Parks and Rec
Dear Recreationists:
The big news over the past few days has been the performance of the
Department of Parks and Recreation and its director, Robert Newman. For months, in themail
at at neighborhood meetings, there have been many complaints about the Department's poor
or nonexistent maintenance of local patches of grass and concrete, and these complaints
finally reached critical mass. The Department has told neighborhood groups that if they
want their parks maintained, if they want playground equipment or the grass cut, they will
have to pay for it themselves. This raises the question of what the Department does with
the money in its budget, the taxes we already pay to provide these things. The
Administration's excuse is that all these problems are left over from the past
administration, and they just haven't had enough time to correct them. Does anyone buy
that? How does past mismanagement excuse a parks department that's surprised when summer
arrives, and therefore isn't prepared to cut the grass or maintain the ball fields?
Robert Newman's lies on his resume raise two other problems. Mayor
Williams's reaction to the hyperbole and inflation on Newman's list of prior jobs is that
the solution is simply to have the City's Director of Personnel work with Newman to
massage and rewrite his resume. But the resume counted when Newman was hired and when he
was confirmed by the City Council. Mayor Williams either doesn't understand, or pretends
not to understand, that the problem is that Newman applied for and got the job under false
pretenses. Does anybody in the Administration check these things? How and by what process
does the Administration hire its top managers and department heads? The Williams
Administration's long string of personnel embarrassments could have been avoided if it had
been doing a rudimentary screening of applicants. Then Mayor Williams wouldn't have to
make embarrassing apologies for his appointees, such as claiming that Newman's lies aren't
important, or that Ronnie Few's ongoing investigation by three grand juries is a trivial
matter of no concern.
All right, it's time to place your bets. On what date will Robert Newman
resign, be fired, or be reassigned? (For this purpose, we'll accept the date of the
announcement, not the actual date that he departs his job.) How much will he get as a
severance bonus? (Based on past experience, we'll start at a minimum of three month's
salary, although if you're very naive you can even bet on zero.) More importantly, what
about your local parks? Tell us your neighborhood horror stories or, better still, success
stories.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Real Neighborhood News
Jon Desenberg, JonDes@hotmail.com
Couldn't agree with our fearless publisher more, DCWatch is full of
endless constitutional, religious, and policy arguments, but where's the real neighborhood
news? Personally, I like the block by block stuff. The rest? Bo-ring and way too long. On
my own block in Adams-Morgan, we've recently had a string of big victories. In just two
months we've: prevented a poorly run halfway house for convicts from locating across the
street from Adams Elementary School, stopped the Washington Hilton from a huge and illegal
expansion, gotten a moratorium on liquor licenses in the neighborhood, and worked with the
owner of the new Epiphany restaurant to ensure that it becomes a good neighbor, not a new
source for rats and noise.
As a neighbor of mine noted, in the last year there's been an
unprecedented increase in local civic action and interest; whether it's due to the
increased property values and prices we all are paying for our homes or some other reason
is unknown, but it's great news.
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Welcome, Home Depot
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Over 200 people came out to a meet and greet with the developers and the
new tenant, Home Depot at the old Hechingers at Wisconsin Avenue and Albermarle in NW D.C.
The folks who came out to the meeting are neighbors for the most part and unanimously
expressed a welcome to the Home Depot visitors. Amidst the kind words of welcome were many
concerns of those who live in the neighborhood about potential traffic/parking problems
and the safety of the children who attend the schools in the immediate neighborhood.
There was little in the way of concrete plans for just how Home Depot will
adapt the store to a modern day efficient and effective retailing hardware operation. It
is clear, though, that Home Depot will eliminate the lower floor parking and convert that
back (as it was in the old Sears store) to a retail space, leaving the parking to a single
location atop the store (perhaps adding another level of parking, although that was not
mentioned at the meeting). In all there was little to discourage the new tenant from
moving forward with their plans. Home Depot will have to be creative in determining just
what is the best product mix to produce a profitable operation in a store that will be a
good deal smaller than those they operate in suburban areas.
A footnote: Ms. Eichenberger, who conducted an e-Mail survey at her own
expense (hardwarestore@mindspring.com)
received 365 responses. 97 percent of the respondees favored a hardware retailer and only
5 percent indicated that retaining the old building in its current (historical) external
configuration was very important.
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Smart Card Problems
Chris A. Pabon, CPabon@FoE.Org
Like many Metro users, I was happy to start using the much-heralded
Smart-Trip card, until I found out what happens when it breaks down. This morning, the
gates at Tenleytown would not accept my smart card. I complained to the station manager,
who gave me a number to call, and said she could do nothing else after that. I asked how I
would get into the Metro system, and she told me: Just buy a fare card. I then
went to Metro Center, thinking that the place where I purchased my Smart Card could help.
They also told me to call the number, and that there was nothing else they
could tell me to do since: This office only sells the card. I tried calling
from Metro Center, but over and over could only get a busy signal.
I arrived at the office, and finally managed to get a call through. I was
informed that I had to ask the station manager for a special form to fill out. I told the
person on the phone that I had never been told of any form, despite talking to a station
manager and their sales office. Nevertheless, he told me they know, and I had
to return to the system to get this form. I asked when I could expect to get my card back,
and his reply was that he could not tell me, but it should be in a few weeks.
One thing has become clear to me: maybe the paper fare cards are not so
bad after all. At least someone could tell me what to do when they did not work. The new
card may be smart, but the people behind it are not. Make sure to ask for this form from
the station manager if your smart card breaks down.
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Room for More Benchmark Improvements in the D.C.
Government
John Fanning, Johnfdc@cs.com
We have been reading about discussions lately regarding our city services
and some of the improvements that have been occurring in DC government agencies. I agree
that Customer Service should be one of management's top priorities. Unfortunately, there
still are areas in our government agencies that have a direct impact on the quality of
life in our neighborhoods and for the residents of our city that need improvement. First,
the call center at 727-1000. I still strongly feel that the operators should have more
excessive training in government agencies that directly effect service delivery, and not
just the Department of Public Works. Have you ever tried to ask one of the operators at
the call center a question regarding Business or Occupational Licenses at DCRA or
information regarding the Department of Public Health Services, only to be transferred to
a telephone that just keeps ringing? Do you know what it's like to get a nuisance property
cleaned up, or to even to do the follow up and retrieve the status of the violation or
citation process? Please. . . . Housing inspections at DCRA have been a major public
health crisis for years. My neighbors and I have been trying for over a month to get a
couple of alleys cleaned up because of illegal dumping. Nothing has happened after several
calls, and now trash and sofas keep accumulating. We have decided to have a neighborhood
clean up. Has anyone visited the 1300 and 1400 block of W Streets lately? If you plan on
visiting, please bring a broom and shovel and a couple dozen trash bags. These blocks have
a street cleaning schedule; however, you would never know it. I am aware that these are
problem blocks, but please, we have to do better to deliver city services. Then we have
Parking Adjudication and Services. There must be a better way!
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This weekend I saw the movie Butterfly, which shows the brief window of
freedom in Spain between the fall of the Monarchy and the rise of fascism in the late
1930's. In the final scene the characters find they must say the right thing
or pay terrible consequences. If it sounds like a nightmare that is restricted to the
past, pause and think for a moment about the concept of political correctness
in our own time. While no one may be carted off in the back of a truck, there are terrible
prices to be paid for saying the wrong thing or having the wrong opinion. Each of us
should consider whether we have censored our own speech due to the threat of an impending
firestorm of political correctness. I know I have, and I see it all around me. It is not
supposed to be what we are all about.
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What Has Become of Customer Service?
Matthew Kessler, matthew@stand.org
I posted the ordeal that I had, and currently am still in with StarPower
about a month and a half ago. Since then, things have gotten increasingly worse. I have
now moved my business elsewhere. During my two month fiasco with StarPower, only one of my
many, many, many calls was returned. When the situation with my cable was supposedly
resolved I was told by a Ms. Maricela Aragon (assistant to the Director of Customer
Service, Ms. Susan Rittenhouse, 703-321-8000, ext. 2306) that I was to call her if I had
any further problems. Needless to say I ran into problems shortly after we talked. I left
her countless messages and received no response in return. Finally I called Ms.
Rittenhouse and she returned my call. On the telephone side of things I worked with a
gentleman at the downtown DC office (Derrick, 250-7803). After our initial conversation he
never returned any of my calls, even when I called him because they randomly shut off my
phone and then when they turned it back on they turned my long distance off. Since posting
back in April I have heard from many of you telling me that you have been in similar
situations with StarPower. I do not understand how a company like that with the worst
customer service practices I have ever encountered can stay in business. Please learn from
my frustration and do not make the same mistake. Those of who subscribe to StarPower
services I wish you the best of luck. You will need it.
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Charter Schools
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Last Sunday's edition of the Washington Post Magazine had a very
interesting article that promotes a real revolution in the educational system. The
proposal is to evolve all public schools into Charter Schools. This is an even bolder step
than what I have proposed that the DCPS completely decentralize and allow each
school to form a team comprised of the principal, parents, and teachers. Each school team
would set the goals for their school and would determine just how those goals would be
met. The beauty of the proposal to make all schools Charter Schools is that it frees the
school system from the stranglehold of the Teachers' Unions, the oppressive DCPS
bureaucracy, and the burden of tenure.
In an all-charter school environment, the parents of school age children
would finally have the power to enroll their children in schools that meet their own
requirements and there would be an element of competition to excel between the schools.
Since the best schools would attract the most students, those schools would be the best
funded. Principals, unburdened, could staff the school with qualified and committed
teachers and get rid of those who do not measure up. In today's environment, short of an
assassination in the parking lot, it is likely that you cannot get rid of bad teachers
unless they are caught in a compromising situation with a student. Even then it is
probable that they cannot be dismissed unless they have put in for overtime while
committing this errant behavior.
To date the District has established and empowered about thirty charter
schools. If the trend to start up the maximum number of charter schools in D.C. each year
continues, then we eventually will have a decent number of schools which can provide a
viable education to those students whose parents are willing to enroll them in these
charter schools. But before we rush ahead and continue to create these charter schools
there is an interesting question that needs to be answered, Just how are the
currently chartered schools doing? Does anybody know?
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Tom Matthes complains that DC insurance law would prevent Catholics from
free exercise of their religion. I don't get it. Where in the law does it require that
Catholics use contraceptives? Or prevent the church from publicly opposing their use?
There isn't a single restriction on anything the church does in the law except
requiring it, when it offers health insurance to employees, to meet the community's
minimum standards for such insurance. Just as the church is required to follow labor laws,
provide safe working conditions (as defined by law), and so on. Such a burden!
If we get to opt out of everything we don't like, I want my tax refund now
to make up for offensive things like the tax-free status of churches (I have nothing
against churches, but why should the rest of us foot the bill?) and the legal institution
of marriage (designed to create special rights for one segment of the population and
exclude another). Not to mention a rebate on my health insurance because I think that
using precious health care dollars for voluntary fertility treatments that aren't a
medical necessity is obscene when there are so many children in need out there.
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My Final Posting on the Contraception Bill
Tom Matthes, tmatthes@vais.net
Karl Eiholzer takes exception to my question to DC statehood advocates, in
the wake of the Catholic/contraception debate: Don't you think you ought to put your
own Council in order before you ask the rest of the country to take your dreams of self
government seriously? He says, I am certainly entitled to representation with
my taxation, no matter how many boneheaded votes the Council takes. It's a
reasonable contention, and it deserves my final posting on this particular debate. Never,
in my postings to themail, have I opposed his principle and Mr. Eiholzer and I agree that
there are ways to achieve DC voting rights without statehood. I confess, however, that the
City Council's arrogant disregard for the First Amendment gives me pause. Our freedoms
stem from our constitutional democracy. The City Council has violated the most cherished
part of the Bill of Rights. Without the most scrupulous respect for those rights, our
Constitution is a dead letter and all legislative and judicial disputes become exercises
in raw power and the tyranny of majorities. In that case, Mr. Eiholzer, why should the
residents of the 50 states grant votes in Congress to a polity so contemptuous of
individual rights? If every vote is a power play, why give any of that power to enemies of
the Constitution? Wouldn't it make more sense for DC voting rights advocates to start
demonstrating to the rest of the country that they support the Constitution? Over the past
year, almost all of my submissions to this newsletter have sought to point out that
advocates of DC home rule and voting rights have wandered off course. With the
contraception bill, I'd say they have blundered off the roads and into a bog, further away
from their destination than ever before.
Mr. Eiholzer also argues that the contraception bill dispute should be
settled in the courts. That's not what the First Amendment requires. It doesn't say the
courts shall enforce no law passed by Congress that violates the free exercise of
religion. It says Congress shall make no law which does so. Congress is
as responsible for making sure our First Amendment rights are upheld as is the Supreme
Court.
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The Only Times They Appeared in the Paper
Lee Perkins, lperkins@cpcug.org
The Victorian adage referred to women only.
[Actually, it referred to ladies; that was one way to distinguish them
from women. But the prescription that privacy was preferable to publicity applied to both
sexes. Gary Imhoff]
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CLASSIFIEDS EVENTS
The second summer dcpoetry event that is sure to please! Fun for the whole
family! Friday, July 28 at Signal 66 gallery, 926 N Street, NW, rear. Gallery opens at 6
p.m., performance around 10 p.m. Also 2nd Annual Juried Art Show.
From Lubbock, Texas, to Orono, Maine, and several places in between, Bill
Howe is currently criss-crossing the country in his 1964 fire-engine red Ford Falcon
station wagon. And oh, what glorious fortune and fate have timed his presence in Our
Nation's Capital with the Signal 66 gallery's 2nd Annual Juried Art Show! Have you ever
concluded your delivery of a paper at an academic conference by stripping to your boxers
and making yourself a sandwich? Or tried to read a box of Alpha-Bits cereal that you've
just dumped onto the floor, only to then give new meaning to the phrase choking on
your words? I bet Damian Hirst and Paul McCarthy haven't. But Bill Howe has! He's
also the publisher of Tailspin Press and co-editor of Essex magazine, which publish
limited-edition books, journals, and book objects. No one is ever sure what a Bill Howe
show will entail until it happens, but it will likely remind us that it's a big bad ol'
fluxus world out there. http://www.geocities.com/~learnyeats/buff/boflobio.htm#100900
and http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~foust/A1.html.
Directions (a little tricky, so pay attention): Signal 66 is closest to
the Mt. Vernon Square Metro, but you can also walk up 9th Street from the Gallery
Place/Chinatown Metro. Parking available. Check out the cool and ACCURATE map at http://signal66.com/directions.html.
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World War II Memorial
Ann Loikow, johnl@erols.com
The DC Historic Preservation Review Board will hold a hearing on the World
War II Memorial on Thursday, July 27 at 10 a.m. at 1 Judiciary Square in the Zoning
Commission's second floor hearing room. This is part of the section 106 (of the National
Historic Preservation Act) process which requires Federal agencies to carefully consider
the effect on historic properties of any undertaking they authorize. It is very similar to
the NEPA process and coordinates with it. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
oversees the section 106 process and its regulations are at 36 CFR part 800 and can be
found on their web site (http://www.achp.gov), which
also has a good explanation of the process. The proposed World War II memorial is being
placed on the Rainbow Pool at the end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial
and the Washington Monument. It would destroy the Rainbow Pool for a monument of no
content, but lots of granite and massive stone pillars, to be lit up like Disneyland,
which would block views of the Lincoln Memorial and block any access from the west from
the Reflecting Pool. In addition, new visitor facilities, driveways, busbays, etc. will be
cut into the Mall just below the DC WWI Memorial. There are a lot of issues, so it should
be an interesting hearing. For more information on the issues see http://www.savethemall.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE
Large, leather reclining chair (taupe) in excellent condition, $150.
E-mail genevaoh@aol.com.
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Brand-new leather love seat, medium brown, treated, $400 firm. I purchased
it as part of a three piece set but it turns out my condo is not big enough for all three
pieces. E-mail DaisyPatmore@earthlink.net
or call 265-7474.
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CLASSIFIEDS HELP WANTED
Director for Parents United
Fran Dixon, fgdixon@aol.com
Parents United for DC Public Schools is searching for a new director
a savvy, committed, articulate DC public school parent advocate, an experienced
grassroots organizer, and effective nonprofit administrator. Fax resume to Search
Committee, 319-1010, or E-mail to pudcps@hotmail.com
by July 30.
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Do you know anyone inside the Beltway who might be interested in this
position? Streaming media web skills would be a plus! The position: HTML developers,
Alexandria, VA. The company, a well funded seed stage pre-IPO start-up racing for
first-mover status in b2b instant messaging space. This is NOT a me-too tired doomed or
dumb idea dotcom company. The work: Web Wizard. 2+ years experience hands-on coding
tightly designed HTML. Must be intimately familiar with individual browser quirks, light
JavaScript helpful. Unix environment. Writing custom components for a dynamic
database-driven, constantly improving web applications. Also need two 32-bit Windows
developers with C++ experience.
Must be passionate, accountable, brilliant, adaptable, wildly ambitious,
risk-tolerant, relentless, Internet-savvy, high-bandwidth, high-clockspeed. Internet
veterans from all levels are a big plus. Compress many years of performance into 12
months. Glory in a year! Our client has developed proprietary technology that enables
presence detection across all IM software (AOL, Yahoo!, ICQ and MSN). With presence
detection, users can see who else is presently logged on to a site or chat environment via
instant messaging. More importantly, the presence detection technology interoperates with
all major IM services a technological and e-business advantage currently not
available anywhere on the Web. Call Mark Tokay, 828-686-7777.
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CLASSIFIEDS HOUSING
Housesitting/Sublet
Thomas C Hall, thall@amcity.com
Fall housesitting/sublet opportunity available August-Dececember for
visiting professional. Two bedroom bungalow in Takoma Park near hospital. Ride-On bus
direct to Takoma Metro (Red Line). Quality furnished home $1,000/mo., negotiable for right
person/level of services. E-mail thall@bizjournals.com
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CLASSIFIEDS RECOMMENDATIONS
Moving to Capitol Hill
Meredith Paige Davis, mpd6@columbia.edu
After listing my desire for a totally unsuburban domicile in DC in
themail, I have ended up through a family connection with a great apartment/house on
Capitol Hill. For a New Yorker, an affordable house on a nice block with real space is
totally surreal. Since themail readers seem to know all about DC and actually like it, I
thought I'd ask: what are the best things about Capitol Hill where to eat, where to
etc.? And I need a gym any recommendations?
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CLASSIFIEDS CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
GRAY MATTERS: Last Thursday night, a 47-seat bus pulled alongside the senior citizens'
building at Greenleaf Gardens on Delaware Avenue SW. A throng of seniors filled the bus
and left a gaggle of crestfallen stragglers behind. The bus dropped off its passengers at
the Washington Plaza Hotel for a free chicken dinner, complete with complimentary
beverages and other freebies. They sat around for a while, gnoshing and chatting and
carrying on. Then they all got up and cast a ballot for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans.
The occasion was the quadrennial endorsement contest of the Ward 2 Democrats organization,
an appendage of the city's Democratic State Committee and a proving ground for hopefuls in
this fall's elections. As the two-term incumbent, Evans wanted to show his opponents
local businessman Pete Ross, activist John Fanning, and perennial candidate Ray
Avrutis just where the ward's rank-and-file voters stood on his tenure at One
Judiciary Square.
Read the entire Loose Lips column here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
SATURDAY: Cravin' Dogs, Last Train Home, Cecilia, 8:30 p.m. at the State Theatre, 220 N.
Washington St., Falls Church. $10.
TUESDAY: Mark Caldwell discusses his book A Short History of Rudeness: Manners,
Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America at noon at the National Archives, in Room
105, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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