Too Many Curbside Dumpsters!!!

  In my area of Columbia Heights, I see contractors use dumpsters as transfer stations for other projects and leave the dumpsters out for months. There needs to be a time limit and a restriction about using the dumpster no parking area for contractor vehicles.

Georgetown seeks ban on curbside dumpsters

By GRAHAM VYSE

Current Staff Writer

October 1, 2014

Georgetown’s advisory neighborhood commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to request that curbside dumpsters be banned — or at least severely restricted — on residential streets in their community.

Commissioner Tom Birch said he and his colleagues still need to take their proposal to D.C. officials, but they said the time had come to prevent dumpsters used during home renovations from taking up so much space in Georgetown.

“We’re all familiar with the use and the proliferation of dumpsters in our neighborhood,” he said. “They’re available for long periods of time. The permits are cheap. They’re easily renewable.” As a result, Birch said, they are taking up an increasing number of parking spaces and jutting out onto narrow residential streets, frustrating residents.

Moreover, most dumpsters may be unnecessary because contractors working on home renovation projects in the area usually have access to waste removal trucks, he said. One resident told Birch her family had renovated four different houses in Georgetown without ever using a dumpster.

As of now, it costs a contractor only $75 for a permit to keep a dumpster on a D.C. street for a month. Birch said the District should consider emulating Old Town Alexandria, where a contractor would have to pay $1,900 to keep a dumpster out for that amount of time.

Commissioner Dennis Quinn said he supported Birch, but he would have “a very keen eye on making sure that policy outcomes are limited to Georgetown.”

Quinn expressed concern about advocating for higher permit fees in other neighborhoods without first consulting community leaders there.

But Birch pushed back, saying “some things will only happen if they’re applied citywide.”

“I would suggest that this problem may be a serious bother to the residents of other neighborhoods across the city,” he said.

Birch also said commissioners would need to be prepared to take on a wide array of dumpster-providing companies in the region that might fight against new regulations.

“I suspect there’s a dumpster lobby out there,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Concerns about dumpsters in Georgetown have arisen before. Earlier this year, the office of Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans began working with the community on potential solutions.

http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%2010-01-2014.pdf

Deals That Get Better And Better (What Shmucks)

City's options limited under Banneker settlement

By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
July 8, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com

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



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


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

July 6, 2010

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

Dear Mr. Nickles:

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

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

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

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

Sincerely

Phil Mendelson, Chairperson
Committee on Public Safety & the Judiciary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He remains a visible volunteer on Fenty's campaign.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EPA To Require Rainwater Collection In DC

If this goes through as planned, it will mean major changes to Washington, DC, construction practices. I don't quite follow the five year part though - a developer might decide to wait it out especially for a project in the fourth or fifth year of the project.

EPA proposes rainwater-trapping rules for D.C.

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 22, 2010; B10

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Wednesday to require "green roofs," rain barrels and other measures that trap runoff at new and redeveloped buildings in the District, making the city a test case for an ambitious effort to stop pollution from flowing into rivers along with the rain.

The EPA's plan, contained in a proposed permit for the District's storm-sewer system, would require developers to trap 90 percent of the water that falls on a plot during a storm.

Water usually hits roofs and parking lots and runs into sewers, carrying trash and chemical pollutants. Under the permit, that water would be filtered naturally, through plants and dirt, or be caught in a receptacle for use watering plants.

If developers cannot make the changes, the EPA proposed, they would be required to pay for projects elsewhere.

The EPA will seek public comment on the plan, which would last five years. If approved, it would mean a major shift in thinking for a city covered in glass, concrete and shingles. EPA officials estimated that some buildings currently might trap 30 percent of rainwater with gardens or landscaping. At sites where the buildings are surrounded only by concrete, the number could be zero.

In the EPA's plan, "you're using water on site as an asset, rather than a waste product," said Jon Capacasa, director of the water protection division of the EPA's mid-Atlantic regional office. He said the changes were part of a larger effort, begun with a presidential order last year, to improve the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. "The local water bodies need these levels of [storm water] control to be healthy," he said.

Capacasa said the plan would make the District's rules on rainwater among the strictest in the country.

In the past few months, Virginia and Maryland have proposed similar measures to trap and filter rainwater. But house builders and other developers said they would add vast new costs to their projects. Virginia shelved its plan, and Maryland made some alterations that developers demanded.

The EPA plan for the District would require developers to trap the first 1.2 inches of rain that falls during a storm (it would require federal buildings to trap the first 1.7 inches). In that way, it is more restrictive than the proposal that was shot down in Virginia, and tougher on redevelopment projects than Maryland's rules are.

A D.C. Building Industries Association official said she could not comment Wednesday because she had not seen the details of the permit. An official with the D.C. government declined to comment for the same reason.

Rainwater is an unlikely sounding, but important, source of pollution for the Chesapeake, bringing down more than 10 percent of the two pollutants that cause "dead zones" downstream. Environmental groups applauded the EPA's proposal Wednesday, saying it would also reduce the amount of mud and garbage washed down during storms.

"Less of that storm water flowing into the river is going to mean less trash," said Brent C. Bolin of the Anacostia Watershed Society. "You'll be able to see the difference."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/21/AR2010042104929.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

Private School Seeks Public Space

An editorial from the Northwest Current, December 9, 2009, followed by a response a week later:


A dream of fields

Neighbors have rejected the Maret School’s proposal to construct an athletic field at Ward 4’s Upshur Park in exchange for exclusive access to the space from 3:30 to 6 p.m. during the school year.

While we thought Maret’s plan was worthy of consideration, we respect the residents’ decision and appreciate the considerate way all parties handled the discussion.

Access to parkland is a sticky subject in Northwest D.C., where many private entities find playing fields scarce and residents carefully guard their public spaces. Any plan that would appear to take over a public park is certain to face resistance, especially when a well funded private school is behind it.

Even though Maret requested access for only two-and-a-half hours a day, the idea of restrictions on a public field can be unappealing to many.

Residents were also understandably concerned that the changes to the park would make it less useful to the community. And some noted that the work could impact the D.C. Parks and Recreation Department’s plans to rebuild a playground and install a dog park there.

Maret officials said they are always looking for fields and would still be interested if community members change their minds. Perhaps once the city-funded work — expected to begin in the spring — is done, the parties can revisit the idea.

http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%20Dec.%209%203.pdf

(page 12)


From the Northwest Current, December 16, 2009:

Maret field proposal was not fully vetted

VIEWPOINT
CHARLES G. MYERS

Your Dec. 9 editorial “A dream of fields” started with a misconception. Neighbors did not reject the Maret School’s proposal to construct a first-class athletic field at Ward 4’s Upshur Park in exchange for exclusive access to the space from 3:30 to 6 p.m. weekdays during the school year. In fact, Ward 4 Council member Muriel Bowser rejected the proposal without consulting the neighborhood at large.

I have lived four blocks from the park for 35 years and raised two children without the benefit of adequate park or athletic field space in our neighborhood. I am currently a member of the board of the Friends of 16th Street Heights Parks and was present when representatives from Maret presented their proposal to our group in August. This was several months after their initial presentation to us in a meeting at the Department of Parks and Recreation headquarters.

After much discussion, we concluded that the existence of too many opinions — ranging from enthusiastic support to pointed skepticism — prevented the group from taking a formal position on the proposal. Instead, we recommended that community meetings be held to obtain a broader sense of our neighbors’ thoughts on the proposal’s value.

This was conveyed to Council member Bowser in a meeting in early September that included Ximna Hartsock, then interim director of the parks department. The proposal had been sketchily presented at an Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4C meeting a month earlier, but it was the last topic at 9:30 p.m., after all but a few of the attendees had left, and it had not even been on the published agenda.

Maret’s proposal to the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation was to spend as much as an estimated $4 million to construct an artificial turf field, substantially larger than the current field, without encroaching on the 2010 plans to rebuild the pool and park space already there. The school said the area would be large enough for overlapping full-size baseball, football and soccer fields. Maret expected exclusive use of the field for two-and-a-half hours weekdays during the school year and roughly five hours on three or four Saturdays in the fall. It also planned to use the field some of the two weeks before Labor Day, although that time was never specifically defined. The Department of Parks and Recreation would then have been able to manage the remaining time for both open community use and permits for use by youth and adult sports groups.

The project promised to solve a number of problems the community has faced for many years. The current softball field and tiny soccer play space are mud holes in wet weather and too small for use by any sport other than baseball for 10-year-olds. Youth sports organizations in our neighborhood suffer from a shortage of quality athletic fields, and we have no artificial turf field in Ward 4. The Columbia Heights community has few parks large enough for pickup soccer games.

The arrangement would have provided Maret exclusive access for approximately 12 percent of daylight hours during the year and would have been in place for 10 years. After this, Maret would have relinquished all rights unless an extension was negotiated. The community would have gotten a first-class field maintained by private funds while benefiting thousands of children and adults within our community — at no cost to the taxpayer.

After the meeting in September, Council member Bowser told the Department of Parks and Recreation that she did not want to pursue this opportunity. I asked her why in a conversation several weeks later. She said the community did not want it. I pointed out that the community members had never been given a chance to voice their opinions in a public meeting with the proposal fully visible.

It is unfortunate that our neighborhood was not given an opportunity to review the proposal and to decide its value for ourselves.

Charles G. Myers is a resident of Crestwood.

http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%20Dec.%2016%201.pdf

page 11

Fenty Hanky Panky

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Northwest Current
Council refuses to ratify contract

■ Parks: Legislators return
project funding to agency

By ELIZABETH WIENER
Current Staff Writer


The D.C. Council yesterday refused to ratify a controversial construction management contract to oversee a dozen stalled park and recreation projects. Council members said the $4.2 million contract with Banneker Ventures is, in the words of Ward 3 member Mary Cheh, “irregular and unlawful — on all levels unacceptable.”

The council then voted to return funding for the individual projects to the embattled Department of Parks and Recreation. Actual construction will be overseen by the Office of Public Education Facilities Management, headed by Allen Lew, who has won wide praise for actually getting numerous facilities renovated or built.

“This is not a perfect solution, but it allows projects to move forward without circumventing the laws of the District of Columbia,” said Ward 5 member Harry Thomas, who chairs the committee on parks and recreation. “We resent having the council put in the position to clean up a mess not of our own making.”

“We have projects with clearly problematic contracts, and on the other hand, communities promised these projects,” said Council Chairman Vincent Gray.

Tuesday’s unanimous vote was the latest step in a saga that began in October, when the council learned that nearly $50 million in parks department funding had been funneled through the city’s economic development office to the D.C. Housing Authority — all without council approval.

The total amount at issue is now close to $100 million. The council is supposed to review all contracts for more than $1 million. Tuesday’s vote rejected a $4.2 million program management contract awarded to Banneker Ventures, which was supposed to oversee individual park projects across the city.

Attorney General Peter Nickles asked the council last Friday to approve the contracts retroactively. Without emergency action, he said, the individual projects would run out of money and be stalled.

They include improvements to Justice Park and the Parkview Recreation Center in Ward 1; parks at 7th and N streets and 10th Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Ward 2; the Guy Mason Recreation Center and Newark Street dog park in Ward 3; Raymond Recreation Center in Ward 4; and five more facilities in the eastern part of the city.

Nickles said emergency action was needed because the council froze the transfer of funds for the projects while it investigated the contracting scandal.

“Abandoning any of the projects would likely result in additional costs due to civil actions and claims from involved parties,” the attorney general wrote. He recommended quick council action “to avoid construction delays, community frustration and costly litigation.”

But the council was not swayed. It takes nine votes to pass emergency legislation, but even normally reliable allies of Mayor Adrian Fenty and his administration would not buy in.

“We cannot move the city forward on the basis of illegal contracts,” said at-large member Michael Brown, a frequent Fenty critic.

The council will also ask Nickles to conduct a “full investigation” of possible illegalities. Cheh said the inquiry could result in the recovery of money already spent and “consequences” for city employees who approved “unlawful actions.”

An oversight hearing last Thursday revealed further irregularities like those that have already eroded the council’s confidence in the handling of capital dollars. The project management contract awarded to Banneker Ventures has caused particular concern.

For example, council members learned that Liberty Engineering and Design, a subcontractor for Banneker, has already received some payments in violation of the original contract. That document says subcontractors can’t be paid until their individual contracts are approved by the housing authority — which hasn’t happened yet.

Housing authority officials testified that Banneker submitted six invoices after its contract was finalized in July, some reflecting work done before the contract was officially signed. Four were paid, according to Deborah Toothman, the housing authority’s chief financial officer.

The total paid so far is $1.9 million, including $387,850 invoiced for Liberty Engineering, owned by Sinclair Skinner, an outspoken friend and fraternity brother of the mayor. Omar Karim, Banneker’s founder, testified that Skinner is also a friend of his, and had
worked as a volunteer for his firm two years ago.

Adrianne Todman, the housing authority’s interim executive director, said she read the Banneker Venture contract this fall, realized that subcontractors like Liberty should not be paid yet, and held up payment of the last two invoices. “Prior to my reading, there was some misinterpretation [of the contract] among my colleagues,” Todman testified.

Skinner was asked to appear at the hearing, but he declined. He will be subpoenaed for another council oversight session Dec. 21.

The council also learned that, on the eve of its latest oversight session, the housing authority board voted to approve an amended contract with Banneker, upping the total cost of projects it would oversee from $50 million to $99 million. Under questioning, officials said the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development requested the action.

Todman said parks projects added to the original contract had increased that contract’s scope, and the board needed to approve the increased dollars before the document was presented to the council. “The intent is that the contract that would finally get to the council reflect the full scope,” she testified. “The intent is to be more transparent.”

Again, council members were skeptical. “I was flabbergasted when [economic development officials] recommended they increase it from $50 to $99 million,” said Ward 8 member Marion Barry. “What made you think this was the solution?”

“You’re just giving away the people’s money,” said at-large member Kwame Brown. “Whoever signed this contract should be fired. And in the middle of this, the DCHA board approves a bigger contract?”

Council members also pointed out that some of the projects in the Banneker contract were either not approved by the council — a separate process from approving contacts — or not funded for the current year.

In response to queries from The Current, a spokesperson for the economic development office
acknowledged a “mistake” in plans to upgrade the Chevy Chase Recreation Center and playgrounds on Livingston Street, one of the projects assigned to the housing authority and then to Banneker Ventures.

Spokesperson Sean Madigan said his office had submitted a “reprogramming” request to the council last February to move funding for the project up from 2012 to 2009. “We assumed it had been approved and we proceeded with work. But the reprogramming was actually not approved,” Madigan wrote in an e-mail.

The Banneker contract also includes at least two projects — Parkview in Ward 1 and the N Street park in Ward 2 — that council members said they have not specifically authorized. “Funding was originally made available out of a general improvements line and some members believed we should have submitted for a reprogram, yet we disagree,” Madigan wrote.

Karim, Banneker’s founder, testified under subpoena at the council hearing last week. He said he started the firm five years ago “to change the world, starting in Washington, one neighborhood at a time.” The firm now has nine employees, including staff with engineering, architecture and law degrees.

Karim, also a fraternity brother of the mayor, denied any favoritism in the award of the project management contract. “Possible government missteps” do not involve his firm, he said. “I have nothing to do with any government function,” he testified.


http://www.currentnewspapers.com/admin/uploadfiles/NW%20Dec.%2016%201.pdf

Fenty Frat Bros Get Happy; Oh What A Scam!

Hmmmmm... if you don't get it, you don't get it... so says the Post's ad.....

So let's see - when is a fee charged by a contractor to a subcontractor a kick back? Apparently not in Fentyland. I hire you to do some work for me and I can charge you a fee? That is a kick back.

And the Council says blah blah blah - when if they didn't know about these shenanigans, they were asleep on the job. Can we spell c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n? Catania and K. Brown act shocked, surprised, etc, but they have merrily gone down many of the Fenty scam paths. There is a rat in the kitchen.

And Sinclair Skinner? Before Fenty became mayor, Skinner was running a dry cleaner on Georgia Ave. NW and carrying on with basically homo-phobic and "anti-white" public ranting and ravings. He sponsored a pamphlet (The Georgia Avenue Defender) and neighborhood posters attacking Councilmember Jim Graham as "Gramzilla" that included some pretty strange cartoon depictions of Graham. Now Skinner has a design and engineering firm and DC government contract. Oh the things that can happen when your friend becomes Mayor.



The above is one of the cartoon posters Mr. Skinner had posted throughout my community in 2006. See City Paper article: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cover/2006/cover0811.html?navCenterTopImg


Contractor chose Fenty-linked firms
Council fired up at hearing; Catania says deals must be reviewed.

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 31, 2009

A firm owned by a friend of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's that was selected in a controversial arrangement with the D.C. Housing Authority to oversee a dozen recreation construction projects gave work to other companies with ties to the mayor, according to testimony and documents revealed at a D.C. Council hearing Friday.

Council members, still angry at their discovery last week that at least $82 million in contracts were funneled through the Housing Authority to build the facilities -- a process that circumvented the council's authority to approve contracts worth more than $1 million -- were combative at times with members of the Fenty administration who testified at the day-long hearing.

Banneker Ventures, owned by Omar Karim, a fraternity brother of the mayor's, was chosen to oversee all the projects in partnership with Regan Associates of Herndon, whose principals are major donors to Fenty's reelection campaign.

Records show that subcontracts went to RBK Landscaping and Construction, owned by Fenty's longtime friend Keith Lomax, and to Liberty Engineering and Design, owned by fraternity brother and friend Sinclair Skinner.

Several council members, including David A. Catania (I-At Large), who has often supported the mayor's initiatives, called the contracts illegal and insisted that they go before the council for review.

"The worst thing you can do is dig in your heels," Catania told city administrator Neil O. Albert. "Your office will be well-counseled to bring them back to us as expeditiously as possible. . . . This is not a water-under-the-dam moment."

Attorney General Peter Nickles has said that the contracts are "legal and binding." Some members have said the council could turn to the courts to resolve the dispute.

Albert said he would consult the city's legal team to see what is possible. He said there are 12 to 19 projects worth between $82 million and $86 million, all overseen by Banneker, which he said won a competitive bid to be the program manager of the projects. He said no contracts, other than one with Banneker, have been signed.

Albert and others from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer who testified before the council explained how the projects were built by transferring money from the Department of Parks and Recreation to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to the Housing Authority to the D.C. Housing Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Housing Authority.

Albert said the process was used to get projects done faster, to save money and to utilize the Housing Authority's capacity to oversee the projects.

Rachna Butani, director of HRGM Corp., a D.C. construction firm, said the process was not transparent. She and her father testified that HRGM bid on the subcontracts that Banneker oversaw.

Butani said the firm's representatives gave her little information when she was offering her proposal to renovate Park View Community Park. She said they told her to use $250,000 to $500,000 as a guide to come up with her proposal. Her bid was rejected, and she later discovered that the project cost $1.2 million.

"There's no evidence to me that that project should be $1.2 million," she said.

Council members also were concerned to learn that Banneker collected a nine percent fee from contractors. It was unclear whether the fees were standard, but council members said they were troubled over the layers of fees that were being applied in the process. The city government also paid a management fee to the Housing Authority.

The contract between the Housing Enterprise and Banneker to manage the recreation projects gives Banneker a fixed fee of $4.2 million and bonuses ranging from $150,000 to $200,000, depending on timely completion. Banneker uses the money to pay its partner, Regan Associates, as a consultant. Banneker also has the right to charge the subcontractors that the firm selects to design and build the projects a nine percent fee.

Albert testified that Banneker also managed the $50 million construction of the Walker Jones Education Complex, which opened in August, and the $33 million project at the Deanwood Community Center, which is to be completed next year.

Albert said that those contracts were also awarded through the Housing Authority and that he believed they also did not receive council approval.

Albert praised Banneker for completing projects "on budget and on time."

The commendation irked council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), who questioned why Banneker is also a subcontractor of Jones Lang Lasalle, a real estate management firm. As the subcontractor, Karim is a consultant to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on various projects.

He also questioned whether an employee in the deputy mayor's office who was working on the recreation projects is a former employee of Banneker.

During their back-and-forth, Albert giggled at one point. "It's funny. Isn't it funny?" Brown asked, clearly upset. "This is serious."

"If you don't have a small sense of humor, I apologize," Albert said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/30/AR2009103003607.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Shaw Development - Upcoming

Reposted from the Shaw Listserve:

Shaw Development Meeting Info
Posted by: "Stephanie Marie" dolci76@yahoo.com dolci76
Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:25 pm (PDT)

Hi All
My neighbor and I attended the Shaw Main Streets Development Forum at the convention center this evening, and I thought I would share with you all the projects happening in our neighborhood.

1- Douglas Development Properties. This company has several projects going on in Shaw. At 641 S Street, the Wonder Bread Building, the development is on hold. They are "victims of the times" and are having a hard time getting leasees. They are not sure when this project's construction will begin. 1234 9th Street is the Longview Gallery which will also have a restaurant on the same block. They have a restaurant group interested. 7th and New York Ave, office space and retail is planned. The buildings will be restored and unboarded soon. 7th and Florida Ave. This was a Popeyes, and they are in the leasing phase now. They are taking their time to get quality leasees. They had turned down offers from places that "need bullet proof glass", sell single malt beverages, cash checks, and serve fast food. There is interest from Nike regarding the property. They will not lease to "undesireable" tenants who have already approached them.
They are holding out for quality tenants and will take their time. At the 9th St strip near convention center, they plan on leasing to restaurants.

2- 1501 9th Street- Inle Development. Now a vacant car lot across from Shiloh Baptist on the corner of 9th and P Sts, the property will be developed into a Burmese restaurant with a few floors for seating and a bar. I believe the developer said the building would be fifty feet tall. Outdoor seating is also planned. The restaurant owner will take up the top of the building as a residence. As everyone else, they ran into financing hiccups, and the banks were hesitant with a non-chain, mom-pop restaurant. However, they plan to breakground in 1-2 quarters, with a grand opening set for the holidays of 2010!!!

3- Addison Square at Kelsey Gardens, 7th and P Sts. The developer has PUD approval from the DC government. There will be 54 affordable apartments, with the rest at market-value. The bank is holding them up, and HUD is doing some underwriting. The developer said that things are moving "slower than slow" due to the economy. They plan to start building next summer, and demolition starting late spring, early summer 2010. As soon as demolitiion is done, they have to be ready to develop immediately because there will be a huge hole there since the current buildings are deep in the ground. The street level of the buildings will have restaurants (one white-tablecloth place, and one more casual, but not fast food), and retail. There will also be a parking garage.

4- Media One Center (formerly Broadcast One Center) and Howard Theatre. The Media One Center will be along 7th St between S and T Sts. There have been economic roadblocks, but they have "weathered the storm". They will get in the ground before the end of 2009. Construction of Media Center One will take 24 months to complete, and will have office, retail and apartments. 25% of the apartments will be afforable. Radio One and TV One make-up Media Center One. Radio One will sign a 15-year lease, and TV One is affiliated with Comcast, so the worries expressed about the financial status of Radio One and TV One should no longer be a concern for people. They have pledged $250,000 in scholarships to the community, and will offer students internships. TV One will have a jumbotron outside showing its broadcasts. Howard Theatre (www.howardtheatre.com) will take 13-14 months to construct, and is located on T St. It will be a soundstage and a
restaurant. There will be community programs to teach local chidren jazz. The 100th anniversary of the theatre is in 2010, so the developer is committed to breaking that ground before the year is over so that come Winter 2011, the theatre will be open for a grand 101-yr celebration. The restauranteur interested in setting up in the theatre is negotiating a 20-yr lease, which is apparently unheard of.

5- City Market at O Street. The developer of City Market at O St is also a member of the Shaw Main Streets Board, and is very vested in the community. In 2008, all of their equity partners disappeared. They have been able to secure a $2.5 million pre-development grant, and the start date is September 3, 2010. On that date, they will begin the first phase, which is the revitalization, restoration and stabilization of the O Street Market. The new Giant will be in the marketplace, taking up 7th St between O and P Sts. There will be a coffee shop on the corner of 7th and O Sts, and a cafe inside the Giant. The Giant will be 54,000 sq ft of selling space. That does not include the prep-space for all of the prepared foods, etc. The closest size supermarket is the new Safeway, which totals 54,000-56,000 sq ft but that includes all of their prep space. There will be murals along the building on 7th and P Sts, done by local artists. The
murals will depict food and Shaw history. The current Giant will close January 15, 2011 and will be back up and running in 24 months (they are planning for 18 mos). Demolition of Giant will start Feb 2011. They plan to reopen 8th St between O and P Sts to limited traffic. There will also be retail, a gym, restaurant (6,000 to 8,000 sq ft), senior housing, 260 market-rate apartments, a hotel, condos and 567 parking spaces. The condos will face 9th St, and the hotel lobby will be at 9th and O Sts. The Giant, apartments, senior housing and hotel will be built first. The apartments and senior housing breakground Feb 2012.

That is the major news, in a nutshell. As a sidenote, we learned that there is a project at 7th and R Sts for 96 rental units, all afforable, but there is a lot of tweaking left. We also learned that Marriott owns land around 9th and L Sts, and will build two smaller hotels along with retail, before the big Marriott Marquee is completed.

We are well on our way to be a destination here in Shaw, and not just somewhere to pass through!
Thanks
Stephanie on Marion

Hazardous Waste and History Mix On D.C. Tour

Hazardous Waste and History Mix On D.C. Tour By Yamiche Alcindor Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, September 21, 2009 The manicured lawns and beautiful brick homes that line the streets of Spring Valley look like those in most affluent District neighborhoods. But the area looked much different during World War I, when the Army was using it as a testing ground for chemical weapons. On Sunday, visitors on a tour of the neighborhood heard how, 90 years after scientists ended their experiments, the remnants of toxic munitions remain. "The purpose of the tour is to encourage more historical research, investigation and cleanup here," said Kent Slowinski, who led more than a dozen people on the walk. "We want to raise awareness in both Spring Valley and nationwide." He and Allen Hengst co-founded "Environmental Health Group: Spring Valley," a group that advocates for more research into the locations and health effects of the chemicals. The one-mile walk was part of more than 120 free WalkingTownDC tours, presented by Cultural Tourism DC, that took place across the District over the weekend. During World War I, 661 acres of forested land around the American University campus were used for Army tests. The range became known as the American University Experiment Station. In 1993, a construction crew's discovery of an artillery round triggered an evacuation and cleanup of the area. Experts have since been scouring the neighborhood for buried munitions and chemicals. Workers have found several toxins, such as arsine, a vomiting agent called DA or Clark 1 and liquid mustard, a type of blistering agent. Slowinski, a landscape architect who grew up in Spring Valley, became interested in 1996 when a stonemason with whom he was working found munitions at a home in Spring Valley. For two hours Sunday, Slowinski, who has given several tours of the area, pointed to various campus buildings and houses where hundreds of chemical munitions might be buried. He began at the university's Ohio McKinley Hall, the birthplace of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service. He pointed to trees, football fields and green patches around the university and neighborhood where he believes munitions still lie. Slowinski also talked about homeowners whose health problems might be linked to the neighborhood's past. "It's terrifying," said Chris Cottrell, 22, a senior at American University who took the tour. "There are dangerous munitions buried on campus, and I don't think most students even know about it. This is like the first thing the university should tell students about." Aaron Lloyd, 38, grew up in Spring Valley. Less than a decade ago, his stepfather found munitions buried in the back yard of the home where Lloyd grew up and where his mother had kept a garden. "It's very disturbing," he said. "Someone had to have known about these chemical weapons before 1993." Nan Wells, an advisory neighborhood commissioner from Spring Valley, said she hopes that the tour will help engage the public. "We need follow-up studies to know the health effects," she said during the tour. She also hopes that the Army Corps of Engineers, which along with the D.C. Department of the Environment is overseeing the cleanup and destruction of the munitions, will continue to fund the project. For fiscal 2010, the corps has allotted $11 million to the cleanup effort. The number drops to $3 million in fiscal 2011 and $500,000 the following fiscal year. Nazzarena Labo, 36, a epidemiologist, said more research needs to be done before health effects from the munitions can be determined. "It's very hard to go from anecdotal evidence to causation," she said. "People shouldn't be scared or anxious. But they should be concerned." Slowinski ended the tour at 4825 Glenbrook Rd., a vacant house where cleanup workers found a laboratory vial last month that tested positive for the World War I blistering agent mustard. The home's owner had a brain tumor and eventually moved away, Slowinski said. American University has since bought the house, where cleanup continues.

William Jordon on the case - $11.4M "View 14" Development Bailout

Seems William Jordon was a little ahead of the Post on details of developers with their hand in the till....... see Good Ol' Socialist Capitalism from May 26, 2009 --- On Wed, 2/25/09, William Jordan <whj@melanet.com> wrote: From: William Jordan <whj@melanet.com> Subject: [columbia_heights] $11.4M "View 14" Development Bailout To: southcolumbiaheights@yahoogroups.com, columbia_heights@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 9:30 AM VIEW 14 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2009". http://www.dccounci l.washington. dc.us/images/ 00001/2009010816 1933.pdf When I going through the schedule to find the time and date of the DDOT Performance & Budget Hearing, I came across a hearing for a bailout plan for the View 14 Condo development at 14th St & Florida Ave. NW for $5.7M or $11.4M is opportunity costs are included(such projects were pedaled as increasing the tax base not taking away from it.). My first question has to do with the affordable housing component of the bailout. The legislation talks about setting aside 6000sqft as affordable to those making up to 80% of AMI or about $72K/yr. I searched through the PUD hearing transcript and found that 15,000sqft was proffered for the affordable component. Is the 6000sqft in addition to the 15,000sqft or is it a reduction? My second question has to do with the approach to this bailout. I've noticed that tax waviers from real estate and transfer taxes is commonly being used to achieve public policy goals. Usually, this has been none for non-profits and public/private partnerships, but more and more for purely commercial developments. My question , is anyone aware any legislation like this in the pipeline or on the bookss to support the development of our small business retail corridors such as the 1400 block of Park Rd., 14th St North of the Tivoli, 11th St or Georgia Ave? Based on presentations I've seen I kow that the business on the 1400 Block of Park or the small businesses going into DC USA could use such a boost. William __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar URL to this page on the web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/columbia_heights/ Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity 6 New Members Visit Your Group Give Back Yahoo! for Good Get inspired by a good cause. Y! Toolbar Get it Free! easy 1-click access to your groups. Yahoo! Groups Start a group in 3 easy steps. Connect with others. . __,_._,___