Solutions

Dear Problem Solvers:

Ruth Holder, below, echoes Alan Heymann's complaint about themail in the last issue, and criticizes this discussion forum for complaining about and criticizing the things that are wrong in this city, and particularly in its government. She seconds his suggestion that every complaint should be accompanied by a positive suggestion for improvement. I realize that I myself have not been doing this, and that this may be taken as showing a negative attitude. It could be useful for those of us who criticize to make some explicit suggestions to officials who are puzzled about how to make improvements, suggestions that they otherwise would not think of. I'll start.

Complaint: community policing is failing as a crime control strategy because not enough officers are assigned to beat patrols. Suggestion for improvement: assign enough officers to beat patrols.
Complaint: several top government officials have been hired on the basis of resumes that contain exaggerations and outright lies. Suggestion for improvement: check resumes.
Complaint: a primary election is marred by massive election fraud, in which one candidate's petitions are composed predominantly of forged signatures. Suggestion for improvement: don't forge your petitions.
Complaint: a large number of tax refunds aren't being mailed in a timely manner. Suggestion for improvement: refund tax overpayments in a timely manner.
Complaint: home assessments are skyrocketing, and the property taxes based on those assessments are “capped” at a rate at which they will virtually double every three years. Suggestion for improvement: cut the property tax rate.

I could go on, but you get the idea. I know that themail's contributors are a creative bunch of problem solvers. Our government officials need our help to come up with more creative solutions like these. Please join in.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Georgetown Community List
Peter Luger, lugerpj at georgetown dot edu

Does anyone know if there is a listserv (similar to themail) for the area surrounding Georgetown University? I've checked the DCWatch web site and I don't see anything.

[The list of community mail lists and listservs is on the links page, http://www.dcwatch.com/links.htm. Please send any additions or corrections. — Gary Imhoff]

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Rumsfeld’s Sally
Star Lawrence, jkellaw@aol.com

My reaction to Rumsfeld's remark about being safer in Baghdad than DC was, “Don't admit what a mess the government has made of DC — we all know it's true of Baghdad.” It's not like he was saying Baghdad was safe, as he intended to. Then again, DC has the advantage of running water, electricity that stays on, the chance that if someone shoots you in the chest in broad daylight for your money someone might notice, and so on. I talked to an Iraqi over the weekend and he said the Americans had provided some flour without bugs in it. They liked that, but were afraid we would leave them defenseless. They also figure Saddam may be back.

P.S. I know you will all breathe a sigh of relief to know my senile, 85-year-old mother's nail scissors were glommed by the TSA over the weekend. She had two pairs, though — they missed one.

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Proud of DC, Despite Flaws, and Working to Make DC Better
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com

I would like to see a recent chart comparing DC to other cities on the whole range of quality of life indicators. For years, I have listened to and read media reports of how bad DC is; and for a while I wondered why so many of us stay here. I mean — why bother? Get the hell out of Dodge, right? In one experiment, I found that people gave higher satisfaction ratings with living in DC when asked in terms of their own neighborhoods and life close to home, rather than overall. It is important to take a bit of perspective now and again — leave town and check out the rest of the country. Each time I visit elsewhere, as much as I enjoy my visit, I am happy to return to DC. Not because DC is disenfranchised and segregated from the country, but because DC has vibrant civic and community life. Not because crime statistics are too high — I hate to walk where I know friends have been mugged — but in many ways I feel safe when I return to DC. I'm happy when I return to DC, not because more than a few of our DC public school students are struggling to read and on average don't match up with students in other areas (how nice it must be to hear that all the time?); but because DC students are our students and when you talk with the kids you see they are great kids and there are a lot of positive things going on.

Last time The Post conducted a DC opinion study (May 2002), it found that 41 percent felt the quality of life in DC was getting better, 39 percent said staying about the same, and 19 percent said getting worse. That was a huge turnaround from the previous ten years. On average, between 1988 and 1998 only nine percent of DC residents reported that things were getting better; 31 percent said things were staying about the same; and a majority — 54 percent — said things were getting worse! On another question the same pattern emerged. In May 2002, 54 percent said DC is generally going in the right direction, compared to 1993 when 83 percent said DC was on the wrong track. Have the numbers dropped over the past year? Possibly -- there has been enough negative news to discourage even the most optimistic individuals, particularly after the hopeful euphoria of electing new leadership has worn off. But I remain optimistic.

In fact, I would not like to see our nonvoting Congresswomen blasting out press releases to the nation about DC's greatest flaws without putting it in perspective — show me another Congressional representative who does that! And I do not wish to have our mayor only highlight DC's failures -- I want to know what is being done to prevent and solve the problems. And I am glad when our leaders stand up to those in positions of national power who highlight DC's flaws for their own devices (extrapolating DC's crime rate to match the size of Baghdad as a way to say that the issue of American service members getting shot at is not such a big problem doesn't work for me). This is not to advocate on behalf of a culture of low expectations, or for putting our heads in the sand and ignoring the areas we can improve. I am all for encouraging a government culture in which those who have good ideas are rewarded; and those who see fraud and abuse are encouraged to report it. But I need to be reassured from time to time. I need to know there are people in the DC government who do their jobs with stealing from my taxes, who try to make it function better, who hold a positive attitude even in the worst of circumstances. DC is not all bad — or most of us wouldn't stay here and fight to make it better.

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Successful Resolution of DC Income Tax Refund
Warren Gorlick, wgorlick@cftc.gov

A few weeks back I reported on the difficulties I was encountering in obtaining my DC income tax refund from OTR. I am pleased to report that Councilman Catania, who apparently monitors themail, wrote to me after I reported my experience in themail, and told me that he would refer the matter to high level OTR officials who could help. Within ten days, I received a call from an OTR official who apologized profusely about the problems I had had and told me that she would put the check in the mail that day, which she did. Thank you Councilman Catania for your unsolicited help on this issue!

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Seeking Assistance in Wreaking Vengeance Upon Telemarketer
Mark Eckenwiler, themale@ingot.org

Fresh from my recent success in suing a local telemarketer (see http://www.panix.com/~eck/telemarket.html), I have now turned my sights on pesky Jeeves Handyman Services, which seems to have illegally telemarketed nearly everybody I know in DC. (Illegally, because Jeeves makes prerecorded calls to residences, a practice forbidden by federal law.)

In preparation for my upcoming court date with Jeeves and its owner, I would appreciate hearing from any DC resident who 1) has gotten a prerecorded call from Jeeves and 2) would like to serve the ends of justice by testifying at the hearing on July 1. (Those interested in knowing some intriguing details about the many faces of Jeeves and its owner may peruse http://www.panix.com/~eck/jeevesinfo.pdf for the appendix to my complaint sorting it all out. Please excuse the missing punctuation, an odd artifact of the conversion to PDF format.)

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Positive Proposals
Ruth Holder, rutheholder@yahoo.com

Alan Heymann said in themail, June 22: “As a reader of themail for a couple of years now, I've often wondered how you would approach some of our city's unique problems if you took time away from criticizing everything and actually proposed a solution for a change.” I could not agree more. I've noticed that themail has a decidedly whiny, complaining tone to it, with contents more negative than positive. Of course it is much easier to criticize than to solve. While b*tching and moaning can be one method of raising people's passions and motivating them to care, it is completely nonproductive to simply tear down without proposing something to be built in its place.

So, living by my own words, my suggestion is that anybody who wishes to write about something wrong with DC should, in the same E-mail, propose a positive, actionable suggestion that could change that something for the better.

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All Flag, No Soul
Sam Jordan, samunomas@msn.com

Gary, you were, perhaps, compelled to debunk my theory suggesting that the red bars in the flag of the District of Columbia and the national flag were reminiscent of the blood drawn by slave lashes. You responded as the old debaters would say, with chapter and verse in your references to the article by Mark Richards on the history of the District's flag and the web sites depicting the adaptation of George Washington's family crest for his book plates and the Yorktown Society. Not surprisingly, I have received several E-mail messages from readers of themail who prefer my apocryphal account to the factually correct. Where is respect for fact, Gary? My own theory (again) is that your facts don't touch the soul as does my reference to the past's inhumanities. The flag that you described in themail distributed on June 19th, as “spare, elegant, attractive and historic,” is after all, the mark of George, the slaver. Did he lash or order his slaves lashed with elegance? A freedom movement is fueled by the soul's deep need to avenge the transgressions of the past.

While you responded to my comments on the flag, you made no comment whatsoever on the more substantive matter, the prevailing, collective amnesia regarding the Constitutional Convention of 1980. Where is the outrage? We have a growing democracy movement in the District. Yet, none of the several organizations leading this movement nor other readers of themail have sought to hold anyone accountable for defying the wishes of the voters of the District of Columbia as expressed through the deliberations of the democratically elected Convention Delegates. When shall we do so? The ballot initiative authorizing the Convention and empowering the Delegates was valid law and encountered no Congressional rejection. The Delegates, many of whom are yet active in local politics, reorganized local government creating opportunities for expanded participation in governance by DC voters and residents. The Constitution, drafted by the Convention Delegates, was shelved not by Congress, but by the DC Council.

Let's get back to the flag and symbolism where the debate is more spirited but less meaningful. Whenever I see Old Glory with its slave stripes and hear the Star Spangled Banner, I am reminded that Francis Scott Key, the anthem's author, was the law partner in Frederick, Maryland, to Roger Taney who became Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott case in 1857 in which his legacy is enshrined in the dicta, black men had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect” and further, “it is impossible to believe that these rights and privileges were intended to be extended to them.” Perhaps, among the “terrorists” (including legitimate freedom fighters) who today, oppose the arrogant, brutal US march to unrivaled imperial power are Dred Scotts created by over two centuries of US hypocrisy, disrespect and usurpation. That is what the US flag and Star Spangled Banner mean to millions abroad. You must go to the soul of the matter, Gary. While you may be correct about George's family crest, deep in the heart of those who want democracy in the District lies the suspicion that the slave-holding legacy of the nation coupled with the current majority status of slave descendants in the District is somehow related to the lack of local self-government. Such a suspicion, unspoken but lamented nevertheless, is a corrosive on the soul. (A hundred thousand of the Mayor's new residents may tip this population distribution toward better political prospects and still leave the anguish without relief.) Which of the options for the District flag respects a freedom movement's yearning to assuage this heart of darkness?

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The Three Stars
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo

Actually, the way I was told it (before I saw the Washington family coat of arms) was that the two stripes in the DC flag were for Virginia and Maryland and the three stars were for the cities of Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washington. Of course, if this were true then the flag should be changed to one stripe and one star (since Virginia is no longer a contributor of territory and Georgetown is no longer an independent municipal corporation). Mr. Jordan's theory could not be right, regardless, as the Virginia portion had already been retroceded by the time the Commission was constituted.

Using the moniker Washington is actually only traditional, since the official title of the jurisdiction is the District of Columbia. The City of Washington is no longer, and hasn't been for over 100 years.

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Flag Change: Narrow and Self-Serving or National Call for Equality?
Matthew Marcou, mmarcou@erols.com

I don't know which is the more significant error in a recent posting to themail: the claim that the change to the District flag is a narrow, vote-getting agenda or that the District cannot get the vote (and local autonomy) except through retrocession. Both ideas are worth examination and refutation. First, to describe the demand for representation in ones government as narrow is clearly wrong. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that government can only be just when it receives the consent of the governed. Since the citizens of the District cannot give their consent to the national government, it is not a just government for the District. The examples of the injustice of this situation are numerous: a District teacher is fired simply for running for office; pay raises for DC government workers, including firemen and police officers, are held up for months by national politics and partisanship; local prosecutions are circumvented by federal government prosecutors answering to national pressures or looking to make their reputations. And that is simply from this year's headlines. District residents have suffered these injustices for over two hundred years, far longer than our colonial ancestors. The flag change is one small step forward in the fight for full representation and self-government. That fight is certainly not “narrow” nor “vote-getting.” It is a demand for simple justice and fairness.

Second, retrocession is not the only alternative. In fact, the most likely scenario for voting representation and local autonomy is a constitutional amendment. There are four different amendments that serve as models for this expansion of the franchise. In addition to providing equal representation in Congress, such an amendment can and should include provision for local control of local issues. Such a provision would limit Congress' current (and virtually unlimited) power in the District to those matters necessary for the proper functioning of the national government. That these changes are proper and right is above question. The change in our flag is one way to raise that issue in a public and proper setting. It is not “little more than a self-promotion campaign for local politicians”; it is a national call for justice and equity.

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The Flag Has Friends
John Capozzi, suecapozzi@aol.com

It was a welcome addition to the discussion to find that the new DC Flag has a few friends. I waited to post a response to the “deface the flag” diatribe by Gary Imhoff. Since I started the campaign to add the words “DC” and “No Taxation without Representation” to the current DC Flag, many people from remarkably varied corners of DC have supported the effort. This includes DC Vote; the DC City Council; Mayor Williams who signed the bill; Dorothy McSweeney, head of the DC Arts and Humanities Commission; Jack Olender, attorney, All the members of our Shadow Delegation, Sen. Paul Strauss, Sen. Florence Pendelton, and Rep. Ray Browne, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and many, many others. No decision in politics is unanimous if it involves a fight — in this case the fight for equal rights for DC residents.

Also, I look forward to inviting everyone to the flag raising at Union Station, where the DC flag has been excluded for over twenty-five years, where it will soon fly proudly next to all the fifty states and territories. The National Park Service has agreed to raise our DC Flag pole in the next few months which will be located right between Union Station and the Thurgood Marshall Building. This might be the perfect occasion to officially unveil the new DC flag for the first time!

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Tag the Flag
Andy Catanzaro, Stamp Act Congress, andy@stampouttax.com

I think its a great idea to make the flag into a tag. We are screwed anyway, just like the colonists were in the 1700s when flags bore slogans. “Don't tread on me!” is a great historical example of using the flag as a rallying call. Let's heed the battle cry for DC and join in the fight! I am!

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The Flag Issue
Daniel Solomon, DCVote Board Chair, dsolomon@igc.org

Dear Gary, thank you for providing your readers with the opportunity to learn about the other side of the flag issue. I greatly appreciate your ongoing contribution to supporting the free flow of ideas in Washington.

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Comparing States and Cities
Ed Dixon, Georgetown Reservoir, jedxn@erols.com

The voucher bill that Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake sponsored already has 41 supporters in the House. A total of five of the eight Arizona congressmen signed on to the legislation that states that “the District of Columbia schools have the lowest average of any school system in the Nation on the National Assessment of Education Progress.” The text of HR 684 can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html. The US Department of Education data on DC, including the National Assessment of Education Progress, can be misleading in its report since DC’s single school district is often compared with states that comprise a wide variety of school districts.

If an urban district such as Tucson Unified School District in Arizona is compared to DCPS the results are revealing. TUSD had 61,000 students and 123 schools in 2001. Fifty-nine percent of the students were eligible for the free or reduced lunch program. DCPS has at least 20 percent more students eligible for free or reduced lunches. But, according to data collected by the Council of the Great City Schools from urban school districts, TUSD has not been able to keep up with DCPS' annual improvement in the SAT/9 tests. Both cities test with the SAT/9 in reading and math from grades 2-9. From 1997 to 2002, TUSD students showed negative growth in their reading test scores, unlike DCPS. DC math students bested Tucson's in every grade level as well. DCPS 2nd and 4th graders improvement was more than 300 percent better than TUSD's 2nd and 4th graders (http://www.cgcs.org/pdfs/bto3.pdf).

However, Flake and his fellow Arizona congressman are not new to the voucher battlefield. The arguments in DC resemble those of the voucher battle in Arizona. Many of the same condemnations that DC residents hear are repeated about Arizona. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, a voucher advocacy group, Arizona taxpayers have in the past spent substantially to improve their schools, but the results are characterized as “an expensive failure.” “It costs taxpayers $6,100 a year to send just one child through the state's public schools” (http://www.ncpa.org/pi/edu/may97d.html). Based on the Arizona Department of Education report cards, Mesa Unified School District, in Flake’s District 6, has no schools excelling, many are underperforming and the rest leave room for improvement. http://www.ade.state.az.us/srcs/main.asp.

TUSD’s Congressman Jim Kolbe, a DC voucher supporter, has several school districts in his constituency that need help based on the same state report cards. More than one in four schools in Sunnyside School District is underperforming. Only one school in all three counties that comprise Kolbe's congressional district is actually excelling (http://www.azstarnet.com/education/school_list.pdf). That one excelling school in TUSD which is currently being threatened by legislative cuts directed at teachers, librarians, and counselors (http://www.azstarnet.com/education/30508santaritawalkout.html and http://www.azstarnet.com/education/30514NEWTUSD.html).

In spite of this national campaign to gut the tax roles at the expense of public education, local public education advocacy in Arizona presses on. According to the editorial page of the Arizona Daily Sun, along with the Flagstaff Unified School District “nearly 70 other [Arizona] school districts overspent their budgets in fiscal 2002.” The paper used the statistic to recommend allowing the school district’s administration continue its work without political backlash: “…the actual overspending took place because state and federal revenues were constantly shifting while the district thought it had more money in its treasury than was the case. It spent what it had budgeted originally, but by the end of the fiscal year, the amount it was allowed to spend by law differed by $1.8 million from what it had thought it had in its revenue accounts” (http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=66212).

Arizona allows voters to correct the state legislature cutting education funding through referendum. In November 2000, the voters approved an increase in the sales tax from 5 percent to 5.6 percent to increase funds for public education, most for pre-K to 12 operating costs. “What's more, school districts from Tolleson in the West Valley to Apache Junction [Flake’s district] in the East Valley say that pitching the overrides has become a matter of survival because Arizona is ranked 48th nationally in education funding.” A vote on this year's funding is set for tomorrow (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0518elex-schools.html).

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest has taken the state to court over funding equity. In October of 2002 the state Supreme Court ordered the legislature to restore $90 million in capital funding to several low wealth school districts. In 2001, seven school districts filed suit, in Crane Elementary School District vs. State, seeking state school funding adequate to provide the programs at-risk students need to meet the state's academic standards. The trial is scheduled for Fall 2003 (http://www.accessednetwork.org/litigation/lit_az.html).

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

Jane Alexander and John Andrews at Woman's National Democratic Club, July 1
Pat Bitondo, pbitondo@aol.com

Jane Alexander, an actress, set aside her highly successful acting career, when she was appointed Chair of the National Endowment of the Arts by President Clinton. What followed was her fierce fight to defend the NEA and ultimately save it from elimination, a feat for which the nation should be grateful. Ms Alexander has resumed her acting career on the stage, in films, and television. She is currently performing at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington, DC, in Ibsen's Ghosts until July 27.

She will have a dialogue with John Andrews at the Woman's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on Tuesday, July 1, at 12:00 p.m. For reservations for this tax-deductible event, E-mail Pat Fitzgerald at pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org.

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A Reporter’s Notebook from the War in Iraq, July 1
Stacy Immerman, stacy@dcjcc.org

“Sand, Lies, and Videotape: A Reporter's Notebook from the War in Iraq,” will be held at the DC Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th Street, NW, on Tuesday, July 1, 7:00 p.m. Reporting from a war zone is always challenging. Each conflict presents a unique set of circumstances that affects the ability of a journalist to cover the news. The war in Iraq was no exception. Reporters in the Persian Gulf endured trying physical conditions, wrestled with a tightlipped and perhaps less than truthful US Central Command, and struggled to bring perspective as television aired the war live. Donna Leinwand, who recently returned from almost four months in the Persian Gulf for USA Today, will discuss how these new challenges and opportunities shaped the war picture.

Donna Leinwand has reported for USA Today since January 2000. Leinwand began her career at The Miami Herald, eventually moving in September 1997 to the Knight Ridder Washington, DC, bureau. In May 1999, she joined Gannett News Service where she covered Congress for Gannett's southern newspapers. Leinwand is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently lives in Washington, DC. Admission is $4 for members, $7 for nonmembers, including a light reception. For information and to register, call 777-3238 or E-mail stacy@dcjcc.org.

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Workshop on Neighborhood History, July 15
Matthew Gilmore, dc-edit@mail.h-net.msu.edu

A workshop for doing neighborhood history will be held offering research techniques and describing the sources. The workshop will take place in the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 307, on July 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A tour of the division will follow and a chance to work with some of the sources discussed. Matthew Gilmore, coeditor of H-DC, Washington DC History E-list and web site, will be the presenter.

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Desk, Shelves, Printer
Wanda Avila, wavila@synpub.com

Computer desk (white), three bookcases (white, 5-shelves each), printer (Hewlett Packard, LaserJet 6L printer, single-sheet feed), $25 each. Call 966-1799 (Wanda).

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CLASSIFIEDS — WANTED

MacIntosh Plus Keyboard
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com

If you have one for sale, please contact Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com.

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