Play Ball
Dear Recreationists:
Phil Carney, below, asks whether you have seen any maintenance
activities at your local parks and recreation centers. Last year, many
sports facilities and fields were unusable for most of the season
because the city didn't perform the simplest maintenance, even cutting
the grass. How are the parks and playing fields in your neighborhoods
this year? Do we need to start yelling at the Department of Recreation
early in order to get the work done by summer, or should we start
throwing bouquets and compliments?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Parks and Recreation, Here We Go Again
Phil Carney, philnopus@erols.com
Our Stead Recreation Center has yet to see a Parks and Recreation
lawn mower and it is almost the month of May. The grass needed cutting
weeks ago. Is your neighborhood Recreation Center being mowed and
maintained?
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DC General: Politics as Usual
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
We have to go beyond politics as usual, Mayor Williams claims. DC
General and the Public Benefit Corporation were fiscally irresponsible
and badly managed, and he has proposed an entirely new health care
delivery system. So it's only fair to examine the proposed contract and
the fiscal strength and management of his chosen subcontractors.
The Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO, that he has chosen to
get the multimillion-dollar, nine-year contract to provide
"administrative services" and access to its physician network.
is DC Chartered Health Care, Inc. Last September, the leading agency
rating HMO's, Weiss, gave DC Chartered a grade of D+, and put it in the
“weak” category. DC Chartered, although open for business from the
public, gets 98 percent of its business from its DC government contract
to provide health services to Medicaid residents. It has never been able
to attract any other major clients, and it has never made a profit. Last
May DC Chartered was bought in a bankruptcy sale by DC accountant
Jeffrey Thompson, who kept the same management team in place. This year
it again showed its management skill by filing its required annual
report with the Insurance Department yesterday, 54 days late, after
missing the filing deadline of March 1 and three extensions. As a
reward, the contract was finalized by the Control Board while the
company was out of compliance with DC law, and the Mayor's health
contract will triple the company's business.
Since there are many fiscally and managerially responsible HMO's, why
did the Mayor choose a weak and shaky one instead? The Mayor has offered
no explanation. Here it is. In the past few months, since Jeffrey
Thompson bought DC Chartered, he, his business partners and associates,
and the companies he owns, have contributed at least $65,000 to the
Mayor's political causes. They have become one of the Mayor's largest
political contributors. They gave $20,000 to the committee that
advocated the Mayor's position in the school charter amendment election,
and then they gave $45,000 to a political action committee to campaign
for the Mayor's favored school board candidates. We have no idea how
much they contributed to the Mayor's “non-profits,” since
contributions to these organizations are still secret. DC Chartered
Health Care, Inc., will manage and administer the health care of DC
residents for one reason: Mayor Anthony A. Williams put the health care
of DC residents up for auction, and he sold it to the highest bidder.
This isn't health reform; it is politics as usual.
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Seat Belt Enforcement Revisited
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso@capaccess.org
A few years ago the DC City Council enacted an ordinance making
failure to use seat belts a “primary offense” in the District,
empowering police to stop motorists on that basis alone. Around that
time, on this forum, I participated in a heated discussion about the
wisdom of that law. Those who remember that discussion, or are otherwise
interested in this issue, might want to take a look at Atwater v. Lago
Vista, a case the US Supreme Court decided Tuesday April 24. Like DC
law, Texas law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable only by a fine, not to
wear seat belts. Atwater was driving her kids. None was wearing a seat
belt. Noticing this, a cop in Lago Vista pulled Atwater over, verbally
berated her, handcuffed her, placed her in his squad car, and drove her
to the police station. He refused to give her time to find someone to
take care of her kids, and also refused to take them along in the squad
car (she entrusted the kids to some adults — strangers to her — that
some loitering teenagers brought over during her arrest). At the police
station, officers forced Atwater to remove her shoes, jewelry, and
eyeglasses, and empty her pockets; took Atwater's “mug shot”; and
placed her, alone, in a jail cell for about an hour. Then she went
before a magistrate, who released her on bond. She pleaded no contest,
paid the $50 fine, and sued the city, arguing that the cop's actions
were “unreasonable” under the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable
searches and seizures, and requesting at least that she be reimbursed
for the expenses of therapy her kids have had to undergo since the
incident. She argued the cop should have just issued her a ticket. By a
5-4 vote on April 24, the US Supreme Court disagreed, and ruled for the
city.
This isn't the place to discuss the Supreme Court's reasoning. I
admit I must have been wrong to think that police officers simply cannot
tell from outside a vehicle whether passengers are wearing seat belts.
Apparently this abusive police officer did — although, since Atwater
seems not to have claimed otherwise, we don't know for sure. At the same
time, I hope the Atwater case reminds everyone that criminal laws don't
enforce themselves. Above all, they empower law-enforcement officials.
The next time someone calls for enactment of yet another criminal law to
address a pressing problem, think of the Atwater case and whether we can
devise a means of addressing that pressing problem that doesn't lend
itself so readily to law-enforcement abuse.
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Community Benefits Districts
John Vocino, Bay Street, SE (Capitol East), vocinodc@hotmail.com
I think it's [Community Benefits Districts] a great idea. In fact, I
came across a researcher from the University of Indiana, Susan Baer, sebaer@indiana.edu,
who has researched the topic and presented it at the American Political
Science Association conference in 1999. She referred to them as
Community Benefits Districts, and noted that there were two residential
neighborhoods in Baltimore, as well as twelve others across the US (as
of 9/99). One of the Baltimore neighborhoods she studied is the Charles
Village CBD.
Her research suggested promoting these city sub-districts because
cities (especially large ones) may have difficulties responding to the
diverse interests of neighborhoods; which may help explain the high
costs and poor service quality — inefficiency — of the central
cities. One issue the research identifies is the potential for
inequities. For example, a Community Benefits District for Cleveland
Park in NW would probably marshal more resources and dollars than one of
the same physical and population size in the Deanwood section of NE. But
its an idea that is being put to use so urban neighborhoods can become
high-quality places to live.
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Community Improvement Districts
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com
I commend Dawn Dickerson for thinking “outside the box” in
suggesting that ANCs be empowered to effect community improvement.
However, no ANC would be equipped to handle the massive amount of
paperwork, evaluation, follow-up, etc., that such a large grants program
would entail. And the opportunities for misuse of funds would likely
prove too tempting for some. My own ANC rep won't even allow checks to
be written to her for a small community fundraiser because she worries
that there could be the appearance of impropriety. The potential
infusion of upwards of a million dollars would not be welcomed by her
and other scrupulous ANC reps.
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While I appreciate Ed Harris' support for preserving — not to
mention reusing — the historic Hechingers (nee Sears) store in
Tenleytown, I take exception to his use of the Spanish Embassy at
Washington Circle as an example to be followed elsewhere. I don't know
why the review agencies agreed to that particular “solution” (but I
hope there was a really really good reason); the result is truly
ghastly. What were they thinking — that we wouldn't notice Darth Vader
looming up behind those nice little row houses? EEEK! Such cavalier
treatment of historic buildings has a not-so-subtle name in
architectural criticism circles — facadomy (or fasodomy) or, more
politely, facadism. There are even a few worse examples (believe it or
not); check out the building on the north side of the 1700 block of
Pennsylvania Avenue. What an embarrassment.
I'm going to hope that a really GOOD architect with a SENSITIVE
client will reuse the historic Sears Building more sensitively. Here's
hoping.
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The Ugly Hechingers Building
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
In response to Doug Harris' Posting on this subject, Home Depot made
a huge mistake in not trying to open a “hybrid” store in the old
Sears building. I wrote a long letter to the president of Home Depot
shortly after their public meeting with local folks to explain their
plans and to hear concerns from the locals. The letter clearly outlined
a concept for an inner city hybrid Home Depot that could be put in place
in the old Sears Building. This store would have returned a huge dollar
volume of sales on a square foot basis. Home Depot was afraid of what
they heard at that meeting. It was at that meeting, or very shortly
thereafter that the brass at Home Depot realized they were up against an
immovable object, the resistance to change. I never got a response to my
letter to Home Depot.
That resistance to change, in the form of historical preservation,
will doom the Hechingers site from development for many years to come. I
can point with delight five major changes made on Massachusetts Avenue
(between 48th and 49th Streets.). Those five are the AU Law School
Building, Chicken Out, Crate and Barrel, The Spring Valley Shopping
Center, and Sutton Place Gourmet. All are within a five iron shot of my
front door. These were all positive changes that have enhanced the
AU/Spring Valley area. There was resistance to change. There always is.
But common sense and the courts prevailed. We are all better off in this
neighborhood as a result. It would make a great deal of sense to have a
periodic review (perhaps every five years) of all those properties that
have been designated for historical preservation. When you are green you
are growing. When you are ripe you rot.
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So many of you dissuaded me from Verizon that I decided to call both
them, since they were the cheapest ($40/month), and I don't mind some
occasional service interruption, and Earthlink/Mindspring, which was
highly recommended. I placed orders for the hardware and software you
must install from both companies, and while Verizon promised me in late
March an April 15 line availability date, Earthlink made no such
promises, saying instead it would be a few weeks. Soon after placing
both orders, however, Verizon sent me an E-mail saying my April 15 date
would be extended indefinitely. And, by the way, "do not respond to
this message."
I received both companies' hardware at about the same time, and my
assistant installed Earthlink's in about an hour and a half. Meanwhile I
checked with Earthlink as to when my line would be available, and —
something I hadn't realized — Verizon is the company that still makes
the line available, and Verizon had set an April 20 date for my
Earthlink installation to proceed. Strangely, the line was not made
available until April 21 — all of a sudden I could hear faint buzzing
in the line -- and then with a real person calling my house on a
Saturday afternoon announcing such availability and thanking me for
choosing Verizon! I guess they thought I would install the Verizon
hardware if I was stupid enough. But I have Earthlink, and it is
$50/month instead of Verizon's $40, but I was paying a lot for
Compuserve, so I don't mind getting the better service that is evident
from Verizon's shenanigans.
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Tried Verizon and Hope I Don’t Get Charged
Zinnia, CMszinnia@cs.com
After reading all the warnings in themail, I still installed the
Verizon set-up. It was a disaster. It was no faster than my old hook-up
and the E-mail feature was a nightmare. I have never used an E-mail that
won't alphabetize the address book. I could write the great American
novel in the time it took it to get my mail in some form I could read it
or to do attachments, which it often refused to send. Now I only hope I
will not be charged for this albatross for the rest of my life. I have
still not received the mailing label to return everything to them.
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Mayor’s Official Residence
Bob Andrew, rdandrew@erols.com
Foxhall Community Citizens Association is that neighborhood in
western end of Ward 2 where property at 1801 Foxhall Road has been
purchased by the Eugene B. Casey Foundation and proposed to be the
official mayoral residence for DC. On April 17, FCCA board members and
ANC2E SMD2 commissioner testified to the Official Residence Commission
chaired by former Mayor Walter Washington in support of the 17-acre site
being used for this purpose, rather than losing the green space to 70+
new homes with attendant rush-hour traffic increase. See http://www.foxhall.org/Residence.htm
for the full text of the testimony.
[More information about the mayor's mansion, including a list of the
members of the Commission and their draft report, is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/mansiondefault.htm
— Gary Imhoff]
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Public Health in Crisis Interfaith Forum
Rene Wallis, rwallis@dcpca.org
I am forwarding this to themail — folks may be interested in
attending this forum that tries to put what is happening in DC's health
care system for the poor (very bad health outcomes for low-income
minorities) with national problems (very bad health outcomes for
low-income minorities). What is causing this locally and nationally?
The Faith Health Association (FHA), an alliance of over thirty
Washington area churches, and other faith and health related
organizations, is an interfaith group working to eliminate health
disparities and to insure appropriate access to healthcare for Faith
Houses and the communities they serve. In recognition of the late
Reverend Dr. J. Terry Wingate and National Minority Health Month, we
cordially invite you to attend a very important health forum, National
Public Health In Crisis: DC General Hospital In Focus, on April 30 from
6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at DC General Hospital Auditorium. This is an
opportunity for you to learn more about the health issues facing our
community and what you can do as a leader in the Faith Community to
ensure adequate health care is provided to your congregation and the
surrounding communities.
We are currently facing critical health issues across our nation: the
closing of hospitals; inadequate emphasis on prevention, early
detection, and wellness promotion; inadequate support of faith-based and
community-based infrastructure; and widespread funding cuts. If you have
any questions, please contact Reverend Zelna Joseph at 554-8737.
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On Sunday, May 13, join Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care in
celebrating all women and mothers. Your attendance will support Mary's
Center's work assisting low-income mothers and their children. Each year
more than 3,240 District families rely on Mary's Center for medical care
and comprehensive social services in the Adams Morgan Neighborhood. The
Mother's Day jazz brunch and silent auction, will be at the Westin
Fairfax Hotel, 2100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Silent auction opens at
11:00 a.m., reception at 11:30 a.m., brunch at noon. $50 per person, $18
for children under 12. For reservations please call 483-8319 x340. For
more information see http://www.maryscenter.org.
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Bread for the City will be holding its Eleventh Annual fundraiser,
Art with a Heart, on May 19 from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at the National Press
Club. The event will feature a live and silent auction including works
from local artists, gift certificates for some of the area's finest
dining and theater and vacations to London and the west coast to name a
few. Tickets are $70 in advance and $75 at the door. To purchase tickets
or for more information, please call Jennifer Olsen at 265-2400 x23,
E-mail her at jolsen@breadforthecity.org,
or visit www.breadforthecity.org.
For more information on volunteering, please call Rachel Sussman at
265-2400 x55 or E-mail her at rsussman@breadforthecity.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Grad Student Needs Summer Housing
Amber Winkler, Amber14509@aol.com
I am a doctoral student of Education Policy at UVA who has an
internship in the Capitol Hill area this summer. I need housing from the
end of May (or beginning of June) to Mid-August. I will also be busy
this summer working on my dissertation, so I won't be loud or engaging
in the night life! I do not smoke or have pets, and I am very
responsible. Rent price is negotiable.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
1999 Mercedes Benz, C 280. Smoked silver (champagne color), loaded.
Mint condition, garaged. 16000 left on full warranty. Cell phone, 6 CD
player, Bose speakers, tape deck, sunroof, leather seats. Leaving
country in May. Call Nancy and John Egermeier, 363-6302.
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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED
Men’s Bike Wanted for Purchase
Mandy Katz. mmkatz@erols.com
We'd like to buy a used men's bike for up to $200. After three thefts
too many, good condition but battered appearance would be ideal.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FREE
I have a desk and a desk top pay phone that I would like to give away
ASAP. The desk is not high quality (it is made of wood grained
pressboard), but it is quite functional and sturdy. The pay phone is an
old style desktop. If you are not interested, but you know someone who
may be, I would greatly appreciated if you could forward this message to
them. If you are interested, please send an E-mail with your contact
information to lizaalbright@mindspring.com.
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Great Big Ficus Free to Good Home
John Whiteside, john@logancircle.net
Do you want a plant? A really big one? My ficus — now about 6 feet
tall in its pot and almost as wide — is just too big for my living
room. If you have a big, bright indoor space, maybe you need a big plant
for it! It's healthy — it's been rolled through the streets of Boston,
carted in the back of a pickup truck over the Roosevelt Bridge in the
dead of winter, gone without water for a week at a time (oops) and it
just won't die. So, if you have the space, and a way to get it from my
home in Logan Circle to yours, it's yours. You can see pictures of it at
http://www.logancircle.net. If
you're interested, reply to me by E-mail. First come, first served, but
if you are from a school or nonprofit in DC and want it for your
facility, you'll get special preference.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
I'm doing some renovations on my house and I'm looking for
recommendations for a good stucco and/or waterproofing firm or person.
You can E-mail me directly at vchudows@meridian.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this
Friday:
HACK JOB: The agency that regulates the city's taxicab industry is as
messed up today as it was two years ago, when Mayor Anthony A. Williams
promised to fix it. What's worse, the mayor's own people are now turning
on each other. One commissioner, appointed by Williams last November,
quietly resigned two weeks ago. Other mayoral appointees are praying for
the immediate dismissal of the mayor's hand-picked chair, Lee A.
Williams.
“He is mercurial, dictatorial.... He doesn't have the experience that
qualifies him for the $108,000 job,” says Richard Gould, who served as
vice chair of the commission and chair of the rules and regulations
committee. Gould says he resigned because he could "not work with
or tolerate Lee Williams."
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:
TUESDAY: Nicholson Baker reads from his book Double Fold: Libraries
and the Assault on Paper at 7 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 5015
Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
THURSDAY: George Carlin discusses his book Napalm & Silly Putty at
12:30 p.m. at Olsson's, 418 7th Street,. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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