Urban Free Delivery

Dear Subscribers:

Bill Rice, bill.rice@dc.gov, alerted me to sporadic problems he had been having receiving themail over the past few weeks, and forwarded a related E-mail from Mary Rowse about the Chevy Chase listserv: “If you're an AOL (America On Line) listserv subscriber you may have noticed that you didn't get any listserv E-mail this past weekend and perhaps two weekends ago as well. It's hard to tell the scope of the problem or why it's happening. I think it has something to do with AOL's efforts to block spam. It appears to be fixed for now. But if you experience this problem again, there are a couple of things you can do: 1) write to Postmaster@aol.com and ask them to stop blocking E-mail sent to you from the Chevy Chase Listserv. Provide the listserv's address (ChevyChaseCommunityListserv@yahoogroups.com).” If you're an AOL customer having similar trouble with themail, please write to AOL and tell them not to block themail@dcwatch.com. The second thing that Mary suggested was to read the listserv online if you miss issues, and past issues of themail are also always available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail. This may be the same issue that is affecting readers with Hotmail, Juno, and MSN accounts, who have been having an unusual number of delivery problems recently.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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The Convention Center Says Feed Me, Again
Ralston Cox, Dupont Circle, ralstoncox@earthlink.net

OK, I admit it. I was one of the residents of this city that thought the Mount Vernon Square site for the new convention center was wrong. I still do. Despite the fact that the architecture has come out somewhat better than I was anticipating, the building is just too darn big for the neighborhood. What got my blood boiling about this issue again was an article in the Business Section of Monday's Washington Post about the “need” for a convention center hotel [“Convention Center Hotel Is a Gamble,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58493-2003Apr19.html]. One of the convention center boosters' selling points for the Mount Vernon Square site was that the alternative site (just north of Union Station) was “too remote,” the hotel industry wouldn't build a hotel adjacent to it (which was seen as critical to the success of any convention center) and that, therefore, the city would have to pony up resources to make it happen. Well, we now know that — according to the Washington Post article — the city will still be ponying up resources to help pay for a convention center hotel on a site adjacent to the new convention center, because the hotel industry won't build a hotel adjacent there either without help from the city.

And what do we citizens get for yet another subsidy for this project? The prospect of less spin-off for the immediate neighborhood (since conventioneers wouldn't have to leave the confines of their safe hotel/convention center connections, the argument is that they wouldn't necessarily do so and would not spend dollars in the neighborhood) and a risky investment that would need financing that “probably would come from tax revenue from an area around the convention center,” (higher taxes for the folks who live here and those who shop in the neighborhood). But William Hanbury suggests that not to build it wouldn't be smart, as the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation has promised dozens of groups that the hotel will be built by 2007. Why were they promising something they didn't have?

Why is a hotel immediately adjacent to the convention center important? To save organizations money on transporting their conventioneers around Washington by bus. And what is an estimate of that cost? According to one meeting planner quoted in the article, it would cost $300,000 to transport more than 30,000 cardiologists around town for their annual meeting in 2013. Hmmm. I say we let 'em charge the cardiologists an extra $10 a head for transportation to cover the transportation charges. Let's skip yet another raid on the public treasury by these greedy developers. We've already fed this behemoth enough of the public's money.

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No New Hotel
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Over many years I have attended a slew of conventions and expositions in most of the convention centers in major cities around the US. In all of those events, I was provided with a laundry list of hotels in the city that I was traveling to by the organizers of those events. Sometimes I stayed in hotels close to the convention site, but many times some distance away. All of the events had one hotel designated as the headquarters hotel, and some, but not nearly all, of the participants in the event stayed at the headquarters hotel. The same should be the case here in DC.

We do not need another new hotel that will have to be subsidized by the taxpayers in DC to ensure that the developers will recoup their investment at a nice profit. Such a new hotel will bleed occupancy from the existing hotels, all of which can easily absorb the visitors to any events at the new DC Convention Center. In addition, the Metro and taxis in DC will benefit from the increased ridership when events are scheduled. That will add to DC's income each year rather than bleed away income for subsidies to the new hotel.

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175 More Police Officers
David Pansegrouw, dpansegrouw@atpco.net

Some things I do not understand about the push for 175 new police officers. One, I thought the council had previously authorized budgets that included 3800 police officers but instead of bringing the number of officers up to 3800, the money went somewhere else. Second, according to some people's statistics, we already have more officers per capita than many cities. This does not include any of the other police agencies that dot our landscape and who have been given DC police powers (I have seen non-DC and non-Park Police doing traffic stops).

Third, many expect the schools to do more with what they have, citing real inefficiencies in the school system. I am not convinced that the police are so efficient that they also can't do more with what they have. Having seen police ignore numerous illegal activities within their sight, I am not convinced a cop on every corner is a solution to crime. Part of me suspects the proposal for another 175 officers is more part of the mayor's political posturing than anything to do with real security.

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Abandoned Vehicle
Annie McCormick, amccormick@itic.org

On the morning of Thursday, April 17, a car parked in front of the Seville apartment building at 1401 N Street, NW, in the no parking zone. Afterwards it was noticed that the car had both the front and back windows entirely smashed out. The desk attendant this morning (Monday April 21) said that the building manager had called twice since Thursday, April 17, to have it removed (he couldn't tell me who the building manager called).

On Monday morning, April 21, I decided to try my luck. I called the Department of Public Works (727-1000). I had to have the make of the car and also the tag number, if it had tags. I gave her the description (two-door, red Geo with no tags) and no front or back windshield, with glass all over the place, that was parked in a no parking zone (the entrance to the building) which is marked by a yellow curb. You can't miss it. The nice operator gave me a confirmation number. She then told me that it would take up to ten to fifteen working days for someone to even investigate the report and up to 28 more days for the vehicle to be removed, if that is what the investigation suggested. She even seemed a bit apologetic that that is the best the government can do. I didn't wait for an explanation, as nothing she could have told me would have made sense as to why such a simple request would take so long.

On Wednesday, April 23, I called back to report that the tires on the car were stolen on Tuesday. The operator said she would add it to the record, and said that someone would check into it sometime and they had until May 5th. May 5th is two weeks from the day I reported it, so I assume they give themselves a two-week time line. The desk attendant in the building said that he saw someone drive up and the passenger got out and removed the tags from the abandoned car last week. He copied the temporary tag number of that vehicle down. He also said he has seen this man in his car driving around the neighborhood. I decided to call the police to report the tag number and this suspicious activity. I looked up the telephone number: 727-1010. Here's the recording I got: “If you are calling the metropolitan police non-emergency phone number, please hang up and dial 311. If you are dialing from outside the district, please hang up and dial 202-737-4404. If you are calling for city services such as trash removal or abandoned cars, please hang up and call 202-727-1000. Thank you for calling.” I can't even get to talk to a live body. This is so very depressing. We have crime happening right in front of our faces and there is no help and nowhere to turn that doesn't involve two-week or thirty-day turnaround times or recordings with phone numbers that I have already called. I'm rethinking purchasing my first home in the district. If the city can't even look into a simple request of a car being trashed and stripped, I know I can't depend on the police if something would happen to me or my property.

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Chicago’s Gain Is Our Loss
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aoldotcom

Another big loss for DC is the decision by Mayor Williams to extend the contract to Police Chief Ramsey. Ramsey used the ploy that he might take the Chicago Chief's job to get a raise and the new contract. That makes DC the loser in this contest and Chicago the winner.

Ramsey has not been effective or efficient in leading the DC Police Department. Crime is up. The murder rate is up and more murders remain unsolved each month. There are still not enough cops on the mean streets to keep crime under control and we have more cops per capita than any other major city in the US. If you throw in the Park Police and the Capitol Police we probably have one and a half times as many police as other major jurisdictions. We are likely to see just more of the same Ramsey for the next five years. It certainly won't be helpful to the quest to get more folks to move into the District.

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DCPS Budget Waste II: McKinley Technology High School
Erich Martel, ehmartel@starpower.net

There are a number of reasons why McKinley Technology High School will not achieve its advertised ends and should be dropped from the budget: a) It draws funds from other capital and operating needs; b) unless DCPS is able to demonstrate consistent improvement in reading and math performance, thereby significantly increasing the numbers of students who enter 9th grade prepared for a challenging math, science and technology curriculum, the existing math and technology courses at Banneker, Wilson, School Without Walls and the smaller in-house academies will more than meet the demand; c) ambiguous descriptions of McKinley's mission, program, and courses of study suggest uncertainty as to whether it will be a college prep program or a vocational/technical program preparing students to enter the job market with marketable technology skills, or some combination of both; this describes a confusion over the school's mission and purpose; d) the school's proposed focus on "project based learning that can cut across many disciplines," (http://www.mckinley.dc.gov/news/nr042902.shtm) hinders rather than promotes technological competence (http://www.mckinley.dc.gov/home/about.shtm).

For an expanded version of this article and suggestions of where the mayor should direct his attention in reforming the DC public schools, see http://www.dcwatch.com/schools/ps030416.htm.

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DC Voter Education and Turnout
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

DC will hold its Presidential primary on Jan. 13, 2004. See http://www.dcFirst.org. I am interested in hearing about any efforts that are currently being planned related to voter education and voter turnout.

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Leaving Town
Michael Williams, 

My best friend, a longtime DC resident, has finally reached the conclusion that it is illogical to continue to live in the District. He berates me every time I talk of leaving, but, alas, both of us have reached the same conclusion — that corruption and lack of services has finally worn us down. While I am sure we will not leave, the disgust has reached that critical point.

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Neighborhoods and Police
Ron Linton, rml.ch@verizon.net

Regarding Dorothy's message on Neighborhoods and Police [themail, April 19], she left out something. Not only did they [the researchers] not attempt to meet with neighborhood groups, but the researchers have never lived in that neighborhood or any like it, nor do they know anybody who lives in that neighborhood or any like it. As for police/resident ratios, when I was involved with the department as an assistant chief (1998) we had, if I remember, correctly authorized strength of 3700, actual enrolled about 3600 hundred and 20 per cent of that total on administrative or medical leave, leaving an effective force of about 2900. The chief, I read the other day, says 10 percent are on some kind of leave. It would be interesting to get an exact count. I'll bet its closer to the 20 percent, which is appalling and represents a tremendous waste of resources. And when you look at it that way, the ratio is about 500/100,000. There are reasons why you can't make a direct analogy with other cities on ratios, but I won't go into that here. Basically the resources available are inadequately managed and used.

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What Do We Want Them to Do?
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

Gary's and Bob Levine's stories about cops refusing to deal with crimes committed by kids reminds me of the time I was assaulted by a kid from Hine Junior High. It was mid-afternoon one weekday. 8th Street, SE, was swarming with scores of kids. One member of a group of teenage boys threw a tennis ball and hit me in the back. I decided to get off the street, so I proceeded north towards the Eastern Market Metro stop. Just short of the stop, I turned around and found that the entire group had followed me and was right behind me. I asked the leader: “Do you want me to call the police?” At that point he punched me in the jaw and, after I had fallen, he kicked me in the ribs several times.

I phoned the police. Much later a squad car came. I got in the car and pointed out the kid who had thrown the tennis ball. One of the cops questioned the boy and then got back into the car. The cop told me: “He says he saw the boy attack you, but he doesn't know him.” In vain did I point out that this kid was part of the group that had followed me. Later I talked to a sergeant at the police station. He knew I was white, that the kid was black, so he immediately made it a racial issue. He asked me, “What do you want us to do? Bring the kid in and beat a confession out of him?” At that point I dropped the matter.

[The police report that was written about our incident omits the fact that Dorothy identified the children and omits the fact that the children admitted that they had broken the windows both to Dorothy and the investigating officer. It also diminishes the seriousness of -- and reduces the classification of — the crime by estimating the cost of a broken rear windshield at just $100 and the cost of a broken side window at just $50, several times less than their actual cost. — Gary Imhoff]

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Don’t Get Any Respect
Tolu Tolu, tolu2books@aol.com

Here I thought I receiving absolutely no respect from the DC Police because I live on Florida Avenue, NE. At least I now know that is not the only reason for the worthless crew never to solve any crimes. Nor do they want to have any involvement with crimes on any level unless there is something in for the individual police person.

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Red Light Cameras
Ralph Blessing, rblessin88@hotmail.com

Gary wrote: “If the City Council has a choice between our constitutional rights and the city's profits, then write off any possibility that the City Council will do the right thing.” Is he suggesting that there is a constitutional right to run red lights and not be held accountable?

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Improvements in the District’s Aging Water System
Michael S. Marcotte, DC WASA, michael.marcotte@dcwasa.com

In the April 16 edition of themail, Bill Adler was critical of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority for turning off water to “several hundred, possibly thousands” of DC residents for twelve hours during the August 11-12 weekend. He characterized our actions as “outrageous and inexcusable.” Mr. Adler presented a summary of our actions, some of it factual, some a little confused. Here's what actually happened. After reviewing our system maps and simulating the effects of valve closures through our computer model, we planned and carried out a project to replace two faulty 8-inch valves in the 3200 block of Macomb Street, NW, beginning late Friday night. (The 8-inch line in the street was placed in 1911, and the valves date to 1929.) We expected that the work could be completed by daybreak on Saturday morning, virtually eliminating any significant impact on our customers. We carried out an extensive notification plan to alert people who were likely to be affected by the outage.

When we excavated the pipe and valves, we found that the external diameter of the pipe connecting to a fire hydrant was slightly different than the standard (this is not unheard of with older pipes), requiring us to fabricate additional fittings to complete the work. Despite working through the night, we did not complete the work and restore pressure until about 11 a.m. on Saturday (not Sunday, as stated at one point by Mr. Adler). As a result, some of our customers had no or reduced water pressure for approximately twelve hours (although most of them were asleep for the better part of that period!). On Saturday morning, we received 85 calls (some duplicates, some from customers in the notification area who wondered why we weren't yet finished) reporting reduced or no water pressure. In investigating these complaints, we found that a small number of our customers (certainly not thousands) outside the area predicted by our model were inconvenienced by our work. We identified a closed valve in our system (apparently from a previous activity) that reduced water pressure beyond that predicted by our model. By midday Saturday, system conditions had returned to normal.

So were our actions outrageous? Inexcusable? Perhaps my outrage meter is set at a somewhat different level, but I think we completed important work under difficult conditions, with a small impact on our customers. Can we learn from our experience? Can we do better? Certainly. Here's what we learned (or relearned): 1) Water service is really important to our customers. Even a short-term interruption has impacts. 2) When planning for and notifying about an interruption, assume a “worst case scenario.” 3) Enhance our ability to deal with customer inquiries about low pressure through our web site and automated telephone answering technology. Rest assured that we'll keep working to improve the aging water system that serves the District of Columbia, and will also keep working to improve our effectiveness in delivering high-quality services to our customers.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Financing DC’s Transportation System, May 7
Diane A. Pecor, pecorda@earthlink.net

Show Me the Money: Financing DC's Transportation System, a public meeting hosted by the Citizens Advisory Committee to the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, and the DC League of Women Voters, will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at 7:00 p.m., at Martin Luther King Memorial Library, Auditorium, Room A5, 901 G Street, NW (at Gallery Place Metro Station). The meeting will be moderated by Phil Mendelson, DC Councilmember and TPB Vice Chair, and will feature Jim Graham, DC Councilmember and 2003 Chair of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), and Dan Tangherlini, Director, District Department of Transportation (DDOT).

Transportation funding is tight and transportation needs are many. Over the next year, decision makers in the District government, on the Metro board, and throughout the region will have to decide which transportation needs can be funded within the region’s financial constraints. In the District of Columbia, we must rehabilitate Metrorail, Metrobus, and our roads. Funding is also needed to make sure the regional transportation system can handle potential large-scale emergencies. And we cannot ignore the growing need for improved information and for new and expanded transportation facilities and services in our communities. Meanwhile, local and state budgets throughout the region are getting squeezed, and federal funding is becoming more important than ever.

The Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) to the region’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) is made up of citizens from across the metropolitan region who represent diverse viewpoints on transportation policy. The TPB itself is a body of elected and appointed officials who coordinate transportation planning for the entire metropolitan Washington region. The Committee of 100 is the oldest planning body and the oldest citizens' forum on planning issues in the Nation's Capital. The DC League of Women Voters is an organization that has long encouraged the informed and active participation of citizens in government, including transportation planning and policy making. For more information, contact John Swanson at the Council of Governments at jswanson@mwclog.org or 962-3295.

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Important Artifacts of Spanish Jewish History to Be Unveiled at Washington National Cathedral
Diana Altman, B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, daltman@bnaibrith.org

The Washington National Cathedral, the B'nai B'rith Klutznick Museum, and the Embassy of Spain present “Remembering Sepharad: Jewish Culture in Medieval Spain,” an exhibition of important art and artifacts related to centuries of Jewish life and culture in Spain. Several objects have never before been seen outside of Spain. The exhibit opens to the public on Friday, May 9, and continues through June 8, at Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW.

“Remembering Sepharad” offers a riveting visual narrative of Jewish life during Spain's medieval period, a time of great culture and scholarship, as well as harmony and religious tolerance among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. On display will be exhibits of ceremonial life, scientific texts, and treasures gathered from Spain's national museums. The curatorial team has woven together material evidence linking the many facets of Jewish life in Spain. Previously held in Toledo, Spain, the exhibition has its only North American showing at the Washington National Cathedral.

Sepharad is the name that Jews gave to Spain in medieval times. Over the centuries, the Jewish communities in exile who settled in Spain experienced a significant cultural blossoming, so much so that Spanish Jews, known as Sephardim, became synonymous with culture among all the people of Israel dispersed throughout the world. The Jews living in Spain formed an inextricable part of Spanish history. It is impossible to explain their characteristics as a people or their material culture except in conjunction with Spain's Muslim and Christian cultures. The reverse is also true: Jews played a prominent role in the rich and complex intellectual life of medieval Spain. Despite the eventual rise of fierce religious persecution, culminating in the Inquisition and ultimate expulsion in 1492, the Jews' presence in Spain was enriching, both for them and for the Spanish people. For logistical information, please contact Steven Gotfried, Media Relations Manager, Washington National Cathedral, at 537-6248. For information on artifacts featured in the exhibit, please contact Juan Sell, Counselor, Embassy of Spain at 728-2367. For information on Sephardic culture and history, please contact Jay Garfinkel, Director of Communications, B'nai B'rith International at 857-6677.

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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS

Computer to Donate
Deborah Fort, deborah.fort@starpower.net

We have a (really) old computer (Compaq single unit construction) and printer to donate, but we have lost the information on how to get it to kids who could learn by taking it apart. It works and has served us well, but is obsolete vis a vis software. Has anyone on this list information on how and where to recycle it? If so, please advise me off list.

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