Memorial Day
Dear Celebrants:
Three matters from correspondents who desire to be, or whom I desire to
be, anonymous. First, a couple weeks ago someone questioned me about the occasional
postings in themail about events for Jewish singles, saying that they made her
uncomfortable, suggesting they seemed to her to be “patently discriminatory,”
and saying that, “there's no way I'd ever post a classified for members of [one
particular] church only.” Well, I don't know how I feel about that, so I haven't
replied yet. It seems to me that my correspondent has a valid, incontrovertible, point
— an ad that is aimed only at members of a particular religion is discriminatory. On
the other hand, that seems to me to be still a socially acceptable form of discrimination.
What do you think? Another correspondent upbraids one writer for using and me as the
editor for accepting the use of the expression, “Call a spade a spade.” She
writes that this is a racial slur, and offensive. Now, this objection may be a clever
reference to the David Howard/niggardly controversy, but I'm afraid it isn't, so I'll
answer it seriously — no, dear correspondent, a spade is a flat bladed shovel, the
old saying refers to flat bladed shovels, and it isn't offensive to call a flat bladed
shovel a spade. Finally, a few people have written in asking whether the classified ad
seeking employment as a luncheon partner in the “No Jokes in themail” issue was
a joke. Yes, my friends, a particularly sad joke, but a joke nevertheless. Have a good
Memorial Day.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch
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Aficionados of DC bureaucracy can find a nice example buried in the
acknowledgments of the recent nonfiction bestseller The Professor and the Madman.
The madman of the title was for some time a resident of St. Elizabeth's here in the
District, and the author was seeking records of his residency. After relating how helpful
the staff of the hospital in the UK where this gentleman was held were in assisting him
with his research, Simon Winchester writes:
“On the other side of the Atlantic things proceeded rather
differently.... St. Elizabeth's ... is now run by the government of the District of
Columbia — a government that has experienced some well-publicized troubles in recent
years. And perhaps because of this, the hospital refused point-blank to release any of its
files, and went so far as to suggest, quite seriously, that I engage a lawyer and sue in
order to obtain them.” Winchester later discovers that the records "might well
actually be in federal custody, and not within the Kafkaesque embrace of the District....
It was more than gratifying to be able to telephone St. Elizabeth's the next day and tell
the unhelpful officials there which file I then had sitting before me on my desk. They
were not pleased.”
Sigh. Basically, everyone Winchester turns to in his research is helpful,
until he gets to DC. How classic is that?
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About Chief Ramsey and Community Policing
Connie Ridgway, kaniru@aol.com
Ed Barron wrote that Police Chief Ramsey was hired to implement community
policing, and if he does not, he should resign. I read in the Post the other day that
Williams has made “high profile” crime busts a priority and as a result the
community policing initiative is on the back burner, financially and time wise. So talk to
the mayor if you want more community policing (which I think is the best long-term
solution for our crime ills).
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Chief Ramsey
James E. Taylor Jr., jimt25@erols.com
I think Mr. Ed T Barron's remarks regarding the performance of Chief
Ramsey are really unfair. I think we should take into consideration of how hard it is to
infiltrate embedded bureaucracies. If you remember, President Ronald Reagan was emphatic
about reducing the size of “big” Government in his first term. After eight years
in office, President Reagan did not reduce the size of Government, the bureaucracy grew
larger in numbers. Does this mean that President Reagan failed as President? After eight
years, despite his enormous popularity, he could not and did not change the one thing he
campaigned so hard against. Results: he is now a Republican icon for success!
We must supportive of the Chief, and do our part, to help make the changes
needed. We are so ready and quick to jump on people without knowing the solution. Maybe if
the Chief had the authority afforded the mayor when he was Chief Financial Officer, to
hire and fire without recourse, maybe he would come out looking efficiently tall and
placed on a special pedestal as was done with Mayor Williams. I would think that the
Chief's first priority must be to put together the necessary, money, equipment and
qualified personnel before he will be able to implement desired policy to relieve police
officers of desk jobs. I don't think this can be done in a day, week or even a year. This
police department is in shambles and must be built up piece by piece, so let's give the
Chief sufficient peace to do the job. But I do think he should be accountable for the
changes made and justify money spent.
################
In the process of jack hammering the entire sidewalk to put in a new one
on Fessenden Street, Public Works has made major cracks in my (and my neighbors')
retaining walls. Has anybody had a similar problem? Recommendations? Thank you.
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Is Anyone Receiving Auto Registrations in the Mail?
Jay Vinton, jay.vinton@nih.gov
Just this week I received in the mail a copy of a DC DMV Handbook signed
by my Mayor Anthony Williams telling me how he “promised rapid, tangible improvements
in the quality of government services,” and how “residents deserve efficient
services,” etc. It makes my blood boil.
This same booklet says that DC DMV will mail registration renewals 60 days
before renewal. Earlier this year I wrote themail about how I had failed to receive my
renewal for one of our cars and had to go down to Kafka Hall at 301 C Street to renew. Now
I'm down to one month on another one of our cars and no renewal.
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For Reliable TV Repair
Harold Goldstein, dcbiker@goldray.com
Try Gene Reed 301-496-3191 — private guy, does this part time but he
is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE — but he is reliable, good, cheap.
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For a Good Portrait Photographer
Gabriel Goldberg, gabe@acm.org
I've used Philip Kent, near Tysons, (703) 790-1020, for both business
portraits and wedding photography. He's not cheap, but he's very good, and I've been happy
with his work.
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The pool at the Omni Shoreham Hotel won't open until mid August. Help. I
need a good outdoor pool to join in DC. If anybody has any good ideas please send them to
me at rilevine@cpcug.org
[And send them to themail, too. — Gary Imhoff]
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Clarifying Decisions about DC at National,
Regional, and Local Levels
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
Mark Richards gets an A+ for his kind words about us (5/28) but a C- for
site knowledge! From the outset, NARPAC has tried to define, and urge all levels of
governance to address, their unfulfilled obligations in helping restore pride in America's
capital. Here again are some of our views. Nationally, Congress and the Feds should be
assuring that our country's capital symbols are hosted by a model American core city in a
model American metro area. They should be assuring DC citizens are fully represented
politically, and fully protected from political exploitation by other jurisdictions. And
across the US, federal authorities should be guiding the US evolution from outdated State
authorities toward emerging metro authorities, and confronting America's most persistent
and toxic problem: seeping urban blight. They flunk all five courses.
Regionally, all GWMSA jurisdictions should be developing a unified,
nationally (and globally) competitive, forward looking metro area with: a) a level
socio-economic playing field (e.g., comparable welfare rates, jobs, housing); b)
effective/efficient delivery of common government services (e.g., procurement, equipment
maintenance) and specialty services (e.g., in health, education); and c) sensible division
of preferences for land use (e.g., soccer fields, opera houses), businesses (e.g.,
finance, car sales), and public resources (e.g., parks, tax revenues). No passing grades
here.
Municipally, DC needs to: consciously decide what kind of a modern core
city it wants to become; develop bold long-range public and private land use plans to get
there; re-balance and integrate its citywide and neighborhood responsibilities; streamline
its election procedures and tax structure; provide above-the-norm public services for
below-the-norm costs; shed its remaining non-municipal functions; and belly up to the
causes of and solutions to its self-inflicted blight — and the resulting imbalance
between taxpayers and tax consumers. Neither the Mayor nor the DC Council has yet begun to
address these systemic issues. We've all got a long way to go if we want to lift
Washington, DC above mediocrity.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Public Relations Professionals
Valerie Merahn, valerie@vidmon.com
The National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America
will be hosting a free Networking Reception for Public Relations Professionals on
Thursday, June 10th from 6-8 pm at the Grand Slam/ Grand Hyatt (Metro Center), http://www.prsa-ncc.org . Sponsored by Video Monitoring
Services and Medialink.
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Hypnosis Workshop at Cleveland Park Public Library,
June 24
Wayson Lee, wayson@juno.com
[At the May 26 workshop at Chevy Chase Library] Had a successful turn out,
Nine of ten were HYPNOTIZED, one fifty year old was regressed to “8”! Last one
till September-October is at the Cleveland Park Public Library, (FREE refreshments
available), June 24, 7 pm.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
A Schwinn 12 speed road bicycle is yours for only 75 bucks. It has a cycle
computer, cork handlebar tape, a water bottle and casing. Great way to get in shape and
see the sites around town. For more information e-mail robert_marvin@yahoo.com
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1998 Mustang Cobra SVT, metallic blue, black leather interior, 5-speed,
absolutely loaded, power everything, less than 7,000 miles. Asking $26,000. Call
202/338-1585 or email.
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