Reporting
Dear Reporters:
In the last issue of themail, Dorothy wrote (http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2009/09-03-01.htm#brizill)
about how daily newspapers in DC, like those in other cities, are
cutting back on their reporting staffs and reducing the print space that
they dedicated to local news. She speculated about the possibility of
citywide and neighborhood web sites, blogs, and listservs filling the
gap that newspapers are leaving. Marc Fisher, in one of the articles
that Dorothy cited, wrote that they can’t:: “Bloggers Can’t Fill
the Gap Left by Shrinking Press Corps,” http://tinyurl.com/bqxvo6.
Fisher gave basically the same two reasons for his pessimism that two
reporters gave her when they sent not-for-publication replies to Dorothy’s
article. First, newspapers are more balanced and objective than bloggers
and independent journalists. Second, newspapers have the resources to
report in depth in a way that independent Internet sites can’t.
I don’t buy either of those arguments. Anybody who reads The
Washington Post and The Washington Times regularly recognizes
that they both have biases, prejudices, and agendas. The Post
leans to the left and favors Democrats; the Times leans to the
right and favors Republicans; and this is reflected not just on their
editorial pages but in their editorial choices for the news pages. The
difference between newspapers and neighborhood web sites and blogs is
not balance and objectivity, but that web sites and blogs are usually
more open and explicit about their viewpoints. Web sites provide balance
by allowing comments and links to opposing viewpoints, and their readers
search out balance by reading a variety of web sites, just as reading
both the Post and the Times provides balance.
Newspapers can devote greater resources to local reporting than
individual bloggers, but that ability counts for nothing unless it is
used. In a typical year, the Post may do one or two large-scale
investigative series on local issues, and these series are unlikely to
be duplicated by any other news source. But aside from that, newspapers
get their stories the same three ways bloggers get them: news release
handouts, leaks from insiders, and tips from people who are concerned
about particular issues. The neighborhood news source will reprint the
news release with attribution, rather than rewriting it and pretending
it’s a straight news story. It will protect the insider leaker, just
as the newspaper will, and pass the story through to the public. It will
let tipsters tell their stories straight, in their own words — and if
the tipsters don’t get the story right, somebody will correct them, or
at least challenge them, immediately. The substitute for more resources
and more paid reporters is to give greater access to a greater number of
people to report the news themselves.
News industry philosopher and blogger Jeff Jarvis answered Marc
Fisher’s column on the same day it was published in “Who’ll Cover
the State,” http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/03/01/wholl-cover-the-state/.
Jarvis writes, “I don’t have a buttoned-up plan to replace the
coverage of newspaper statehouse bureaus. But it’s already true that
they are shrinking and so rather than just complaining about that —
and pointing out for the Nth time that bloggers won’t replace their
headcount — we need to look at how the functions of covering state
government can be fulfilled in new ways.” Instead of more paid
reporters, Jarvis recommends more government openness: “I think
transparency as a default for governments at every level is the first
answer: every piece of legislation online and every debate and committee
meeting recorded and shared. That alone won’t yield reporting but it
would enable journalists and citizens anywhere in a state to monitor
bills and topics and share what’s notable.” In DC, we have a city
government in which openness and transparency are avoided as much as
possible, and in which even the Freedom of Information Act has been
subverted into a tool to deny access to government documents. As daily
newspapers retract, we need to place renewed emphasis on government
transparency to make it possible for citizen journalists to do their
jobs.
Speaking of citizen journalists, it’s an opportune time to honor
Sam Smith, who has been an active independent citizen journalist for
decades, paying close critical attention to the details of local
government long before any Internet newbies were out of their nappies.
Back in the 1960’s, Sam published a print journal reporting on the
activities of the city council that was more detailed and informative
than any of the “major” media, and his web site, http://www.prorev.com,
has continued his reporting on local as well as national affairs. This
week, Sam announced that he will be moving full-time to what has been
his summer vacation house in Maine, and that, while he will continue his
national reporting, he will be discontinuing reporting on local DC
affairs. Now, that’s a real loss to local journalism.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Harry Thomas Threatens the Brookland
Heartbeat
Jason Lee-Bakke, jlb@dmz.4emm.com
Harry Thomas, Jr., apparently doesn’t like what the Brookland
Heartbeat has been writing, and responds in an open letter posted at
harrythomas5.com, which is fine, but am I the only one disturbed by his
closing the letter with, “Long and Foster will be held accountable for
its role in underwriting the Brookland Heartbeat, as well as the
businesses that support the publication.” Ambiguous prepositional
phrase aside, is Mr. Thomas publicly threatening businesses in his ward?
###############
In Washington, there are all sorts of real dangers facing District
residents. For example, crime, lead in the drinking water, the lack of
affordable housing, unemployment, poorly performing schools, high taxes,
etc. To this list of real concerns, Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Michael
Brown are adding “light pollution.” At Tuesday’s legislative
session of the city council, Cheh and Brown introduced the “Smart
Lighting Act of 2009.” The bill calls for the District’s Department
of the Environment to study and prepare a report regarding “standards
for outdoor light fixtures in the District” in order to “minimize
light pollution, energy waste, and improve public safety.” In a media
advisory sent by Cheh’s office, she indicates that the bill “seeks
to reduce light pollution produced by the District of Columbia.”
According to the legislation, the danger of light pollution arises
because of “the use of unshielded light fixtures and excessive
lighting intensity.”
The legislation claims that “light pollution” has serious
consequences, which it details to justify the legislation. It claims
that light pollution, “Jeopardizes human life and property because it
produces glare, reducing visual acuity and distracting drivers,
bicyclists, and pedestrians; causes excessive consumption of
electricity, resulting in greater amount of spending and air pollution
than necessary; increases safety risks by keeping human eyes from
properly adjusting for night vision; causes other human health impact,
including contributing to insomnia and, by interruption the human body’s
production of melatonin, possibly increasing the risk of certain
cancers; affects worker productivity by causing discomfort and
distraction; interrupts animals’ breeding cycles and migration
patterns by disorienting their sense of direction; and detracts from the
aesthetic beauty of not only the night sky, but the District’s local
environment.”
Under the bill, the DC Department of the Environment will be required
to submit a report to the council within 180 days “recommending
strategies and methods to reduce the production of luminescence to the
lowest amount necessary. . . .” DDOE, however, is the same District
agency that, more than a year ago, was tasked by the council to conduct
an independent study of lead in the District’s drinking water. To
date, DDOE’s Task Force on Water Quality has met only three times, and
has not begun the study. It is still debating the parameters of it. As
the representative for Ward 3, the chair of the council’s Government
Operations and Environment Committee, and the chair of the Special
Investigation Committee on the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, Cheh
has important oversight and budgetary responsibility for twenty-one
District agencies, boards, and departments, as well as a large number of
issues that should occupy her time. Are brightly lit streets and
sidewalks such a danger, and is making the city darker such a major
issue, that establishing a government regime to reduce and regulate
lighting is a high priority for District residents? The legislation has
been referred to Cheh’s Government Operations and Environment
Committee, where it is likely to receive expedited consideration, and to
be enacted into legislation before the council goes on summer recess.
The concepts of artificial light’s being “light pollution” and
of “light trespass,” as well as much of the language in the Cheh-Brown
bill, originate with an Arizona organization known as the International
Dark-Sky Association, http://darksky.org.
The preference for dark skies began with astronomers whose observatories
were near large cities; the night-sky glow from those cities interfered
with their observations. Now the issue is being framed as an
environmental issue. The rationale is that nighttime is naturally dark
and that man-made lighting disturbs the natural order, and is therefore
a form of pollution. According to them, if artificial lighting cannot be
entirely eliminated, it should at least be strictly controlled.
###############
Legislation That Makes Sense
Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., rjchittamssr@gmail.com
Kwame Brown’s “Get DC Residents Training for Jobs Now Act of 2009”
is legislation that makes sense. Making adult training and education
opportunities available during nontraditional hours (evenings and
weekends) will make such opportunities available to a larger universe of
people. In addition to seeking funding through the Workforce Investment
Act and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, funds
allocated to the District via President Obama’s American Recovery and
Reinvestment Plan (the “stimulus package”) can also be used in this
effort. The stimulus package signed by President Obama provides funding
for “shovel-ready” projects. Funding is also provided for future “green”
projects, infrastructure improvements, and school construction. Nothing
more needs to be done other than disbursing those stimulus funds after
they have been received.
Within the District of Columbia there are numerous community
development and construction projects either planned, currently
underway, or “shovel ready.” Contained in the contracts for almost
all of these projects is the requirement that the developer’s
workforce comprise a certain percentage of DC residents. However, if
past experience is any indicator, those figures will not be met.
Contractors will argue that they couldn’t find qualified District
residents to hire. That may well be true. When vocational education was
removed from the public school system, the pathway to these types of
jobs was made exponentially more difficult. As a result, within certain
demographic segments of Washington, DC there has been an ongoing problem
of unemployment and underemployment. Kwame Brown’s bill provides a
unique opportunity to address this situation.
In addition, I am willing to go even farther than Councilmember
Brown. I would be willing to have the District of Columbia Government
enter into partnership with, among others, the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers, the United Association of Plumbers and
Pipefitters, and the International Association of Bridge, Structural,
Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers to increase apprenticeship
opportunities for residents of the District of Columbia. This would also
increase the pool of qualified candidates from whom the developers could
hire District of Columbia residents. This partnership would take the
form of direct payments to help defray the cost of the apprenticeship
program for residents of the District of Columbia. Funds provided by the
District could only be used for the apprenticeship program, and not for
any other purpose, including political. In addition, if someone is
accepted into an apprenticeship program and does not have a high school
diploma or GED, the District would provide assistance to that person to
obtain the necessary education credentials. The initial outlay of funds
at the front-end would be more than covered by the economic benefits at
the back-end (i.e., increased income taxes, reduced unemployment benefit
payments, reduction in WIC and other payments, to name a few).
Councilmember Kwame Brown, good show!
###############
Councilmember David Catania is experimenting on sixth grade girls
with a dangerously under-tested HPV vaccine. When two concerned citizens
spoke out last week, Mr. Catania silenced them by prohibiting them from
testifying. First Mr. Catania, who chairs the Health Committee, removed
me from the witness list for last Friday’s Department of Health
oversight hearing. On Monday, I called his office for an explanation,
and was given none. I asked Mr. Catania’s staffer, Jen Barry, to add
my name to the witness list for the Monday, March 9, Department of
Health Care Finance oversight hearing. She refused, informing me that I
have been banned from testifying at all future Health Committee
hearings. I asked that she send me an E-mail stating this, but I have
received none, and when I placed a follow-up call to Ms. Barry, she hung
up on me. Two days later, Miguel Rosario, an independent chef who
testified against the required vaccination at Friday’s hearing, called
Mr. Catania’s office to sign up for Monday’s hearing. After keeping
him on hold for seven minutes, a staffer told Miguel he wouldn’t be
allowed to testify. Again the staffer offered no explanation.
Are we being banned from testifying before the Health Committee
because of our opposition to Mr. Catania’s experimental use of the HPV
vaccine on eleven- and twelve-year-old girls for this upcoming school
year (for more information please visit http://www.noHPVshots4me.com)?
If so, as Gary has written previously, “Catania is not just insulting
Tucker, and by extension all citizens, by commanding that someone who
disagrees with his policy preferences not be allowed to testify before
his committee; he is also flouting a rule of the city council. If
Catania stands by his position, will he be disciplined by the city
council? If he is not disciplined, can citizens rely on any guarantee by
the council that they will be treated fairly by it?”
On Friday, Miguel and I will testify before the Committee of the
Whole and ask Chair Vincent Gray to investigate whether Mr. Catania is
violating the council’s rules by banning witnesses with whom he does
not agree. As the District pushes for voting rights from Congress and
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is it not hypocritical that at 1350
Pennsylvania Avenue basic democratic principles are being disregarded?
###############
Jack Evans’ Committee on Finance and Revenue will be holding
oversight hearings on the performance of the Office of Tax and Revenue
and the Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals on Friday, March
6, at 10:00 a.m. Persons wishing to testify should contact Sarina Loy at
724-7058 or by E-mail at sloy@dccouncilus. There has been no effective
oversight of the city’s assessment process for years. The same chronic
problems arising from residential assessments still plague the system
and, indeed, have become worse since the DC Court of Appeals rejected
the efforts of citizens to correct the system last year, describing the
lawsuit as an attempt to enjoin the collection of taxes, which it was
not. The careful review of assessment practices by Judge Eugene Hamilton
thus came to naught.
Current residential assessments highlight the problems: 1) OTR
ignores its duty to assess the “estimated market value” of
residential properties on the “valuation date,” which for TY 2010
taxes means January 1, 2009. A review of all sales of detached,
single-family houses throughout the District of Columbia in December
2008 and January 2009 shows that the proposed assessments for TY 2010
are, on average, 25 percent too high. There is also severe
discrimination, with more expensive houses favored, at the expense of
lower value houses. 2) Similarly, in Cleveland Park, a comparison of the
sales of all houses in Cleveland Park during 2008 (adjusted for the
downward trend in prices as shown by the Case-Shiller DC house price
index) shows that, on average, Cleveland Park houses of all types
(except houses selling over two million dollars) are over-assessed by 25
percent. (Houses selling over $2 million are, in general,
under-assessed.) 3) The fundamental reason for this overassessment of
residential properties is that the Office of Tax and Revenue willfully
violates the law as written. a) First, it assumes that the selling price
shown on a deed is the same as “estimated market value,” which is
the legal standard for assessment. They are not the same. “Estimated
market value” excludes the value of personal property involved in the
sale (washers, dryers, stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc.),
services involved in the sale (agents’ 6 percent commission, legal
fees, closing costs, staging costs, fix-up costs) and taxes (DC transfer
taxes). In general, “estimated market value” is 85-90 percent of the
gross sales price. b) Second, OTR ignores the valuation date (January 1,
2009), thus using unadjusted sales prices of one or two years ago, when,
as shown by the Case-Shiller DC house index, housing prices in the
District have declined 28.8 percent since their peak on January 1, 2006.
4) There are many other anomalies in OTR’s assessments: a)
Homeowners are assessed costs for unfinished basements at 25 percent of
the floor area, but if they have finished basements they are not
assessed any costs for their basement. b) OTR carefully hides many
factors that affect its costing, such as: i) neighborhood multipliers,
ii) its definitions of “grades” of houses, and iii) its definitions
of the condition of each house. c) OTR uses a different formula for land
values for each of its defined neighborhoods, but within each
neighborhood it uses the same formula, based solely on square feet,
without regard to other factors such as slope, drainage, traffic, noise.
Although some property owners can obtain reductions for these factors,
those who benefit from the “one shoe fits all” approach keep their
preferential land assessments. d) OTR understates depreciation for
virtually all properties, using a maximum depreciation of 16 percent in
its formulas, compared with a maximum depreciation of 80 percent for
commercial properties.
Persons concerned about their assessments should E-mail the Cleveland
Park assessor, Clinton Murphy, at Clinton.Murphy@dc.gov
and request a copy of their property record card (free) and a copy of
their “cost.dat” sheet (also free), which shows how their assessment
was constructed. They should also consult the Internet and read the
latest “Appraiser’s Reference Materials” for an explanation of how
their assessment was calculated. Unfortunately, the latest issue is last
year’s, at http://otr.cfo.dc.gov/otr/frames.asp?doc=/otr/lib/otr/appraiser_reference_manual_2009.pdf.
With the firing of Thomas Branham as Chief Assessor, Dr. Gandhi appears
intent on keeping OTR’s assessment practices as secret as possible.
If you want to obtain property record cards for other properties, for
comparison, you must pay $2 for each card. Such information should be on
the Internet, as former Chief Assessor Thomas Branham desired to do, but
his superiors blocked this improvement. Instead, the Internet listings
for each property are woefully inadequate and misleading, which
(apparently) is OTR’s intention.
###############
You [Gary Imhoff, themail, March 1] wrote that “Weather forecasters
on all the local television and radio stations seem to be annoyingly
fond of snow and snow storms, wishing for the worst.”
Hmmmm, Gary and Dorothy, that sure sounds like your attitudes towards
dysfunction in the DC government. Finding pleasure in misfortune is no
less annoying coming from you two, I assure you.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Department of Parks and Recreation Events,
March 7-10
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
Saturday, March 7, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Prince George’s Sports and
Learning Complex, 8001 Sheriff Road, Landover, MD. Potomac Valley
Association National Invitational Meet will host its last indoor track
championship meet for the indoor track season. Ages fourteen and under.
For more information, call Edgar Sams at 671-0395.
Saturday, March 7, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Lederer Gardens, 4801
Nannie Helen Burroughs, NE. Gardening workshop for ages eighteen and up.
Join the District Department of the Environment at Twin Oaks Community
Gardens to learn helpful eco-friendly tips for gardening, pest control,
and general lawn care. For more information, call Kelly Melsted at
671-0396.
Tuesday, March 10, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., King Greenleaf Recreation
Center, 201 N Street, SW. The blood pressure story for ages 55 and up. A
great opportunity for seniors to get information regarding their blood
pressure. For more information, call Kim Campbell at 645-7454.
Tuesday, March 10, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Sherwood Recreation Center,
640 10th Street, NE. Good Luck and Goodie Tuesday for ages five to
twelve. Kiddie craft projects and gardening commemorating the beginning
of spring. For more information call Karena Houser-Hall, Recreation
Specialist, at 698-3075.
Tuesday, March 10, 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., Riggs La Salle Community
Center, 501 Riggs Road, NE. In celebration of “March Music Month,”
let’s travel from gospel, blues, jazz, soul. to R and B! Ages 21 and
up. For more information, call Shirletta Settles at 576-5224.
###############
Capital Region Touring Program Application
Deadline, March 9
Charles Barzon, charles.barzon@dc.gov
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting
applications from nonprofit organizations for the Capital Region Touring
Program (CRT). The program, in collaboration with the Maryland State
Arts Council, provides funding to District of Columbia presenters to
book performing artists included on the Touring Artist Roster of the
Maryland State Arts Council. The program goals include expanding the
pool of performing artists presented in the District of Columbia,
furthering the artistic development of these performing artists by
enhancing their marketability beyond their home states, and promoting
the unique cultural traditions of both Washington, DC, and the State of
Maryland.
The application deadline is Friday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. Must be
delivered (no postmarks) this date and time to DC Commission on the Arts
and Humanities, 1371 Harvard Street, NW. A link to the program
guidelines and the Maryland State Arts Council Artist Roster are
currently available on the home page of our web site under “Agency
News” at www.dcarts.dc.gov. For
more information, contact Charles Barzon at 724-5613 and Charles.barzon@dc.gov.
###############
Abstinence Awareness Week Forum, March 9
Richard Urban, rurban@ultrateenchoice.org
Abstinence Awareness Week Youth Forum is coming to Howard University
School of Business Auditorium, Georgia Avenue and Fairmont Street, NW,
on March 9 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The theme is “Marriage and
Family Matter: Abstinence Is a Core Strength of the Community.” This
forum will feature a youth panel, parent panel, speakers, recording
artist Angelia Robinson, and table space for community organizations and
ministries. Register and get more information at http://www.ultrateenchoice.org,
or call Richard at 558-5550.
###############
Environmental Health Group (EHG) Events, March
10
Allen Hengst, ahengst@rcn.com
World War I munitions, bottles filled with chemical warfare agents
and contaminated soil have been found in and around the Spring Valley
neighborhood of northwest DC. The Environmental Health Group (EHG) seeks
to raise awareness of the issues and encourage a thorough investigation
and cleanup. Every Sunday at 1:30 p.m., please join the Environmental
Health Group for an informal discussion about Spring Valley issues. At
Glover Park Whole Foods Market, 2323 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (one block
south of Calvert Street). To access the content at the EHG web site and
participate in the discussion, you may register at http://groups.google.com/group/environmental-health-group-spring-valley-?hl=en
Tuesday, March 10, 7:00 p.m. Joint Restoration Advisory
Board/Community meeting on the destruction of chemical munitions at the
“Interim Holding Facility” behind Sibley Hospital. At Horace Mann
School, 4430 Newark Street, NW (one block south of American University),
http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/WashingtonDC/springvalley.htm.
###############
Tony Wilner will speak on the evolution of Art Deco jewelry at the
Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington, Maryland, on
Thursday March 12, at 7:30 p.m. This slide show program will describe
the evolution of jewelry design through the decades of the Art Deco
style period (1920’s -1950). Technological advances in engineering, an
appreciation for various cultural events and discoveries of the period,
and a desire for something new all contributed to the proliferation of
this design style. Virtually everything from toasters and appliances to
planes, trains, and automobiles manufactured during this time reflected
some attributes of the Art Deco style, and handmade jewelry and clothing
fashion was no exception. The speaker will compare and contrast various
features of the Art Deco style with the preceding Art Nouveau style and
explain the rationale for each, which will enhance anyone’s
appreciation when they attend antique shows.
Tony Wilner is a native Washingtonian who lives in Pasadena,
Maryland. He has been a member of the Art Deco Society of Washington
since 1988 and served on the Board’s Preservation Committee for
several years. He has been a lapidary artist cutting gemstones for
thirty-five years and is active with three gem, mineral, and lapidary
organizations in the Baltimore-Washington area.
###############
Cheever: A Life,
March 12
John C. Campbell, john@campbellsurveys.com
DC biography lovers won’t want to miss the appearance Thursday,
March 12, of Blake Bailey, author of Cheever: A Life, the
universally acclaimed story of the life and work of John Cheever, which
will be released March 10.
Bailey will talk about Cheever, read from the book and sign copies at
the event beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Politics & Prose Bookstore, 5015
Connecticut Avenue, NW. Now on a national book tour, Bailey is also the
author of the definitive biography of Richard Yates. The latter’s best
known novel is Revolutionary Road, now a hit movie and the basis
for the HBO series Madmen.
The New York Times Magazine had a lengthy article Sunday on
Cheever and Bailey’s new book: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/magazine/01cheever-t.html?_r=1&title=The+First+Suburbanite.
###############
Black History Month Literary Arts Events,
March 19
Maresha Tadesse, maresha.tadesse@dc.gov
Thursday, March 19, 7:00 p.m., deadline for submissions to the Larry
Neal Writers’ Competition. Larry Neal (1937-1981) was the former
executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
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