It's Alll Clear If You Would Just See It

Lanier boasts transparency but doesn't deliver data

By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
August 25, 2010

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Lanier-boasts-transparency-but-doesn_t-deliver-data-566809-101511479.html#ixzz0xpINBBpS

Shortly after D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier boasted that her agency was "the most transparent police department in the country," her spokeswoman said the report that purportedly supported the chief's claim of transparency was not available.

Speaking on TBD TV's "NewsTalk," Lanier said the Metropolitan Police Department offers more information and detailed statistics than any other police department in the United States. As proof, she cited an FBI audit earlier this month of the department's crime statistics that she said passed "with flying colors."

"If anybody has any questions," she said Tuesday, "I think the FBI can clear that up."

FBI spokesman Steve Fischer said he could not comment on the audit and said the release of the results were left up to the discretion of the police department. Auditors provided police a packet describing who they talked to and any areas of concern, and a formal report will be completed in a couple of months, Fischer said.

"But it's not really a pass-fail thing," Fischer said.

When asked to see the information that would back Lanier's claims, police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said Wednesday that it would be months before it was available.

D.C. Council member Mary Cheh credited Lanier for being readily available to meet with residents, but when it comes to releasing information, the police department has been less than forthcoming, Cheh said.

"If [MPD] is the most transparent, then police departments around the country need lots of work," Cheh said. "There's been a lot of foot dragging."

The department's history of withholding information and manipulating statistics to make crime numbers look better had been well documented:

¥ Last year, the FBI reported that violent crime in the District rose 2.3 percent in 2008 while Lanier was claiming that violence had fallen by more than 5 percent during the same period.

¥ Up until this year, D.C. had been the only major city in the country that did not provide preliminary crime statistics. When The Examiner asked for the preliminary numbers in 2009, Lanier vetoed their release.

¥ D.C. police have denied an FBI report that the police department had lost DNA evidence to more than 200 rape cases.

¥ The department has refused to provide credit card receipts and travel reimbursements for Mayor Adrian Fenty's protection unit.

¥ When thieves stole bikes from Fenty's home this summer, the incident was not initially logged into the police computer system.

smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Lanier-boasts-transparency-but-doesn_t-deliver-data-566809-101511479.html

Contracting glitch leads to demand for payment on free D.C. energy audits

By Phillip Lucas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 16, 2010; B01

Hundreds of District homeowners signed up for free household energy audits last year through the D.C. Department of the Environment -- some hoping to cut their utility bills, some to be "greener" and some because it was free.

But this month, instead of the energy assessments they were promised, more than 100 homeowners received letters saying that liens had been filed on their property because the city never paid a contractor for doing the work.

Patuxent Environmental Group Energy Solutions sent letters to participants in the audit program telling them that the city was required to pay the cost of the audits -- about $310 each, according to the D.C. Department of the Environment. The letter said that because the city hadn't paid Patuxent, liens would be filed against residents' homes to recoup the costs. The letters, signed by Patuxent's vice president, JoAnn Spence, also directed all questions to the D.C. Department of the Environment.

"Honestly, I just laughed," said Emily Swartz, a Chevy Chase resident whose audit was done in January. "I'm sure it's just a last-ditch effort to get paid."

D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) didn't find the letters amusing.

In a response to Patuxent on Aug. 9, she called the company's action harassment and questioned the legal basis on which it had acted.

Matthew Cooper, the company's chief executive, responded to Cheh's letter the next day, saying that the company had not actually filed liens and that Patuxent is in a valid contract dispute with the Department of the Environment over the audits.

The Fairfax-based company said it had a contract with the District. What it did not have, according to Department of the Environment officials, were purchase orders from the agency authorizing the audits it had done.

Christophe Tulou, the department's director, said the problem with the contractors arose when the department switched the source of the audit program's funding.

The program was initially funded by the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund, established by the Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008. The legislation included a surcharge on Pepco bills to temporarily fund the program.

Last fall, the Department of the Environment sought to use federal stimulus money for the program because funding was set to expire at the end of fiscal 2009. Tulou said that the agency has worked since late September to ensure the availability of stimulus funding for the program but that it was waiting for government approval to use stimulus funds that way when the audits were performed.

"That's literally this week getting resolved, so we'll have people out doing audits soon," Tulou said.

The agency has secured $980,000 in federal funding, enough to complete more than 3,000 audits, according to Taresa Lawrence, the agency's acting deputy director.

Tulou said it was too soon to comment on the issue of Patuxent's reimbursement.

Contractors working on the audit program, which included Patuxent and Elysian Energy, based in Silver Spring, were not authorized by the agency to perform audits after Sept. 30, 2009, because funding for their reimbursement had not been secured, Tulou said.

"We did 143 audits before we realized they weren't going to be paying us," Cooper said Monday. "We worked into the first week of February and then stopped."

Tulou said contractors were most likely working from an old list of homeowners such as Swartz, who signed up for audits in 2009 but didn't have them completed by January. Swartz signed up for an audit on the Department of the Environment's Web site in August 2009, was contacted by Patuxent on Sept. 9, 2009, and was visited for an audit Jan. 7.

Jim Conlon, president of Elysian, said his company performed more than 100 audits and had to pay more than $100,000 out of pocket for the work. Conlon said Elysian did not dispute the city's nonpayment, however.

Both companies bid again in May for work with the District's audit program. Elysian was one of three companies awarded a contract in June. Patuxent was not.

The switch in funding sources caused a backlog of about 1,800 audits. Additionally, homeowners who were audited without authorization and got letters from Patuxent instead of their results were contacted by the department and will be visited again, Tulou said.

In her Aug. 9 letter, Cheh asked Patuxent to immediately write to homeowners to withdraw the initial letter and apologize. She is considering pursuing legislative hearings "and, if necessary, a legislative investigation," she wrote.

"I hope that they quickly act to repair the damage that they've done," she said in an interview Aug. 9.

Patuxent drafted a follow-up letter that it planned to send to audited homeowners, Cooper said. In response to what Cheh had written Aug. 9, Cooper wrote Aug. 10 that "no liens have been placed on homes, and as stated in the letter to homeowners, [Patuxent] has no further plans to pursue that avenue at this time."

In a letter the department sent to homeowners, Tulou said Patuxent has no legal basis to place liens on people's homes. He told homeowners that the D.C. attorney general's office would intervene if any liens were filed.

Kathleen Saunders, who lives on 12th Street NW near Shepherd Park, said the letter she received from Patuxent on Aug. 7 was more confusing than upsetting. She'd like to see the letter of apology Cheh suggested go a step further, to address the confusion over the audits.

"What I want is something in writing that says there's not a lien on my house," she said, "since I have something in writing that says there is one."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/15/AR2010081502853.html?sub=AR

Report The Crime, Lose The Evidence

My mayor keeps telling me that I am safer despite numerous examples of why in my area I do not feel safer than 4 years ago..........
In this article from the Examiner, it is reported / alleged that DC police have lost DNA evidence in numerous rape cases. Doesn't make me feel any safer. The DC police chief, Cathy Lanier, is primarily quoted as disputing the report. So how many rape cases are closed each year? How many result in a conviction?

Feds: D.C. police have lost DNA evidence in more than 200 rape cases

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Feds_-D_C_-police-have-lost-DNA-evidence-in-more-than-200-rape-cases-1008635-100393964.html#ixzz0xcegU0dT

Fenty Time

It seems to me a fairly reasonable response to the event described in the following account, to wonder just what is going on - quoting from the article:
"It's ironic for this to actually happen in the District's city hall and for all these juvenile justice experts to lose control over these girls," Walker said. "It's really telling."

As Arsenio Hall regularly said, "things that make you go hmmmmmm????".

Awards ceremony for rehabbed youth ends in brawl

By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
August 2, 2010

Police backup called
to put end to melee

An awards ceremony recognizing good behavior by youth in the District's juvenile justice system ended in a brawl and three arrests.

Mayor Adrian Fenty had just finished handing out the honors to the Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services' most successfully rehabilitated offenders when three of the girls got into an argument, according to law enforcement sources and police records.

"One of the girls got a glazed look in her eyes, and it was on," said one witness who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.

Chairs and fists started flying, witnesses said.

Administration officials and security quickly moved in to stop the Thursday night fray, but the melee continued for several minutes, witnesses said. Police backup and D.C. fire and rescue workers were called to the Wilson Building to help quell the violence and take care of an injured person.

Neither the mayor nor any of the attendees were seriously injured.

Administration spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said the mayor did not have any immediate reaction to the fight.

"He was concerned about the kids' safety," Hobson said.

Police arrested Grace Ebiasah, 18, Anna Ebiasah, 20, and Deanna Morris, 19, with fighting in a public place. All are from Southeast Washington.

Johnnie Walker, past president of the local branch of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the mayor got a firsthand look at what his caseworkers are confronted with daily.

"It's ironic for this to actually happen in the District's city hall and for all these juvenile justice experts to lose control over these girls," Walker said. "It's really telling."

The brawl highlights the problems within the agency and the headaches it is causing the mayor during what was supposed to be a relatively easy road to re-election.

Under mounting pressure last week, Fenty fired his interim DYRS director and replaced him with a top aide to Attorney General Peter Nickles. The firings came on the heels of an investigation that found numerous problems at the agency. The report found that 71 percent of the juvenile offenders in DYRS were convicted again within two years, and that youths had been disappearing for weeks at a time before the agency sought an arrest order.

The investigation began in April after three DYRS youth were charged with killing popular District middle school principal Brian Betts.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 10 youths who were supposed to have been under the supervision of the agency have been charged with murder, and six of the agency's youth have been slain themselves.

smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Awards-ceremony-for-rehabbed-youth-ends-in-brawl-1005864-99720924.html

Energy-conscious riled by stores that leave doors open and A/C on

By Leslie Tamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 31, 2010; 1:27 PM

Christopher Moline was spending a sweltering afternoon with his son Nicholas at the Bowie Town Center mall when he noticed that the doors of Rave clothing store were wide open.

The cold air rushing from the store was refreshing, but it also made his temperature rise as he thought of all the wasted energy.

"I don't know about most folks," said the 42-year-old Bowie man, "but my father always told me to close the door so we wouldn't be heating or cooling the outdoors."

Leaving the doors open while running the air conditioner can increase electricity use by 20 to 25 percent, according to one power company's estimate. The amount wasted depends on location, weather and humidity.

"The equipment is working extra hard to condition a space that'll never be conditioned," said Sarah O'Connell, energy outreach coordinator of the Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions. "Businesses are paying extra to condition the outdoor air."

Moline made videos of the wide-open doors throughout the mall and posted them on YouTube. With his camera phone, he taped his conversations with managers, who often claimed that it was the store's general practice to keep their doors open. Open doors made it easier for parents with strollers to get inside, one associate said.

When Moline revisited the mall a few days later, one of the shops he had visited had a broken air conditioner.

"That is not a coincidence, man," said the former Marine, who said the broken system was probably a result of the store overworking it earlier in the week. In addition to being a father of three, a husband and a small-business owner, Moline has trained to be a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional so he can recommend and implement green-building practices in commercial interiors.

"I'm not a sandals-and-granola guy," Moline added. His interests are primarily clean air and energy independence, he said.

In New York, retailers who drain the grid by air conditioning city sidewalks can be fined. Moline and others would like to see a similar policy in the Washington area, or at least a public awareness campaign.

"We need to . . . get the word out: A closed door is a good thing," said Joan Kelsch, Arlington County's green buildings program manager.

The county's Environment and Energy Conservation Commission discussed the issue during a public meeting Monday.

"It is a pet peeve of mine," Bob Coyne, 50, a biologist from Arlington, told the commission. "It's a terrible and unnecessary waste of energy when air streams out into the street."

The commission decided to write to the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and to the county, advising them to start outreach campaigns and include closed doors as a criterion in future county recognitions of energy-efficient retailers.

"We can't fine them as of now," Kelsch said, "but we can encourage, incentivize, educate."

When Kelsch sees "irksome" open-door retailers, she goes inside and tells owners and consumers about the wasted energy.

"The more electricity we use, the more coal we have to burn, and that creates a lot of air pollution," Kelsch said.

On a recent afternoon, a walk down M Street in Georgetown was a mix of tropical heat and cool breezes flowing past doors held open by wooden yoga blocks, door-mounted doorstops, traditional rubber wedges and decorative rocks.

"Unless it's raining or snowing, we keep the doors open," said John Zittrauer, supervisor at the Lacoste apparel store. "It's just more inviting."

Uyanga Bold, working at the Sisley clothing store, said, "It lets people know we're open."

The scent of minty watermelons filtered through the open doors of Lush. The cosmetics company touts biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging, and according to Shama Alexander, environmental officer for the company's North American operations, it has considering installing on-site industrial compost systems in its stores and upgrading to more efficient energy and water systems.

Still, she said, "The issue of closing the doors has been a highly debated topic."

Lush products can melt, so managers decide how to control store temperatures, Alexander explained. But an open door is also a good invitation to shoppers, she added, directly affecting store traffic.

Ryan Wolfe, general manager of the Thunder Burger & Bar, agreed. "It's just a marketing blast of cool air," he said. At the climate-controlled restaurant, anything that could open was open to M Street: the wooden front door, the shutters, the windows.

Kelsch suggests that instead, stores simply post signs advertising their cool air.

Having two sets of doors -- one set that opens to a vestibule, and another that opens to the outdoors-- is another option, said Christopher Conway, an energy auditor and president of Conway Green Construction, based in Bristol, Va. Keeping the front set of doors open and the second set of doors closed helps the store look open and inviting.

Lululemon Athletica in Georgetown has two sets of double doors. "We get the best of both worlds: Save the Earth and get people inside," said Wendy Christensen, assistant manager of the yoga-inspired athletic lifestyle store.

But last week, as temperatures climbed past 90, both sets of doors were open wide.

ksu499 wrote:

My first thought was "oh, please" but upon further contemplation of such things as the electric utilities's desire to build transmission lines from the Midwest to the Washington metro region and the Northeast, and their desire for more coal burning plants in south Virginia to services the growing energy needs of the Washington metro region and the Northeast, I realized that how such a small thing as not trying to air condition the whole outdoors by leaving store doors open can reduce the need for all this and may we won't have to build new transmission lines or power plants, or at least be able to stretch out the timetable.

7/31/2010 2:27:43 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/31/AR2010073101577.html?wprss=rss_metro/md

Crime Down In DC?

D.C. police stats show spike in serious sex crimes

By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
July 22, 2010

Sexual assaults across the District spiked nearly 50 percent in the first five months of 2010 over the same period last year, according to internal police documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.

From Jan. 1 to June 8 there were 82 sexual assaults in the city, up from 56 during the same period in 2009, the documents show.

But Chief Cathy Lanier told The Examiner that the document is a "preliminary report to be used in conjunction with and read within the context of all the reports and totality of the data available to us." The statistics, she said, are subject to change "for a variety of reasons, including late reporting, reclassification of some offenses, and discovery that some offenses are unfounded."

Lanier said when all classifications of sexual assaults are accounted for, including misdemeanors, there has been more than a 3 percent decrease when compared with last year. She did not elaborate when pressed to provide specific data showing the decline in sexual assaults.

Police union chief Kris Baumann said Lanier's formulation is designed to hide the number of serious violent sexual assaults.

"Sexual assaults are on the rise," he said. "If the department had aggressively informed the public of the danger, some people may not have become victims."

The difficulty is that there's different ways of measuring crime, said D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, whose committee has oversight of the police department.

There's always a conflict between the D.C. crime statistics the police department releases and those reported by the FBI. At the end of 2008, Lanier reported to the D.C. Council that violent crime had fallen over the previous year. When the FBI's uniform crime statistics came out in September 2009, they showed the number of murders, rapes, robberies and assaults had increased by 2.3 percent in 2008 from 2007.

Mendelson is sending a letter to Lanier that will "make the point that there needs to be a better explanation of these numbers."

Lanier said she's committed to providing "full and complete" crime information.

"If anything," she said, "more confusion arises because we do provide data in a variety of formats that allows people to analyze the data themselves."

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-police-stats-show-spike-in-serious-sex-crimes-1002401-98961469.html

Youth advocates call for investigation into Nickles’ relationship with DYRS

By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
07/20/10 12:35 PM EDT

Youth advocates are calling for an investigation into D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles’ relationship with the city’s troubled juvenile justice rehabilitation agency after it became clear on Monday that Nickles played a key role in a Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services leadership shakeup.

Before he became Attorney General, Nickles was the lead attorney representing a group of juveniles in a class-action lawsuit filed against the city that ended in a court ordered cleanup of DYRS, which is ongoing.

“As a lawyer for these youth, Peter Nickles may have a conflict of interest in conducting an investigation, then using it to urge the dismissal of Marc Schindler, whose leadership benefited youth in the system and community safety,” said Daniel Okonkwo, executive director of D.C. Lawyers for Youth. “We are asking the Inspector General, the Bar Association and the D.C. Council’s investigator to look into Nickles’ role in both this investigation and the replacement of interim DYRS director Marc Schindler.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/youth-advocates-call-for-investigation-into-nickles-relationship-with-dyrs-98839159.html

Speed Cameras Collecting

Apparently revenue from the speed cameras in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Connecticut Ave. is in decline. Not so in DC........

D.C. speed cameras raking in record amounts of money

By: Liz Essley
Examiner Staff Writer
July 21, 2010

The District is hauling in a record amount from its speed camera tickets, but the police say it's not about the dollars.

So far, with four more months to report in the current fiscal year, the cameras have brought in $25 million. That's more than the total numbers for fiscal 2007 and 2008, and is $4 million ahead of earnings last year at this time.

“We are not doing this for revenue, but to modify dangerous driving behavior,” Police Chief Cathy Lanier told The Washington Examiner via e-mail Tuesday. “Safety is the primary objective. For the past two years, we’ve had the lowest number of traffic fatalities [40 in 2008, 33 in 2009] since we’ve been keeping record.”

Maximizing revenues clearly has been a priority, however, as the city deals with projected budget shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Mayor Adrian Fenty submitted a budget that counted on taking in $40.7 million from speed camera tickets in the current year. For 2011, $56.8 million in revenue is projected, for a 40 percent jump.

The District has 10 fixed photo radar cameras and also added 12 mobile speed cameras in July. Currently in the midst of an "educational phase" in which speeders get warnings in the mail, the mobile cameras will start yielding real tickets Aug. 11, according to a police department memo.

John Townsend, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said speed cameras are issuing more and more tickets, collecting more revenue, and don't seem to be changing drivers' habits.

"The fact that you're not changing the behavior is puzzling to groups like triple AAA," Townsend said. "It seems that the District has been paying lip service to traffic safety, but people realize it's all about the revenue and they're not changing their behavior."

For a complete list of "Photo Radar Enforcement Zones" in the District, go to http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1240,q,548201,mpdcNav_GID,1552,mpdcNav,|31886|.asp.

The Washington metro area has a total of 274 traffic cameras, according to the camera-tracking database POI Factory






http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-speed-cameras-raking-in-record-amounts-of-money-1002069-98875199.html

Good Article On Test Scores Report

The author of GF Brandenburg's blog says it better than I can - their intro:

Nothing But Spin from Rhee and Fenty on Spring 2010 DC-CAS Results

If you read the press release from the Fenty-Rhee Spin HQ, you would think that the (supposedly) wonderful test score rises under Rhee are continuing like gangbusters.

As usual, that’s not really correct.

http://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/nothing-but-spin-from-rhee-and-fenty-on-spring-2010-dc-cas-results/

Deals That Get Better And Better (What Shmucks)

City's options limited under Banneker settlement

By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
July 8, 2010

The $550,000 settlement agreement between the District and Banneker Ventures prevents the city from reclaiming millions in previous payments and makes it impossible for the District to sue the company if investigators determine the contract was obtained through fraud.

The July 1 settlement reached by D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles and Omar Karim, a longtime friend of Mayor Adrian Fenty, ended a Banneker claim that the city owed the company $2.3 million on the parks and recreation contract. The D.C. Council expects to receive an independent investigator's conclusions on the contract next week.

Late last year, the council canceled the Banneker contract after it determined the Fenty administration had circumvented a law requiring the council to vote on contracts exceeding $1 million.

On Wednesday, D.C. Council members Mary Cheh, Harry Thomas and Phil Mendelson sent a letter to Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi requesting that he not issue payments on the settlement because it's still under investigation by the council.

"It's extraordinarily irregular and questionable to settle this without first settling all of the issues against Banneker and on top of that determining first whether Banneker should be paying us," Cheh said.

The settlement requires Banneker to pay its subcontractors a total of about $285,000, allowing the company to keep $265,000 on top of the $2.5 million it already received in a controversial Christmas Eve payment.

Nickles responded to the council members' threats to cancel the payments, saying "I don't think that would be lawful." He added, "it might lead to a test in the courts and they would have a whole bunch of contracts tied up in litigation."

A. Scott Bolden, who represents Karim, echoed Nickles.

"A deal is a deal," Bolden said. "Any effort to thwart these agreements that make sense and allow projects to move forward is extremely shortsighted and will undoubtedly lead to further litigation."

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/City_s-options-limited-under-Banneker-settlement-97968084.html



A letter from three City Council members to Mr. Nickles:


COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004

July 6, 2010

Peter Nickles, Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 409 Washington, D.C. 20001

Dear Mr. Nickles:

We write out of concern regarding your recent decision to pay a reported $550,000 in settlement of a claim from Banneker Ventures. Your decision to settle at this particular time appears to be poor judgment and motivated by something other than the best interests of the District of Columbia.

As you are aware, the contract for work performed by this vendor was never submitted to, and thus never approved by, the Council. More importantly, a Special Committee of the Council is conducting an investigation into the contracting process, with conclusion of the investigation expected soon. Among the allegations is that Banneker or its subcontractors overcharged the District and failed to supervise properly the work done. The decision to pay this vendor prior to the conclusion of an investigation, prior to all the facts being known, for contracts that were not properly approved, and for work that may have been overcharged, is contrary to your duty to place the interests of the District of Columbia paramount to all else.

The contracting controversy has been marred since the public first became aware of it by a lack of transparency. The Executive, and particularly your office, have failed to provide sufficient detail about the contracting process, and prevented the Special Committee from questioning members of the Administration involved in the matter. District taxpayers are now twice injured by this matter -- the District having apparently paid an exorbitant mark-up when the contract was first issued, and now paying the vendor a large sum of money for no other reason than to bring this matter rapidly to a close. Indeed so far as we know no member of the Council has been given a copy of this settlement agreement, and we hereby insist that both the public and the Council know the terms of the deal you struck. We are particularly distressed that the best interests of the District will be compromised and that our ability to recover money for poor performance and perhaps even fraud will be lost. Accordingly, we hereby request a copy of the settlement agreement.

We have stressed, repeatedly, that the Attorney General is responsible for representing the public interest and upholding the law. For whatever reason, you still fail to grasp this, and your decision to settle this matter at this point is further evidence of that.

Sincerely

Phil Mendelson, Chairperson
Committee on Public Safety & the Judiciary

Mary M. Cheh, Chairperson
Committee on Government Operations & the Environment

Harry Thomas, Jr., Chairperson
Committee on Library, Parks & Recreation

http://www.dcwatch.com/govern/parks100706.htm

Electric Spin

Some interesting information in the press release below. I am also amused how Dominion Virginia Power is positive about what for the company was a setback - lower electric rates are only because the utility was forced to roll back rates - no good intentions for consumers!

Virginia Rate Case Settlement Update

A new, lower fuel rate will go into effect July 1 as a result of a ruling by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The rate will lower the typical, 1,000 kilowatt-hour monthly residential bill $1.24, or 1.2 percent, to $98.36 from the current level of $99.60.

This is the fourth reduction in the fuel rate in the last 12 months, making the new fuel rate 28 percent lower than the one in effect June 30, 2009.

Dominion Virginia Power requested the lower rate based primarily on the cost of fuel for its power stations going down. The SCC put the new rate into effect on an interim basis, pending a final order later this year.

The SCC has scheduled a public hearing on the fuel rate change for Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Commission headquarters in Richmond. Written comments on Dominion's proposal should be submitted to the Commission by September 2. The Commission has the authority to put the interim rates into effect permanently or alter them in its final order.

The fuel rate is a pass-through cost with no profit to Dominion.

New, Lower Base Rates Now In Effect

Lower base rates are now in effect for Dominion Virginia Power customers as a result of the comprehensive 2009 rate settlement recently approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

A base rate case refund and interest are also being returned to Virginia customers as part of the settlement. This refund and interest will begin appearing on customer bills as two separate line items, starting on May 3.

Additionally, a fuel credit was recently returned to residential customers under the terms of the settlement. Non-residential customers will have this credit applied to their electricity usage from May 1 through June 30, so the fuel credit will be reflected in a separate line item on their bills covering that period. The exact amount received by each individual customer depends on their historic or current usage.

• View videos on how electric rates are set in Virginia.
• Get details on base rate credits and refunds.
• View a sample bill.

Two new charges for energy efficiency programs go into effect May 1. These charges, called "Rider C1" and "Rider C2" on customer bills, will collectively add about 53 cents per month to the bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month. These riders are being used to pay for five new energy efficiency programs recently approved by the SCC.

For additional rate comparisons, see Supplemental Charts, below.The total amount being returned to Virginia customers under the settlement in the form of credits and lower rates is $726 million or about $153 for a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month. In addition, this typical residential customer will also receive an estimated $42 in refunds, plus interest.

On April 21, the company lowered its base rates to pre-Sept. 1, 2009 levels as directed by the SCC. The SCC approved the new lower base rates and the fuel and base rate credits on March 11 as part of the comprehensive rate case settlement agreed to by the parties in the case, which included the SCC staff, consumer representatives, major business customers and others.

Company seeks increase for power stations under construction

On June 25, Dominion Virginia Power filed an update with the SCC to the portion of electric rates (called riders) that cover its two generating stations under construction: Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center in Wise County and Bear Garden in Buckingham County.

As part of the update, the company requested an increase of $1.39 to the monthly bill of a typical 1,000 kilowatt-hour residential customer. If approved, the increase would take effect April 1, 2011.

The SCC approved construction of the Virginia City power station in 2008 and the Bear Garden facility in 2009. The company is recovering financing costs as the stations are being built. The SCC adjusts these rates annually.

http://www.dom.com/dominion-virginia-power/customer-service/rates-and-tariffs/virginia-rate-case-settlement-update.jsp

Skinner/Fenty Scam Gets Better

Makes me wonder....

D.C. licensed Fenty friend who failed engineering exam 7 times

By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
July 7, 2010

A D.C. board issued an engineering license to a co-founder of a company with ties to Mayor Adrian Fenty even though the man has never passed the professional exam, The Washington Examiner has learned.

Abdullahi Barrow has emerged as a key figure in the ongoing investigationinto millions of dollars' worth of parks contracts awarded to companies owned by the mayor's friends and fraternity brothers. One of them, Sinclair Skinner, has said publicly that he relied on Barrow's expertise to win public parks contracts for Liberty Engineering and Design, a company founded by Skinner and Barrow.

But Barrow failed his engineer's exam seven times since 2002, sources said and documents obtained by ner show. In 2008, the Fenty-appointed Board of Professional Engineers unanimously granted Barrow the professional license because of his "eminence" in the field, board spokesman Clive Cooks said.

There are three ways to obtain a professional engineer's license in the District: passing the exam, having already obtained a license in another state, or for eminence. The board rarely issues eminence licenses, Cooks said. Since 2005, only four have been given out -- including Barrow's, Cooks said.

Barrow's lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, said any suggestion that Barrow wasn't qualified as an engineer was "nonsense."

"He's got a master's degree, he's got several years of experience in D.C. government, he's got substantial experience in the public and the private sector over several years, including being a former chief building inspector for the District government," Bolden said. "Sounds like he's qualified to me regardless of how many engineering exams he's taken."

Fenty spokeswoman Mafara Hobson didn't respond to requests for comment.

Barrow was deposed last month. Sources familiar with his testimony said that Barrow, like Skinner, had trouble recalling basic details about his company, including its first client and the last name of a third man, "Chris," who initially started the business with Skinner and Barrow.

Barrow said, however, that yet another company co-founded by him and his wife was paid by Liberty Engineering, the sources said. The company, Providence Construction, has also been given a contract to build a fence for the city's real estate agency, sources said.

The council canceled the parks contracts shortly after learning about them and ordered an investigation. The Washington Post first reported last week that Fenty's attorney general, Peter Nickles, agreed to pay $550,000 to Banneker Ventures to settle a lawsuit over the cancellations.

Council members Phil Mendelson, D-at large, Harry Thomas, D-Ward 5, and Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, wrote Nickles a letter Tuesday condemning the settlement.

Examiner staff writer Freeman Klopott contributed to this report.

bmyers@washingtonexaminer.com

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-licensed-Fenty-friend-who-failed-engineering-exam-7-times-97895459.html

Students to be newest judges of DCPS teachers

By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
June 18, 2010

After years of having their performance graded by teachers, D.C. public school students will have the chance to return the favor beginning next school year.

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said Thursday morning that a movement to gather student input into how well teachers succeeded in the classroom grew from the concerns of her "high school cabinet" -- a group of students she meets with on a regular basis. She shared the news at a breakfast for businesswomen at Georgetown's Sequoia restaurant.

Students worried that teachers would "put on a good dog and pony show" when official evaluators entered the classroom, Rhee said, despite less stellar day-to-day instruction.

Rhee's student Cabinet spent part of the 2009-10 school year devising questions -- ensuring they're concise enough and fair, she said. The surveys will be piloted next year, but will not -- for now -- be a part of the schools' new teacher evaluations. Those evaluations, called IMPACT, will likely guide decisions about the district's pay-for-performance system outlined in the new teacher contract.

Washington Teachers' Union President George Parker did not return a call requesting comment.

Rhee spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said the surveys will be important "because we value student perspectives on the quality of instruction in their classroom, and there is an emerging body of research that suggests it may correlate with actual outcomes."

Survey details, however, have yet to be finalized, Calloway said.

Boston Public Schools voted to begin using student surveys next school year to be shared with teachers and principals. A Rhode Island group called Young Voices is advocating for a similar program there.

"I think it's a terrific idea, as long as we think about this particular metric as one of many," said Barnett Berry, president of the Center for Teaching Quality. "No one measure is able to judge a teacher's efficacy -- certainly not a single test score. Using multiple measures is absolutely paramount."

Emily Cohen, a policy director for the National Council on Teacher Quality, met with students in Boston as they fought for the use of student evaluations.

"They wanted to have a way to let their teachers know what was working," Cohen said. "They have the most to gain from a good teacher -- and the most to lose from a bad one."

lfabel@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Students-to-be-newest-judges-of-DCPS-teachers-96611439.html

Getting And Getting - Or Fenty/Skinner - The Scam That Keeps Taking

Fenty's tax payer provided pit bull, Mr. Nickles is often more than happy to litigate. Not here though - is Scott Bolden that good of a lawyer? Bolden's comments near the end make me nauseous. Such a f@*&ing liar!

D.C. will pay Fenty friend's company to settle construction suit

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 2, 2010; 11:06 PM

The District has agreed to pay $550,000 to settle a $2.3 million claim by Banneker Ventures, the firm whose city contract to oversee the construction of renovated and new parks and recreation centers was terminated last year in the wake of an ongoing D.C. Council probe.

Banneker, owned by a friend and fraternity brother of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's, argued that it owned the drawings and designs produced by the architects and engineers that the firm hired as subcontractors for the projects.

Although Fenty (D) has repeatedly said the recreation centers and ballfields are on track to be built, there have been delays because Banneker served its subcontractors with "cease and desist" letters in February to prevent them from working with the city agency now managing the projects.

"They had threatened to sue the architects, engineers, because they said their work was intellectual property of Banneker," Attorney General Peter Nickles said in an interview Friday. "There were lots of issues, but now we have a settlement."

The agreement took effect Thursday, when it was signed by Nickles and Adrianne Todman, interim executive director of the D.C. Housing Authority. It comes two weeks before a special council committee expects a briefing from lawyer Robert P. Trout, who is heading the council's independent investigation on a pro bono basis. Trout is reviewing how the contract was handled.

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, said Trout will present an update of the probe but that a final report is not ready. The investigation has been slowed by witnesses who remain reluctant despite subpoenas, he said.

The contracts controversy has been a campaign issue for Fenty, who is in a competitive contest against chief rival D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary.

Thomas said he is aware that releasing a final report closer to the election could be perceived as politically motivated, but he added that Trout and his staff are trying to be thorough. "What we're trying to do is have true findings as opposed to thinking this is a political witch hunt. We want to do this right," Thomas said.

Omar Karim, owner of Banneker, and Regan Associates, the Virginia-based firm that served as Banneker's consultant, have been heavy contributors to Fenty's campaign. One of Banneker's subcontractors was Liberty Engineering and Design, a firm owned by Sinclair Skinner, another Fenty friend and fraternity brother.

The firm earned about $900,000 on its subcontract, according to testimony Skinner gave before the committee after a Superior Court judge threatened him with a costly fine for failing to appear. Skinner, who is not a licensed engineer, farmed out much of the work to other firms.

He remains a visible volunteer on Fenty's campaign.

Lawyer A. Scott Bolden, who represents Karim and Skinner, called the situation "a legal mess created by others."

"Unfortunately, the unnecessary and unreasonable scrutiny of this D.C. contract is ongoing with the D.C. Council at great expense to my clients and the residents of the District of Columbia, with the real victims being D.C. residents, Banneker and its many subcontractors who worked extremely hard to simply renovate and rebuild several recreation and community centers in the most challenged part of the city," Bolden said in an e-mail Friday.

The council began its investigation in October after learning that the mayor's administration had funneled millions of dollars through the D.C. Housing Authority for the projects. The transfer circumvented a city law requiring the council to vote on contracts exceeding $1 million.

Banneker's initial contract was $4.2 million and allowed the firm to collect a 9 percent markup on some subcontractors it hired for nearly $100 million.

In December, the housing authority and the Fenty administration were criticized for giving Banneker $2.5 million on Christmas Eve for work done by the firm and 12 subcontractors from September through November.

This week's $550,000 settlement is supposed to cover unresolved payments.

Under the agreement, Banneker will get nearly $265,000 within 10 days. Banneker will receive the remaining $285,000 when it can show that it has paid money owed to nine subcontractors, including $11,863 to Liberty.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/02/AR2010070204030.html

More On Graffiti

Hello Ms. Lyons,
Nothing personal but your responses to my concerns seem rather boiler plate - let alone that they do not address anything specifically except in general about Green Team.
Tourists note these improvements? I don't live where tourists go.
Resources misused? A proactive response might ask why? By whom? How is it avoided? Your sarcasm about every half hour is all you can offer?


--- On Tue, 6/29/10, Lyons, Nancee (DPW) Nancee.Lyons@dc.gov> wrote:

From: Lyons, Nancee (DPW)
Subject: RE: Graffiti and Litter chat questions

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 11:25 AM

All of your concerns are our concerns and we have made great strides in improving the sanitation of Washington, DC, which is regularly noted by tourists. Keeping a clean city takes more than just one government agency. It takes a variety of different entities, including citizens. DPW services are broad and varied. Yes, overflowing public litter cans are a concern but we would have to empty each these cans every half hour to keep them from overflowing when they are being misused. Having the Green Team or BIDs to help keep litter under control is not indicative of an agency failure, it’s an example of government, the business community and volunteers working in concert to help stretch resources. This is just how it should be. DPW doesn’t have the resources to keep constant watch to ensure there is no litter on the street. The Green Team is in place to help us achieve our goals. But citizens also are urged to join us in the fight to keep their communities clean. We encourage neighborhood clean ups and provide free tools and trash bags to achieve this.

Very few cities have a free graffiti removal service. Up until recent legislation, DPW could only remove graffiti by request by the property owner. The graffiti you see on public spaces (that do not belong to the federal government) can be removed once they are spotted and reported. Typically graffiti is removed within 10 days after a request. Gang-related graffiti is removed sooner.

Litter and graffiti is not unique to Washington, DC. It is something all cities are grappling with and there is no perfect solution. In a perfect world, citizens would pick up after themselves and have too much respect for public property to paint graffiti on structures that do not belong to them. In the absence of this we, like every other sanitation service, are doing the best we can. It will take need more than suggestions and complaints from citizens to help achieve a cleaner DC. It will take their collaboration.

Nancee Lyons

Public Affairs Specialist

DC Department of Public Works

2000 14th Street, NW, 6th Fl.

(Reeves Center)

Washington, DC 20009

(202) 671-2637, 671-0642 (fax)

www.dpw.dc.gov Visit us on Facebook!

Follow us on Twitter!

Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 5:58 AM
To: Lyons, Nancee (DPW)
Subject: Graffiti and Litter chat questions

Subject: Re: [columbia_heights] Live, Graffiti and Litter Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 5:57 AM As much as I am bothered about an increase in graffiti in my area, I am very concerned about what appears to me as DPW's inability (refusal?) to deal with it when graffiti is reported. Two patches of graffiti remain in my area after multiple 311 calls and service numbers. Both patches were reported to 311 and service numbers were taken. Patch 1 was partially completed and patch 2 was not touched at all, yet 311 reported the service numbers as completed. A second service number was taken for the patch that was not touched at all - again, some graffiti covered but not all. So now a third service number will be filed..... Lets see - one graffiti item, three service calls, one and a half responses but credit for three - It seems to me to have more to do with inflating numbers than doing anything. It's all documented. I have watched the graffiti truck and trailer slowly cruise through the area - when graffiti is on public space like a lamp post, why can't they just paint it? Litter - on 11th st, the Green Team guys do way more than DPW street sweepers. Any ideas on why DPW can't keep 11th between Florida and Monroe clean and it takes a third party service? Public litter cans overflowing because people put household garbage in them (next to them) - is that a DPW concern? Are these the efficiencies Fenty refers to? My area was cleaner in the early 1990s when there was a DPW person who did the street cleaning (before the mechanical sweepers). --- On Fri, 6/25/10, Twine, Kevin (DPW) wrote: From: Twine, Kevin (DPW) Subject: [columbia_heights] Live, One-Hour Chat with DC Department of Public Works: Graffiti and Litter To: Date: Friday, June 25, 2010, 5:05 PM Does nothing irk you more than seeing someone throw trash on the ground, sometimes just a few steps away from a litter can? Is your block a dumping ground for wrappers and cups due to your proximity to fast food restaurants? Are you concerned about a rise in graffiti in your neighborhood? Help discuss ways to combat litter and graffiti in your neighborhood by joining DPW’s hour-long online chat Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at 12:00 pm. DPW staff who collect litter and remove graffiti will discuss daily efforts to keep the city clean and also address concerns about litter and graffiti “hot spot” areas. We also need your feedback on future online discussion topics! Residents can join or follow the discussion at dpw.dc.gov/livechat once the chat session begins. Residents also may submit questions in advance on DPW’s Twitter account (http://twitter. com/DCDPW), Facebook page, or by email to nancee.lyons@ dc.gov. WHAT: Live, One-Hour Chat with DC Department of Public Works WHEN: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 12:00-1:00 pm WHERE: dpw.dc.gov/livechat Kevin B. Twine Staff Assistant Department of Public Works Office of the Director 2000 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Ph: 202-671-2593 Fx: 202-671-0642 kevin.twine@ dc.gov

Kinda Looks Funny Mistah Fenty

Former drug supplier to Barry now Fenty campaign contributor

By: Alan Suderman
Examiner Staff Writer
June 28, 2010

A restaurateur who testified 20 years ago that he supplied then-Mayor Marion Barry with cocaine, a Caribbean hotel room for his girlfriend, and money in return for political access is tied to $6,000 given to Mayor Adrian Fenty's re-election campaign.

Hassan Mohammadi, his wife, Yasaman Rowhani, and his Delaware-based restaurant each gave the Fenty campaign $2,000 on March 9, campaign records show.

So far, Fenty has declined to say whether he will give back the money.

Mohammadi testified in 1990 that he provided Barry with cocaine more than 30 times, according to published accounts of the former mayor's trial that followed an FBI sting operation at a D.C. hotel. Once, Mohammadi testified, he brought cocaine to Barry at the mayor's office in the District Building.

Mohammadi also testified that that he paid for a hotel room for Barry's girlfriend on a drug-fueled trip to the Bahamas and supplied the current Ward 8 councilman with thousands of dollars in chips for a casino. The value of the chips was not paid back.

"I covered wherever I could," Mohammadi testified in regards to Barry's drug use, according to published accounts. "I was a true friend for Mr. Mayor; I was always there for Mr. Mayor."

Mohammadi, an Iranian immigrant who used to own the Pardis Cafe in Georgetown, won a $195,000 city contract to do publicity work for the D.C. Lottery Board when Barry was mayor, accounts show.

His testimony against Barry was part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors to avoid deportation and a stiffer penalty over a drug charge.

The donations where first reported in April by the Washington City Paper, which also reported at the time that a Fenty campaign aide was unaware of Mohammadi's background.

Fenty's June 10 financial disclosure form showed only one refund, which was not related to Mohammadi's donations.

Fenty has been a prodigious fundraiser and reported in June he had more than $3 million on hand for his battle with D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray. The primary is less than three months away.

Mohammadi could not be reached for comment.

The Fenty campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Dorothy Brizill, founder of the local government watchdog D.C. Watch, said it's puzzling that the Fenty campaign wouldn't return Mohammadi's funds given his past reputation.

"You give money in essence for access and influence -- what access and influence is he seeking from the Fenty administration?" Brizill said, adding that Fenty is "not that desperate for $6,000 when he's got that much money in the bank."

asuderman@washingtonexaminer.com

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Former-drug-supplier-to-Barry-now-Fenty-campaign-contributor-97269139.html

Good Questions From William Jordan

Various people think William Jordan is goes on too much about too much on the various neighborhood list serves but in my opinion he asks good questions - a recent posting of his from the South Columbia Heights list serve:

Developer Accountability From the Mayor and City Council?

Posted by: "whj@melanet.com" whj@melanet.com whjmela

Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:32 pm (PDT)

Dear Mayor & Council,

According to accounts in the Washington Business Journal (June 11-17, 2010) reporting on finding recently released by the DC Auditor, Donatelli Development's failure to comply with DC First Source Laws has cost District Residents approximately $2,153,568 in wages. As well, may be out of compliance with city Storm Water Management regulations, Highland Park Project, yet during one of the toughest budget years in a decade, the Council & Mayor plan to reward this development company with over $8.0M in property tax relief, with zero strings attached. In fact, if the budget passes as is Donatelli Development will be issued a refund check for approximately $1.5M.

Are there any plans by the Mayor or Council to bring any accountability to this matter. Or does this development company fall under the AIG rule. Can someone explain this.

William Jordan, ANC1A 05



"FISCAL YEAR 2011 BUDGET SUPPORT ACT OF 2010" (page 217).

http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/images/00001/20100413171523.pdf

9 SUBTITLE D. PARK PLACE AT PETWORTH, HIGHLAD PARK, AD
10 HIGHLAD PARK PHASE II ECOOMIC DEVELOPMET ACT OF 2010
11 Sec. 7041. Short title.
12 This subtitle may be cited as the “Park Place at Petworth, Highland Park, and Highland
13 Park Phase II Economic Development Amendment Act of 2010†.
14 Sec. 7042. Section 3 of the Park Place at Petworth, Highland Park, and Highland Park
15 Phase II Economic Development Act of 2010, signed by the Mayor on January 25, 2010 (D.C.
16 Act 18-290; 57 DCR 1186) is repealed.
17 Sec. 7043. Section 47-4624 of the District of Columbia Official Code is amended to read
18 as follows:
19 (a) Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows:
20 “(b) Starting on October 1, 2010, the Park Place at Petworth, Highland Park, and
21 Highland Park Phase II Properties shall be exempt from the real property tax imposed by Chapter
8 of this title for 20 years as follows: 10 years at 50% and a 5% increase in years 1 11 through 20
2 until the annual real property taxation equals 100%.†.
3 (b) A new subsection (b-1) is added to read as follows:
4 “(b-1) All interest and penalties associated with real property taxes that have been
5 assessed for the period beginning on October 1, 2008, and ending 45 days after the effective date
6 of the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Act of 2010 against the Park Place at Petworth, Highland
7 Park, or Highland Park Phase II Properties, shall be forgiven, and any payments already made for
8 this period, as of the effective date of this act, shall be refunded or credited against real property
9 taxes owed on the properties.â€

Fiscal Impact Statement - Park Place at Petworth, Highland Park and Highland Park Phase II
Highland [http://app.cfo.dc.gov/services/fiscal_impact/pdf/spring09/B18-231_.pdf] http://app.cfo.dc.gov/services/fiscal_impact/pdf/spring09/B18-231_.pdf
Auditor’s Review of Environmental Standards Requirements Pursuant to the Compliance Unit Establishment Act of 2008
[http://dcauditor.org/DCA/Reports/DCA052010.pdf] http://dcauditor.org/DCA/Reports/DCA052010.pdf
Auditor's Review of Compliance With the Living Wage Act and First Source Act Requirements Pursuant to the Compliance Unit Establishment Act of 2008
http://dcauditor.org/DCA/Reports/Livg%20Wage%201st%20Srce%20Act_20100607162643.pdf

Disorderly Conduct

Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest have long been charges police use when nothing else is working. Both charges have definitely been overused and often used abusively by police as a harassing tactic. Not withstanding such abuses, the following case makes me wonder. What does it take to be legally disorderly?



D.C. police's search for drugs on D.C. teen is ruled illegal

By Mary Pat Flaherty
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 4, 2010; B01

A few days before Christmas 2005 at nearly midnight, a uniformed District police officer patrolling the Sursum Corda neighborhood in Northwest heard a 16-year-old on a corner call out his name and ask, "What's up?"

That was before the yelling.

And it was the yelling -- not the $974 in cash or the 24 baggies of crack cocaine that police later found on the teenager -- that landed Officer Robert Elliott and the juvenile in a rare but important case before the D.C. Court of Appeals.

The appeals court said Thursday that the teen had been searched unreasonably after a flawed arrest for disorderly conduct. The decision angered the city's police union and overturned a lower court's decision that concluded that the youth had been disorderly and had crack that he intended to distribute.

If prosecutors wanted to retry the teenager, identified in court papers as T.L., for drug possession, they "theoretically" were free to do so, the appeals court said. But prosecutors cannot use the crack they found hidden in T.L.'s pants because they had searched him illegally.

As described in the appeals court opinion:

Elliott was driving in the 1100 block of First Place NW in the neighborhood near Union Station on Dec. 22, 2005, when he saw men on a corner "notorious" for drive-by shootings and drug dealing.

T.L. called out, "Hey, Elliott, what's up?" The group dispersed, but T.L. remained as Elliott asked him, "You got any drugs or guns on [you]?"

T.L. answered, "Yo, Officer Elliott, you know me. I ain't got no drugs or guns. . . . Go ahead and search me."

Elliott did. He found two "wads" of cash totaling $974 in the teen's coat and pants pockets. Elliott seized the cash, telling T.L. that he was taking it because they were in a high drug-trafficking area and it was "a large amount of currency to have on your person."

If T.L. could produce a pay stub, Elliott told him, he "possibly" could get the cash back after it was processed at the police station.

T.L. began calling for his mother and yelling: "They're taking my money. I work at McDonald's. I got that money working for McDonald's."

Between 10 and 15 people came out of their townhouses to see what was happening.

To the officer, the gathering crowd was a potential threat. He testified that the growing number of people could be incited and harm bystanders, officers and the teen. Elliott said he considered it "very dangerous" to draw a crowd, "especially in Sursum Corda." Elliott repeatedly told T.L. to quiet down, and when he didn't, he arrested him for disorderly conduct. A search followed, and police found the bags of crack cocaine in T.L.'s pants, according to court papers.

In explaining the reason for the arrest, the officer and prosecutors pointed to a part of the disorderly conduct statute that covers noise or shouts inside or outside a building during the night that annoy or disturb a "considerable number" of people.

The appeals court rejected that argument, saying T.L. did not urge the peaceful crowd to interfere. T.L. might have been annoying to his neighbors, but "there is no evidence they were hostile or likely to become violent," so the rationale for his arrest was wrong. Because police had no reason to arrest him, the search that followed was illegal, it said.

T.L. was adjudicated as involved -- the juvenile court equivalent of guilty -- on the disorderly conduct and drug charges.

The Public Defender Service appealed. Julie Leighton, spokeswoman for the service, said the office does not comment on appeals cases.

The appeals court's decision outraged the union representing D.C. officers.

"At some point, police have to be allowed to be the police," said Kristopher Baumann, head of the labor committee for the local Fraternal Order of Police. "The District of Columbia is never going to get a handle on crime if appellate judges keep substituting their view of what is safe or unsafe in high-drug areas."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304896.html

More on EPA Stormwater Permit For DC

Action letter about the EPA stormwater permit for DC from DC Greenworks and the DC Environmental Network.

Healthy Rivers Equals Healthy Communities

When I woke up this morning I could hear the rain falling outside my window. It made me
think about the 1.6 billion gallons of polluted stormwater and raw sewage that makes its way into our rivers each year. When it rains, DC's parking lots, streets and rooftops funnel polluted runoff laden with bacteria, trash and toxics into our waters, making them unsafe for fishing and swimming. This is important to me because my work as Executive Director of DC Greenworks involves building green roofs that capture and cleanse rainwater runoff, harvesting it as a resource and creating new, green jobs for our city.

You can join me in taking positive action for clean water and greener, healthier neighborhoods in DC. Let's work together to stem the flow of polluted runoff to the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek. The opportunity we have for the next month - between now and June 4, 2010 - is to help establish a clean water program with accountability for the District of Columbia.

Tell the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) you want a strong, effective clean water permit for DC - one that promotes healthy rivers and green, healthy communities.

Like other cities and urban counties nationwide, the District of Columbia is required to address polluted runoff with a clean water act permit issued roughly every five years. The EPA has just issued a new "DRAFT" polluted runoff permit to the District, in April, 2010, for the public to review. This permit can help DC to stem the flow of polluted runoff and restore our waters to full health - if it contains specific pollution reduction requirements, with accountability for meeting cleanup targets and deadlines.

Join me in telling EPA you want a strong stormwater permit that promotes healthy rivers and healthy communities. Green roofs, and other green infrastructure projects, are economic drivers that can create new jobs for residents during these hard times.

I know this because my organization is part of a growing movement that is creating new jobs each day focused on restoring our rivers and creeks. Green infrastructure can also help build a vibrant waterfront that will promote livable, walkable, healthy neighborhoods on both sides of the Anacostia River. Green infrastructure can also help the District be a leading green city and help District of Columbia Mayor Fenty reach his stated goals of 40% green roof and tree canopy coverage.

New jobs and healthy communities make this a win-win situation.

Peter Ensign, Executive Director, DC Greenworks

Why I Buy Drinking Water In 5 Gallon Bottles

People have asked me why I do not always subscribe to the CDC's version of things - here is an example -



CDC misled District residents about lead levels in water, House probe finds

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 20, 2010; A01

The nation's premier public health agency knowingly used flawed data to claim that high lead levels in the District's drinking water did not pose a health risk to the public, a congressional investigation has found. And, investigators determined, the agency has not publicized more thorough internal research showing that the problem harmed children across the city and continues to endanger thousands of D.C. residents.

A House investigative subcommittee concludes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made "scientifically indefensible" claims in 2004 that high lead in the water was not causing noticeable harm to the health of city residents. As terrified District parents demanded explanations for the spike in lead in their water, the CDC hurriedly published its calming analysis, knowing that it relied on incomplete, misleading blood-test results that played down the potential health impact, the investigation found.

The city utility says lead levels have been in the safe range in D.C. water since 2006, after a chemical change to reduce lead leaching. But the House report raises concerns about children in 9,100 residences throughout the city with partial lead-pipe replacements. Their parents may not know CDC research has found that children in such homes are four times as likely to have elevated lead in their blood.

The House science and technology subcommittee investigation, scheduled to be released Thursday, was spurred last year by one scientist's research and Washington Post reporting suggesting that the 2004 CDC analysis was missing many test results for children who might have lead poisoning. With its final report, the committee reveals that the missing data showed clear harm to children from the water -- and that CDC authors knew the data was flawed. It finds that CDC officials "failed in their public health duty."

Pediatric lead experts advise concerned parents to monitor their children's behavior to determine whether they have noticed coordination, hearing or mental-focus problems or changes. Parents who witness such changes should have their children's blood tested for lead.

Late Wednesday, the CDC declined to directly rebut the House investigators' findings. Instead, it released a brief re-analysis based on the missing tests, which it said confirms the original 2004 findings that residents did not suffer significant harm.

The agency acknowledged, however, that its 2004 claim that no children had been found with lead poisoning was "misleading," because it referred to only one part of its study. Another part showed that children living in homes serviced by a lead pipes were more than twice as likely as other D.C. children to have unsafe lead in their blood.

Yanna Lambrinidou, head of a parents' activist group that formed in the lead crisis, said the CDC, the city water utility, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the D.C. Health Department knew that lead was spiking in the water but did little to fix it or warn the public.

"CDC gave the perpetrators of D.C.'s lead crisis a 'get out of jail free' card," Lambrinidou said. "They will finally have to answer for what they did."

When nearly 1 million residents throughout the District and in small parts of Falls Church and Arlington learned from a Post article in January 2004 that they had been exposed to unsafe lead in water for at least a year, the CDC analysis was largely used to quiet public anger. The study has since been cited as evidence that even astronomically high lead levels are not cause for concern.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the subcommittee chairman, said the CDC report "left the public health community with the dangerous and wrong impression that lead-contaminated water is safe for children to drink."

Lead is a toxic metal long known to cause brain damage and developmental delays in fetuses and children when they or their pregnant mothers ingest significant amounts.

Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech scientist who early on questioned the paper, said it's time for the CDC to retract its findings and for the senior author of the 2004 report, Mary Jean Brown, to resign.

The House subcommittee's investigation also chides the CDC for not alerting the public to its subsequent research that contradicted its earlier claims. This 2007 research determined a clear link between the water problem and lead poisoning in D.C. children. For example, it showed that city children with high levels of lead in their blood were significantly more likely to live in homes with lead pipes, and after the city fixed its water treatment problem, the CDC saw a "dramatic reduction" in lead poisoning.

The committee also urged release of this research to alert residents to a continuing, lurking threat in the estimated 9,100 D.C. homes where water utility crews replaced part of the lead service pipe bringing water to the house. The CDC study concluded that the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's $93 million effort to reduce lead risks after the 2004 lead crisis had largely backfired: Children living in homes with partial lead pipe replacements were four times as likely to suffer from unsafe levels of lead as those in homes without lead pipes.

The House science subcommittee reserves its strongest criticisms for Brown, the CDC's director of lead poisoning prevention. She worked with D.C. health officials to review blood-test results and frame the CDC's response. Brown led a team in publishing the conclusion that the lead problem wasn't having a serious health impact.

But the committee said it found evidence that Brown knew that the D.C. Health Department data was missing thousands of blood-test results in a critical period of the lead crisis. She told investigators that she believed all the missing data was for low blood-lead levels, but she never tried to obtain the original results to check.

The committee did go back to the labs for the original test results for 2002-03 and learned that three times as many children had elevated lead levels as reported, 954 instead of 315. This means child lead poisoning was rising, not falling or staying the same, as the CDC had claimed.

In one part of the 2004 report, the CDC paper analyzed the blood of children and adults living with lead levels in their tap water 20 times the amount raising concern -- and said not one was suffering from elevated lead. Brown and her co-authors knew, however, that most of those tested had been drinking bottled or filtered water before their blood was analyzed.

A public health expert and co-author suggested to Brown in an e-mail that the report mention this factor because "this may help to explain why currently none of the persons have blood lead levels above the level of concern." It was never mentioned.

Brown acknowledged to investigators that she "didn't have a lot of confidence" in the results but didn't delay the report's release because many federal agencies were pushing the CDC to publish.

In internal e-mails at the time, Brown expressed pleasure that the drumbeat of media reports was easing. "Today has been the first day in over a month that there wasn't a story on lead in water in the Washington Post and also the first that I haven't been interviewed by at least one news outlet," Brown wrote to her boss. "I guess that means it worked!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/19/AR2010051902599.html?hpid=moreheads