Boo

Dear Halloweeners:

Last year, for the Halloween issue of themail (http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/06-10-29.htm), I wrote about the trashy and the great horror movies of the thirties through the fifties and the pleasant nightmares they gave us. I neglected to mention two important things: the gloomy, atmospheric, black-and-white movies produced by Val Lewton (The Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Seventh Victim, and so on), and the Hammer Films of the late sixties and the seventies, which found a way to continue and extend the horror tradition in its richly colored retellings of the Frankenstein, Dracula, and Mummy stories.

At the end of that introduction to themail, which was published just a week before last year’s general election, I wrote, “That brings me to the November general election, which will be here before you expect it. Who will you be voting for, Frankenstein’s monster or Dracula, the Wolfman or the Mummy, Freddie or Jason? Can anybody be trusted to protect us and not turn on us? Will they protect our city’s assets or loot them to benefit their friends? Will they protect MLK Library and the branch libraries, the schools and their students, the health care system and its patients, and our neighborhoods, or will they answer to other masters? As we walk down this dark corridor, what’s around the next turn? Are you dreaming or having nightmares?”

Well, from your standpoint, who won the election, and how have they been doing? Has it been a dream, a nightmare, or something else?

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com 

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Sounding the Alarm, Part 2
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com 

In the last issue of themail (October 28), I wrote about Mayor Fenty’s proposed citywide E-mail deletion policy and how “under the proposed policy, OCTO (the Office of the Chief Technology Officer) will store all E-mail on DC government E-mail servers for six months, then delete it automatically and permanently” (October 3 memorandum of Peter Nickles, General Counsel to the Mayor, http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/octo071003.htm). Now, in addition to civic and community leaders, the press is also raising its concerns about the mayor’s policy. In an October 22 letter to Fenty, the Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists urged the mayor to postpone the implementation of the policy and noted that, “the Federal government as well as Virginia, Maryland, and other states exercise significantly longer preservation periods” (http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/071022b.htm). 

In the past week, some confusion has arisen about the chronology of events regarding the mayor’s proposed E-mail policy, leading to the mistaken belief that at one time the mayor had rescinded the policy. To correct that impression, here is the timeline of events again. On July 5, Fenty issued Mayor’s Order 2007-157, setting out the policy to destroy the record of government E-mails. On September 21, Fenty issues Mayor’s Order 2007-207, which set forth the same policy, but clarified that the effective starting date of the policy would be January 5, 2008. On October 3, General Counsel Peter Nickles issued a memorandum to DC agency directors and general counsels outlining the citywide policy to destroy E-mails. And on October 15, Mayor’s Order 2007-228 rescinded the first Mayor’s Order of July 5, to eliminate any small differences that existed between the July 5 and September 21 orders. Some councilmembers and council staffers, who were not aware that the policy of destroying E-mails had been restated in the September 21 mayor’s order, assumed that the October 15 rescinding order meant that the mayor was stepping back from wanting to erase the legal and historical record of government actions, and the mayor’s office let them believe that. (All these documents are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/octo.htm.) 

Implementation of the deletion policy is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2008. Despite outrage from citizens and the press, the mayor’s office is obdurate. The only avenues to stop implementation are litigation and action by the city council. There are only two legislative meetings of the council currently scheduled, on November 6 and December 4, before the policy goes into effect. The council has not to date scheduled a hearing or roundtable on this issue. Given the short time frame, citizens are asking the council, at a minimum, to adopt a bill that would prevent the mayor from implementing his plan and also to create a committee with representatives of the groups that would be most affected — community groups, the press, historians, and the legal and telecommunications/technology sectors — to submit a written report by September 2008 recommending an E-mail retention and management policy that the council would enact by legislation.

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Retaliation
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom 

Taxi drivers in DC have demonstrated that they care little for the folks who pay for their services and have inconvenienced a whole lot of folks. It’s time for payback. All those who would normally use a taxi in the coming week should forego using a cab and find an alternate way of traveling in the city. On my next trip to National Airport I will schedule my flight out so that I can get to the airport by Metro. It’s a fare strike to retaliate.

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Universities and the Urban Policy Question
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com 

Surprisingly, most of the universities in DC have weak urban studies and urban sociology programs. There is no graduate degree of urban planning offered at a DC-based university. No DC-based university is a member of the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities. CUMU describes its mission as “bring[ing] together universities that share the mission of striving for national excellence while contributing to the economic development, social health, and cultural vitality of the urban or metropolitan centers served.”

That being said, I am working on developing a conference on universities and urban revitalization. More about that later.

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Recognition for Good Teachers
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom

In an unprecedented turnaround the United Federation of Teachers (UFT, the New York affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers), has endorsed bonuses for teachers based solely on performance in under-performing schools. New York City has approved a $20 million fund that will be used by under-performing schools to award the bonuses via a compensation committee in each of the schools. Don’t ever call this merit pay, the kokomoko words in the UFT. But, it is clearly a way to compensate and recognize good teachers and good performance. let’s hope that DC’s Mayor Fenty will provide money for performance bonuses in low-performing DC schools and the local chapter of the AFT endorses the bonus plan. I won’t bet on that endorsement.

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LoDo Was Not Fixed by Baseball
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com 

Despite claims by Ed Barron and others, the success of the LoDo neighborhood in Denver was built on the efforts of many people, starting with Dana Crawford, decades before baseball was ever on the horizon. LoDo was discussed in a case study in the book Cities: Back from the Edge, published in 1991 — years before Coors Stadium opened. You can check it out at MLK Library. It proves the value of historic preservation as the only real sustainable strategy for urban revitalization.

What baseball in LoDo does show is the value of layering, of providing many things to do to make a district; and of leveraging extant investments. Going to Coors Stadium likely wouldn’t be much fun if they built it at Stapleton Airport, but it is fun because it was located in an area that is already interesting, active, and successful.

For example, there is an interesting travel story from March 2005, which I wrote about in my blog http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2005/03/denvers-delightful-lodo-area-lesson.html. I find this to be worthy because this story talks about how great LoDo is and why to visit . . . in the winter! So how important is baseball really to the success of LoDo? Rather than belabor the obvious about “creating” a baseball district in DC, I suggest people read my old blog entry.

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It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com 

I think Sam Smith is great. And I think that DCWatch and its producers are great. But I disagree with you both about the roots of the problems with Greater Southeast Hospital being based on the closure of DC General. The problems at Greater Southeast and DC General, along with the Prince George’s County Hospital System, Hadley, the old Capitol Hill Hospital, and probably other situations I don’t know much about, are all indicators of a more serious issue — how to provide health care and wellness care more generally, how to provide catastrophic care, and how to deal with chronic health conditions (asthma, diabetes, obesity, etc.), that need to be managed in an ongoing fashion, teaching proper nutrition, etc.

Health care provision is different from insurance, and we must recognize that the development of health insurance plans grew out of a desire for hospitals to regularize their income stream during difficult economic times (the Depression). The Williams Administration didn’t produce a health, wellness, and hospital care plan — maybe no city has such a plan — but they needed to, to make the health care system work. I agreed with the closure of DC General Hospital because there is no question that DC’s hospitals have too many beds, which makes the fixed cost of providing health care overly high in the city. And hospitals aren’t the place, until it’s too late, to provide the care that most people require on a day-to-day basis, rather than catastrophic health care.

The closure of DC General needed to be paired with the creation of a true public health care system with a fair amount of care provided for and delivered in the field. If CVS drug stores and supermarkets can have clinics in higher income neighborhoods, why can’t health care be delivered similarly, as it once was, at the very least for managing chronic and persistent conditions such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, etc. Without such a plan, and Councilmember Catania is capable of moving such a plan forward, Band-Aids, tourniquets, and casts costing $79 million and more will continue to be needed to stanch the bleeding and fix the broken bones of the health care system in DC and the region. (Compare the success of the INOVA system in Northern Virginia, which for the most part serves higher income patients and demands less in the way of trauma care, and the provision of care to the poor.)

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

National Building Museum Events, November 4-5
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org 

Sunday, November 4, 12:00-4:00 p.m., Family program: Block Kids: Building Contest. Join the Museum and the Washington Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction for a hands-on building competition for children in grades 1– 6. Participants will take part in the Museum’s “City by Design” land-use program and will then design and create a building for the contest. $5 per child participant (includes take away). For 1st – 6th graders. Registration required by Monday, October 22. Registration limited to 120. Call 301-272-8275 to register.

Sunday, November 4, 8:00-9:00 p.m. Ghost Tour. Explore the haunted past of the National Building Museum. See a different side of the Museum on this lantern-light tour led by costumed Civil War veterans. Who are the irritable rider on horseback and the footless figure? Why are there mysterious faces swirling in the 75-foot Corinthian columns? And, why do these ghosts (and more!) call the National Building Museum their home? All will be revealed on this behind-the scenes glimpse of the mysteries of the Museum. $12 museum members; $14 nonmembers. Recommended for ages 10 and older. Prepaid registration required. Register online at http://www.nbm.org or by calling the Museum at 272-2448.

Monday, November 5, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Building for the 21st Century: Creating an Energy-Efficient School System on a Tight Budget. Maintaining six separate school buildings with an average age of sixty years is a challenge in the best of circumstances, but especially in a rural school district with limited resources. Roy Whitaker, of Sussex County, Delaware’s Seaford School District, will discuss how application of ENERGYSTAR’s benchmarking program to track energy use and identify required structural improvements helped save more than $200,000 annually in energy costs. Free. Registration not required.

All events at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org. 

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Talk for Change Toastmasters Club, November 7
Corey Jenkins Schaut, tfctoastmasters@gmail.com 

Please join us this Wednesday, November 7, at 6:45 p.m. for our next meeting of Talk for Change Toastmasters. We meet at the Teach for America offices, located at 1413 K Street, NW, on the 7th floor. At Talk for Change, we believe in the power of education. By following the Toastmasters curriculum, we have an opportunity to continue to develop and improve our leadership and speaking skills in a safe environment. Many of us our former teachers and alumni of Teach for America. Many of us are making a difference in our community through work in the nonprofit sector. And many of us just value the opportunity to keep learning. We welcome anyone to join our friendly, fun-loving group. Are you curious what Talk for Change can do for you? We welcome you to join us at an upcoming meeting to see what we are all about. We meet on the first and third Wednesdays of every month.

As your improved communication skills become obvious within the workplace, increased visibility, recognition and promotion will follow. Your improved presentation skills will win you the respect and admiration of your colleagues and employees, and make them wonder what you did to change! Leadership skills acquired through participation in Toastmasters will increase your management potential. You will acquire an increased ability to motivate and persuade, making you more effective as a supervisor or manager. You’ll have access to a wide range of educational materials, including books, CDs, DVDs and seminar programs, available at reduced cost through the Toastmasters International Supply Catalog. We look forward to welcoming you as our newest member. If you have questions, feel free to send us an e-mail at tfctoastmasters@gmail.com. 

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Free Flu Shots, November 8
Clifton Roberson, clifton.roberson@dc.gov 

The DC Department of Health will be conducting a mass vaccination clinic to test the District’s capability to respond to a pandemic or other public health emergencies. Free flu shots and pneumococcal vaccinations will be provided to District residents aged nine and up on Thursday, November 8, at the Kennedy Recreation Center, 1401 7th Street, NW, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and at the DC Armory, 2001 E. Capitol Street, SE, from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Anyone under the age of eighteen must be accompanied by an adult. For more information, please contact the DOH Call Center, 671-8000.

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ITVS Community Cinema, November 11
Michon Boston, mboston_tv@yahoo.com 

ITVS Community Cinema-DC goes back to Y2K and the presidential election that challenged the very definition of democracy. An Unreasonable Man (2006) (a sixty-minute excerpt prior to its PBS broadcast) and Today I Vote for My Joey (2003) (twenty minutes), a tragic comedy about the 2000 presidential elections in Palm Beach County. A film by Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg).

Sunday, November 11, at 5 p.m., at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street, NW. No admission fee. RSVP requested; E-mail unreasonableman@communitycinema-dc.org or call 939-0794. Visit http://www.communitycinema-dc.org. An Unreasonable Man airs on WHUT Channel 32, on December 29 (check local listings). Join us for a lively discussion as we look back at 2000 and forward to 2008 with filmmaker Aviva Kempner, civil rights attorney Kristen Clarke, and Elinor Hart of the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia.

The Busboys and Poets screening of An Unreasonable Man and Today I Vote for My Joey is presented by ITVS Community Cinema-DC and WHUT in partnership with Busboys and Poets (http://www.busboysandpoets.com), S.A.L.S.A. (http://www.hotsalsa.org), and the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia (http://www.lwvdc.org). 

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Aftershock of a Devastating Diagnosis, November 13
Patricia Pasqual, patricia.pasqual@dc.gov 

A conversation with Jessie Gruman, Ph.D., author of AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You or Someone You Love – a Devastating Diagnosis, http://www.aftershockbook.com will be held on Tuesday, November 13, 6:00 p.m., at Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, Great Hall, 901 G Street NW. Metro: Gallery Place, Galleries Entrance. The book will be available for purchase at the event.

Jessie Gruman is a social psychologist who has had personal experience with cancer and a serious heart condition. She offers practical advice on topics such as getting a second opinion, paying for care, and handling the stress and anxiety that affects patients and those who care for them. Tom Brokaw says of Aftershock that it is a “must have for every family, healthy or otherwise.” RSVP’s appreciated but not required to patricia.pasqual@dc.gov, 727-2313.

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CLASSIFIEDS — SERVICES

Historic Facade Easements and Give the Gift of History for the Holidays
Paul K. Williams, dchousehistory@aol.com 

Congress has assured that the historic facade easement program was reviewed and renewed with many new requirements for appraisers and facilitators. Our facade easement processing service is the only one in town that comes with a full house history, something the other facilitators simply can’t offer. We also have never sent direct, unsolicited mail to potential new clients. With deadlines in mid-December, the time is now to begin the lengthy process to be able to donate before the end of the year! Visit our easement page on WashingtonHistory.com for details.

Our full house history reports are familiar to many themail readers, and we’ve been able to significantly expand our research of late to include newspaper accounts and articles on your house or the people that once lived there. In addition, our expertise genealogical research can frequently locate living members of the original owners of your house; the people that have those rare interior and exterior pictures included in their family photo albums. If you are looking for a truly unique gift, consider giving a house history this holiday. Visit WashingtonHistory.com for a sample and free estimate.

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