesky parking problems with downtown and other meters have now been alleviated. A new law provides that "no citations shall be issued for parking meter fee violations all day Saturday, or on other days (sic) between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m." But, the act continues, "No person shall park at a parking meter on Saturday pursuant to this act for more than 3 hours, unless current signage permits parking for a longer time." Still this is a welcome concession for businesses and shoppers all over. Federation Board of DirectorsAt its March 14 meeting, the Federation Board of Directors:
DC Trees Inventory to Begin in JuneThe District has lost over 50% of its tree cover in the past several decades. Things are changing, with the Department of Public Works and its enhanced budget and collaboration with the Urban Forest Council and the CGA Casey Trees Endowment Fund ($50 million endowment) taking the natural lead. New saplings are to be seen in neighborhoods by the hundreds, and old trees are being pruned or taken down, on a seemingly hit-or-miss basis. Now, a new development aimed at getting a firm grip on Washington’s tree situation is underway. The Casey trees foundation will begin a total tree inventory of the District in June, with a view to preparing an up-to-the-minute comprehensive tree map. Using computers, inventory teams will make a street-by-street survey of all street trees. The new "data layer" of tree cover will serve as a powerful planning and management tool for the District. Once this is in place, the collaborating public and private agencies will set about planning and planting. DC is on its way to becoming "the City of Trees" again. There will be a major public component in the inventory effort. Any delegates who feel strongly about our trees and wish to help may contact the CGA Casey Trees Endowment fund, 1800 K Street, NW, Suite 622, Washington, DC, 833-4010, http://www.caseytrees.org. Officers and Board
Residential Real Estate Assessments RaisedIn spades. Neighborhoods in one third of the city were hit by hefty increases in home value assessments in March. Increases appear generally to range from 50-odd percent to 100 percent in the broad-brush move by the city. Neighborhood reactions range from acquiescence to planned individual appeals to proposed group appeals. Actual taxation of residential homes is a two-step process: property values assessments and tax rate setting. Property assessment is a "technical" process, done by the Finance and Revenue Department. Property tax setting is a political process, done by the City Council. Currently, the rate is 96¢ per $100 of owner-occupied property value. For taxation purposes, the District has a three-tiered property classification system: 1st class, owner-occupied residences; 2nd class, rental residences; and 3rd class, commercial premises. This tax system is applied citywide by class, and not by ward or other area designation. The assessed value of a residence is the city’s estimated market value of a property. Within this framework, all kinds of appealable individual home assessment anomalies can occur. Challenged assessments must go through an appeals process. The December Newsletter spells out the best way to go about an appeal. On the broader front, property assessment is a city agency administrative function, to be appealed through persuasion. The taxation rate fixing process, however, is a political function of the City Council. It is there that rate adjustment pressure may be brought to bear. A recent law provides that no tax bill shall increase more than 25% for the next two years. However, this is a temporary palliative. Residential owner/occupiers are soon stuck with the entire tax bill. Fears have arisen that exemptions notwithstanding, some older persons on fixed incomes may be taxed out of their homes. Foxhall delegate Scott Polk, a real estate agent, notes that the the tax burden of owners/ occupants of residential property in DC has recently increased dramatically while city leaders have reduced the tax rate for real estate investors and commercial landlords by 38% over the past two years. Their tax rate declined from $1.54 per $100 of property value to 96¢ per $100. He advocates reducing the homeowner/occupant rate by a commensurate percentage. Should the Federation’s associations get behind a 38%-or-so residential property tax rate decrease via the City Council? Should business residential property tax rates be revisited by the Council? These issues are naturals for Federation debate and possible action mobilization, one way or another. DC Registered Lobbyists: Part of the SystemThe DC Register (February 15, 2002) has published a list of lobbyists in the District registered with the Office of Campaign Finance of the DC Board of Elections and Ethics. Many large corporations, such as banking institutions, universities, hospitals, insurance firms, HMOs, alcoholic beverage manufacturers, and telecommunications firms maintain paid lobbyists to influence matters in the District of Columbia. These interests can find themselves in conflict with citizen groups in the areas of community impact and land use cases. It is as well that we take note of their resources and potential influence, particularly with city officers and councilmembers. Lobbyists must register with the Office of Campaign Finance. Elected city officials and councilmembers are ever in need of campaign financing, and amounts count. (Maximum individual campaign contributions in the District are $2,000 for the Mayor, $1,000 for at-large Councilmembers, and $500 for ward-based Councilmembers.) A perfectly legal campaign fundraising method is for lobbyists to arrange for number of interested-corporation personnel to contribute legal amounts to candidates or potential candidates. It adds up. One upshot: ordinary citizens and citizen groups cannot compete, or are hard-pressed to compete, with targeted corporate political contributions. On the other hand, lobbyist-arranged and other political donors legally aim at persuasion rather than outright purchase of governmental favor. It is to the credit of the reform city administration and Council that citizens and citizen groups now receive more equitable treatment in land use and other contentions with large corporations and institutions (e.g., problems with university campus plans, telecommunications towers, and illegal building and expansion), campaign donations notwithstanding. Interesting reading for all delegates are the February 15 DC Register roster of lobbyists and the public record of campaign contributors and amounts to the Mayor (listed in the Common Denominator, 3/11-24) and to City Council members, on record at the Board of Elections. Strategic campaign giving is shown in admirable detail, and illustrates some of the systemic tensions in our political system. 92nd Anniversary Awards Banquet May 23On the occasion of its whopping ninety-second anniversary, the Federation will hold its impressive Annual Awards Banquet on May 23 at the elegant Ft. McNair Officers Club. Now is the time to begin assembling neighborhood representative tables for eight, nine, or ten persons. Some associations are finding it necessary to reserve two tables. Last year’s jolly, boisterous affair had the usual aspect of a regional convention, with individual tables prominently identified with association names on tall stanchions. Alas, the plucky harpist signed on for the occasion was drowned out in the general hubbub. Each association is encouraged to reserve and fill a table, and thereby strut its stuff before the assembled Federation and guests. Association officers will be contacted soon by members of the banquet committee, to make projections and iron out arrangements. Nighttime Parking ReliefA new amendment to District parking regulations was passed in late January to provide for a parking moratorium in residential permit parking areas between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. The new law provides for the following change in Title 18 DCMR:
Robert Brandon Appointed to CommissionCathedral Neighborhood Association delegate Robert M. Brandon, Esq., has been appointed as a consumer member of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council. The Council advises and makes recommendations to the Office of Health Assistance and makes recommendations to the Office of Health Systems Development on applications for certificates of need. General Elections November 5, 2002: System Gearing UpThe DC Register has published rules and deadlines, candidates are maneuvering, and support teams are being forms. In the DC general election of November 5, 2002, the following District offices will voted on:
Primary elections for all of the above, except for the School Board positions, will be held on September 10, 2002. These primaries are often held to be more important than the general election balloting, due to the District’s heavily weighted party voting history. Voting tallies for the last presidential election, for instance, was: 85% Gore, 9% Bush, and 5% Nader, according to the DC Board of Elections. Many delegates will be hosting fundraisers for candidates, manning candidate headquarters, serving officially at election polling places, and unofficially working in front of polling stations. While the Federation does not endorse particular candidates, delegates will privately be all over the election scene. Federation Action AlertFurther to the informative presentation by People’s Counsel Elizabeth Noel at the February assembly, the Federation Board of Directors presents the following specimen letter for Association consideration. The letter (from each Association) endorses the aggregation and Opt-Out plan of the Office of the People’s Counsel. March day, 2002 The Honorable Sharon Ambrose
Dear Chairperson Ambrose: I am writing on behalf of name of organization and its approximately number members to express support for Mayor Williams’ municipal aggregation program, and specifically for opt-out aggregation for residential consumers. My organization represents indicate consumer segment organization represents. In the past, name of organization has been involved in and/or testified before the District of Columbia City Council on issues that state type of impact of issues or list some issues. The purpose of the organization is to state purpose. Name of organization supports the Office of the People’s Counsel in recommending that the legislation be clarified to specifically authorize the opt-out aggregation for residential consumers. Opt-out aggregation for residential consumers provides the best option for helping residential consumers to become attractive customers for electric supplies so that they are able to participate in the competitive market. Thank you for your time and attention to the matter. Sincerely, Name, Title cc: Mayor Williams Federation Assembly Meeting DatesThe Sumner School has reserved the following dates for the Federation’s Assembly meetings. Each meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. at 1201 Seventeenth Street, at the corner of M Street, NW. Tuesday, April 23 |
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