Election Results
Dear Electors:
There were no surprises in the local general election, but then there
rarely are any surprises in DC’s general. The disappointing thing was
the very low level of voter turnout. According to the unofficial results
from the Board of Elections and Ethics, only 28.49 percent of registered
voters bothered to come out to the polls, down from 36.7 percent in the
general election in 2002. But then, it’s very hard to entice a lot of
voters to bother when few races are being seriously contested.
The most interesting result was the victory of City Administrator
Robert Bobb in the race for president of the Board of Education. This
sets up a struggle between Bobb and mayor-elect Adrian Fenty for control
of the school land and the massive capital improvement fund budgeted for
the schools. The wild card in this battle is, as Dennis Jaffe notes
below, the proposal for an “Independent” Construction Authority to
award construction contracts and oversee school renovations. If the
authority is set up, the battle will be over who appoints its members
— the mayor, the school board, the council, or some combination —
and therefore who controls the decisions of the authority and, thus, the
money. Fenty and Bobb are both too smooth to carry out this fight in
public, so most of it will be behind closed doors, but even the small
bits that we’ll catch only hints of will be interesting to observe.
Since we don’t discuss national or international issues in themail,
unless they have local implications, I won’t — and you won’t —
discuss the national election results here. Except that I can’t resist
noting that ten states passed initiatives that protect citizens against
the government’s using eminent domain to seize their property for
economic purposes. As Ilya Somin points out (http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_11_05-2006_11_11.shtml#1162996559),
these initiatives passed by impressive margins, between 55 and 86
percent, and most of them are much better written laws, giving more
comprehensive protection to citizens, than the post-Kelo laws that have
been written by legislatures. If the city council fails to pass, or even
consider, Councilmember Carol Schwartz’s eminent domain bill, the
citizens should introduce it as an initiative and bypass our politicians’
refusal to act.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Priority Is Cronyism
Dennis Jaffe, DennisJaffe @ Gm ail.com
I was very disappointed to learn of support by two successful
candidates in this year’s election for the creation of an Independent
Construction Authority to oversee the expenditure of the $2.5 billion in
funds for capital school improvements. Lisa Raymond, a former chief
financial officer at a local charter school, was elected to represent
Wards 5 and 6 on the DC Board of Education. Democrat Tommy Wells was
elected to represent Ward 6 on the council and backed Raymond. The
function of independent authorities is largely to serve as safe havens
for big money politics to dominate the decision-making process outside
of public scrutiny. Members of such entities usually remain rather
anonymous. The meeting schedules of such entities usually remain
relatively unknown. The opportunity for members of the public to get
information in advance of decisions becoming a done deal and to speak
out at such meetings is guaranteed to be insufficient.
Construction firms, bond houses, law and accounting firms — the
professional service firms — which contribute big sums of money to
candidates and the Democratic Party, and which intensely lobby
government officials, “pay to play” in the game of getting a piece
of the action, in this case a piece of the $2.5 billions going to
capital improvements. If an “independent” construction authority is
established, we will see in a few years news stories about favoritism
and lack of accountability and incompetence.
Raymond is a finance professional. Wells served for six years on the
school board. They claim that being a member of the board of education
does not qualify one to oversee how the $2.5 billion program will be run
and administered. That is precisely where the value of staff or even a
consultant can come in. One can disingenuously or without much knowledge
knock the idea of utilizing staff or a consultant for such a need. The
truth is, doing so results in providing the elected members of the
school board with the information and expertise necessary for decisions
to be made by elected representatives entrusted by the people to make
such decisions. Instead, those who contribute money, or those who are
connected to those who do, will be appointed to an “independent”
construction authority and will be charged with doing the bidding of
those to whom they owe the appointment. World class schools and a
terrific learning environment for our students will be priorities, I
guess — somewhere down the list. But cronyism and profit will be at
the top of the list. I hope Adrian Fenty doesn’t go along with this
one.
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On November 1, Gary and I wrote in themail that the Fenty campaign
had raised $3.5 million for his mayoral campaign and had entered Tuesday’s
general election with at least $812,000 cash in hand. I also noted that
Fenty plans to transfer his surplus campaign funds to a constituent
service fund that he will be able to draw on as mayor. On Tuesday, the
city council will consider and vote on Bill 16-965, the “Mayor and
Chairman of the Council Transition Emergency Act of 2006,” to give
Fenty $250,000 for his transition expenses and city council
chairman-elect Vincent Gray $150,000 for his transition expenses. I have
submitted testimony on the bill suggesting that it be amended to allow
and encourage a successful candidate to use excess campaign funds for
transition expenses, before saddling the public with the bills.
At today’s post-election press conference, Fenty announced that he
will incorporate his transition as a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization in
order to solicit and accept additional contributions from the private
sector and the general public (see his transition plan at http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/061108.htm).
Fundraising for this committee would not be covered by any election laws
or campaign restrictions or reporting requirements. A donor could give
an unlimited amount of money, and the nonprofit will be required to
submit only a yearly report to the Internal Revenue Service; it will not
be subject to the same review and scrutiny as campaign funds. Moreover,
Fenty’s staff has confirmed that in the next few days he will announce
the creation of a separate inauguration committee, which will raise
funds for his January 2 inauguration. As Gary and I noted earlier, no
current legislation governs contributions to inaugural committees. There
is no limit on how much an individual can contribute, and no reporting
requirement at all. I have one question for mayor-elect Fenty: when will
enough ever be enough?
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Comprehensive Plan
Sue Hemberger, Friendship Heights, smithhemb@aol.com
Now that the elections are finally over, I hope that more politically
engaged folk will turn their attention to the Comprehensive Plan. The
press coverage given to the Plan has been minimal and largely
unsubstantive and the councilmembers, many of whom don’t seem to have
read the document themselves, haven’t informed their constituents
about the Plan’s contents. I’m strongly opposed to rushing the
current (ever-changing) draft through this legislative session without a
serious and sustained public debate about what the city’s development
priorities should be. There are real choices to be made here, and they
are difficult choices that will have lasting implications. Let’s slow
down and get this right. Toward that end, here’s a short list of some
of the most crucial questions I think that the current draft has begged:
1) The District is increasingly becoming a home to the very affluent
and the very poor. There are at least two different problems here -- one
is that the city has become unaffordable for the middle class and the
other is that prosperity hasn’t benefited the people who are least
well off. How will we reverse these trends? 2) The cumulative effect of
development has been very uneven and threatens to overwhelm some
neighborhoods while leaving others behind. We aren’t successfully
repopulating or rebuilding the parts of the city that suffered from
disinvestment and the loss of households. How will we steer future
development to the places where it is needed the most and where our
infrastructure has excess capacity? 3) Land use decisions, especially in
residential areas, have become unpredictable and highly contentious.
Essentially, city planners have ceased to enforce zoning restrictions in
cases where commercial or institutional development is involved and have
encouraged an over-reliance on the PUD process. As a result, a process
designed to be used only in exceptional cases and for large
multi-building projects is routinely employed as a tool for spot
rezoning (and/or "zoning by checkbook"). How will we
effectively limit the use of the PUD process and ensure that the
projects that emerge from it benefit neighborhoods as much as they do
developers?
4) DC government has heavily subsidized a number of private
redevelopment projects and, as a result, our per capita debt has soared.
We can’t afford to continue this pattern. This “all carrots and no
sticks” approach to shaping land use decisions has been extremely
expensive and does not seem to have yielded the anticipated tax revenue
benefits. Meanwhile, other local jurisdictions all recognize that growth
has costs as well as benefits and have taken legislative action designed
to limit and to recoup such costs. What steps will DC government take to
ensure a more equitable redistribution of the costs and profits
associated with development? 5) Our transit system is in crisis. Traffic
congestion and commute times are way up. Buses are mired in the same
traffic as automobiles and, as a result, are becoming a less reliable
alternative for commuters. Portions of the Metrorail system are near
capacity even before massive transit-oriented development already in the
pipeline has been completed. As regional job and population growth
centers move outward, DC residents dependent on public transportation
are increasingly disconnected from access to economic opportunity and
other local jurisdictions seem increasingly likely to invest in roads
rather than regional mass transit. How will we improve the reliability,
convenience, and coverage of public transit so that it becomes a more
attractive alternative than driving? Where will the funding for such
improvements come from? 6) Public services (education, health care,
libraries, parks, public safety) are of sufficiently poor quality to
deter people who have a choice from moving into many areas of the city
and to condemn those who can’t afford to move elsewhere to lives of
poverty with little hope of upward mobility. What role will planning and
public investment play in turning around neighborhoods in ways that
benefit (rather than simply replace) existing residents? What plans does
DC have for improving the life-chances of children growing up in poverty
in the city? 7) Local businesses are increasingly being replaced by
national chains. This is a loss to the city on a variety of levels —
it renders us a less distinctive retail destination, it exports rather
than recirculates money spent locally, and it decreases job options. How
will we protect and foster small business ownership in the city?
###############
On Monday, the Fenty campaign held a “webinar” (an Internet-based
seminar) to unveil the policy recommendations of thirteen
“pre-transition” working groups. The executive summaries of the
reports are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/061106.htm.
During the press conference that followed the presentations, Fenty
admitted, in response to my question, that none of the co-chairs of
these thirteen working groups and none of his staff who were present was
from east of the river. Since Fenty has announced that the schools will
be his first priority, and since 70 percent of all students in DC public
schools are from east of the river, it was particularly striking that
all the chairs and co-chairs of the Education Committee’s nine
subcommittees were from northwest and were white.
On Wednesday, Fenty announced that his transition will be co-chaired
by his City Administrator-designate Dan Taglerini (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/061108b.htm)
and his Chief of Staff-designate and campaign director for operations
Tene Dolphin (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/061108c.htm).
The Fenty transition will work out of space on the eighth floor of the
Reeves Building, 2000 14th Street, NW, which was recently vacated by the
DC Office of Emergency Management.
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Recall Petitions Finally Thrown Out
Mary C. Williams, Southwest/Near Southeast, mslaw1121@aol.com
Add the Board of Elections to the list of questionable agencies. More
than a month after the Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE) subjected me
to a host of legal wranglings and hours of hearings, including a
twelve-hour long hearing on October 4, I finally received a decision:
the proposer lacked the number of signatures to place the issue on the
ballot because ten pages containing approximately one hundred signatures
did not conform to the letter of the law and had to be rejected. Never
mind that the BOEE could have saved us all a lot of time and money if
the Voter Registrar had rejected these petitions upon submission in
July. Still, I expected that after the October 4 hearing, I would
certainly have a decision before the election, giving me some amount of
time to assure constituents that all was well again.
But it appears that the BOEE deliberately delayed releasing their
decision until after the general election, causing me great concern. Why
would the BOEE choose to wait until after the election to clear me? It
is apparent from the well-written and well-reasoned nineteen-page
memorandum and order that the decision was not written on the day of
November 8, which was the day it was delivered to me, nor was it done
the day before. So when I called the BOEE’s counsel on Monday, his
office was aware that a decision had been made. Yet no one there would
tell me. I want to know why it took the BOEE more than a month to rule
in my case.
[For the background to this posting, see http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/06-08-09.htm#brizill.
— Gary Imhoff]
###############
The Post and the CFO Obscure the Cost
of Missing Stadium Deadlines
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301441.html:
“Last month, the CFO, Natwar M. Gandhi, warned the DC Council that the
city’s failure to provide parking garages for the new stadium could
cost DC taxpayers plenty. While Mr. Gandhi didn’t specify an amount in
his letter to the council because it could become a legal matter, some
city officials place the potential costs as high as $100 million.
[Councilmember David Catania] acknowledges that the city faces damages
if the stadium package isn’t completed on time, but quantifies those
damages in the neighborhood of $2.5 million. Why is this clash so
relevant? The council recently rejected a proposal to build aboveground
garages at the ballpark, and the mayor and Mr. Gandhi are pressing
council members to reverse their position at the council’s Nov. 14
meeting. Before that can happen, the first order of business is to
determine who is right.” Where’s an investigative reporter, giving a
definitive answer to the actual damages question, Post? Rather
than opening up the question in the editorial section — which is where
a lot of stadium issues that the Post and the Brigade would
rather leave unexamined are discussed and never reported on officially,
let alone in-depth, you post a difference in damages of almost $100
million and fail to list the actual damages and associated
timelines/deadlines prescribed in the agreements between Major League
Baseball and the city.
I’ve always been skeptical about the every-increasing penalties as
listed by the Post (most recently $50 million per their sparsely
detailed editorial section). The publication’s refusal to clarify the
issues, as they easily could, suggests that the only documented
penalties range from $5 million to $24 million for different missed
deadlines. The latter of these deadlines doesn’t come into effect on
compliance issues until 2010, suggesting that the penalties are not as
significant as the agenda-driven baseball brigade, CFO, and Post
are trying to paint them. Also not included in the speculation is the
massive amount of savings that is possible by abandoning the cap-busting
current site, which could easily be converted to a profitable use much
more compatible with the surrounding low-density office and residential
redevelopment, and moving the stadium and its redevelopment benefits
(and every dollar included therein) to the RFK Stadium site which has
nowhere near the land acquisition, parking, transportation, and other
costs that are making costs continue to soar out of sight at the current
site.
In fact, the penalties appear to be much less than the supposed
solutions for parking overruns, which bolsters the notion that Catania
suggested: stopping this process and analyzing the best way to proceed
with thorough analyses from independent sources rather than from
agenda-driven cap-breaching plans from the Brigade. That’s the only
sensible way to proceed.
###############
When was the last time anyone of us here used the library? In my
view, libraries are an anachronism. Libraries in DC have never been
fully funded, and never been a priority. They’ve been extremely poor
cousins to the many far better funded and maintained museums in this
city, stocked with decades old editions of long cast-off books, and what
seem to be leftover magazines dropped off from all the doctors and
lawyers offices.
Lets say sayonara, and let the developers purchase the outstanding
building the city has treated with disdain, while perhaps trying to
assure that the full building be completed — by the developer, not the
city.
###############
If they put in new elevators [at Martin Luther King, Jr., Library],
it will be a lot easier to find a cozy place to sit and read when the
wreckers come. I for one, am bored by continuing debate around
destruction of a library that deserves deferential, if not preferential,
treatment among preservation and reconstruction projects in DC. It ought
to be fixed, not torn down and replaced, and virtually everyone agrees
on that point except those who will benefit personally and directly from
the latter approach. I am genetically and constitutionally programmed to
fight any effort that results in denying people full and equal access to
voting and/or reading, and this is beginning to smell like one of those
efforts.
If one can climb a redwood tree to stop loggers and toothpick
manufacturers, one can certainly sit inside a library to stop the bad
guys from tearing it down. I’m not the redwood-climbing type, although
I’ve admittedly hugged a few trees in my day. I did, however, join in
my share of sit-ins, marches and other direct actions from the in 1960s
through the 1990s, actions that I believe ultimately benefited hundreds
of thousands of ordinary men, women and children in Africa, Asia, Latin
America, the Caribbean, and the good ol’ US of A. Last year, I decided
to stop marching and have a little R & R, just buying all my friends
Dixie Chicks CDs for Christmas. I’m well-rested now, and ready to lead
or participate n a Read-In to save MLK Library whenever the time is
right. I’m a regular voter and an avid reader who also happens to have
a great international press list. Anyone who wants to join me in this
gentle direct action when the time comes, feel free to get in touch.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
MidCity Artists Open Studios, November 11, 12
Scott Pomeroy, Midtown Association, scott@midtowndc.org
Mid City Artists, a prominent group of diverse artists in central
Washington, will unveil exciting new work during its semiannual Open
Studios event, Saturday and Sunday, November 11-12. During the last six
months, many of the Mid City Artists have been creating exciting new art
work that they plan to show during this fall’s Open Studios. Such
offerings have made Open Studios one of the most unique art events in
the nation’s capital. The two-day event, which comes as the holiday
shopping season begins, will feature new and varied collections of
sculpture, painting, photography and other media.
Mid City Artists is a diverse and talented group of more than forty
professional artists who work together to promote their work and to
create an artists’ community in the central part of the nation’s
capital. Their studios have added to the quality of life in the rapidly
growing retail and commercial center of the city. Participating artists
are all located in the area loosely bounded by Logan, Dupont, and Thomas
Circles and U Street to the north. Visitors can hop from one studio to
another in the dynamic mid-city area and see an expansive offering of
art on display by the city’s most-talented and creative artists. Most
of the studios are within walking distance of each other, allowing
visitors to design their own walking art festival. And with many great
restaurants in the mid-city area, Open Studios is a great way to spend a
Fall weekend day.
Central Washington has become known for real estate development--
soaring property values, new condos, and plenty of new shops and
restaurants. Mid City Artists has helped keep art and creative
expression alive in the central Washington area. The group has grown
from a core of artists who made a name for themselves over the last
decade by offering great art in their local neighborhoods. Among the
pioneers in the group are artists like Sondra Arkin, Nicolas Shi, Anne
Marchand and Robert Cole, who located in the neighborhood before it
became so popular. Other artists fled downtown after being evicted by
real estate developers and helped help revitalize the 14th Street and
Logan Circle areas. Some of those artists included Gary Fisher, Brian
Petro and John Talkington. They were later followed by others like Colin
Winterbottom and Mike Weber. And Mid City Artists continues to grow with
new artists like Charlie Gaynor, Betsy Karasik and Lucinda Murphy.
Visiting the artists’ work places during Open Studios gives
enthusiasts and collectors an opportunity to check out the studios of
painters in various media, including oil, acrylic, pastels, collage and
mixed media. There also are studios featuring sculpture, photography and
jewelry. Some artists are well-known and have attained international
recognition. Others are emerging artists and Open Studios provides an
opportunity to connect with their new work. More information can be
found at http://www.midcityartists.com.
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Native Americans and the Criminal Justice
System, November 13
India Young, india.young@dc.gov
Monday, November 13, 6:30 p.m., Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library,
5625 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Dr. Jeffrey Ian Ross, coeditor of the
recently published book, Native Americans and the Criminal Justice
System, will discuss the plight of Native Americans in the US
criminal justice system. Adults. For more information, call 282-0021.
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Smart Growth Achievement National Award,
November 15
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org
Wednesday, November 15, 12:30-1:30 p.m. National Award for Smart
Growth Achievement at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW,
Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Across the country communities
are using a variety of innovative development tools to build
neighborhoods that provide safe and decent places to live and work,
protect natural and historic places, and offer balanced transportation
systems and choices. At the fifth annual ceremony for the National Award
for Smart Growth Achievement, the US Environmental Protection Agency
will honor up to five communities who are setting the bar in smart
growth. Free. Advance registration requested. Visit http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm
to register. Smart Growth is presented in association with the US
Environmental Protection Agency and the Smart Growth Network.
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Domestic Violence Dramatization and
Presentation, November 16
Michael Andrews, mandrews@udc.edu
The University of the District of Columbia will present an
educational dramatization and public policy discussion on domestic
violence in the UDC auditorium (Building 46 East) on the Van Ness
campus, Thursday, November 16, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The production is
designed to educate the public about family and intimate partner
violence, including spouse abuse, child abuse, same sex abuse, date
rape, domestic violence in the church and domestic violence in the
criminal justice system. Because domestic violence is a pervasive
problem in the District of Columbia, Council members Kwame Brown (at
large), Phil Mendelson (at large) and Marion Barry (Ward 8) have agreed
to participate in a public policy discussion about current and future
legislative initiatives to reduce family violence in the District of
Columbia immediately following the dramatization.
The dramatization “I Will Love You to Death: Echoes of Domestic
Violence” will be performed by students enrolled in Professor Margaret
A. Moore’s Dynamics of Domestic Violence class. Government agencies
and community based services providers will also be available to
dissemination information about the programs and services they provide
to domestic violence victims. Referral services will be made as needed.
All members of the Washington metropolitan area are encouraged to be a
part of this important program. The University is easily accessible via
the Metro Red Line at the Van Ness/UDC stop. This event is free to the
public. For additional information contact Angelisa Young via E-mail at aybrown@udc.edu
or by phone at 274-5494.
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What’s Going On, November 18
Anise Jenkins, anisej@nifcomm.com
Stand Up! For Democracy in DC Coalition invites the public to attend
an in-depth discussion on little-known legislation pending before
Congress that, if passed, can determine the civil and human rights
status of DC residents. The teach-in will be held on Saturday, November
18, 2006 from 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. at the University of the District of
Columbia, located at 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, in Building 39, Room
201. The focus of the teach-in will be the Davis/Norton bill that calls
for one vote in the House of Representatives for DC residents. The
discussion will also include the need for a continuing movement for full
voting rights and DC statehood. The teach-in is open and free to the
public. Audience participation will be encouraged. There will also be a
reception and entertainment.
Panelists include: attorney Johnny Barnes, Executive Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area and
Legislative Director for former DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy; Timothy
Cooper, Executive Director of Worldrights, specialist in international
human rights; Sam Jordan, former Chair of the original DC Statehood
Party; and Ms. Marilyn Preston-Killingham, International Relations
Chair, Stand Up!. Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Coalition is a
grassroots organization founded in 1997 to achieve full democracy and
equal rights for the people living in Washington, DC.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
Share the spirit of the holidays with the neighbors who need you
most! This is a wonderful time of year for our children. As you make
your holiday plans, we would like you to consider “making plans”
with one of the Children’s Law Center’s clients. CLC has over five
hundred individual children hoping Santa will bring them something to
open on Christmas morning. Our clients come from the poorest families in
Washington. Some are abused and abandoned, some live in foster care, and
most are in desperate need of health and education supports. We hope you
will plan to become an Adopt-a-Family Volunteer Santa and give a child
the joy and surprise of opening holiday gifts!
We make it easy! Simply contact our Head Elf, and let her know if you
want to adopt a child or family. She will match you with a child, share
that child’s story, and pass on her wish list — sizes included! We
ask that you, as “Santa,” commit to giving each child two new gifts
from that child’s wishlist, and a new outfit — shirt, pants, and
shoes. We also ask that you provide a gift card for the family so they
can buy the fixings for a holiday meal. So, instead of giving your
father another ugly tie, adopt a child in his honor! Instead of the same
tired secret Santa gifts, get together with your office and adopt a
family or two! Instead of having a holiday party with your friends,
adopt a family and go shopping together for “your” children! Or if
you want to make a difference in a child’s life but have no more time
for shopping, make a donation to CLC and the Head Elf will make sure
every child has a gift or use it to support our children all year long.
Feel the joy of being Santa, make a difference in a child’s life!
If you’re ready to be a volunteer Santa or have questions about the
drive, please contact Head Elf Catharine Clarenbach at cclarenbach@childrenslawcenter.org
or give her a call at 467-4900, x567.
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