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Good morning, Thanks for the feedback. I will not be including the PDF of the clips in the daily email. Also, let me know if I miss a story that you think should've been included. Feedback makes the clips better.
Best, Karyn-Siobhan Robinson a/k/a DC Government Clips
Twitter: DCGovClips
D.C. Government/ D.C. Council media clips: Monday, November 15, 2010.
Missed Friday? http://bit.ly/9xcS3l
D.C.'s new mayor gets ready to pick his business team - Capital Business (Washington Post)
D.C. agencies spent $60,000 on travel after Fenty ordered freeze - Washington Post
Getting a leg up on D.C. Council - Washington Post
Out in the Cold - New York Times
New York Times Slams Wells’ Homeless Services Legislation - City Desk (Washington City Paper)
Tommy Wells Tweets Response To New York Times - City Desk (Washington City Paper)
Vince Gray to D.C.: Have Some Civic Pride - Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Barry Blasts DHCD For Buying MLK Properties - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Mayor will pick board to oversee D.C. medical marijuana program - Examiner
D.C.'s West End ANC takes stand on Stevens - Washington Business Journal
Take your pick: Smart growth or affordable housing - Examiner
Financial mismanagers in D.C. -- Part 1 - Examiner
Top teachers have uneven reach in District - Washington Post
A new crop of D.C. charter school hopefuls learns the ropes - Washington Post
Interest in opening D.C. charter schools surges - Examiner
Saunders: Parker gambit 'absolutely pathetic' - D.C. Schools Insider (Washington Post)
D.C. parents denied access to children's juvenile justice records - Examiner
The Politics Hour - WAMU (Includes link to listen to show)
D.C.'s new mayor gets ready to pick his business team
By Jonathan O'Connell
Capital Business (Washington Post)
Capital Business (Washington Post)
Monday, November 15, 2010; 4
One of the the top questions as Vincent C. Gray prepares to enter office is whom he will choose as deputy mayor for planning and economic development. With the city's unemployment rate still above the national average, Gray says he wants a deputy mayor who will focus not just on advancing dozens of real estate projects but on developing the city's workforce. He has named two people outside of the core real estate community -- Barbara Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, and former George Washington University president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg -- to tackle economic development issues for his mayoral transition team.
Gray's transition team declined to address potential appointments, but here are some potential contenders for either deputy mayor or other key development posts, based on interviews with more than two dozen real estate professionals and people with close political ties to Gray.
Gregory A. O'Dell, chief executive, Washington Convention and Sports Authority -- O'Dell worked in the deputy mayor's office in the early days of the Fenty administration, when the economy was still breathing and projects could be hastened with some Adrian M. Fenty-style vigor. He went on to oversee construction of two of the city's largest and potentially most transformative projects, the Nationals Park and now the convention center hotel.
O'Dell is known as a hard-working, nonpolitical professional who gets along well with others, but who wasn't interested in the job when it came open under Mayor Fenty.
"If there is someone that Gray is going to keep," said Merrick Malone, former deputy mayor and current president of the D.C. Building Industry Association, "he would be the one."
Gray could also go after Allen Y. Lew, the hard-charging head of schools modernization.
Milton Bailey, president, Louisiana Housing Finance Agency -- Bailey was director of two key D.C. housing agencies in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Community Development, where he had a hand in jumpstarting what is now the Giant-anchored Shops at Park Village development in Ward 8. Though currently employed in Louisiana, friends and associates have seen him back in town recently, during and after Gray's mayoral campaign, prompting speculation that he wouldn't mind sticking around. Bailey is currently assisting with post-Katrina reconstruction efforts.
"I congratulate Mayor Gray on a tremendous victory. He will be a great mayor at a time when the city needs integrity and honest leadership," Bailey said.
Gray could also try to lure another former D.C. housing executive. Michael P. Kelly, longtime head of the D.C. Housing Authority, back to town.
Harriet Tregoning, director, Office of Planning -- Tregoning is a Fenty appointee, but one whom Gray knows particularly well because his role as D.C. Council chairman gave him oversight of her work. She is known as being creative, deeply committed to smart growth and public transit and, like O'Dell, not very political. Gray could fire her but many people bet he will expand her role as director of the office of planning in some way.
"I think she's very talented and it would be great to have her stay on," said developer Jim Abdo of Tregoning.
Gray could also look to another planning expert, Ellen McCarthy, Tregoning's predecessor and current director of planning and land use at Arent Fox. McCarthy was dismissed by Fenty but campaigned hard for Gray and may well be interested in returning to the fold.
Emily Durso, president, Hotel Association of Washington, D.C. -- When Durso announced recently that she would leave the hotels association, speculation began immediately that she would join Gray in some capacity. Durso clearly brings credentials in the private sector, having represented hotel owners for 19 years. But she also brings experience in workforce development; she served on the board of the University of the District of Columbia, an institution Gray considers key to job training, and helped found Hospitality High School, where 63 percent of alumni are now working in the hotel industry.
"I think Emily will be a part of the administration, I just don't know as what," Lang said.
Jeff Miller, owner, Prospect Diversified Development -- Miller is not a household name but he understands development, backed Gray early and knows his way around town. Miller's company has worked with major developers on multifamily housing development and he is also chairman of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District, where he serves alongside seasoned real estate pros who helped drive Gray's candidacy, Guy Steuart and Charles "Sandy" Wilkes. At campaign time, Miller, a Georgetown resident, worked with Barbara Lang to line up endorsements for Gray.
"If Vince would like my help, I'm honored to consider anything that he would have me help with," Miller said.
Another local with development experience who could be in the mix: Gregory N. Jeffries, a former member of the D.C. Zoning Commission who recently took a job with the General Services Administration.
William A. Hanbury, president and chief executive, United Way of the National Capital Area -- Hanbury has been at the United Way for less than two years after running Destination D.C. for eight, but he took a heavy role in helping to shape Gray's economic development platform and would bring executive experience to the government. Hanbury, though, is not considered an expert in real estate, workforce development or politics, making this a tough road.
A local private sector star -- Gray could try to lure a local developer who has helped to rebuild D.C. neighborhoods, creating jobs along the way. Herbert S. Miller volunteered to do the job for $1 per year, but his fraternity connections could work against him. Scoring a name such as Abdo or Jair Lynch would get attention. So too would Steven Goldin, who made the jump from the private sector to become head of real estate for the Metro a little more than a year ago.
D.C. agencies spent $60,000 on travel after Fenty ordered freeze
By Tim Craig and Mike DeBonis
Washington Post Staff Writers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111206586.html?wprss=rss_metro/special/8
Washington Post Staff Writers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111206586.html?wprss=rss_metro/special/8
Friday, November 12, 2010; 11:55 PM
In the weeks after Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) ordered a freeze on government travel, District agencies continued to charge more than $60,000 in travel-related expenses to taxpayers, city records indicate.
On Oct. 4, Fenty ordered a halt on most city hiring and a freeze on current workers' salaries and benefits, as well as a halt to travel or training, "except for training required by law to maintain certification necessary to carry out the employee's District government duties."
The actions were intended as a first step in closing a budget gap expected to reach $175 million in the current fiscal year.
But in the three weeks after Fenty's order, city agencies continued to charge air and rail fares, hotel rooms and other travel-related expenses to city credit cards. Records reviewed by The Washington Post indicate at least $60,000 in such charges since Fenty's order was issued. The travel was first reported by WAMU-FM. Travel expenses in the same span in 2009 totaled about $200,000.
The D.C. National Guard spent $1,325 on flights. The police department charged more than $5,400 in travel costs, and the fire and emergency medical services department spent more than $6,000.
Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the fire department, said that two employees attended a training seminar held by the National Association of Veterans' Program Administrators in Las Vegas. Those employees, he said, required certification to administer veterans' benefits for fire and emergency medical services employees
"It was legit on our end," Piringer said, adding that the trip had been approved before the freeze.
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who has been a critic of fire department overspending, questioned whether the employees needed to go as far as Las Vegas to get certified.
"The optics are horrible," he said. "For the present time, I think these agencies should be curtailing travel."
Spokesmen for several agencies contacted Friday said travel charged to their accounts either was essential or occurred at little cost to District taxpayers.
Robin Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, confirmed that Director Millicent W. West stayed at a lavish Ritz Carlton in Boston on the night of Oct. 4, costing taxpayers $547. But Johnson said the hotel was hosting the Big City Emergency Managers Meeting, an annual gathering where the leaders of "high-targeted cities" gather to share information about possible natural and man-made threats.
Later in the month, West and four top associates traveled to Little Rock for the National Emergency Management Association meeting, another trip agency leaders said was crucial to keeping District residents safe.
"The information that is gathered, this agency relies heavily upon . . . and it's an organization that is tied into what we do every day," said Johnston, noting that fewer agency officials traveled to that conference than in previous years.
In mid-October, the Transportation Department charged more than $1,200 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Karyn LeBlanc, a department spokeswoman, said several of the agency's IT specialists traveled to Las Vegas for a "development conference." But LeBlanc said the federal government would be reimbursing the city for the cost of the trip to the summit, which was designed to improve local governments' efforts to use software to reach out to the public.
"We charge it ourselves, and then we submit to the feds," LeBlanc said.
On Oct. 28, the Department of the Environment had a $331 hotel bill at a Hilton in North Carolina. But Donna Henry, the agency's public information officer, said the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governmentswould be reimbursing the city for those travel expenses, which were related to a hearing by the International Code Council.
"The purpose of the trip was to participate and vote on adoption of the new international building codes . . . and a whole raft of green-building energy and efficiency practices," Henry said.
The Health Department racked up more than $5,200 in airline tickets and hotel bills since the travel ban was implemented. Dena Iverson, a department spokeswoman, said nearly all that travel appeared related to training requirements for agency staffers that would be paid for through federal grants.
The University of the District of Columbia spent nearly $9,000 on airfare and lodging since Oct. 4, including almost $1,100 for rooms at the Hotel Royal Plaza at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando.
Alan Etter, a university spokesman, was not immediately able to provide details on the spending late Friday, but said the university president, Allen G. Sessoms, travels regularly to promote the school.
"That's part of the job, frankly," Etter said.
Getting a leg up on D.C. Council
Editorial
Washington Post
Sunday, November 14, 2010; A22
CHANCES ARE that most D.C. residents have little idea of who sits on the D.C. Democratic State Committee. Despite its obscurity, this committee will soon play an outsized role in picking a new member of the D.C. Council. And that should be an occasion for the council to revisit the all-important issue of how best to fill vacancies that occur in city government.
An oddity of the city's Home Rule Act governing vacancies for citywide (not ward) council seats gives the Democratic committee authority to name an interim appointment for the at-large seat that becomes vacant when Kwame R. Brown (D) is sworn in as chairman of the council. Among those reported to be interested in the post are former council member Vincent Orange, D.C. State Board of Education member Sekou Biddle and Ward 8 activist Jacque Patterson. The candidate winning the committee's appointment would still have to run in a special election to fill out Mr. Brown's original term of office.
The date of that election is unclear because of legislation, passed by the council and pending in Congress, that would reduce the number of days for a special election from 114 to 70 days. The fate of this amendment to the city's Home Rule Act is unclear in the lame-duck session, so election officials are holding off on scheduling the special election. It could be as early as March 15 or as late as May.
One has to wonder about the need for an interim appointment, particularly if the special election were to occur in March. Is it really fair to give one person a leg up going into the special election? Does the process reward those with the best connections as opposed to those with the best qualifications or the best ideas? It's curious that interim appointments occur only when a citywide seat is open. Consider, for example, that when the Ward 4 and Ward 7 seats were left vacant in 2007 with the election of Adrian M. Fenty and Vincent C. Gray to higher offices, no one was named to fill those seats. Couldn't the argument be made that it's more critical to quickly fill ward seats, with the demand to help constituents get individual needs met, than at-large seats? There are, after all, four at-large members, in addition to the chairman who are elected citywide.
Out in the Cold
Editorial
New York Times
November 12, 2010
In another example of how budgetary pressures can lead to very bad public policy, the City Council of the District of Columbia is considering turning away homeless people from winter shelters if they cannot show ties to the district through proof of a recent legal address or receipt of public assistance. That would put the lives of many vulnerable people at risk, and it won’t save a dime.
In the mid-1980s, Washington was the first American city to adopt a right to shelter. The local government repealed that soon after, but for almost 20 years the district has developed a plan for protecting the homeless in “hypothermia season.” By statute, it has a duty during the coldest nights to house the homeless wherever they are from.
According to the district’s chief financial officer, the plan would not relieve any budget pressures. The waiting line for space in shelters is always so long that if a family from elsewhere wouldn’t qualify, a family in the district would take its place. But the sponsor of the idea, Councilman Tommy Wells, who leads the human services committee, is wrestling with a $175 million shortfall in the human services budget and is eager to show that he can make tough choices. Tough and inhumane.
Mr. Wells should instead be looking for any help he can find to expand the shelter system — dunning Congress, charitable foundations, local philanthropists. Waiting until someone freezes to death will be too late.
Poverty, hunger and homelessness know no borders. The Supreme Court underscored this truth 41 years ago when it said states can’t adopt policies to restrict the freedom of the poor to travel from one to another, whether pursuing their destiny or survival. If the nation’s capital won’t honor the spirit of the law — and its own statute and long history — all Americans will be shamed.
New York Times Slams Wells’ Homeless Services Legislation
City Desk (Washington City Paper)
Today, the New York Times' editorial board took the unusual step of issuing an opinion on a local D.C. issue. The board thoroughly shreds Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells' incredibly lazy proposal to limit homeless services to District residents. If only the Washington Post would be so bold.
Times editorial after the jump.
The Times editorial's first graph pretty much says it all:
"In another example of how budgetary pressures can lead to very bad public policy, the City Council of the District of Columbia is considering turning away homeless people from winter shelters if they cannot show ties to the district through proof of a recent legal address or receipt of public assistance. That would put the lives of many vulnerable people at risk, and it won’t save a dime."
Here's some more of the paper's supreme takedown:
"According to the district’s chief financial officer, the plan would not relieve any budget pressures. The waiting line for space in shelters is always so long that if a family from elsewhere wouldn’t qualify, a family in the district would take its place. But the sponsor of the idea, Councilman Tommy Wells, who leads the human services committee, is wrestling with a $175 million shortfall in the human services budget and is eager to show that he can make tough choices. Tough and inhumane.
Mr. Wells should instead be looking for any help he can find to expand the shelter system — dunning Congress, charitable foundations, local philanthropists. Waiting until someone freezes to death will be too late.
Poverty, hunger and homelessness know no borders. The Supreme Court underscored this truth 41 years ago when it said states can’t adopt policies to restrict the freedom of the poor to travel from one to another, whether pursuing their destiny or survival. If the nation’s capital won’t honor the spirit of the law — and its own statute and long history — all Americans will be shamed."
Tommy Wells Tweets Response To New York Times
Posted by Jason Cherkis on Nov. 14, 2010 at 3:18 pm
City Desk (Washington City Paper)
In yesterday's edition, the New York Times editorial board took on Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells' residency requirement for homeless services bill. The board called his proposal "inhumane" and suggested it was simply "very bad public policy." The board also cited the CFO which stated that Wells' bill wouldn't save the city any money. Late yesterday, Wells responded via a series of tweets:
"DC plan for homeless families is to provide apts. $1,500 per.Should there be limit on number of fams hsd from other states? NY Times says no"
"Overflow for homeless families is DC Gen. 135 fams now at capacity. Should DC provide unlimited capacity for other states. NY Times says yes"
More tweets after the jump!
Wells goes on to tweet:
"Fams and individs in DC have right to shelter during cold. Surrounding states do not. % of fams in DC shelters from Md has tripled.
To bal our budget we must cut foster care, pub ed, disability pymnts, juv justice, TANF, pub safety and raise taxes to get to 175 mil
Mont co and PG co have a residency req. for shelter. We shld hse when freezing but not provide apt and shld return to home state when safe.
NY Times recommends DC expand shelter capacity if needed and dun Congress for the cost. Good luck with that.
CFO said no cost savings b/c of current waitlist for homeless services. DC residents should have dibs, no?"
Vince Gray to D.C.: Have Some Civic Pride
Posted by Alan Suderman on Nov. 12, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Do you think it's "cool" to make fun of D.C.? When your hipster friends come into town and start making fun of Metro, or DCPS, or how low our buildings are, do you join in and make fun, too? Just like you did in middle school when the cool kids mocked less socially gifted students?
As long as they aren't making fun of you, right?
Well the city's new almost-mayor wants that to stop. Speaking to a small crowd gathered in a living room on Capitol Hill last night, Vince Gray said he wants District residents to start taking pride in the District and start taking "umbrage" when others put it down.
"I think we suffer from low self-esteem," Gray said.
He lamented that it's become "fashionable" to talk about bad about his dear city, which he said has plenty to be proud of, including parts of its much-maligned school system.
Gray then went on to talk about his alma mater Dunbar High School, which in its prime was one of the best public high schools for African-Americans in the country. (LL thinks he heard Gray say that Dunbar has six alums who have been featured on postage stamps. If you know the six, please post them in the comments.)
Gray then said the first bill he's going to push as mayor will require District residents to say nice four nice things about the city each day. Okay, okay, LL made that part up.
Other interesting notes from last night (which was organized by Adam Clampitt, a potential candidate in the special election for Almost ChairmanKwame Brown's at-large D.C. Council seat):
· Gray said he's got a long wish list he's going to take with him when he has lunch with President Obama on Dec. 1. Included on the list: Putting D.C. license plates with the "No Taxation Without Representation" slogan on the presidential limo.
· In response to a question about people choosing to live off welfare instead of working, Gray says D.C.'s been pretty "liberal" in its distribution of the public dole and needs to take a "hard" look at how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money is distributed. "I'm not sure that we haven't become enablers," Gray said. But, he added, when there's kids involved, that's when things get tricky.
· A possible move to help bridge the city's $175 million budget gap could be increasing the taxes on parking garages, which Gray said haven't been raised since the '70s. Plus it's close to a commuters tax, since so many non-residents use garages. (Gray jokingly asked LL not to report he was considering such a move, which only made LL want to report it more.)
· Since winning the general election, Gray says the amount of communications he's receive from "looloos," which LL took for crazy people, has increased significantly. "You should see some of the looloos we get," he said.
To which LL could only respond: Mr. Almost Mayor, if you think you get looloos, you should come hang out here at City Paper—where the looloos are running the asylum.
Barry Blasts DHCD For Buying MLK Properties
Posted by Lydia DePillis on Nov. 12, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
A few months ago, we learned that the Department of Housing and Community Development had bought up the decaying houses along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE known as the "Big K" properties, after their long-time owners, Annand Lenard Kushner. The pair had been trying to raze the buildings, but since they fall within the bounds of the Anacostia Historic District, their requests were repeatedly denied. DHCD plans to eventually issue a request for proposals for redevelopment of the houses, and held a meeting on Wednesday to hear what the community would like to see there, which dissolved into chaos.
Community members weren't the only ones to react in consternation. Ward 8 Councilmember and Mayor for Life Marion Barry was outraged that he hadn't been apprised of the purchase, and fired off a scathing letter asking what DHCD planned to do with it. (He also got the ex-owner's name wrong, oh and the sale price, but we'll let these go).
TO: Leila Edmonds, Director
D.C. Department of Housing & Community Development
FROM: Marion Barry
SUBJECT: Big K Liquor Site
D.C. Department of Housing & Community Development
FROM: Marion Barry
SUBJECT: Big K Liquor Site
As you know I expressed dismay and disbelief when I learned after the fact that DHCD had purchased Big K Liquor and the three houses (two of which are historic) for $900,000. Mr. Katz has been trying to sell this property for the last two or three years. He has been turned down at least twice by the Historic Preservation Board from tearing down or removing these two historic sites. Therefore the site has limited use. When I asked you why the Department made that purchase you indicated that it was an eye sore, which I thought was ridiculous. I doubt if you even know what the zoning is on this site. Then when I asked what you proposed to do with the site, you said that you didn’t know which is more ridiculous.
It is unprecedented that the government would buy a liquor store because it’s an eye sore rather than getting DCRA to clean it up. It is my understanding that you are meeting this evening, November 10th with several community organizations. Before the meeting I want you to put in writing to me what you propose to do with the site or if you don’t have a proposal it is to listen to get ideas from them since you seem not to have any.
Cc: Mayor Adrian Fenty
Neil Albert, City Administrator
Valerie Santos, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development And Planning
Chairman Vincent Gray
Councilmember Michael Brown
Anacostia Coordinating Council
Far SE Family Strengthening Collaborative
Grandview Estates
Chicago/Shannon Block Club
Frederick Douglass Community Improvement Council
ARCH
ANC 8A03
Fairlawn Citizens Association
And Now, Anacostia
Anacostia Homeowners & Residents Association
Eat Shop Live Anacostia
Anacostia Historic District Design Review Committee
Ward 8 Business Council
Anacostia Economic Development Corporation
Mayor will pick board to oversee D.C. medical marijuana program
By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Mayor-will-pick-board-to-oversee-D_C_-medical-marijuana-program-1540935-107572553.html#ixzz15LKSbBTv
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Mayor-will-pick-board-to-oversee-D_C_-medical-marijuana-program-1540935-107572553.html#ixzz15LKSbBTv
November 12, 2010
A four-member, mayor-appointed board will oversee the District's medical marijuana program when the heavily regulated system rolls out sometime next year.
The mayor-appointed board is a key change in the latest set of regulations released by the city, which took the power of overseeing the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana away from the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. The changes were made after a 45-day public input period. They also include new measures for how the city will chose who can operate medical marijuana facilities.
The new regulations, however, do not increase the number of ailments for which doctors can prescribe marijuana in the District. Only patients suffering from HIV, AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis can get a prescription.
The Marijuana Policy Project, which submitted a 12-page proposal for new rules after the initial regulations were introduced in August, said it had hoped more illnesses would have been covered.
"A lot of folks with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other medical problems, could really benefit from marijuana," MPP legislative analyst Dan Riffle told The Washington Examiner. Including chronic pain and PTSD would be particularly important in a place like the District, where many wounded soldiers come for rehabilitation, he said. The Department of Veterans Affairs recently changed its policy to allow veterans to continue to receive medical care even if they test positive for marijuana.
"The District should show more compassion for our soldiers," Riffle said.
The city is allowing for five dispensaries and 10 growing facilities in its tightly controlled system. Patients can receive up to 2 ounces in a 30-day period and cultivation centers can only grow up to 95 plants -- five less than the 100 needed to kick in a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence under federal law.
The original regulations said the city would determine who would operate the dispensaries and growing centers on a first-come, first-served basis. The new regulations say they will be chosen on a point system. Applicants will be graded on a 200-point scale, earning points for having a good security plan and providing education materials. The four-member, mayor-appointed board will review the applications.
But regardless of the local laws, medical marijuana still violates federal law, said former U.S. Attorney for D.C. Joe diGenova.
"The program is illegal," he said.
D.C.'s West End ANC takes stand on Stevens
Washington Business Journal - by Michael Neibauer
Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 10:16am EST
One lesson Mayor Adrian Fenty may take away from his lone term: Never get involved in a development war in the West End.
The West End/Foggy Bottom advisory neighborhood commission wants the Fenty administration out of the business of redeveloping the historic Stevens Elementary School at 1050 21st St. NW. The ANC, per a resolution adopted Nov. 11, wants a Dec. 1 public hearing on the potential surplusing of the school canceled, and it wants Mayor-elect Vincent Gray to take the reins after his inauguration.
The District late last month terminated its partnership with Chicago-based Equity Residential, which proposed redeveloping Stevens into an apartment complex and restaurant. The neighborhood flat out hated the idea, and fought it for more than a year until it was dead.
The ANC's resolution claims the Fenty administration ignored four charter school bids to re-use the school, launched a "non-transparent process" to solicit private development proposals, and then narrowed nine private bids to three without asking the ANC for its consideration.
Six of the original nine bidders -- Equity, Peebles Corp., Toll Brothers Inc., Moddie Turay Co., Akridge, Donahoe Development Co. -- have been asked to resubmit a best and final offer by late November.
Gray, the ANC's resolution states, "should make the future of Stevens School a model project for re-use or development in a manner that follows existing law, and by engaging the community and the ANC 2A fully in a transparent process that allows for the opportunity for a thoughtful and open discussion to take place."
The West End/Foggy Bottom ANC, in partnership with the Foggy Bottom Association has proven to be a formidable adversary on development issues. In 2007, when the Fenty administration tried to turn over the West End Library and Fire Station to developer EastBanc through an emergency sole source award, the community went ballistic -- shutting down the deal for three years.
We have more on the Stevens School, and 10 other shuttered schools that the Fenty administration offered for redevelopment in late 2008, in Friday's print edition (subscribers only).
Take your pick: Smart growth or affordable housing
Editorial
Examiner
Examiner
November 11, 2010
Working at cross-purposes to their own stated policies of promoting affordable housing, local governments in the Washington-Baltimore region have enacted land use restrictions that jack up the price of a single-family house by $75,000 and the cost of a townhouse or condo by $60,000, according to a new Demographia study, "Residential Land & Regulation Cost Index: 2010." The only place worse than D.C. and Baltimore is San Diego, where land use regulations alone add more than $220,000 to the price of a new entry-level home.
Interest on that additional $75,000 stretched out over 30 years significantly increases a homebuyer's monthly mortgage payment, pricing many young families out of the market. But that's far from the only cost. As urban policy analyst Wendell Cox points out, between 2000 and 2009, higher housing prices created a brain drain, as 1.2 million people fled from places with highly restrictive land use policies to less-regulated areas. Meanwhile, "the net domestic migration to the five highly regulated areas (including the Washington-Baltimore region) was approximately zero."
The irony is that land use restrictions enacted to control "sprawl" encourage what Cox calls "leap-frog development" outside the restricted areas. It's not unusual for D.C. commuters to drive in from less expensive communities in south central Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland's Eastern Shore, and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia. This mega-sprawl puts even more stress on highways and air quality than would be the case if developers were allowed to build closer in to the urban core.
No matter how much local politicians yammer about how much they support affordable housing, they are the principal cause of the problem via their land use restrictions, such as the urban growth boundary in Montgomery County and large-lot zoning in Loudoun County. Such policies accomplish exactly the opposite of what their backers' intended. By reducing the supply of available land and increasing the cost to build on it, they encourage the construction of larger, more expensive homes -- even as they spend taxpayer money on schemes to create more affordable housing that their existing land use restrictions directly undermine.
The international study -- which looked at land use restrictions in five other countries besides the United States -- concluded that "in no market did housing become unaffordable by historic standards except where there are restrictive land use regulations." So local officials have a choice. They can either champion smart growth or affordable housing, but it's disingenuous to tell the public that they're doing both.
Financial mismanagers in D.C. -- Part 1
By: JONETTA ROSE BARRAS
Examiner Columnist
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Financial-mismanagers-in-D_C_----Part-1-1565243-108011154.html#ixzz15LHOyje6
Examiner Columnist
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Financial-mismanagers-in-D_C_----Part-1-1565243-108011154.html#ixzz15LHOyje6
November 14, 2010
George Dines and his fiscally challenged gang have struck again. Not unlike what has happened in the past, the chief financial officer for D.C. Public Schools declared there was a surplus for fiscal 2010 only to reverse himself and announce a deficit. What's worse, it appears DCPS may have to return a bunch of money to the federal government.
The entire DCPS financial team, which actually works for Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, should be fired. Dines should be the first out the door.
I'm not being rash. Check out this story.
According to knowledgeable city hall sources, on Sept. 29 Dines sent a note to then-Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announcing a $4 million surplus for fiscal 2010, which was ending Sept. 30.
A few weeks later, he told now interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson there was, in fact, an $11.5 million deficit because of overspending. Further, he indicated DCPS may have to return an additional $12 million or more in grant money to the feds because spending was not correctly charged to the grant account.
Dines allegedly also advised DCPS officials they could borrow against the 2011 budget to address $11.5 million deficit from 2010. In other words, the man who's supposed to keep DCPS on the fiscal straight and narrow appears to have caused the school system to violate the federal Anti-Deficiency Act, which prohibits agencies -- including those in the federal enclave that is Washington -- from overspending their authorized budgets.
How could such a mess develop? Good question.
Sources told me the computerized system used by Dines and other DCPS finance officials permits them to charge spending against any account -- even when it's the wrong account. It's only after independent auditors come around at the end of the fiscal year does it all get sorted out.
"George hasn't charged anything against the right account," said one source. "Every year there is this game."
Neither Rhee nor Henderson could be reached for comment. David Umansky, the chief financial officer's spokesman, asserted there wasn't any DCPS deficit.
"The budget will come out balanced," he said.
That kind of parsing may not be as infamous as former President Bill Clinton's dissection of the word "is," but it's equally ridiculous. When I asked Umansky about his assertion, he said, "That's the information I received from the budget people at DCPS."
So, we have traveled full circle to reach wholesale incompetence.
But this isn't the first time Dines found a surplus that wasn't there. Earlier this year, he told Rhee she had a $34 million surplus -- enough to fund the newly ratified teachers contract that included retroactive pay increases. That pronouncement created a controversy, since at the start of fiscal 2010 a shortfall had prompted the termination of more than 200 DCPS employees.
Gandhi stepped in, rescuing his employee and announcing there wasn't any unspent money. But, he said, there were sufficient funds to pay those raises. Rhee got blamed for "miscommunicating" the agency's financial status. No doubt, the CFO and his team will attempt to do the same thing this time around.
What's that adage about fooling me twice?
Top teachers have uneven reach in District
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/13/AR2010111303782.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/13/AR2010111303782.html
Sunday, November 14, 2010; C06
The District's most affluent ward has more than four times as many "highly effective" public schoolteachers as its poorest, underscoring a problem endemic to urban school systems: Their best educators often do not serve the children who need them most.
The inequity is reflected in the distribution of teachers judged to be most effective under the school district's rigorous new evaluation system, known as IMPACT. Just 5 percent of the 636 top performers work in Southeast Washington's Ward 8, home to many of the city's lowest-achieving schools and its highest concentration of children living in poverty.
In contrast, 22 percent of the top-performing teachers are in affluent Ward 3 in Northwest Washington, home to some of the most successful and sought-after public schools. The area has eight fewer schools than Ward 8 and about 60 percent of Ward 8's enrollment.
The imbalance represents a significant challenge for Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D) and interim Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who have pledged to continue the reform measures initiated by former chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Research frequently cited by Rhee and her supporters suggests that low-achieving children who have three highly effective teachers in successive years can make dramatic academic gains.
Officials caution that many children in Ward 8 and other parts of the city attend school outside their neighborhoods, but they also acknowledge the need to address the maldistribution of teaching talent. Among the measures they have introduced are performance bonuses that are doubled for educators who excel in high-poverty schools.
Henderson was not available to comment. In a statement, spokeswoman Safiya Simmons said: "Although we've made great progress - there are highly effective educators in every ward - we acknowledge that there's still much to do."
The imbalance is the result of longtime personnel practices in the District and other big public school systems, where traditional lock-step salary schedules provide no financial incentive for teachers to accept jobs in low-performing schools. Seniority rules often allow seasoned educators to transfer to less-challenging posts, leaving behind a higher proportion of younger, greener instructors.
"Good teachers have always transferred over time to easier schools, because there are so few other ways to reward yourself," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes widening educational opportunities for minority and low-income students.
Veteran teachers say spots at schools with high rates of poverty and discipline issues have sometimes been used as punishment, while assignment to a more successful school might be doled out as a reward.
Elizabeth Davis, who has spent most of her 35-year career in Ward 7 and 8 schools, recalled the offer she received from an administrator after winning a teaching award from the MetLife Foundation in May 2007.
"He said, 'Because you're a good teacher, you should be in a better school,' " Davis said.
Others say the scarcity of top teachers reflects a broader inequity in the distribution of resources in the school system.
"We are catering to folks who don't live this side of the river," said Absalom Jordan, chairman of the Ward 8 Education Council. "We still have an education system in the District of Columbia that is separate and unequal."
The 636 teachers, who represent about 15 percent of the city's teacher corps, won their highly effective designations during the 2009-10 school year under IMPACT, which was introduced by Rhee.
Teachers are assessed through five classroom observations and detailed criteria that include the ability to explain content clearly, to respond effectively to student misunderstandings and to provide multiple ways to learn course material. For math and reading teachers in grades 4 through 8, 50 percent of the evaluation is based on student growth on the DC-CAS standardized tests.
The collective bargaining agreement approved by teachers last summer provides for performance bonuses for teachers who achieve highly effective status. The highest annual bonuses - as much as $25,000 - are available for highly effective teachers in schools where 60 percent or more of the children are from families that meet federal income guidelines for free or reduced-price lunch. All 21 schools in Ward 8 fall into that category, commonly used by schools as a measure of household poverty.
"All the big financial incentives go to the teachers in the low-income schools," said Jason Kamras, the D.C. schools official who is the principal architect of IMPACT. "We're placing a clear priority on serving our children in low-income schools."
It is hoped that other provisions in the new contract will make a difference, Kamras said, including one that gives principals more discretion over hiring from the annual pool of teachers who lost jobs because of enrollment declines or program changes.
But the bonus system has attracted criticism from some teachers because the contract requires that they waive certain job protections in exchange for the money. It is not known how many have declined the payments.
And critics say IMPACT disadvantages teachers in schools where challenging conditions make learning difficult. They say that the system does not assess the value or effectiveness of teachers who must contend with large numbers of children from broken or dysfunctional homes and dangerous neighborhoods.
"I think the teachers in a lot of instances are doing a lot more than teaching," said D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander of Ward 7, where just 51 teachers designated highly effective are assigned. "They are counselors and social workers. And until you can address all of these issues, I don't think it's fair to evaluate them as effective or ineffective based on student outcomes."
Kamras said predicted rates of test-score growth in classes where teachers are judged for their "value added" are adjusted for factors such as special education and free lunch.
But teachers said the evaluation system will probably never account for the intangible ways in which they support their students. Bill Rope, a teacher at Hearst Elementary in Ward 3, recalled a colleague at another school who spent his own money and held fundraisers to take his sixth-graders on an annual post-"graduation" trip to Canada so they could experience another country.
"Of course, he couldn't get any credit under IMPACT for that," Rope said.
A new crop of D.C. charter school hopefuls learns the ropes
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/14/AR2010111403717.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/14/AR2010111403717.html
Sunday, November 14, 2010; 8:17 PM
The next crop of would-be D.C. charter school operators gathered in a gray conference room on 14th Street one night last week, more than 30 hopeful men and women, each with his or her own pitch.
"Hello," began one woman. "I am a founder of Believe Charter School. We believe every child in D.C. has the right to a high-quality, first-class education."
"Hi," another woman began, offering her idea. "I'm soft-spoken. Sorry. I believe it's important to prepare kids adequately and empower them."
"I am a psychologist," said an older man in a pinstripe suit, "and each day I go home depressed because I see so many 10th- , 11th- and 12th-graders who can't read."
The meeting was convened by the District's public charter school board to explain the application process for opening a charter school, a list of requirements that fits into an hour-long PowerPoint presentation.
The District can approve up to 20 new charters each year. Of 13 applications last year, four schools were conditionally approved to open in fall 2011. In general, business is booming.
The city has 96 charter schools, which enroll more than 28,000 children, or about 38 percent of public school students, the largest percentage of any school system in the nation.
Essentially entrepreneurial ventures, charters receive public school money but have a higher degree of autonomy than traditional public schools in how they teach and operate.
The theory is that public education should be a competitive marketplace of choices.
Charters are supposed to encourage innovation, provide parents with a viable option to traditional public schools and spur struggling schools to improve.
More than two decades into the experiment, though, their academic results vary widely across the country and in the District, which pro-charter groups say has one of the best laws governing charters in the country.
Although some charter schools, notably the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP Academy, perform exceedingly well, standardized reading and math scores among charter students as a whole remained relatively flat this year.
And from 2007 to 2010, test scores at regular public secondary schools have risen at a faster clip than at charters.
Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, a pro-charter group, said that viewed over time and from a national perspective, charters look much better.
"When you do that state by state, you get a picture of charters achieving at higher rates and closing gaps faster than traditional public schools," she said. "The overall picture is much brighter than negative."
Allen said that states with poorly performing charter schools are often poorly governed by school boards that tend to be overworked from dealing with the regular school systems or are conflicted about the concept of charters and deal with them only grudgingly.
She said that the District's system of empowering an independent board to oversee charters is ideal.
"The states with independent boards tend to have healthier charter schools," she said.
To help parents better assess the quality of charters relative to each other, the D.C. charter board is preparing a performance management system that will rank them into three "tiers" based on measures including test scores, reenrollment, graduation and college acceptance rates, said Jacqueline Scott-English, director of the board's school performance team.
As she went through her slides Wednesday, she emphasized to the prospective educators that the autonomy granted to charters comes with a price - accountability.
"I heard a lot of interesting school names, but how do you put that into a mission statement?" she said. "How will I know your school is performing well? What's your recruiting plan? What's your business plan?"
People took notes. Among them was Nosa Eweka, an Ivy League graduate who plans to start the 21st Century School, which intends to lure high school students with job training in fields such as music production and media.
"Here in D.C., every politician employs an average of five media professionals. . . . We believe that using the media theme, or even jobs such as fashion management, will get high school students interested in learning," he said.
Across the room was a man who wanted to start an all-male leadership academy, a woman who wanted to start a school aimed at dropouts and a young man who had a dog-eared copy of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" in his lap.
Another attendee said: "Ah, I'm just wanting ideas about starting a charter? Or, um, possibly starting a business overseeing charters?"
In the back was Alice Speck, co-founder of the proposed City of Trees school. The effort began a year ago with a group of parents chatting in her living room in the Shaw neighborhood.
Unhappy with their neighborhood school, they decided to create their own.
"We have a real dream of possibly partnering with the National Park Service in locating our school in Rock Creek Park, for example," Speck said. "Can you imagine bringing diverse students with diverse needs into the park? We are pursuing every avenue and every dream we might have."
Interest in opening D.C. charter schools surges
By: LISA GARTNER
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Interest-in-opening-D_C_-charter-schools-surges-1540340-107563668.html#ixzz15IKbzifH
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Interest-in-opening-D_C_-charter-schools-surges-1540340-107563668.html#ixzz15IKbzifH
November 12, 2010
More than 50 people are interested in opening charter schools in the District, the most enthusiasm that the school board has ever seen.
Teachers, principals and people from all walks of life -- including psychiatrists and entrepreneurs -- packed a Columbia Heights conference room for a D.C. Charter School Board information session on charter application guidelines.
"I was surprised by the session, to see that large number," said school board member Darren Woodruff, chairman of the schools oversight committee. "You would think with the growth we've already had, you'd see a smaller number of people coming out for charters to be authorized, but that hasn't been the case."
Woodruff said attendance was high at last year's sessions, but not like this -- and there's another session planned for December.
The board approved four schools, out of 13 completed applications last year, set to open next fall.
Woodruff said the board likely will approve more than four schools to open in fall 2012, with an emphasis on early-childhood development and high schools. "We'll be looking for value added to our current portfolio of schools," he said.
Charter schools spokesman Audrey Williams said an increased interest in education reform -- such as documentary "Waiting for 'Superman' " and Oprah Winfrey's own investment -- contributed to the high turnout. "People are seeing where they can help improve or add to the whole education reform effort in the District, and they want to give it a try."
Currently, 52 D.C. charter schools with more than 90 campuses serve 27,660 students. An annual report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that 38 percent of D.C. public school students are enrolled in charter schools, a rate second in the nation only to New Orleans.
D.C. charter schools' enrollment increased 7 percent over last school year, while D.C. Public Schools celebrated its first enrollment increase in 39 years -- a more modest bump of about 1.6 percent to 46,515.
Erin Dillon, senior policy analyst for independent think tank Education Sector, said that the local charter system's strong framework and solid funding make it an attractive playground for entrepreneurs, but that demand may soon outstrip itself.
"Eventually the market will be saturated and charter schools will have to start competing with themselves for enrollment," Dillon said. "That will bring change and turnover in schools, which isn't always the best thing for the community."
Saunders: Parker gambit 'absolutely pathetic'
By Bill Turque
D.C. Schools Insider (Washington Post)
November 12, 2010; 8:03 AM ET
Mail ballots go out Monday in the Washington Teachers' Union election runoff, and WTU president George Parker, facing a stiff challenge from general vice president Nathan Saunders, is reaching out to a younger and less active segment of the union electorate for help.
Parker and his running mate, WTU professional development director Dorothy Egbufor, have invited graduates of the D.C. Teaching Fellows and Teach for America training programs to a Monday evening meeting at the Logan School auditorium. The somewhat vague agenda, according to a notice on the WTU site, is to "hear and address first-hand" what he called the "plight" of these teachers.
The two organizations--which draw young people who didn't complete traditional undergraduate education programs--have close ties to former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson. Both are Teach for America products, and Henderson was Rhee's vice president at the New Teacher Project, the recruiting firm Rhee founded. It handles training for the D.C. Teaching Fellows.
Saunders said Thursday night that the meeting--which could have been called anytime in the last three years of Parker's term--is a blatant abuse of his incumbency to drum up support.
"It is a last ditch effort," said Saunders, who edged out Parker 334 to 313 last month but fell short of the 51 percent majority needed to win outright. "I would hope that Teach For America and DC Teaching Fellows will not be suckered by a cheap political trick," which he called "absolutely pathetic." Saunders said he and his running mate, Candi Peterson, have filed a formal complaint with the American Federation of Teachers, which has stepped in to run the election because political feuding and scuffling within WTU had delayed it for months.
Parker, whose cell phone mailbox has been full the last few days, has not been reachable for comment. My best guess is at his response: that he's just doing his job as union president.
Parker, whose cell phone mailbox has been full the last few days, has not been reachable for comment. My best guess is at his response: that he's just doing his job as union president.
Last summer teachers overwhelmingly approved the contract Parker negotiated with Rhee, which provided for a five-year 20 percent pay package while weakening seniority protections. Saunders supporters say Parker has given away too much to Rhee.The problem for both is that most teachers, their money in hand, seem to have tuned out. Just 20 percent of the 4,200-member union completed mail ballots in last month's election. Deadline for return of the runoff ballots is Nov. 30.
D.C. parents denied access to children's juvenile justice records
By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-parents-denied-access-to-children_s-juvenile-justice-records-1541707-107562973.html#ixzz15LJdV2XV
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/D_C_-parents-denied-access-to-children_s-juvenile-justice-records-1541707-107562973.html#ixzz15LJdV2XV
November 12, 2010
A mother and father can't access most information the District's juvenile justice agency has on their children, the city's highest court has ruled.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by two parents who cited open-records laws in asking
that the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services turn over all documents pertaining to the parents and their five children. Two of their children had been committed to DYRS in 2005 and were released in May 2007, "apparently without any prior notice" to the parents, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruling said.
When the parents filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents, DYRS and then the mayor's office turned the parents down. The Court of Appeals also ruled the parents could not have access to the documents. Not only does FOIA give parents "no greater rights than anyone else," but District law also does not include "parents in the list of persons for whom the confidentiality of these records is excepted."
The parents have no legal right to the bulk of the information they wanted, said at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson. He recently pushed legislation through the council that makes it easier for government agencies to share information about children, but the law does not include new rights for parents.
"The law is very specific as to what can be released and to whom," Mendelson said.
The city does give parents limited access to court records, but goes no further. One reason for that, Mendelson noted, is that DYRS gains custody -- and parents lose it -- when a child enters the system.
But the public needs access to the information inside the sealed records to hold government agencies accountable, said Matt Fraidin, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia who focuses on child welfare issues.
Last year, The Washington Examiner reported that Shelby Lewis, a pimp who operated in Maryland and D.C., gained custody of a 12-year-old girl and then sold her into prostitution. The records on how the girl ended up in Lewis' custody are sealed. Lewis was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Nov. 1.
Parents -- and the public -- "ought to be able to know why government agencies make decisions that dramatically and profoundly affect their lives and their children's lives," Fraidin said.
The Politics Hour
Kojo Nnamdi
WAMU
Friday, Nov 12, 2010 at 12:06 p.m.
The District makes plans to cut $200 million from the city's budget. A Virginia Congressman survives election day with a razor-thin victory.
From Friday:
Mike DeBonis: http://wapo.st/aDLg95
Loose Lips (daily column): http://bit.ly/aMOVtO
DMV Daily (P.J. Orvetti): http://bit.ly/cQvbr
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