Low Turnout For Primaries Needs Fixing

     A major part of the problem, if not the root problem, of DC politricks is the party based primary system.  An amazingly low percentage of voters determines the outcome of the general election due to the overwhelming majority of Democrats in DC. Winning the primary usually wins the general election. In my view the biggest problem with the primary system is low turnout combined with a large group of candidates to split the vote.  
    In the April 1, 2014, DC primary barely 25% of registered voters participated. Thus while the "winner" of the election is credited to have received 44.24% of the vote, that represents less than 10% of the total number of registered voters.
    There are two solutions - both involve instant run-off in combination with either open primaries or making City offices non-partisan. As I don't expect the local Democrat party to just relinquish the power it has by creating a non-partisan form of governance, open primaries might have more promise in DC.
     The chart below list turnout in all the primary elections in DC since 1982 -

	Registered	Voted	Turnout
September 14, 1982 Primary	327,874	120,234	36.7%
September 9, 1986 Primary	243,372	85,094	35.0%
September 11, 1990 Primary	262,537	135,635	51.7%
September 13, 1994 Primary	304,387	149,457	49.1%
September 15, 1998 Primary	298,265	95,624	32.1%
September 10, 2002 Primary	301,593	104,001	34.5%
September 12, 2006 Primary	321,087	109,781	34.2%
September 14, 2010 Primary	370,416	137,586	37.1%
April 1, 2014 Primary	369,035

DC Council Responds To Pro Legalization Push

  The conversation in DC has moved...... now the real details.....

D.C. poised for a giant leap toward legalizing small amounts of marijuana

By Aaron C. Davis, Published: October 24

D.C. lawmakers took more than 15 years to allow cancer patients to use marijuana for their pain. But over just a few months, city leaders have coalesced around a plan to decriminalize small joints, blunts or bowls full of marijuana in the nation’s capital.
Ten of 13 council members have signed on to a bill to make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana punishable by a fine of no more than $100. On Wednesday, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said for the first time that he supports the idea. And on Thursday, the author of the bill and the office of the attorney general said they could agree to an even smaller, token fine of $25.
Such a move wouldn’t go as far as changes by Colorado and Washington state, where voters have legalized marijuana. Seventeen states also have eliminated jail time for possession in favor of civil finesof up to $1,000. If the bill passes, the District would rank behind only Alaska, which has no fine, as the most forgiving.
Even advocates of full legalization are surprised by the breakneck speed of the legislation in the District, where lawmakers have long been reluctant to test Congress on federal drug laws.
Two recent studies that ranked the District among the worst for racial disparity in marijuana arrests and the Justice Department’s growing leniency toward state plans for the medical usage of marijuana have given formerly reluctant Democrats cover to support the idea.
The city’s coming mayoral election has also turbocharged the debate.
Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who is seeking the Democratic nomination, wrote the bill. Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), another mayoral candidate, has signed on in support. So has David A. Catania (At Large), who might run as an independent. And as Gray decides whether to seek reelection, he has bowed to the political reality that the measure is likely to clear the council in December or January with a supermajority that could override a veto.
Wells has cast the effort in lofty terms of lifting up the city’s African Americans and has done so comfortably, with Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) by his side as co-author.
“Less than one ounce would not be a crime. . . . That would no longer mean a drug-arrest record,” Wells said Wednesday night to applause at a community hearing on the bill in Anacostia.
On Thursday, during a continuation of the hearing in the D.C. Council’s chamber in the John A. Wilson Building, Wells said: “Punishment for drug crimes disproportionately falls on the shoulders of blacks and Latinos. . . . We don’t want to accuse the police, we don’t want to accuse anybody . . . but it is a major societal justice problem, and we are going to fix it.”
The numbers that have shaped the debate so far have come largely from a study published in July by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and another earlier in the year by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The study by the lawyers’ committee found that nine of 10 people arrested in the District on charges of simple drug possession are black, even as blacks account for less than half the city’s population.
The ACLU study also found that the District is arresting more people than ever for marijuana possession: It was up 60 percent in the decade that ended in 2010, with black residents accounting for much of the jump.
Over the summer, the NAACP criticized authorities in the District and other cities for using a pretense of smelling marijuana to stop blacks.
The legislation doesn’t go as far as some legalization advocates would like, and they are awaiting the outcome of Wells’s bill to decide whether to press ahead with trying to get a nonbinding referendum on the ballot in 2014 to fully legalize and regulate marijuana sales in the city.
Backers of that idea said Thursday that they might abandon a costly referendum if a proposed amendment by Barry makes it into the legislation. Barry wants to let the District go the way of Uruguay and allow residents to grow a small number of marijuana plants in their homes.
If residents have their own, Barry said, it could “cut out a lot of the economics” of illegal street sales of the drug.
“My motivation is very simple. We have hundreds of black men, black boys, being locked up for simple possession, given a criminal record,” Barry said. “In my community, I talk to somebody almost every day who says: ‘Somebody just got arrested for having a bag of weed. Come on, man — What’s that all about?’ ”
Also during the summer, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier urged a “robust discussion” of the proposal and cautioned against using the ACLU study to justify decriminalization.
“Some of the information being used as an argument for decriminalization is flawed,” she said in a statement. “Marijuana users are simply not being targeted in the manner suggested.” Lanier did not testify for Gray’s administration on Thursday.
That was left to the office of the attorney general, which among other things asked Wells to ensure that marijuana possession in school zones is still considered a crime. Wells said he agreed with that idea for adults but not for children, who under the bill would have their drugs confiscated and their parents called.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-poised-for-giant-leap-toward-legalizing-marijuana/2013/10/24/db183fb0-3cbe-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html

Right Time is Now - It's A Plant, Not A Sin

  For years DC politricksters chanted their mantra that "the time is not now" and "Congress will block it" when asked anything about lowering penalties for marijuana. I give Zuckerberg and his run for City Council, the credit for getting us to the right time.
  Now to pressure the City Council to make the fine as low as possible so that there is no point in enforcing the statute.

D.C. mayor backs decriminalizing marijuana, replacing criminal charges with civil fines

By Aaron C. Davis, Published: October 23

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) on Wednesday offered his first unequivocal support for decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, adding momentum to a legislative proposal that has the support of a supermajority on the D.C. Council and could make the District one of the nation’s most lenient jurisdictions on marijuana possession.
Under a measure proposed by council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in the District would no longer be punishable by six months in jail and a penalty of $1,000.
Instead, those caught with amounts of the drug deemed for personal use would risk only a civil charge and a ticket of $100 — the equivalent of parking in a no-parking area in the District at rush hour.
Wells, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor, and civil liberties groups have urged passage of the measure. They say the District’s marijuana laws have disproportionately affected African Americans and have saddled some residents with criminal records, making it hard for them to find gainful employment.
Wells and council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) have scheduled a two-part hearing on the bill, beginning Wednesday night in Southeast Washington and continuing Thursday at the John A. Wilson Building.
Gray said that his surrogates would testify Thursday in favor of decriminalizing marijuana.
“I support decriminalization. Legalization is another issue. I’m not there on that issue, yet,” the mayor said, alluding to laws such as those in Colorado and Washington state.
This past summer, D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier urged a “robust discussion” of the legislation, calling it a significant issue and saying she has concerns about the risks marijuana poses for children, as well as the potential conflict with federal law.
Staff members in Gray’s and Wells’s offices said neither Lanier nor anyone else from the police department was scheduled to testify Thursday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-mayor-backs-decriminalizing-marijuana-replacing-criminal-charges-with-civil-fines/2013/10/23/b70d1f3c-3c2d-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html

Zuckerberg Puts Legalization On Debate In DC

Without the candidacy of Paul Zuckerberg for City Council in the recent election, this would not even be in discussion. Thank you Mr. Zuckerberg!

Some on D.C. Council plan bills to ease penalties for having marijuana

By Tim Craig, Published: May 15

Some D.C. Council members are crafting legislation to lessen the penalties for marijuana possession, hoping to settle the matter before outside groups petition the issue onto the ballot.
Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) — who as chairman of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee would shepherd the legislation — are formulating a proposal to eliminate criminal penalties for those caught with small amounts of cannabis or subject offenders to fines.
“Absolutely, it’s time we look at decriminalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia,” said Wells, who is running for mayor next year. “It’s time we enter the 21st century and stop criminalizing people . . . for what is not really a major crime.”
Wells and Barry said they will introduce a bill as early as this summer. Meanwhile, Anita Bonds (D-At Large) also is considering a measure to decriminalize marijuana or reduce penalties for possession. The initiatives would be debated by Wells’s committee.
Although there appears to be council support for a debate, those who support decriminalizing pot face considerable obstacles, including a skeptical council chairman, Phil Mendelson (D).
“I don’t think it’s the right time,” said Mendelson, who noted that Congress has blocked similar efforts in the District. “I don’t think decriminalization of marijuana will go over easily with Congress.”
But advocates say they think that there is growing momentum in the District and across the nation to change drug laws. On Monday, the Vermont Legislature voted to decriminalize up to an ounce of marijuana, joining more than a dozen states to remove the threat of jail for possession. Colorado is preparing to tax the sale of marijuana.
Steve Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project said advocates may seek a referendum on the matter in the District as early as November 2014. A recent poll of District voters commissioned by the group and the Drug Policy Alliance, which support decriminalizing marijuana, found broad backing for decriminalizing or legalizing the drug.
But Barry, who first supported marijuana decriminalization as mayor in the 1980s, said he would prefer that the council, instead of voters, decide the matter.
He said too many young African Americans get criminal records because of small amounts of marijuana possession. “These council members ought to stand up, and I think they will, on behalf of their constituency, who suffers mightily from this archaic situation,” said Barry, who was arrested for cocaine possession in 1990 while mayor.
Barry said he and Wells hope to get “six or seven” council members to co-sponsor a measure. On Wednesday, David Grosso (I-At Large) pledged his support but added that he wants to broaden the discussion to include legalization.
“The people on the streets dealing are the nonviolent drug offenders who are going to jail for dealing drugs,” said Grosso, who at age 22 was arrested in 1993 in Florida for having marijuana. “I think that is a serious problem.”
Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) compared the marijuana debate to the ongoing debate over regulating food trucks. “It’s just something we are going to have to address,” said Orange, who is undecided on decriminalization.
Mendelson, however, said the issue should be decided by voters instead of the council to avoid congressional scrutiny. “As a matter of strategy, an initiative might be a better way to go, strategically, because then you have all the voters speaking,” he said.
Under city law, possession of up to half a pound of marijuana is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine on a first offense.
Most first-time offenders are sentenced to community service and are eligible to have their records expunged. But Paul Zukerberg, a lawyer who specializes in marijuana cases, said many offenders get criminal records because they lack the resources to get their records expunged.
Zukerberg, who unsuccessfully ran for the council on a decriminalization platform, said thousands of people cannot find work because of criminal records.
“You have to aggressively go after it to have the charge removed,” he said. “And, as a practical matter, once your name is in a public database for a number of years, to try to go back and erase it is futile.”
Regardless of what happens on the council, Wells’s decision to push for decriminalization means the issue will most probably become part of the mayoral race.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), who has yet to announce whether he will seek reelection, has said the city should fully implement the medical marijuana law before considering decriminalization.
Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), a candidate for mayor, said she’s considering her response but also thinks the city should stay focused on its medical marijuana program.
“I think the notion about the concern of the number of people in our criminal-justice system because of minor drug offenses warrants looking at,” said Bowser, who is also on the judiciary committee. “But I am not prepared to say we need to go another step.”




http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/some-on-dc-council-plan-bills-to-ease-penalties-for-having-marijuana/2013/05/15/18feed18-bd87-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html

D.C. mayor planning environmental initiative

By Tim Craig, Published: December 12

Hoping to jump-start his legislative agenda while boosting his standing with city progressives, D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray is undertaking an environmental initiative he thinks will one day make the city a national model for clean energy, urban farming, green space and car-free transportation options.

Gray (D), who is heading into his second year as mayor, said he formed his “Sustainable D.C.” initiative to strengthen city efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lay the foundation for proposals that would revitalize an administration criticized for lack of vision.

Although the details won’t be finalized until spring, the plan could include more solar panels on government buildings, gardens in vacant city lots, new walking and biking trails, storm water retention ponds and turning waste into fuel.

“To lead, we must be bold,” Gray said at a speech recently. “This isn’t about incremental improvement. It’s about leaping beyond the competition.”

But in a city where study groups and comprehensive plans are routine and follow-through less frequent, some activists are skeptical Gray’s initiative will have a substantial impact.

Gwyn Jones, chair of the Washington chapter of the Sierra Club, said the “jury is still out” as to whether the initiative will result in lasting change.

“The devil is in the implementation,” said Jones, noting the 2000 Anacostia Waterfront Initiative has not been fully implemented. “But they have good people involved who seem to really want to make a difference, so our approach is, ‘Let’s play and see what we can get.’ ”

Gray’s proposal comes as many big-city mayors are competing over who can be the greenest. With the federal government and many state legislatures gridlocked over climate change, cities have been on the front lines with new environmental initiatives.

Yet Gray is putting his own touch on the concept. Perhaps better than any other policy effort to date, his efforts highlight his 2010 campaign pledge to seek community input in government decisions.

Former mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was often criticized for being isolated in his decision-making, but Gray has begun seeking consensus from residents and experts before formally unveiling his plan. And despite early concerns over Gray’s go-slow management style, advocates say his approach makes them feel more connected to the government.

In September, the city launched a Web site where residents could provide suggestions for what should be in the plan.

On Nov. 29, to kick off the second phase of the project, Gray gathered residents and experts to brainstorm, breaking up 400 people into nine working groups dealing with the environment, climate, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, water and green economy. The groups are expected to report in late February so the administration can produce a draft plan by April.

“It’s got a lot of people energized,” said Michael Barrette, who works at the Environmental Protection Agency but also helps manage the Capitol Hill Energy Co-Op. “The mayor seems to be serious about getting citizen volunteer engagement, so we are really optimistic.”

The Sustainable D.C. Web site has generated hundreds of ideas, including building sports fields on the site of the old RFK Stadium, putting farms inside abandoned buildings, planting more trees, and a citywide ban on the use of Styrofoam and road salt.

Some suggestions seem far-fetched, such as charging a toll to enter the city or creating another “Central Park” in the city, in addition to the Mall. Others appear parochial, such as a suggestion the city remove the asphalt at Brent Elementary in Southeast.

In an interview, Gray said he views the initiative as way to help fulfill his goal of creating more jobs and foreign investment while also rallying a socially-liberal city behind a common goal.

“We have to set our sights high and innovate, but that is exactly how we will win,” he said. “To get there, we need to work together.”

With the city budget still constrained by the recent recession, Gray concedes that some costly initiatives may be out of reach during his administration. Complicating his efforts, the city is nearing its debt limit.

One likely proposal by the Sustainable D.C. energy working group — requiring most buildings to instill solar panels — could cost as much as $7 billion in public and private money over 10 years.

“We are after fundamental change,” said Robert Robinson, a member of the group. He said part of the cost would be offset by tax credits and energy savings.

Washington already is home to the nation’s largest bike-sharing system, 200 LEED-certified buildings and a 5-cent tax on plastic bags, and government experts say the District is well positioned to compete with other cities that lead the pack in sustainability efforts, such as Seattle, Portland, Ore., Denver and Chicago.

“In a weird way, the District, as a state and city, is the most interesting place potentially in America because they have a blending of state authority and local authority,” said Kevin S. McCarty, assistant executive director at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “The District to me is a bellwether of what is achievable in the absence of any federal involvement.”

D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), author of the city’s bag tax, said Gray should be applauded for engaging the public. But Wells said he is not sure whether Gray has the political appetite to tackle the issue in a major way, which the council member said would require tough decisions on new plans to reduce the number of cars on city streets.

Wells added that Gray will have to change some of his own behavior, saying both the mayor and the council often serve bottled water during meetings.

“What does that tell the public?” Wells asked.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-mayor-planning-environmental-initiative/2011/12/09/gIQAVqAgqO_story_1.html

DC Hemp Politics

D.C.'s Capitol Hemp Stores Raided

Updated: Thursday, 27 Oct 2011, 11:40 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 27 Oct 2011, 10:56 PM EDT

Maureen Umeh
maureen.umeh@foxtv.com

By MAUREEN UMEH/ myfoxdc

WASHINGTON - The owner of a D.C.'s Capitol Hemp says the police raid of his two stores in Adams Morgan and Chinatown Wednesday night was politically motivated.

Adam Eidinger says his store is being targeted because of his opposition to a proposed luxury hotel development.

Six employees and one customer were arrested and hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise was confiscated.

Everyone arrested was eventually released and the charges of possession with intent to distribute, lowered.

Capitol Hemp says sells clothing and food made from hemp, as well as tobacco and accessories.

Eidinger says his business in Adam's Morgan has been open for 4 years. The Chinatown location has been open for two years. He says there have never been any problems or violations.

He says, "I've been told if I speak out against this hotel I might lose my business. I guess yesterday was an attempt top shut me down."

D.C. police haven't said why they raided Capitol Hemp.

Eidinger is one of a growing number of people in Adam's Morgan who are opposed to a proposed 10-story luxury hotel that will be located behind a historic church at Euclid and Champlain Streets.

The developer is set to get $46 million tax abatement.

Eidinger says it's unfair.

He says the community could use a library instead. He and about 10 others staged a protest outside a planning and zoning meeting Thursday night.

"People in this neighborhood feel intimated by this hotel," Eidinger says, "They are ramming it down our throats."

Ward 1 Councilmember, Jim Graham supports the hotel.

He says, "It's not that there's money that's actually being used. We're saying if you open a hotel, you won't have to pay taxes."

Graham says he doesn't believe the raid at Capitol Hemp's two locations had anything to do with the development.

He says it's far from being a done deal.

"There's a lengthy public process, and hopefully the dialogue can be uplifted a little bit".
Eidinger says he will continue to speak out.

He isn't sure what it will mean for him or his business, but he says it's important that someone stand up against what he believes is corporate greed.

Eidinger says, "Our business paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes last year to local government. We're not getting tax breaks. Why is Marriott getting a break? We're sick of this."

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/dcs-capital-hemp-stores-raided-102711

DPW: public transportation is a pain in the rear

By: Liz Farmer | 10/17/11 4:03 PM
Examiner Staff Writer Follow Her @LizFarmerDC

At a hearing Monday morning on how much the city spends on its fleet of vehicles (or what we're calling the Don't Pimp Your Ride hearing), D.C.'s director of the Department of Public Works revealed his disdain for getting around on public transit.

William Howland Jr., who often drives himself around in his city vehicle, said he needs a driver for days when he has back-to-back meetings downtown because "it's just difficult to get around to meetings just on public transportation." He'd drive himself but parking down by the John A. Wilson Building is nearly impossible and it's more practical to be dropped off. Such is the life, sometimes of an agency director, he said.

Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, former chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Works and Transportation and a champion of public transit, quickly took offense. What kind of message does that send residents that city officials are being chauffeured everywhere, he asked.

"I’m not willing to hear that because you have a lot of meetings, you have to have a car and possibly a driver because you can’t park there," Wells said. "That’s just not the city we live in anymore. At least it shouldn't be."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/10/dpw-public-transportation-pain-rear

HPV Immunization - Bachmann Got It Right - Who Else Does Merck Have In It's Pocket?

Lot of press about HPV today due to Michelle Bachmann's questioning of Rick Perry. The Washington Post did an article about Perry's connections to Merck, the manufacturer of the HPV immunization drug Gardasil. This is the link to the article - http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/perry-has-deep-financial-ties-to-maker-of-hpv-vaccine/2011/09/13/gIQAVKKqPK_story.html?hpid=z1&sub=AR
Following are comments I left on the article -


While I adamantly disagree with Michelle Bachmann on most things when she refers to crony capitalism, she is on to something.
I live in DC which requires this immunization unless parents opt out. On the strong advice of my daughter's pediatrician (female), we have opted out. Dangerous might ruffle some sensibilities but anyway you stack it up, there have been very serious side effects from this drug and the overall benefit / protection is at best questionable.
This immunization is first about profits for Merck. Somewhere down the line it might be about women's health but if you think that is the driving factor, I have a bridge to sell you. As I follow it in DC, by being required by government, Merck is absolved of liability. Pretty good deal for Merck, bad deal for for girls.
This immunization was approved by the FDA barely 5 years ago in 2006. Within a couple of years, Merck had succeeded in getting it required for school entry in countless jurisdictions. There was no great public out cry for this - it took Merck a lot of lobbying and yes MONEY to get it required. If Merck thought this drug was so needed, why would they need it required by government and thus relieve them of liability? If it is so good, why wouldn't people seek it out? Because it isn't so good.
By having the vaccine required by law it guarantees Merck a paying market and no liability - wow! I'd spend a lot of money too if I could have a business model like that!
Further, here in DC, the language is less than clear. After filling out the opt out, we still received a notice from the school nurse yesterday (how ironic) about our daughter not having it. Nowhere in the language of the letter does it say parents can opt out just because they want to - it refers to opting out for religious and/or medical reasons. Not exactly full disclosure.
In DC, David Catania is the man who pushed this requirement through the City Council. I would love the Post to do an article about his ties to Merck. This is crony capitalism at it's best.

When Did Jim Graham Know His Chief Of Staff Was A Crook?

FBI tapes used to paint different portraits of former D.C. Council staffer

By Victor Zapana and Del Quentin Wilber, Published: June 7

Surreptitiously recorded audio and videotapes made by the FBI during a lengthy undercover sting of the D.C. government and the taxi industry were played in court for the first time Tuesday as prosecutors and defense lawyers sought to paint two very different portraits of a former top D.C. Council staffer being sentenced on corruption charges.

Prosecutors said the tapes prove that Ted G. Loza, a former chief of staff to council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), used his status to enrich himself as he accepted thousands of dollars in cash and free trips from a man seeking to influence legislation. Defense lawyers pointed to those same tapes as evidence that Loza was only accepting gifts from a close friend.

Loza, who pleaded guilty to accepting illegal gratuities and making a false statement, has admitted that he accepted $1,500 from an FBI informant who sought his help to influence legislation beneficial to some in the taxicab business. Loza, whose hearing continues Wednesday, will face eight to 14 months in prison when he is sentenced under federal guidelines by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb played 11 audio and videotapes of calls and meetings between Loza and Abdulaziz Kamus, an advocate for Ethiopian cabdrivers, who was working closely with businessmen in the taxi industry.

Kamus, who later pleaded guilty to bribery charges and became an FBI informant, and the businessmen were seeking legislation that would make their investments in the industry more profitable.

During a November 2007 phone call between Loza and Kamus, the staffer asked his friend for financial help, according to the tapes. “If possible,” Loza asked Kamus, “can you raise a little money for us to go on this trip” to El Salvador?

Within days, Kamus met Loza outside the John A. Wilson Building and handed the council aide $500 in cash, according to FBI special agent Jay Greenberg, who testified Tuesday.

In 2008, Kamus gave Loza a $500 or $1,000 “Father’s Day” present to spur taxi legislation; soon, he handed over an additional $2,000 in cash and a digital camera as a reward for getting a law passed, Greenberg said.

Kamus started working as an undercover informant in 2009, and the FBI began videotaping his meetings with Loza. That June, Kamus gave Loza $1,000 in cash as a second Father’s Day present. “Is this just a gift?” Loza asked Kamus. “What do you want me to do? I’ll talk to Graham.”

A few days after more taxi legislation was introduced by Graham, Kamus gave the staffer $500. “You know, I need it,” Loza told Kamus as he took the cash in Kamus’s car.

During that meeting, Kamus also handed Loza $2,600 in an envelope to pass along to Graham — money the council member did not accept, according to officials. During a meeting videotaped later, Loza returned the money to Kamus.

Graham said in an interview that he told Loza to immediately return the money but was so shocked by the experience that he did not call authorities.

“I accepted nothing of value, including cash, from anyone who may have had an intention of attempting to influence legislation,” Graham said.

While prosecutors sought to portray Loza as a corrupt official — “Was Ted Loza Abdul Kamus’s father?” Crabb asked Greenberg after the Father’s Day payments were disclosed — attorneys for Loza argue that he was only accepting gifts from a friend.

They noted that the aide had scant influence in the legislative process, that the taxi bills were popular and that Loza was a good friend of Kamus’s. During one videotaped meeting, Loza hugged Kamus and said, “I love you.”

“These were just gifts, not bribes,” said Pleasant Brodnax, one of Loza’s attorneys.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fbi-tapes-used-to-paint-different-portraits-of-former-dc-council-staffer/2011/06/07/AGpwBRLH_story.html

Details emerge in FBI effort to investigate D.C. Council’s Jim Graham

By Del Quentin Wilber and and Victor Zapana, Published: June 8

D.C. Council member Jim Graham sat in his office, an envelope stuffed with $2,600 in his hands. He had just been given the cash by a trusted aide, who said it came from a businessman.

After a minute or so, Graham said, he shut the flap, secured it with tape, and initialed and dated the envelope. As he handed it back on that July afternoon in 2009, Graham (D-Ward 1) told his chief of staff, Ted G. Loza, to return it immediately.

“I think I saw that in a movie someplace, where you have to initial it,” Graham said in an interview Wednesday. Aspects of the encounter first emerged in federal court Tuesday during a sentencing hearing for Loza.

Loza, the former chief of staff who passed Graham the money, has pleaded guilty to corruption charges tied to his acceptance of $1,500 in cash gifts from an FBI informant — the same man who had asked him to give the cash to Graham.

Graham said that he was shocked by the attempted payment and that he did not report the matter to authorities. In retrospect, he said, he should have. But he insists he never suspected that the cash or his aide were connected to illegal activity. “I trusted him,” Graham said of Loza. “I was angry at him, though.”

What Graham didn’t know as he examined the envelope was that the money was really from the FBI. The attempted payment illustrates how investigators working a long-running, wide-ranging inquiry into the D.C. government’s ties to the taxi industry tested the longtime council member.

Graham has not been charged with any crimes related to the probe, which has resulted in the arrests of more than three dozen people — mostly would-be taxi drivers seeking to illegally buy licenses. Loza, Graham’s longtime confidante, is the highest-ranking D.C. official to be ensnared.

That federal agents had focused on Graham in their inquiry was widely known, but little has emerged about the government’s efforts to investigate him. As recently as this week, federal authorities refused to say whether Graham was, or is, a target of their inquest into the taxi industry, code-named “Cash Cab.”

But Graham said the money wasn’t the FBI’s only attempt to see whether he was corrupt. Agents tapped his phones, he said. And, he says, an undercover agent posing as an investor offered him a lavish trip to Miami to discuss potential projects in the District. “I had no idea why they wanted me to go to Miami to discuss that,” Graham said. “That’s why I said no.”

At his 63rd birthday party in 2008, Graham said, he accepted a colorful portrait of himself as a gift from the Ethiopian community. He said he later learned that the FBI had paid for it. Tempted to report the painting on disclosure statements as an “unsolicited gift” from the FBI, Graham said he thought better of it. “I was advised not to antagonize them further,” said Graham, who keeps the portrait in a closet.

William Miller, a spokesman for the District’s U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment “on any aspects” of the case. FBI agent Kate Schweit, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, also declined to comment.

The disclosure of the cash payment and Loza’s sentencing, which is to continue this month, come at a challenging time for elected officials in the District. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) has been dogged by accusations that his 2010 election campaign struck a deal with a fellow candidate and rewarded the man with a job and cash payments. D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown (D) is under investigation for unreported fundraising from his 2008 campaign, and questions remain about his role in having the city government procure the leases of two expensive sport-utility vehicles. And council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) has been accused of diverting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and charity funds for personal use.

Legal experts said Graham did not appear to break the law in failing to alert authorities to the attempted cash payment. In not doing so, however, he opened the door to questions about his conduct. The D.C. Council’s ethics code urges its members to report activity that they know or “should know” might be illegal.

“I can make that argument he was under no obligation to report it because it’s not clear on its face what it is,” said Steven Levin, a former federal prosecutor who focused on public corruption matters. “It’s not clear it’s bribery. It’s not clear it’s a thank-you. It’s not clear it’s a campaign contribution. Out of an abundance of caution, a smart councilman should have reported it, if only to protect himself from later accusations.”

The FBI got close to Graham through an FBI informant named Abdulaziz Kamus, an advocate for Ethiopian taxi drivers and a close associate of powerful figures in the D.C. taxi industry. Kamus, who pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges for his role in the influence-buying scheme, allowed agents to secretly record him giving cash to Loza while in his car as he sought legislation beneficial to some in the taxi industry.

After accepting a $1,000 “Father’s Day” present from Kamus, Loza asked the man: “What do you want me to do? What do you want me . . . I’ll talk to Graham.”

A month later, again in Kamus’s car, the informant gave Loza $500 after the aide handed him copies of taxi legislation that had just been introduced by his boss.

Kamus then passed Loza an envelope filled with cash. “And this is for council member Graham,” he told Loza, “for introducing, you know, the legislation.”

Kamus told Loza the money was from the businessman — the undercover agent — who got a refund after Graham refused the first-class airline ticket to Miami.

“And if he doesn’t take it?” Loza asked.

On July 23 — nearly two weeks after trying to give Graham the money — Loza returned the cash to Kamus during another videotaped meeting in the informant’s car. After Kamus counted the money, Loza told him that Graham wanted to “thank you for the intention but he can’t take it.”

Loza encouraged Kamus to have his associates donate to Graham’s constituent services fund. Two months later, Loza was arrested.

Staff writer Mike Debonis contributed to this story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/details-emerge-in-fbi-effort-to-investigate-dc-councils-jim-graham/2011/06/08/AGs0EXMH_story.html

Can't Blame The Youth

I have met and talked with Harry Thomas a number of times since before he was elected to the DC Council. I know him through baseball. Most recent time I saw him was over the past winter at a baseball practice facility in Maryland. He was there with his son and I was there with my son. These are serious charges; a sad day.

D.C. attorney general: Council’s Thomas diverted public funds

By Mike DeBonis and David Nakamura, Published: June 6

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. intentionally diverted more than $300,000 in public funds intended for youth baseball programs and spent it on a luxury sport-utility vehicle and personal travel, Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan said Monday.

In a lawsuit filed in D.C. Superior Court, Nathan alleged that Thomas (D-Ward 5) used the funds for his Team Thomas organizations to purchase a $59,000 Audi SUV and pay for jaunts to Las Vegas and Pebble Beach, Calif. Nathan seeks to force Thomas to repay the city money that he is accused of rerouting to his operation, plus damages and other costs totaling more than $1 million. Thomas denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations represent the latest in a series of scandals that have tarnished the District’s top elected officials and given the appearance of a government in disarray. Nathan announced his findings just hours before former mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown (D) testified under oath at a council hearing that Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) gave him improper payoffs and a job in a quid pro quo to smear his key opponent.

Several council members also are caught up in political controversies, including neglecting to account for campaign donations, failing to pay taxes and purchasing luxury vehicles with taxpayer funds. The scandals are weighing on a city trying to rebound from an economic slump and last year’s divisive mayoral campaign.

“We are extremely disappointed in this violation of public service by Mr. Thomas,” Nathan said, calling his behavior “willful, intentional and knowing. ”

Nathan has asked U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen to consider filing criminal charges against Thomas. William Miller, Machen’s spokesman, said federal prosecutors have been investigating Thomas.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is aware of the referral and will review the information . . . as we continue our investigation,” Miller said in a statement.

Thomas, the son of a respected three-term council member who died in 1999, vowed to fight the allegations. “There is no settlement that I would make that would imply that there was some wrongdoing on my part,” he told reporters in front of the John A. Wilson Building.

Thomas, who arrived at his news conference in the blue Audi, said he would provide proof that the money was spent on sport programs and maintained that his business paid for the vehicle. He added that he would not resign his council seat or step down from his chairmanship of the powerful Economic Development Committee.

Timothy Day, a Republican who first raised the accusations against Thomas during an unsuccessful campaign to unseat him last fall, called his alleged actions “a disgrace” and added that “his lifelong quotes of giving back to the children were false. He clearly gave more to himself.”

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown (D) said in a statement that he was “greatly disheartened” by the allegations. Brown met with Thomas on Monday and said he would issue “a plan of action” Tuesday.

Nathan’s allegations again bring unwanted attention to a council marred for months in embarrassing political controversies.

Gray is accused of giving jobs to unqualified campaign supporters. Brown has been rebuked for purchasing a luxury SUV upon assuming office in January and for his failure to report a quarter-million dollars in donations during his 2008 campaign for a council seat. Council member Michael A. Brown (D-At Large) failed to pay city property taxes, and member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was censured and stripped of his committee chairmanship last year for giving a city contract to a former girlfriend.

Thomas’s supporters said they would wait until the lawsuit is fully heard before judging the council member.

“From a community perspective, it’s pretty regretful these allegations have been made,” said Angel Sherri Alston, an advisory neighborhood commissioner who is president of the Ward 5 Democrats. “These are very serious allegations, but there is still a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Until then, we will keep council member Thomas in our prayers.”

The allegations concern two district groups controlled by Thomas: a for-profit business created in 2004, which remains active, and a now-defunct nonprofit group created shortly after Thomas joined the council.

The nonprofit group never obtained federal tax exempt status, the lawsuit alleges, and it was never licensed to accept charitable contributions. Yet it collected some money, largely through a pair of fundraisers held at Langston Golf Course, and Nathan alleges they paid for travel and a Washington Nationals suite worth $696, not the youth sports programs Thomas advertised to donors.

In his report, Nathan also lays out a scheme in which Thomas is alleged to have used his influence to send taxpayer money to his Team Thomas groups.

In 2007, the council voted to budget $400,000 for “youth baseball programs” via the Children and Youth Investment Trust Corp., a public-private intermediary that offers grants to nonprofits serving youths. Although the council did not identify a specific organization to receive the money, Thomas, it is alleged, directed the trust to give it to the Langston Golf Course.

A grant of $392,000 was sent to the course’s foundation, Langston 21, whose board of directors included the longtime resident golf pro and Thomas friend James Garvin. Nathan’s lawsuit alleges that Garvin helped reroute three-quarters of those funds back to the Team Thomas organizations.

Nathan said Monday that Thomas’s council staff fabricated documents for the Langston 21 foundation, describing programs and sports camps that never existed and never mentioning Team Thomas. Yet the council member personally picked up checks from Garvin and Langston 21 President Marshall Banks made out to Team Thomas, Nathan said.

On Feb. 8, two days after picking up two checks worth $75,000, Thomas took a cashier’s check to Tischer Audi in Silver Spring, where he used it to buy a 2008 Audi Q7 4.2 Quattro Premium SUV, Nathan alleges.

The cashier’s check and a $9,000 trade-in for his Dodge Durango weren’t quite enough to complete the purchase. To pay the $1,074 difference, Thomas used the Team Thomas charity’s debit card.

According to Nathan, the vehicle was initially titled under HLT Development, but Thomas had the car retitled in his own name in May 2009. To justify the nearly $60,000 apparently spent on the Audi, a report provided to the Children and Youth Investment Trust included an invoice for $58,472 worth of training equipment. Langston 21, according to the lawsuit, saw none of that equipment.

Last fall, Thomas called the initial allegations against him a “useless fishing expedition,” and he sought to portray himself as a victim of a political vendetta by then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and Peter Nickles, Fenty’s attorney general. Frederick D. Cooke, Thomas’s attorney, called Nickles’s probe “blatant retribution” in one court hearing.

Nathan, appointed by Gray, assumed the investigation in January after Nickles left office. Observers questioned whether Thomas, as a Gray ally, would be subject to as tough a probe under Nathan.

Nathan said the Langston 21 foundation has agreed to pay the city $86,000 for the portion of the earmarked funds that it did not pass on to the Team Thomas groups. Vandy L. Jamison Jr., an attorney for Banks and Garvin, declined to comment.

Staff writer Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/politics/dc-attorney-general-councils-thomas-diverted-public-funds/2011/06/06/AG1gFdKH_story.html

DC: Lack Of Littering Consciousness

I have made littering complaints to the MPD only to be told that there is nothing they can do about it - makes no sense that littering laws are designed to be impossible to enforce. This will be somewhat of an improvement but I tend question how much - don't expect the trash on the streets to go away anytime soon.



Police step up littering enforcement

By ELIZABETH WIENER
Current Staff Writer
May 4, 2011

A pilot program to help police enforce the city’s antilitter laws took off cautiously in parts of wards 4 and 5 this week. If it works, officials say, the rest of the city will find police ticketing and fining litterbugs later this year.

The pilot, based on a 2008 law, authorizes the Metropolitan Police Department to require litterers to give proper identification so they can be issued a ticket carrying a $75 fine. Police can issue the tickets to those who toss cans, bottles, cigarette butts and other trash into public space and waterways. Previous law allowed drivers to be ticketed for littering, but the new law applies to passengers as well.

Police officers will have to witness the violation in order to write a ticket.

For the first month, police will issue only warnings; the actual fines will kick in on June 1. Offenders who do not give their correct name and address could be fined an additional $100 to $250 by the D.C. Superior Court.

At a press briefing last week, Mayor Vincent Gray noted that past city litter laws have lacked teeth because police couldn’t force offenders to identify themselves unless they were actually arrested. But, he said, littering is a serious enough problem that “we have to bring the force of law to bear. This program helps us to do that.”

A2008 report states that the District government was spending about $20 million a year picking up litter, and that littering and other quality-of-life offenses are often linked to neighborhoods in decline and more violent crime.

Police spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump said the Metropolitan Police Department’s 4th District, which covers most of Ward 4 and parts of Ward 5, was chosen for the pilot because littering is an “oft-mentioned concern” in the community. She said police need to test out new ticketing forms and a new adjudication process by the Office of Administrative Hearings for several months to see if future changes will be needed.

“We hope to implement training and launch citywide enforcement around mid to late fall, at the earliest,” Crump wrote in an email.

Meanwhile, the existing law, which allows police to cite motorists for littering, will continue to be enforced citywide. Police have always had the authority to stop cars and demand a driver’s license, and there’s already a $100 fine for drivers who litter from a vehicle.

Fourth District Cmdr. Kimberly Chisley-Missouri notified residents about the new anti-littering effort last week, winning a string of compliments and suggestions on neighborhood listservs.

“Excellent news,” wrote one resident. “I encourage 4D to be on the lookout for littering at and around the Autozone” on Georgia Avenue.

“Please give attention to the 7-Eleven Store” on 3rd Street, someone else wrote.

Others lamented the time they have spent clearing away coffee cups, carryout trays and other trash from bus shelters, and they noted the “folks who tend to clean their cars out at/near a stop sign” on Blagden Avenue. They said the police should focus their efforts on such litterers.

Litter laws are widely applauded but have been hard to enforce. In 2008, a D.C. Council committee report noted that although police already had authority to issue tickets, they first had to “ascertain the identity of the person to whom the ticket is being issued,” and that offenders were simply refusing to give their names.

Then police officials suggested they be allowed to ticket litterers the same way they ticket jaywalkers, under a law that requires offenders to provide their true name and address under penalty of a fine. Neither law requires any offender to carry official IDs.

A bill passed by the council late that year explicitly requires individuals stopped for violating litter laws to provide police with their name and address. It also gives police authority to stop a car and cite a littering passenger. The law took effect in March 2009.

But nothing in the D.C. bureaucracy is simple. Crump explained that enforcement took another two years because amendments were needed to clarify that laws protecting the confidentiality of juvenile offenders did not apply to civil violations like littering. Otherwise, the Office of Administrative Hearings, which handles adjudication, would have had to establish “extensive confidentiality procedures” for juveniles caught in the act of dropping trash, she wrote.

Crump said the new anti-litter program will not distract police from other higher-priority public safety efforts. “MPD is not going to become the ‘littering police,’” she wrote. The Department of Public Works and the Mayor’s Office of the Clean City will continue to take the lead. But “police officers, with their round-the-clock presence, can be an important part of the routine enforcement.”







http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%2005.04.11%201.pdf

Deception & Corruption, The Gift That Keeps Giving

Ahhhhh, just love that corruption............. new boss, like the old boss. What's a little nepotism? I think Kwame Brown thinks we are all idiots. As voters put up with him, maybe he is basically correct. Recall?

Brown's campaigns paid friends, family

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown's campaigns have a history of hiring companies owned by close friends that then paid his family members.

An audit of Brown's 2008 re-election campaign for an at-large council seat revealed this week that Brown paid nearly $400,000 for get-out-the-vote efforts to Banner Consulting, which was owned by the treasurer of his 2004 campaign. Banner then in turn hired Partners in Learning, owned by Brown's brother Che Brown, and paid it $240,000 to provide the same services, the audit by the office of campaign finance said.

In 2004, when Brown first ran for office, a similar system ended with cash payments for his brother and father, campaign finance reports and media reports at the time show.

Three days after Brown won the Sept. 14, 2004, Democratic primary, he hired Capitol Solutions Group LLC. The company was owned by Kevin McGhaw, who had run Brown's campaign through the primary. Finance reports show the 2004 campaign has since paid $78,400 to Capitol Solutions. The majority of payments ??-- $64,000 -- were made in 2004, but the most recent was for $3,333 on July 31, 2010.

Che Brown and his father, Marshall Brown, told the Washington Post in January 2005 that Capitol Solutions paid them a total of $7,500 for working on the 2004 campaign. The two had been paid about $24,000 directly by Brown's campaign from August 2004 through May 2004, but the payments stopped after Brown's opponents criticized him because of them, media reports said.

Che Brown has not responded to requests for comment from The Washington Examiner.

Other campaigns have hired Capitol Solutions, including Linda Cropp's 2006 mayoral campaign. Finance records show the company was also sometimes reported as Capital Solutions, and when Cropp hired the company, payments totaling $382,000 were sent to Marshall Brown's address on 16th Street NW. Payments from Kwame Brown's campaigns went to a post office box in Maryland.

Attempts to reach Marshall Brown through at-large Councilman Sekou Biddle's campaign were unsuccessful Wednesday. Biddle has paid Marshall Brown $5,000 for a "salary/stipend" as Biddle fights to retain his seat in an April 26 special election.

Kwame Brown hired both companies - Capitol Solutions and Banner - at times when his campaigns appeared to need little help. In the 2005 Washington Post article, Brown said he hired Capitol Solutions even though his victory in the primary all but ensured success in the general election because he "wanted to win and get a mandate."

Brown told The Examiner Tuesday that he raised and spent $825,000 for a race when he ran uncontested in the 2008 Democratic primary because he wanted to overwhelm the opposition.

"When you talk about Kwame Brown and talk about how we campaign, we are the best ground operation this city has ever seen," he said.

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/04/browns-campaigns-paid-friends-family

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

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

Random Reasons For Not Supporting FentyRhee; The Dog Ate My Homework

Now that an election is on the horizon for DC mayor, some friends of mine have asked me about my reasons for "lack of confidence" in Mr. Adrian Fenty as the mayor of Washington, DC. So some random examples are in order - not an attempt at cataloging, just some random examples, as they present themselves, of moments that make me think I want better from political "leadership".

Fenty appeared before the DC Council this week to talk about his 2011 budget for the city. The budget includes a pay raise for teachers but fails to provide the funding needed to pay for it. From the following article from The Examiner, when questioned about the disparity, Fenty said that Rhee would answer the question later and asked council members to email him questions. Fenty's passing the buck to Rhee is just one example of why I often use FentyRhee and RheeFenty to describe them.

I scratch my head - he doesn't seem very prepared to me. For many I know, that wouldn't cut it at their job - make a presentation and leave out critical info? It wouldn't cut it for my son's 8th grade class. Throw in a little arrogance..... not a path to career success for most although it amazes me how well it works for some.

From The Washington Examiner,

Council grills Fenty over proposed budget

By: Alana Goodman
Examiner Staff Writer
April 13, 2010

.......................Council members also sparred with the mayor over how he would fund his proposed $101 million in pay raises for teachers. About $65 million of this tab would be picked up by private grants, while taxpayer dollars would fund the rest.

"We're talking about a huge sum of money here that I cannot identify in the budget. ... Where is it?" Chairman Vince Gray asked the mayor.

Fenty responded that Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee would answer the question during her testimony on Tuesday, but Gray shot back that "this is way above her pay grade."

"I don't think every mayor should know every dollar in the budget ... but we're talking about an issue involving education, which is your top priority," said Gray, who is challenging Fenty in the 2010 mayoral election.

Councilman Marion Barry also slammed the mayor for not indicating where the money would come from. "Let me ask you a question: Is this the chancellor's budget or your budget?" Barry said. "I think the mayor of the District of Columbia ... ought to be able to tell this council where the $100 million is coming from."

Fenty invited the council members to e-mail him or call him with their questions. "There are questions that I guess I'm not going to have the answer to sitting on the dais," he said.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-Council-grills-Fenty-over-proposed-budget-90691894.html#ixzz0l4uk1Y7a

Contract Scam Investigation

D.C. Council hires lawyer Robert P. Trout to probe recreation contracts

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 6, 2010; B05

In an escalation of its investigation into million-dollar city contracts awarded to firms with ties to the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, the D.C. Council has appointed well-known defense lawyer Robert P. Trout to further probe the contracts.

Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who has led the special inquiry into contracts for recreation centers since October, said Friday that he wants an independent examination of how the Fenty administration awarded the contracts without council approval.

The appointment of Trout, who will work pro bono, comes days after the council censured Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) following an independent investigation by Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, who concluded that Barry personally benefited from a $15,000 contract he secured for a former girlfriend. The council also unanimously voted to refer the public corruption allegations against Barry to the U.S attorney's office.

Depending on Trout's conclusions, the council could take the same approach with the contracts investigation, said council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D). "We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in contracts that were involved in this effort," Gray said Friday at a news conference at the John A. Wilson Building. "The testimony is stunning, shocking. . . . There's a lot of questions associated with this thing."

Four council committees launched a joint special investigation in October after learning that the Fenty administration had transferred millions of dollars to the D.C. Housing Authority to build recreation centers, ballfields and parks -- a process that skirted a law that requires council approval of contracts that exceed $1 million. Banneker Ventures, a firm owned by Fenty friend and fraternity brother Omar Karim, won a $4.2 million contract to oversee and select subcontractors for $82 million in construction.

Attorney General Peter Nickles has said that the contracts should have been submitted to the council for approval, but he deemed them legal and binding. In an interview Friday, Nickles said Thomas's goal is to malign Fenty (D). "Obviously, that's where this is headed," he said. "That's the motivation. It's political motivation. . . . It just seems to me it's being viewed by Thomas as a tit for tat."

Nickles said that he has provided documents to Thomas, the office of the inspector general and the office of the D.C. auditor, and that he would cooperate with Trout's investigation.

One of Trout's most recent clients was former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson, who was convicted of corruption after $90,000 in marked bills were found in a freezer in his home. On Friday, Trout said that he had been hired by the Montgomery County Council in the early 1980s to investigate corruption within the county's liquor-distribution operation, and concluded that there was no wrongdoing.

A. Scott Bolden, attorney for Karim and subcontractor Sinclair Skinner, said he expects Trout to draw the same conclusion in the contracts investigation. "While there may have been mistakes made, there was no criminal wrongdoing," he said. "It begs to question what the Trout investigation or Trout report will bring. Not one scintilla of evidence has been uncovered that someone or some agency engaged in criminal conduct."

Skinner, also a friend and fraternity brother of Fenty, has not testified before the council despite invitations and a subpoena to appear. Last week, Superior Court Senior Judge Stephen F. Eilperin ordered Skinner to appear before the council on March 24 or risk a $5,000 fine for non-appearance on that day and another $1,000 a day for continued no-shows.

Thomas said the investigation, which he hopes will wrap up in the next 45 days, could have ended earlier if witnesses, especially Skinner, had been more cooperative. "I don't know about you, I can't be left at the altar but so many times," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030503858_pf.html

Takes Money To Get Money - When Welfare Is Development

D.C. gives H Street developer $5 million tax break

By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
March 4, 2010

The D.C. Council has given a multimillion-dollar subsidy to a developer of the gentrifying H Street corridor. Without dissent, the council approved an emergency measure that grants a tax abatement to Steuart Investment Co., owner of the lot at the corner of Third and H Streets Northeast. The tax break is designed to help the Chevy Chase developer build a high-rise building with shopping, restaurants and apartments or condos. Under the law, Steuart's property taxes will be frozen at what it paid in fiscal 2010 for 10 years. The company then will pay a portion of taxes above the fiscal 2010 level through fiscal 2030. The breaks are capped at $5 million -- 7 percent of the project's expected costs.

Third & H Street project

» $67.5 million

» 42,000 square feet of retail, including a multi-story grocery store

» 210 apartments or condos

» Parking garage with up to 270 spaces

A planned grocery store gets its own 10-year tax break, but that isn't capped. In the fall, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi warned the council against the legislation because the city -- facing nine-figure budget gaps -- can't afford it. The legislation was championed by Councilman Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, who represents H Street. The Steuart development, he said, "is the linchpin to the revitalization of H Street." "H Street, since the riots of 40 years ago, has been a street noted by chaos, disorder, drug sales," Wells told The Examiner. "The street is really rebounding, but it takes investment and city help." Developers and city planners have been eyeing the H Street area between Third and 15th streets as a potential real estate gold mine as young professionals spill out of Capitol Hill and head north looking for nests. A series of boutiques and high-end restaurants and bars have sprouted on H Street in the past decade, and the city is planning to build a streetcar line there. In related legislation, the council also passed a bill that would allow business owners along H Street to obtain a property tax deferment this year. Wells said the deferments would help compensate owners whose businesses are being hurt by the city's reconstruction efforts on H Street. A similar law was passed last year. Two businesses inquired about the tax deferment, and one applied for it, finance office spokesman David Umansky said.

bmyers@washingtonexaminer.com

Finally DC Boosts Recycling Laws

D.C. to require cardboard, plastic recycling

By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
February 26, 2010

All property owners in the District -- commercial and residential -- will be required to separate cardboard and plastic containers from their regular trash under overhauled recycling regulations being proposed by the Fenty administration.

The revised rules also quadruple in some cases the fines for commercial property owners who repeatedly fail to properly recycle. Penalties for homeowners, generally $25, are not slated to change.

The amended regulations are an attempt to broaden the District's recycling collections and to discourage repeat commercial violations by holding down penalties for the first and second offenses, but hitting violators hard for subsequent wrongs.

The Department of Public Works in 2008 expanded the types of products it could recycle to include wide-mouth plastic containers, plastic toys, plastic lawn furniture and milk and juice cartons. But the agency only requires that newspaper, office paper, yard waste, metal and glass containers are separated from the regular garbage.

Plastic containers and cardboard can be tossed with the regular trash, for now, though some D.C. residents say they recycle those commodities today.

"I already do," said Tenleytown resident Beverly Sklover. "I would do it anyway. I think it's fabulous."

The District's fiscal 2009 residential recycling rate -- recyclables collected versus total trash thrown away -- was about 24 percent, according to DPW. But homeowners are responsible for only 30 percent of the District's trash.

The revised regulations target businesses, the most prolific trash producers, for more rigorous enforcement.

Amended fines for owners of commercial and apartment buildings would run from $200 for a first offense to $600 for a second within 60 days and $1,500 for a third within 60 days. Current penalties range from $25 to $1,000 per violation, depending on the size and type of building.

The District is right to save its harshest penalties for those who prove unresponsive to the rules, said W. Shaun Pharr, senior vice president of government affairs with the D.C. Apartment and Office Building Association. The size of the building, he said, "is completely unrelated to whether you've been making an effort to comply with the law."

The proposed rules are expected to be made available for public comment on March 5.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-to-require-cardboard_-plastic-recycling-85429237.html

DC Transportation Director - No Snow PLan

I take the following as a subtle admission that there was no plan........... ahhhh small government!! (or maybe it is small thinking government)....


District needs a major snow plan, transportation chief says

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 27, 2010; B01

The District has a plan for a snowfall of 18 inches or more: Major roads should be cleared to bare pavement within 36 hours and residential streets within 60 hours.

The problem is there's no plan for much, much more, such as the amount dumped on the region during the back-to-back storms earlier this month, said Gabe Klein, director of the District Department of Transportation.

"What we need is a different plan," he said. "A contingency plan. A major storm plan."

Klein acknowledged the weak spot at a D.C. Council committee hearing Friday on the city's recent snow removal efforts. Residents who testified complained of inconsistent street plowing, untouched alleys and sidewalks, and random trash collection.

The snowstorms proved a test for all the region's leaders. But Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) appeared to face much of the criticism, having set high expectations with his longtime focus on constituent services and the city's praised handling of a 20-inch snowstorm in December.

The Fenty administration initially stumbled during this month's first storm with an announcement that schools would remain open, a decision that was quickly reversed. It continues to be criticized for the menacing, Blob-like mounds of snow that remain on street corners, in alleys and between parked cars. A few residents brought photographs as proof.

Their complaints were backed by council members who questioned Klein and William O. Howland Jr., director of the Department of Public Works, about why some streets were plowed and others weren't.

"This is about these pockets that weren't dealt with," council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said. "In some cases, it was bizarre."

Klein said the record snow was too much for the city's equipment. The city has a supply of plows that were too large to squeeze through streets crammed by snow and ill-parked vehicles, he said. "There were, unfortunately, instances of plows hitting cars," Klein said.

City officials, led by Klein and Howland, realized that the District needed smaller heavy equipment. The city owns fewer than 10 small heavy-duty plows, Klein said, and contracted 56 more to help with snow removal.

In the future, the city might want to prohibit cars from parking on both sides of a residential street, Klein said, adding that it would have to weigh limiting parking against snow removal. When the city currently declares a snow emergency, vehicles are prohibited from parking on main roads, forcing them onto residential streets.

As for the alleys, Klein warned that plowing those back streets alone would have tripled the cost of removal.

Kathy Henderson, a former Ward 5 advisory neighborhood commissioner, praised the city's overall performance but said there should have been a plan for staffing during the storm. Henderson said she hated to wake up a driver asleep in his plow to tell him to get to a certain missed block "after your catnap."

She said residents who have been certified or trained to operate such equipment, including her, should be identified for emergencies. "I'd be willing to plow some streets," she said.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, said sidewalks that were to be maintained by property owners must be addressed. He pointed to Freedom Plaza, the open-air park across from the John A. Wilson Building and overseen by the National Park Service. The sidewalks and park were not cleared until well after the last storm. "Totally ignored," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022605835_pf.html

RheeFenty Evans Ellington School Drama - Round & Round We Go

Scroll to the bottom for the Post article that got the ball rolling - chronological from bottom to top most recent -

Ellington arts school staying put for now, Rhee says

By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 22, 2010; B01

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, moving Thursday to quell a storm of protest, said that the District has no immediate plans to move the Duke Ellington School of the Arts out of Georgetown but that it hopes to eventually build a new facility to replace the school's century-old home.

"Ellington will stay in Georgetown for the foreseeable future," said Rhee, who is scheduled to meet with members of the school's governing board Friday.

Rhee has been inundated with calls and e-mails from the school community since The Washington Post reported Sunday that the District had studied the cost of moving Ellington to the former Logan Elementary School building on G Street NE, near Union Station.

News of the possible relocation of Ellington, which draws its 85 percent African American enrollment from across the city for renowned music, dance, visual arts and theater programs, touched nerves still raw from the recent debate over Hardy Middle School, just two blocks to the north. Rhee triggered criticism last month when she announced the future replacement of Hardy Principal Patrick Pope, who oversees an art and music program that also draws a primarily African American student body. Looking to market the school more effectively to neighborhood families, Rhee announced that the principal of Georgetown's Hyde-Addison Elementary will run both schools next year. Many Hardy parents accused Rhee of trying to squeeze black students out of the newly remodeled Hardy, which she denied.

Ellington school leaders said word of the relocation study took them by surprise. Michaele C. Christian, president of the school's governing board, told Rhee in a letter Wednesday that she was "appalled" by the possible move, which had been considered without consulting the school community. She called the Logan site "woefully inadequate" and said the move "would eviscerate one of the most outstanding educational institutions in the District."

"Once again," Christian wrote, "we find ourselves distracted from the task at hand, creating the highest quality education that we can provide to our students, by politics and innuendo."

Rory Pullens, the head of Ellington, told parents in an e-mail Wednesday that any attempt to relocate the school will be fought. "We, as an institution, will not idly stand by while such plans are taking place and not have our voices heard!"

After speaking with Rhee on Thursday, however, Christian's tone moderated. "My understanding is there have been preliminary discussions about Ellington's needs, which are significant. And they were exploring various options for addressing those facilities' needs. I look forward to an opportunity sit down with the chancellor to address any residual concerns to put this all to rest."

Rhee declined to comment on The Post's report, based on a source knowledgeable with the internal discussions, that school construction czar Allen Y. Lew had been asked to develop a scenario for moving Ellington to Logan. She also declined to respond to D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who said in the same article that he supported the idea of moving Ellington to a more central location and opening a traditional neighborhood high school at the Georgetown site.

Rhee said the long-term solution for Ellington remains a new building, something the District can't afford right now. Anacostia, Wilson, Woodson and Eastern high schools are all undergoing complete reconstructions or major renovations over the next two years.

School officials say the cost of a new building, complete with a theater, dance and recording studios and numerous other arts-related needs, would be between $75 million and $85 million.

"I'm very clear that what the school needs is a great state-of-the-art facility," Rhee said. "If and when it becomes possible to do that funding-wise, we will fully engage with the Ellington community to make sure that where it's done and how it's done pleases the vast majority."

Addressing the controversy in an interview Thursday, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was somewhat more open-ended than Rhee in his comments. He said it was "too early" to say whether -- or how long -- Ellington would stay in Georgetown. Asked if he could guarantee parents that the school, which is scheduled to be renovated in 2012, would remain in Georgetown beyond that year, Fenty said: "No, in fact, the opposite. We're exploring all options for all of our schools."

But Rhee said there was no daylight between herself and the mayor on the issue. "We're always looking for the best options for all of our facilities."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104778.html



From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 21, 2010:

Fenty: Ellington not going anywhere, yet

I caught up with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty this morning and asked him to address the uproar over discussions about the possible relocation of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.The takeaway seemed to be that nothing is imminent, but that the condition of Ellington's 1898-vintage building raises questions about the school's long-term future in Georgetown.

Here is the entire conversation, which took place after a mid-morning groundbreaking for a new playground at the Arboretum Recreation Center in Northeast:

BT: The Duke Ellington community is pretty upset by what they've read recently.Can you shed any light at all on what the District's intentions are long term?

AF: I can't. I can't really shed any light, any more light, than what you've written in your articles, which I've been briefed on.

BT: Do you anticipate Ellington moving any time in the foreseeable future?

AF: I would just say it's too early to know what the entire future of all of our high school projects are. Our general commitment is that all of our high schools are going to get complete renovations and modernizations and Duke Ellington is long overdue.

BT: Duke Ellington is scheduled for renovations in 2012. But can you guarantee that Ellington will remain in Georgetown [after renovations]?

AF: No, in fact, the opposite We're exploring all options for all of our schools.

BT: What's wrong with it where it is?

AF:There's nothing wrong with the location. The building is completely run down and needs an overhaul. I think we're at stages now like we are with a lot of our high schools, looking at what is the best way to get a fantastic building for the Ellington students as quickly as humanly possible.

BT: Do foresee them at Logan temporarily?

AF: Again, I can't even commit to that. It's that early. We've got about four high schools, maybe more, that have broken broken ground. It's only those high schools we can discuss. The other ones, I have to defer to my facilities and programmatic experts who are kind of working everything out. Once they have something more concrete they'll present it to me, and if it makes sense then we'll present it to the greater community.

BT: Would you like to, like Councilman Evans has expressed, see a traditional, comprehensive high school in Ward Two around that location?

AF: One of things we want to do as we start to turn over the population, we've just gotten to the point where the population of the school system is growing, is to find ways to create more schools, that's elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.

BT: So you can see something like what the councilman is talking about?

AF: I can see in the future of the school system, and we've talked about this for the last three years, you know we had to make the consolidations early on. We just had too many schools close to each other, the resources were bring spread too thin. So going forward what we really hope is that as the population of the school system continues to grow, we'll do things like we've done at Oyster-Adams and other places where we have double campuses, open new elementary schools, new middle schools and yes even open new high schools. We're not at that point yet but it's the right goal for the city and I support it.

Follow D.C. Schools Insider every day at http://washingtonpost.com/dcschoolsinsider.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/01/_btthe_duke_ellington_communit.html

From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 20, 2010:

Ellington principal: "We will not stand idly by"

Duke Ellington head of school Rory L. Pullens hasn't returned my e-mails or phone messages to discuss the possible relocation of the Georgetown arts school, described Sunday in The Post. But he and members of the school's governing board, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project (DESAP), which met Tuesday, have plenty to say to the Fenty Administration, the D.C. Council and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.

Here's what Pullens sent home to parents Wednesday:

"I am sure that many of you are well aware of the newspaper article that ran in last Sunday's Washington Post about the possible relocation of Duke Ellington. We, as an institution, will not idly stand by while such plans are taking place and not have our voices be heard! I met with our governing DESAP Board on Jan. 19, and among the many strategies we are employing, is the attached letter to Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee, City Council, and others. This presents our official response and expectations of resolution. I will keep you posted on future developments in this most critical matter. Thank you for all your support today, and that support which may be needed in the future."

And here's the letter, signed by DESAP board president Michaele Christian:

"Dear Ms. Rhee:

I write on behalf of the Board of Directors of Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project, as well as the entire school community, to tell you that we were appalled by recent reports of a well developed proposal to move Ellington to a new location from its home at 3500 R Street, NW. Such a move, particularly to a facility as woefully inadequate as the suggested new site of Logan School, would eviscerate one of the most outstanding educational institutions in the District. It is shocking to us that the board of the school was not deeply engaged in even preliminary discussions, much less a fully developed plan, of such consequence to the future of the school, its students, and the entire Ellington community. Once again, we find ourselves distracted from the task at hand, creating the highest quality education that we can provide to our students, by politics and innuendo. We urge you and other District officials to recognize that Ellington's contribution to the education of a generation of talented students, as well as its tremendous success, in the face of continuing obstacles, in managing a dual curriculum of college preparatory academics and pre-professional arts instruction for its current student population of nearly 500, and to work with us, not against us, to create a world-class program.

Those who believe that Ellington can simply be moved to any other building do not understand the needs of a comprehensive arts high school. In addition to a college preparatory academic program, Ellington offers a wide variety of performing and visual arts programs that have special space needs. Since its inception, Ellington has worked within the current building structure to reach a point where, although it is certainly not perfect, does provide many of the facilities Ellington requires. Indeed, in the last five years, Ellington - together with its partners the Kennedy Center, The George Washington University, and many individual and corporate donors - has donated approximately $700,000 in funds and in-kind contributions to create such venues as a recording studio, a television studio, a professionally equipped theater, and a gallery to accommodate visual art works and the only high school museum studies program in the country. DCPS has also invested in Ellington, as a performing arts high school, by spending substantial sums to renovate high quality dance studios and other performance venues. Such facilities cannot be found in any other high school in the city.

If Ellington were to relocate, it should only be to a building that truly addresses the requirements of a school with Ellington's unique mission. These requirements would include:

-A safe location in which the school can safely operate a program that starts early and regularly involves student practice and rehearsals into the late night hours and weekends;
-A fully equipped performing arts theatre (not simply a school auditorium) with space for both rehearsal and technical design and production of major theatrical events, along with a black box theatre space and music recital hall;
-Several high quality dance studios;
-Several visual arts studios for both 2D and 3D art, graphic design and animation capabilities;
-A variety of large and small settings for vocal and instrumental music classes and practice rooms, insulated to keep sound from traveling;
-A full service audio recording studio and television production studio;
-A gallery for the exhibition of fine arts.

An example of such a facility is the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a performing arts high school in New York City recently built at a cost of approximately $78 million.

In addition, basic non-instructional operations costs including those for security, maintenance, cleaning and transportation to our partner institutions (George Washington University and the Kennedy Center) would increase with any move. As you know, our budget has not kept pace with our costs, to the point that we had to furlough teachers and staff this year. We are very concerned about the potential threat to our core curriculum that such additional costs would pose.

If the District cannot afford to build a new facility, then Ellington should remain in its present location and the District should proceed with the major renovation scheduled for 2012 to make this building an even better performing arts high school.

In stark contrast to a facility that would serve Ellington's needs is the Logan School, an elementary school built in 1935 whose sole qualification is its vacancy. Logan has none of the requirements listed above for a performing arts high school. While Logan could likely be renovated for purposes suitable to a school with only an academic program, no amount of renovation can change its location and structural deficiencies that make it unsuitable for a school with an arts and academic mission. In short, Logan is simply unacceptable. Ellington has a long history in its current location. It has successfully attracted students from all of the city's wards and, indeed, has had record applications in the past two years, including large numbers of students from outside D.C. public schools, and even the city.

In closing, as you might imagine, the entire Ellington community is now in complete upheaval over these recent events. The DESAP board would like to have an urgent meeting with you and other relevant city officials to discuss this nascent plan, and would also request that you meet with our parents and staff soon thereafter. The DESAP board will attempt to make itself available at a time of your choosing over the next few days. Please let us know which other city officials you feel should be present. In the press, Mayor Fenty and Jack Evans have been identified as participants in this planning, though of course Ellington is a citywide school and others will undoubtedly want to be involved. Meaningful engagement with Ellington on this critical issue has been lacking to date. The location of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and its facilities are far too important not to be addressed in a thorough and deliberative manner, and the involvement of those who know how to operate a performing arts high school with a full academic curriculum is essential. Please let us know how to proceed to schedule these meetings as soon as possible so that we can all get back to educating our students.

Sincerely,

Michaele C Christian, M.D.
On behalf of the DESAP Board of Directors

cc: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
Mayor Adrian Fenty
Council Chairman Vincent Gray
Councilmember Jack Evans
Councilmember Yvette Alexander
Councilmember Marion Barry
Councilmember Muriel Bowser
Councilmember Kwame R. Brown
Councilmember Michael A. Brown
Councilmember David Catania
Councilmember Mary M. Cheh
Councilmember Jim Graham
Councilmember Phil Mendelson
Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.
Councilmember Tommy Wells

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For all the Post's Education coverage, please see http://washingtonpost.com/education. Or follow us on our Facebook fan page, or on our Twitter feed "PostSchools".

By Bill Turque | January 20, 2010; 8:12 PM ET



From The Washington Post web site - D.C. Schools Insider blog by Bill Turque, dated January 19, 2010:

Cafritz "stunned" by Ellington scenario

Duke Ellington School of the Arts co-founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz says that if the District is contemplating a move for the Georgetown school, it is doing so without speaking to any of its partners.

"No one has spoken to me or to the chairman of the board," said Cafritz, referring to Michaele Christian, president of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Project (DESAP) board, one of two that helps govern and finance the institution along with the District.

The Post reported Sunday that District officials have estimated the cost of moving Ellington into the former Logan Elementary School near Union Station, with an eye toward turning its current home into a traditional neighborhood high school for Ward 2. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) backs the idea.

District officials have so far said only that there are a number of different scenarios they are looking at for Logan. But Cafritz, a former D.C. school board president, said she was reliably informed over the weekend -- she declined to say by who -- that school construction czar Allen Y. Lew had also commissioned drawings that show what Logan would look like as a new home for Ellington, but without the input of anyone connected with the school or familiar with its needs. (I have a request in to speak with Lew)

Cafritz said she was "stunned" by the Sunday article, and the idea that the much smaller Logan could ever be a suitable location for Ellington.

"I've had tons of meetings in Logan," she said. "It's absurd. It's beyond the pale." Cafritz said that while she supports Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, she added: "This administration has a tendency to decide it is going to do something and then to just do it."

The issue will almost certainly come up at tonight's meeting of the DESAP board, she said.

By Bill Turque | January 19, 2010; 8:17 AM ET

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/01/cafritz_stunned_by_ellington_s.html





And the article that kicked it off:

Ellington arts school might be moved out of D.C.'s Ward 2

By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 17, 2010; C01

The District is studying the possibility of moving the Duke Ellington School of the Arts out of Georgetown and converting the building at 35th and R streets NW into a high school to serve Ward 2 families.

Representatives of Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and school construction czar Allen Y. Lew said no decision has been made and that there are no immediate plans for a move. But Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) strongly backs the idea, and a source familiar with the discussions, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals from officials in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration for discussing internal deliberations, said Lew's office has developed cost estimates for relocating Ellington to the former Logan Elementary School building on G Street NE near Union Station.

Logan housed the School Without Walls for two years before the high school returned to its newly renovated Foggy Bottom building in the fall.

Tony Robinson, a spokesman for Lew, and Jennifer Calloway, Rhee's spokeswoman, issued identical statements Friday: "The Administration has no current plans for the Logan School, but as it has recently become vacant with the return of SWW to their renovated Foggy Bottom Campus, we are beginning to research an exhaustive list of possibilities for the building."

Pressed about cost and who asked for the study, Robinson said, "That's all they would let me say." Robinson said he was referring to Fenty's office.

Ellington is unique among District public schools: It is operated as a joint partnership between the city, the Kennedy Center and George Washington University. Co-founded in 1974 by former school board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz and the late director-choreographer Mike Malone, it draws its nearly 500 students from across the city for traditional academics and an intensive program of vocal and instrumental music, dance, visual arts and theater. Many faculty members are working artists, and alumni include comedian Dave Chappelle and opera star Denyce Graves. Incoming students must audition as part of the admissions process.

Word of discussions about Ellington's future comes as Rhee has been working to retain a larger proportion of Ward 2 families in the public school system after they leave the elementary grades. In November, she replaced Patrick Pope, principal of nearby Hardy Middle School, which has an art and music program that also draws a primarily African American student body from outside Ward 2. Looking to market the school more effectively to neighborhood families, Rhee announced that Pope would be succeeded at the end of the school year by Dana Nerenberg, principal of Georgetown's Hyde-Addison Elementary, who would run both schools.

Parents at Hardy, which completed a $48 million renovation, have said that Rhee is trying to squeeze African American students out of the middle school, a claim she denies.

Evans has long supported converting Ellington -- the former Western High School -- back into a regular "comprehensive" high school and moving the arts magnet to a new home in a more central location for its citywide student body. He points out that Ward 2 is the city's only ward without a neighborhood high school.

"I would say yes, I'm interested in exploring the opportunity to create a new Ellington at a more centralized location and a new full-service high school for Ward 2," Evans said. He added that he is at "the very beginning stages" of discussing the idea with Rhee and Fenty (D) but then said: "Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee move quickly on things. Things happen fast."

Ellington Principal Rory Pullens did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment.

Some Ellington parents said they had heard rumors of a possible move and found them disturbing.

"Most of the parents I talked to are not happy, not happy at all," said Glennette Clark, a Ward 5 resident whose daughter is a junior literary media major. She has scheduled a "living room meeting" next month for Rhee to speak with some Ellington parents.

"Our feelings are that this is more an economically driven" move, Clark said. "Times being what they are, parents in that community want their kids to be able to go to a school that they don't have to pay for."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011602748.html