Posts
Today's edition:
City-hired plastic surgeon earned $330k while on administrative leave - Examiner
Homeless in D.C.- Washington Post
D.C.: CareFirst's reserves not excessive, but we'll check back in 2012 - Washington Business Journal
Gray launches new round of ads - D.C. Wire (Washington Post blog)
Kwame Brown opens doors for council committees, Barry's future - Examiner
Fenty backers continue long-shot write-in effort - Washington Post
Gimme A Break: Why We Need More Information About Property Tax Abatements - Blog: The District's Dime (DC Fiscal Policy Institute)
Developers of Dupont Underground are far from the light at the end of the tunnel - Washington Post Staff Writer
D.C. will rebid delinquent properties - Washington Business Journal
Team Thomas Not Backing Down – Washington City Paper blog
Evans to Burleithians: I Basically Can’t Help You - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper blog)
D.C. teachers hit a dead end in court challenge to layoffs - Washington Post
Experts see a bumpy road to recovery for region's economy - Capital Business (Washington Post)
The Wine Specialist's assets sold - Washington Business Journal
Raising the Catania banner - Examiner
Tightrope Walking - DC Watch
D.C. School Board Candidates Stress Reform - NBC-4
City-hired plastic surgeon earned $330k while on administrative leave
By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/City-hired-plastic-surgeon-earned-_330k-while-on-administrative-leave-1375678-106333788.html#ixzz14180QwRZ
Examiner Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/City-hired-plastic-surgeon-earned-_330k-while-on-administrative-leave-1375678-106333788.html#ixzz14180QwRZ
October 29, 2010
A plastic surgeon hired by the District's juvenile justice agency earned $330,000 over the past two years to not work, placed on administrative leave because officials determined he did not have the credentials to provide medical services to the agency's jailed youth.
That doctor, along with two others, has now been laid off as part of a Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services reorganization designed to cut $400,000 from the agency's spending, city officials told The Washington Examiner.
The agency has replaced the three doctors with Dr. Samia Altaf, a prominent physician with experience treating youth and researching juvenile care in developing countries. Altaf took over the care of as many as 150 youth spread over two city juvenile detention centers on Oct. 25, according to an internal agency memo obtained by The Examiner. The three doctors were laid off on Oct. 23.
Doctors Council labor representative Vanessa Dixon said the new medical model could harm public safety.
"In many cases, the kids end up in [DYRS] as a result of the illnesses they have," she said. "We can't afford to scale back further or we will endanger the public."
In that light, the nonworking plastic surgeon being paid almost as much as the agency now hopes to save by restructuring "is the height of being ridiculous," Dixon said.
Dixon provided the plastic surgeon's salary to The Examiner. DYRS spokesman Reggie Sanders said he could not comment on personnel issues.
An outside consultant hired to advise the agency on its medical program told DYRS officials there was an "excess in physician coverage" for the city's jailed youth, particularly when compared with the number of doctors working in other jurisdictions, the internal memo said. Sanders said the consultant told DYRS officials that the agency "would be better served and be more efficient by utilizing one supervisory medical officer."
The decision to hire the consultant and reorganize the DYRS medical care team was the result of the D.C. Council pushing city agencies to find cost cuts last spring.
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, whose committee oversees DRYS, said he agreed with the consultant's conclusions and the new model.
"As long as we don't jeopardize public safety, we have to find ways to make very difficult cuts," Wells said. Given the city's tough financial situation, "we'll have to make more tough decisions soon."
Homeless in D.C.
EditorialWashington Post
Sunday, October 31, 2010; A26
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS for the homeless are almost an oxymoron. But that's exactly what is under consideration by the D.C. Council as Washington heads toward winter with the need for services for the homeless growing and local funds dwindling. The District is right to want to do something about surrounding jurisdictions that take advantage of its safety net by directing their needy residents to cross the border. At the same time, it needs to be careful that new rules don't create insurmountable barriers for those it wants to help.
Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), chairman of the committee on human services, has drafted legislation that would require individuals and families seeking severe weather shelter to be residents of the District. The bill, which will be the subject of a public hearing Nov. 8, was prompted by findings that 10 percent of the 180 families seeking emergency shelter between June and September were from outside the District. With the District's family shelters operating at capacity and the city facing a budget deficit of at least $175 million, Mr. Wells sees the need to direct limited services to District residents who need them the most. The District is a draw because of its unusual law that essentially guarantees shelter during the hypothermia season, which starts in November.
We are glad that Mr. Wells pulled back on plans to push the legislation through as emergency legislation. More needs to be learned about the scope of this problem. Advocates for the homeless have legitimate concerns about the ability of people, with complex problems and troubled lives, to meet bureaucratic requirements. There are also constitutional concerns that need to be addressed concerning residency and equal treatment. Mr. Wells says that he is confident a workable solution can be found .
The problem of nonresidents wanting to tap into the city's compassion is not new. The D.C. HealthCare Alliance, the publicly funded health insurance program for low-income residents who aren't eligible for Medicaid, faced a similar situation; the alliance imposed residency requirements, but some people believe they need tightening. Maybe area leaders should get together and talk about how the region can best help vulnerable populations without letting jurisdictional hurdles get in the way.
D.C.: CareFirst's reserves not excessive, but we'll check back in 2012
Washington Business Journal - by Ben Fischer
Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 11:59am EDT - Last Modified: Sunday, October 31, 2010, 9:43pm EDT
The D.C. government will not force CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to deplete its cash reserves through premium rebates until at least mid-2012, according to a much-anticipated decision issued late Friday by D.C. Insurance Commissioner Gennet Purcell.
In an order posted to the D.C. government's website after the close of business Friday without public notification, Purcell made two major findings: First, the Owings Mills, Md.-based company's Dec. 31, 2008, reserves of $687 million fell narrowly within a reasonable limit required to ensure solvency and respond to a major medical crisis.
Second, even though CareFirst's reserves had grown to $761 million by Dec. 31, 2009, Purcell would not declare that level to be excessive without an entirely new review, because the standards used to evaluate the 2008 numbers "do not accurately reflect the current regulatory environment and financial obligations" of Group Hospitalization and Medical Services Inc., CareFirst's business unit in the District.
After holding hearings on the matter in September 2009, Purcell delayed her decision on three separate occasions, frustrating many parties involved before the ruling finally arrived Friday, 13 months later. than first anticipated. But even then the underlying facts and financial data at issue in Friday's decision predate federal health care reform, which imposes major new regulations on the insurance industry.
The company had argued that the new federal health care overhaul legislation, enacted earlier this year, injected significant uncertainty and downside risk into its business model, and therefore it should be allowed to build up bigger cash reserves to protect against the changing health insurance landscape.
However, the nonprofit company is not entirely out of the woods. Purcell said the department will conduct a new review by July 2012, by which time regulators would be able to evaluate the company with a better understanding of how the health care overhaul legislation is playing out.
Before the health care debate took shape at the federal level, the D.C. Council passed a law in early 2009 requiring Purcell to undertake the review. All insurance companies are required to maintain cash balances to respond to a pandemic or a major medical emergency, but some community groups have argued that CareFirst allowed its reserves to grow excessively high while continuing to unnecessarily raise premiums on customers.
Had Purcell sided with the community groups, she could have ordered CareFirst to spend down its cash, which would have come in the form of rebates for its customers. CareFirst is the dominant provider of medical insurance throughout the region and the District.
CareFirst officials did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment Saturday. Efforts to reach D.C. Appleseed, the advocacy group that led the charge against CareFirst, were unsuccessful on Friday.
Gray launches new round of ads
By Tim Craig
D.C. Wire (Washington Post blog)
October 29, 2010; 1:47 PM ET
Despite being all but assured to win the Nov. 2 general election, D.C. Council Chairman Vince C. Gray is launching a final push to turn out supporters and win over skeptics who may not have supported him in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary for mayor.
As early as today, residents in certain sections of the city will receive a mail piece from the Gray campaign that features a picture of his onetime rival, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).
The literature, according to sources within the Gray campaign, also includes quotes of Fenty praising the chairman. The mail campaign is heavily focused on Northwest, where Fenty trounced Gray in the primary.
The Gray campaign is also launching a new ad on black radio this weekend. The ad reminds African Americans, who overwhelmingly supported Gray in the primary, that they still need to turn out for the general election.
The efforts, which have been planned for weeks, come as a small but dogged group of Fenty supporters are continuing efforts to get voters to write in the mayor instead of voting for Gray in the general election.
Kwame Brown opens doors for council committees, Barry's future
By: FREEMAN KLOPOTT
Examiner Staff Writer
Examiner Staff Writer
October 31, 2010
The likely next D.C. Council chairman says he's leaving open all possibilities when drawing up blueprints for council committees and the members who'll head them -- including the high-profile education committee and Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry.
With deep cuts to agency budgets expected in the face of the District's troubled financial status, it'll be up to committee chiefs to help find the spots where cash can be saved. Kwame Brown will move carefully as council members seek to hold on to the power they have, or position themselves to win higher-profile committees.
"I'm going to look at all the possibilities," Brown told The Washington Examiner.
Brown already has said he'll give Barry a committee, but he hasn't said which one.
Current Council Chairman Vincent Gray stripped Barry of his housing committee chairmanship in March after an independent investigator determined Barry handed a city contract to his girlfriend. Since then, Barry has been absolved of any legal wrongdoing, although the Office of Campaign Finance found he acted unethically.
Brown could also pull education from the Committee of the Whole, where it has sat under the chairman's authority during Gray's term. Whoever heads the education committee will likely have the closest relationship among council members with former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee's replacement.
"There are all kinds of options at Kwame's fingertips," said political consultant Chuck Thies. "He's restricted only by his own creativity and the political realties of getting seven votes to approve his plan."
Historically, the committee boundaries have been adjusted by each incoming council leader. Gray followed the example set by John Wilson in 1991, and gave every council member his or her own committee. Brown could shrink the number of committees, adjust which agencies are packaged together, or both.
"It's a delicate process," and much of the maneuvering goes on behind closed doors, said at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson.
The maneuvering has already begun. Mendelson said he'd like to keep his public safety committee. The council's longest-serving member, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans wants to hold on to his the Committee on Finance and Revenue.
"It's always been based on seniority," Evans said.
But just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean it always will be.
"The only one who will know what's really going on will be Kwame Brown," Mendelson said. "He doesn't have the ultimate authority, though. If he doesn't get consensus, he has nothing."
Fenty backers continue long-shot write-in effort
By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103004196.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103004196.html
Sunday, October 31, 2010; C4
They have been compared to the die-hard supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton who refused to give up after then-candidate Barack Obama secured enough votes for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, hardly a compliment in a city where three out of four voters in the primary that year supported Obama over Clinton.
But that hasn't discouraged a small group of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty admirers from campaigning to get voters to write his name on their general election ballots on Tuesday, even though they have little chance of stopping D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray from being elected mayor.
"They are really passionate about Adrian Fenty and worked hard for him and believe in him," said Ellie Anderson, a Democratic activist who is part of the write-in campaign. "They want to show the city Fenty has done a lot of good things and they want it to continue."
The write-in effort traces its roots to John Hlinko, a Georgetown resident who created a "Run Fenty Run" Facebook page with 7,500 followers a few days after Gray defeated the mayor in the primary.
Fenty (D), who endorsed Gray two days after the Sept. 14 primary, has distanced himself from the write-in push. But several of his campaign aides have teamed up with Hlinko through literature drops, automated phone calls, and door-to-door canvassing. The volunteers continue to wear the green-and-white primary Fenty hats, at times confusing voters who thought the "green team" would go into hibernation after the mayor's loss.
"We believe we can win," said Josh Lopez, a Ward 4 coordinator for Fenty who campaigned on U Street Friday. "All we are saying is respect the process and let voters have a voice."
Lopez, 26, said the campaign is targeting Republicans and unaffiliated voters, who make up about 25 percent of the electorate, and Democrats who supported Fenty over Gray. But given Gray's 9-point margin of victory over Fenty in the primary, most observers say the write-in campaign is little more than an annoyance in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.
"I would be somewhat astonished if the write-in campaign yields more than 1,000 votes," said Tony Bullock, who was communications director for former mayor Anthony Williams. In 2002, Williams successfully mounted a write-in campaign when he failed to get on the ballot.
"It's something between sour grapes and chutzpah to actually undertake a write-in effort for Fenty," Bullock added, "who I think in his own head has moved on."
Still, Gray strategist Mo Elleithee said the chairman is not taking anything for granted. Gray launched a radio ad urging African American voters, who overwhelmingly supported him in the primary, to go to the polls. Gray also sent out a mailer this week highlighting the Fenty endorsement.
"Vince is out there campaigning for every vote," Elleithee said.
Although they remain confident, some Gray advisers acknowledge that a big no-confidence vote through write-in votes would be unsettling. Supporters for both campaigns have clashed at forums and other events.
"They are trying to divide the city between rich and poor and black and white," said Keith Holman, a Gray volunteer. "They know they are not going to win."
Rokey Suleman, director of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, noted that residents will probably never know exactly "how many votes Fenty got."
On election night, Suleman said, officials will release the total number of write-in votes that were cast in each precinct but will not count them individually unless they could change the outcome of the race.
Gimme A Break: Why We Need More Information About Property Tax Abatements
This report was posted on October 29th, 2010 by Elissa Silverman and Kwame Boadi and is filed under Blog: The District's Dime.
DC Fiscal Policy Institute
How much should the District spend to bring a 5-star hotel to Adams Morgan?
It’s a good question as members of the DC Council consider a bill that would give a 15-year property tax abatement, worth an estimated $61 million in forgone tax revenue, to owners of the proposed “Edition” hotel project. “Edition” is part of a chain of boutique hotels managed by Marriott, and DC’s would be built at the current site of the Christian Science church at Champlain and Euclid Streets NW.
At an Oct. 7 hearing, DCFPI asked whether this costly subsidy was needed, because tax abatements do not require any financial analysis. Since giving our testimony, we learned that a study had been commissioned by the city to show exactly how much subsidy was needed to build the hotel at that location. The study showed that if the city wants to support a 5-star hotel at that site and at this time, some form of subsidy from the District would be needed.
Why was the study done? Initially the hotel developers wanted to partner with the city on tax increment financing, or TIF, which requires such a study. Ultimately, the city decided not to do a TIF, since that form of public assistance would add to the city’s debt and possibly breach the District’s legally mandated debt cap.
Whether the city contributes by TIF or tax abatement, we believe a rigorous financial analysis should be a part of all legislation involving economic development subsidies. That’s why we support the Exemptions and Abatements Information Requirement Act, which would require financial analysis of all tax abatements. This important bill has had a hearing but has not been brought to a vote.
But the question for economic development legislation shouldn’t simply be “Is this subsidy necessary?” but “Is this subsidy a good investment for our city?” Take the Edition hotel, for example. Should we give up $61 million in tax revenue for the project? Here again is why the Exemptions and Abatement Information Requirements Act would be helpful, because it would require a listing of the benefits that would be generated. Information such as how many jobs would be created and how much those jobs pay would help the Council compare and prioritize different abatement proposals. This information would be important in assessing whether or not a proposed abatement was in fact a good deal for the city. While a subsidy may be financially necessary to support a 5-star hotel in Adams Morgan, if the city is going to support a project, it should determine whether or not this is the best use of funds or whether other uses may better suit a neighborhoods needs or require less subsidy.
Prioritizing abatement proposals and weighing the costs and benefits of each one is part of another proposal that the Council ought to adopt – setting a cap on tax abatements. A cap would force better scrutiny of development deals to make sure they offer the best investment for the city.
As we have stated in the past, DCFPI is not opposed to all tax abatements. We want to make sure that any time the city contributes to a project, the District gets some benefit. Passage of the Exemptions and Abatement Information Requirements Act as well as a cap on tax abatements would enable the City Council and DC residents do the kind of cost benefit analysis necessary to determine how best to use our taxpayer dollars.
Developers of Dupont Underground are far from the light at the end of the tunnel
By Derek Kravitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103104529.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103104529.html
Sunday, October 31, 2010; 8:53 PM
It's a tough sell: Showcase art or open a restaurant 20 feet below ground in tunnels once used for trolley service and a fallout shelter.
It was tried once before, in the mid-1990s with a food court called Dupont Down Under. Within a year that experiment failed.
District officials and developers are now moving ahead with new plans to convert tunnels beneath Dupont Circle into art galleries and possibly a restaurant and a winery, akin to several subterranean public parks and retail spaces in Manhattan and France. But officials and artists are skeptical about whether tenants will flock to a space so hidden and removed from the heavily trafficked Connecticut Avenue NW corridor.
"It's dicey," said Robin Diener, president of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association. "The businesses at Dupont have been promoting the outdoors and events at the circle for years and this is really unproven stuff."
The Arts Coalition for Dupont Underground, a nonprofit made up of artists, businesses and developers, recently released some of its initial plans for nearly 100,000 square feet of space beneath Dupont Circle and are awaiting the go-ahead from the city to begin lease negotiations, officials said.
The two parallel tunnels run beneath Connecticut Avenue NW and wrap around each side of the circular park. Financing for the development would come from a mixture of private donations and restaurant leases. No public money would be used.
Officials with the deputy mayor's office for planning and economic development say they are reviewing the underground plan and will issue a decision about how to proceed by December. Other ideas that have been tossed around - a gym, strip clubs, a mausoleum - have failed to gather steam.
The trick, community leaders say, is billing the project as a hype-worthy public attraction.
"The business owners want something that will attract people to the neighborhood and not compete with them," said Paul K. Williams, an area historian and author who serves as executive director of the nonprofit Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets group. "They want to see something substantial, and we're still looking at what we have in front of us."
Developers say that even with approval they are at least two years away from any type of opening and that the project's success would depend on the rental rates, estimated to be about a third of the price of their above-ground counterparts.
"We are first trying to prove the financial viability," said Julian Hunt, a D.C. developer who serves as chairman of the arts coalition's board of directors. "This is an institution that will put the city on the map."
Another key to the success of the project will be the hiring of "a nationally recognized arts administrator with deep experience in managing and curating exhibitions," the developers said in a statement. A search is ongoing.
Most of the white-tiled tunnels beneath Dupont Circle have been vacant since 1962, when trolley service ended. The space was used as a fallout shelter until 1975 and a much-ballyhooed food court was started in the mid-1990s.
Dupont Down Under was phenomenal in its failure. Its chief architect, entrepreneur Geary Stephen Simon, won an exclusive 20-year contract with the city to build the below-ground retail arcade there. But city officials didn't know Simon had been convicted three times of fraud and other business crimes and had spent the better part of the previous two decades in jail or on probation.
When it opened in 1995, the project had 12 tenants, including food court staples such as Sbarro and Schlotzsky's. But within months, the project was in trouble, with issues ranging from broken air conditioning and unfinished entrances to lawsuits against Simon seeking more than $200,000 for allegedly unpaid bills.
"That proposal was totally incompetent," Hunt said. "We were much more careful and much, much more professional."
Among Dupont Underground's 22-member advisory board are officials at the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Corcoran College of Art and Design and the Art in Embassies Program at the State Department.
Developers will be meeting Monday with members of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association to discuss the plan.
D.C. property taxes
D.C. will rebid delinquent properties
Washington Business Journal - by Michael Neibauer
Date: Friday, October 29, 2010, 2:10pm EDT - Last Modified: Friday, October 29, 2010, 2:24pm EDT
The District’s annual delinquent property tax auction failed to generate bids on more than half the lots up for sale, leaving $24 million in real estate taxes still unpaid. But the Office of Tax and Revenue isn’t giving up on its collection efforts.
Quite the opposite -- it’s ramping up.
OTR sold the liens on roughly 1,265 properties during the three-day September sale out of more than 2,700 lots auctioned. The sale generated $11.2 million, well short of the $35.9 million owed to the city in taxes, interest and penalties. The properties that did not sell are “bid back” to the District.
Starting soon, officials say, OTR will launch a “special deed sale,” where it puts unsold, still-delinquent properties on the block to anyone with the cash to pay what’s owed. The sale will initially feature sealed bidding -- potential buyers prepare a portfolio of the lots they want and deliver OTR a cash offer. The bidder who proposes to pay the most taxes gets the liens of their choice.
“We’re giving them dibs to purchase whatever properties they want,” said Robert McKeon, deputy chief counsel in the tax office. “If they put in an offer to buy the most, then they can have those properties.”
McKeon suggested that many properties didn’t sell in September because bidders didn’t think they’d still be available when the auction started.
Dozens of lots owned by Douglas Development Corp. didn’t sell, for example, perhaps because bidders assumed owner Douglas Jemal would pay up, McKeon said. Jemal’s lots comprised at least 10 percent of all back property taxes owed to D.C., and most still have not been redeemed today.
The tax bill on 1309 F St. NW, Jemal's Ewing, is more $218,000 alone. OTR's online database, as of 2 p.m. Friday, listed the building as delinquent.
“A lot of people didn’t show up with enough money,” McKeon said. “I don’t think a lot of people were prepared for the Jemal properties to go up for bid.”
Buying a lien is generally viewed as an investment. Property owners usually pay their back taxes before the title is transferred and lienholders are refunded their money plus interest. A lienholder can start foreclosure proceedings six months after receiving a certificate of sale, but that process often takes years and rarely results in a deed changing hands.
The deed sale is “fairly imminent,” McKeon said, but he didn’t have a specific date. Once the clock starts, purchasers will have 10 business days to submit their bids. Delinquent properties that are not sold as part of a large portfolio may be purchased on a one-by-one basis.
In other words, the District is going to get its money -- one way or the other.
Team Thomas Not Backing Down
Washington City Paper blog
Wanna see two of the District’s most high profile lawyers in action? LL’s got you covered.
In one corner is superlawyer Fred Cooke Jr., Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry‘s long-time attorney. In the other, Still Mayor Adrian Fenty‘s pugnacious attorney general, Peter Nickles.
The issue: Team Thomas, the non-profit started by Ward 5 CouncilmemberHarry Thomas Jr. that his Republican opponent has called a city-funded slush fund and Nickles is investigating.
Nickles asked Thomas for Team Thomas’ financial records in a letter last week, and then issued a subpoena for the records on Wednesday when he didn’t get them. Cooke, who represents both Team Thomas and the councilmember, says he’s advised his clients “not to respond” to the subpoena, and is crying foul at what he calls Nickles’ “bullying and ethically questionable tactics.”
LL’s got a copy of a letter Cooke sent to Nickles yesterday, and the AG’s response he sent today.
Cooke starts off saying that Nickles doesn’t have the legal authority under the District’s “charitable solitications law” to request the sort of records he’s request because Team Thomas isn’t a charity. “Team Thomas has not held itself out to be either a charity, or a tax exempt charitable organization,” Cooke writes. “There are no facts that would tend to support any finding that Team Thomas has made any plea (directly or indirectly) for a contribution … for any charitable purpose.”
Nickles responds, in essence, are you out of your mind, Fred? “On his Councilmember web-site, Mr. Thomas describes Team Thomas as ‘a non-profit organization for social change, citizen empowerment, community development, and youth and senior program development.’ These stated purposes bring Team Thomas well within the scope of the District’s charitable solicitations law,” Nickles writes.
Cooke also asks why Team Thomas is being singled out for scrutiny, even though its operations are not “materially different” from any other District non-profit. Nickles responds that Team Thomas is being investigated because, “despite never having had a license to solicit contributions in D.C., it appears to be—and is described by Mr. Thomas as—a charitable donation funded by donations.”
Cooke says there appears to be a “another agenda” for Nickle’s behavior. But, Cooke adds, Thomas and Team Thomas are “absolutely amenable” to providing the records Nickles asked for in his letter last week—they just don’t like the subpoena. In a phone call with LL, Cooke says the point of his letter was to ask Nickles to withdraw the subpoena, which he calls totally unnecessary.
“Stylistically, it’s classic Peter Nickles,” Cooke says.
In his letter, Nickles essentially says whatever dude—just hand over the documents.
“If we receive the requested information by the close of business today, if won’t matter if whether your clients say they are responding to the subpoena or to the letter. If we don’t receive the requested information by close of business today, we will petition the Superior Court for enforcement on Monday,” Nickles writes. “That’s the bottom line.”
LL asked Cooke if he planned on complying with the end-of-the-day deadline. Cooke’s response: Since Nickles didn’t answer his request to withdraw the subpoena, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do as I sit here right now.”
Are these two headed for court or what?
Read the letters after the jump.
Cooke’s letter to Nickles:
Evans to Burleithians: I Basically Can’t Help You
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper blog)
For months now, Georgetowners and Burleithians have been mustering against their local university’s 10-year-plan, which involves expanding the graduate student body without adding more on-campus housing. It’s an existential struggle: Residents of these leafy, genteel neighborhoods fear the conversion of single family homes into rowdy rentals, because God knows what comes after that.
Last night, the Burleith Citizens Association gathered at Duke Ellington School of the Arts for an update. BCA president Lenore Rubino, a real estate agent, said that she and the Citizens Association of Georgetown had been meeting with University leadership in hopes of hammering out a compromise, but that talks had broken down.
“We know that Georgetown not only has the space to build dorms, it has the means to build dorms, if it so chooses,” she said. “We don’t want to hear why Georgetown can’t. We want to hear that they can.”
Another person not telling Burleithians what they want to hear: CouncilmemberJack Evans. While voicing support for the residents’ concerns–even saying that he opposes Georgetown’s plans to add more students without more on-campus housing–he says he has no influence over how the Zoning Commission ultimately rules on the campus plan.
“The city council doesn’t have a role in this,” he said. “My support is there, but it’s not something I can make happen for you, or make happen for anybody…I wish I could solve your problem with a magic wand, but I can’t.”
Could he help change the composition of the Zoning Commission, which now has two developers on it? someone wanted to know. The Council already has, Evans answered–they tabled one nominee who would have made it three developers.
Could he hold Council hearings on the campus plan? “That’s never been done before,” Evans mused.
How about testifying before the Zoning Commission in their support? another asked. No can do, Evans answered–if he did that, he’d have to testify for everyone who had an issue at the Board of Zoning Adjustment or ABRA as well.
Then there’s the question of the $90 million in tax-exempt bonds, most of which Georgetown wants for a new science center. Evans passed them out of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, and the Council is expected to give final approval at its next legislative session. Couldn’t he extract concessions from the university in exchange for approving them?
Evans answered that it just wasn’t something he was willing to do. If the Council started rejecting qualified revenue bond applications, he said, the federal government might just take over the program, and he’d rather be the one with even nominal control. “We have no ability to say, they don’t qualify. Our real role is to pass it,” Evans said. “If we didn’t, Congress would pass it anyway.”
Ultimately, a weary Evans expressed regret over all the sound and fury that might be better directed elsewhere. “A lot of time, energy, and money gets spent and not a whole lot moves,” he said.
So there you have it, Burleith: Your councilmember can’t do much for you. Oh, except for one thing: The smokestack that the university says won’t increase emissions. Somehow, he has influence over that part.
“I will never allow them to build an 85-foot smokestack,” Evans said. “I will lay in front of the trucks, I will do whatever it takes to stop that.”
D.C. teachers hit a dead end in court challenge to layoffs
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102907400.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102907400.html
Saturday, October 30, 2010; B3
The Washington Teachers' Union's legal challenge to the layoff of 266 educators in October 2009 effectively ended Friday, when a union attorney told a D.C. Superior Court judge that it could find no evidence that Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee contrived a budget crunch to justify the job cuts.
"We didn't find anything that would warrant further briefing," attorney Brenda C. Zwack told Judge Judith Bartnoff.
Last November, Bartnoff denied the union's bid for a preliminary injunction barring the District from firing the 266 educators. She said the union had failed to prove its allegation that Rhee's hiring of more than 900 new teachers in the spring and summer of 2009 left a glut of new instructors, allowing her to create a sham financial crisis that fall.
The legal ground shifted in April, however, when Rhee announced the discovery of a $34 million surplus in the school budget. District Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi refuted Rhee's claim, and said that in fact the agency was at risk of overspending.
But the fiscal confusion raised enough doubt that Bartnoff granted the union "limited discovery" to investigate what financial information was available to Rhee at the time of the layoffs.
Zwack was not specific, but she said the 1,200 pages of budget documents and e-mails among D.C. school officials yielded nothing that would justify a request from the union for additional discovery. Bartnoff deferred a final ruling on the case until early next year.
A handful of the 266 dismissed teachers filed into the courtroom while the hearing, which lasted just a few minutes, was underway.
"All these people are here, and we're going to send them home," Bartnoff said.
It was disappointing news for the educators. "It's politics," said Evonne Clayton, a former teacher at Drew Elementary.
The layoffs, which came just a few weeks into the 2009-10 school year, were intended to help address what Rhee said in a sworn statement was a $44 million budget gap. The reductions were politically damaging to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), triggering teacher and student protests and a D.C. Council hearing. Council members accused Rhee of skirting the law by unilaterally rerouting $9 million into funding for summer school, adding about 100 teachers to the total of 266 who lost their jobs.
The layoffs were also unusual because they were executed not by traditional seniority standards ("last hired, first fired") but by criteria that allowed principals to make cuts primarily according to "school needs."
The layoffs remain politically volatile for presumptive Mayor-Elect Vincent C. Gray, who defeated Fenty in the September Democratic primary with heavy teachers union support. According to attendees at a recent dinner meeting with private education donors, Gray said he would not rehire the laid-off educators.
Gray spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said Friday that Gray's position is that laid-off teachers who had received good evaluations are eligible to reapply for positions in the school system as they open up.
"Those deemed to be effective should have an opportunity to be considered for future jobs," McCoy said.
Experts see a bumpy road to recovery for region's economy
V. Dion Haynes
Capital Business (Washington Post)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sara Kline, associate economist, Moody's Analytics. Kline, who tracks government labor data in the Washington region from month to month, said she expects the unemployment rate here to edge higher in the coming months. That's bittersweet news, she said, the sweet part being that the higher rate will reflect a return of long-term unemployed people to the job market.
"We're going to see those people come back," she said. "This will put upward pressure on the unemployment rate. We'll see it tick higher. It's not a good thing, but not entirely a bad thing if you see people return to their job search looking for new opportunities."
Kline said she will be watching private sector job growth, but expects small businesses to continue to struggle. How they do, she said, could determine whether the long-term unemployed continue in the new year to return to the job market to search for employment or drop out of the labor force again.
***
Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council, a national trade association representing 330 government contractors, said he expects the sector to remain strong despite the Obama administration's move to return some defense work to the federal workforce.
"I don't expect it to be a tsunami affecting government contracting in the Washington, D.C., area," Chvotkin said. "We're not going to be immune. In terms of the proportion, I would think more of that would take place outside of the metropolitan area rather than in the Washington metropolitan area."
Still, he said, there's a real possibility that overall federal spending levels in metropolitan Washington could decrease, which would hurt the region. "The appropriations process always has an impact on contracts ... That's going to have a demonstrable impact" on the area, he added.
****
Gregory H. Leisch, chief executive of Delta Associates, a commercial real estate research and consulting firm, said he expects fourth-quarter retail sales in the region to improve significantly from the same periods in 2009 and 2008.
"We'll find [sales] this fourth quarter compared to last fourth quarter [will be] 3 to 5 percent better than last year," Leisch said. "Last year we lost 50,000 jobs; this year we're going to gain 30,000 or 40,000 jobs. For that reason alone we'll do better ... The jobs we're adding are high-income. The nature of the jobs are supportive of retail."
Evidence of the growth in retail sales is the accelerated hiring that has taken place in the sector. "Retail employment is up, and it's been one of the healthier segments of employment growth," he added. "That says a lot. Retailers are back in the market employing people. They do so only when there's meaningful improvement in their business."
***
Robert A. Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group, who studies various indicators in this area, said he expects this area to be a "growth driver" in the recovery of the mid-Atlantic region.
"The D.C. area will continue to show strong gains through the fourth quarter and will continue to be an above-average performer in terms of employment and income growth," Dye said. "There are many positive signals -- corporate headquarters relocating to the area, net gains from BRAC [the military base relocation process], expansion of several government offices."
Dye said the region also will see "continued strong immigration trends and that's probably the best economic indicator of all." More people will draw more housing and more commercial development, including retail.
***
Jeffrey Kottmeier, director of research in the region for Cassidy Turley, said he expects to see a dramatic improvement in the commercial real estate sector by the end of the year. He said he is projecting the region's net absorption -- the amount of space leased to meet demand -- will reach 5.7 million square feet for 2010, compared with minus-2 million for 2009.
"Looking back at this year, we've had three very strong, significant quarters that have been driven a lot by the federal government. Our vacancies decreased and rents have been rather stable. For the fourth quarter, I expect for us to finish strong."
Still, dark clouds loom on the horizon. "There has been a little bit of uncertainty regarding the federal government. The Securities and Exchange Commission signed a lease last quarter [for 900,000 square feet in the District]. Now there are some questions about whether they will take that full lease ... There are a lot of question marks with the elections [this] week and getting federal budgets approved. All of that affects commercial real estate, especially office space."
***
, regional economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said businesses will continue to stagnate during the final couple of months of the year.
"From what I hear, there's just a lot of uncertainty," Bauer said. "One of the ways uncertainty manifests itself is people are not totally convinced the improvement they've seen will be sustained. They're being very conservative in how they operate their businesses. While some firms increased their payroll and are planning to expand, many firms I talked to say they're going to wait before they make any additional hires. That's true also for investment conditions."
While demand and sales have been rising, profits aren't likely to pick up.
"Prices remain pretty soft," he added. There are "more competitors chasing fewer clients."
***
The Wine Specialist's assets sold
Washington Business Journal - by Missy Frederick
Date: Friday, October 29, 2010, 2:39pm EDT
D.C.'s Office of Tax and Revenue has auctioned off assets seized from retailer The Wine Specialist.
The store, formerly located at 2115 M St. NW, closed in September. According to OTR, owner Stephen Maisel was delinquent more than $652,000 in sales and use taxes between 204 and 2009. Maisel filed for Ch. 11 protection last year but the case was dismissed.
OTC brought in $73,000 from the auction of the store's inventory, according to its Web site
Raising the Catania banner
By: JONETTA ROSE BARRAS
Examiner Columnist
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/Raising-the-Catania-banner-1397779-106408553.html#ixzz1404gH7D4
Examiner Columnist
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/Raising-the-Catania-banner-1397779-106408553.html#ixzz1404gH7D4
October 31, 2010
Some government managers appearing before the D.C. Council can attest to his thoroughness. The phrase most often repeated is "David does his homework." They're talking about At-large member David Catania, whose name is on the ballot in Tuesday's general election.
Statehood/Green Party candidate David Schwartzman, incumbent Democrat Phil Mendelson, and independent Richard Urban also are on the ballot. Voters can select two.
Catania, an independent, arguably has been one of the city's most thoughtful and productive legislators. What's more, he doesn't mind calling things the way he sees them, even if that means making a few enemies. I haven't always agreed with his positions -- his steadfast refusal to put same-sex marriage to a citizen vote, for example -- but he has been very effective at creating support both within the legislature and in the community for those issues that bear his imprimatur.
Working with the executive, he can be credited with building the city's cutting-edge health care system, including a government insurance program that is the envy of many local governments. His deep and expansive oversight of the Department of Health aided in the reform of an agency that had been so broken it couldn't provide accurate data on the number of individuals with HIV/AIDS.
After exploiting racial and class divisions in the District, presumptive Mayor Vincent Gray has talked about creating "one city." But, Catania may be the only legislator equally respected across all boundaries. Folks east of the Anacostia River praise him for his consistent attention to issues affecting the poor and working class. Residents in upper Northwest know him as an advocate of effective and cost-efficient government. He's not a legislator whose first reaction to a budget crisis is to raise taxes.
That kind of record has some people asserting Catania is a good candidate for vice chairman of the council under Kwame Brown, who, despite his financial woes, is expected to be the legislature's next leader. The chairman pro tempore subs for the chairman and helps whip up votes to advance the legislature's agenda.
Ward 2's Jack Evans has served as chairman pro tempore since 2001. He's performed quite well. But even if he didn't win the Democratic nomination for council chairman, Vincent Orange was right. The council needs a little shaking up: It might be time for a new pro tempore. Certainly, there should be fewer committee chairmanships and assignments should play more toward a legislator's strength.
I'll write more about this later this week. Suffice to say, the legislature has to position itself to be a solid check to an executive who was a former colleague and is sure to exploit past relationships to earn rubber stamps.
The thing to remember, for now, is that in Tuesday's election darken the oval next to Catania's name -- even if you don't vote for anyone else. Some people might wonder if I am promoting bullet voting. That may be one way for voters to send a strong message about the quality of legislator they want.
Tightrope Walking
DC Watch (Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff)
October 31, 2010
Tightrope Walking
Dear Tightrope Walkers:
There are at least three tightropes that Vincent Gray will have to walk as mayor. First, he will have to negotiate the chasm between those who applauded Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s anti-teacher rhetoric and actions, and who view “school reform” as a war against teachers, and those who view Rhee’s initiatives and methods as counterproductive. One of the most questionable of Rhee’s programs is the IMPACT evaluations of teachers, widely viewed as unreliable and unfair. Will Gray allow those evaluations to continue, or leave the decision to acting chancellor Kaya Henderson, who will undoubtedly continue them? Valerie Strauss makes a convincing case against IMPACT, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/a-job-for-the-new-dc-schools-c.html#more, and a convincing case that ending IMPACT evaluations should be among the first changes a new administration should make. By the way, a comment on Strauss’ article by “Linda/RetiredTeacher” is the funniest and most accurate comment on Rhee’s resignation I’ve seen: “I’ll say one positive thing for Ms. Rhee: She believed that all the incompetents should leave and that’s what she did.”
A second tightrope that Gray will have to walk is strung between the active interest organizations that oppose any budget cuts, at least for the programs that they run, and the general public that opposes any additional taxes or fees to support a government that they have good reason to believe is wasteful and inefficient. On September 25, 2002, I wrote in themail about budgeting, “Bureaucracies know how to confront and confound budget cutters. My favorite true story was that whenever the federal budget proposed a funding cut for the National Park Service, the Park Service would respond with its Old Faithful list of spending reductions. Reliably, right at the top of the list, year after year, would be two things: cutting the hours of service at the Washington Monument and closing Yellowstone Park for a few weeks during the summer. Whenever the bureaucracy gets to devise the plan, services to the public will be slashed savagely before anybody in the bureaucracy loses a job, and the most popular services will be the first to be cut,” http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/02-09-25.htm. Gray has said there will be a series of city council hearings on the budgets before he makes proposals about whether to make cuts or raise taxes and fees. We know how these hearings will be weighted. There will be two options: cut the most popular and necessary government programs — cut Yellowstone and the Washington Monument — or raise taxes. There’s a third options that should be tried first: cut the least popular and least necessary programs first, and reassess our budget options only after that has been done. This was the subject of another must-read column by Colbert King on Saturday, “Hard Choices on DC Budget,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102905541.html
A third tightrope is shaky and difficult to keep a secure footing on. On one side is the mass of citizens who are tired of anti-automobile city policies that encourage congestion and traffic jams, raise parking fees so high that they discourage Washingtonians and suburbanites from patronizing downtown businesses, and so on. On the other side is a much smaller but more vocal group who believe that automobile driving must be discouraged by being made ever more expensive and inconvenient, in order to make cities more “livable.” On this subject don’t miss Fred Barnes’ column in The Weekly Standard, “Coercing People Out of Their Cars: The Road to Hell Is Paved with Bike Paths,”http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/coercing-people-out-their-cars_513335.html
It’s time to exercise your civic duties again. Even though there aren’t likely to be any surprises at the polls on Tuesday, at least in DC, I’ll see you there.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
In the last issue of themail, October 27, I wrote an article about how Councilmember Jack Evans had used four large DC government vehicles to transport guests to his birthday party that evening at the Homer Building downtown. By midday Thursday, I received an E-mail from Andrew Huff, Evans’ press secretary, disputing my facts and demanding a correction. Huff alleged that I did not attend the party (I did) and that “no tax dollars were spent to pay for these buses.” Later in the day, Evans issues a press release staring that he had asked me to “correct the record” regarding the “misinformation” published by me and referred to in Alan Suderman’s Loose Lips blog.
In response to Huff’s E-mail, and prior to Evans’ press release, I E-mailed Evans’ office that I would gladly write a correction if and when they would provide me with a copy of the DC Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR’s) invoice and “proof that the buses were paid for before the event.” Although Huff promised on Thursday afternoon to provide a copy of the invoice, by midnight on Sunday I have received neither than invoice nor proof of payment prior to the event (and, therefore, prior to my item’s being published in themail). Until I receive both documents, I don’t see a reason to retract.
Footnote: the issue of Evans’ plan to use DPR buses had been the talk of the Wilson Building for the past two weeks. At least one member of Evans’ staff raised the matter with me, asking for my personal opinion as to whether it would be legal and proper to use District vehicles for a personal event. I was, therefore, surprised when I arrived at the event to see the four DC government vehicles, given the fact that Evans’ office knew there was an unresolved ethical question about using them. This incident raises another issue — has DPR gotten into the business of bus rentals for private, non governmental events?
D.C. School Board Candidates Stress Reform
Mara, Warren-Jones want progress to continue
BY P.J. ORVETTI
NBC-4
The District of Columbia has been at center stage in the nation’s battles over education reform over the past few years. The take-no-prisoners model of exiting schools chief Michelle Rhee made her a celebrity -- and the September defeat of her patron Adrian Fenty bewildered pretty much everyone who doesn’t actually live in the region.
With Rhee out, Kaya Henderson in (for now), and Vincent Gray so far offering few details on what direction his education policy will take, it’s easy to overlook the D.C. State Board of Education. It was established in 2007 as part of the reform law that gave Fenty control of the schools, and it lacks the power of the pre-Fenty Board of Education.
Still, the SBOE is more than a mere advisory body. It has to sign off on academic standards and graduation requirements, and has authority over No Child Left Behind compliance. As its name indicates, it functions as if D.C. were a state -- which was useful in the District’s successful bid to win $75 million in federal “Race to the Top” funds in August.
The SBOE has nine elected members -- one from each ward, plus one elected at-large. Four of the nonpartisan elections are on the ballot next week. Ward 3 member Laura Slover is unopposed, while Ward 5’s Mark Jones is expected to defeat Republican activist Darlene Glymph. Two other contests are closer, and cast a light on the education reform debate in D.C.
In Ward 1, government relations consultant Patrick Mara has been running a spirited race against incumbent Dotti Love Wade. Mara defeated longtime D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz in a 2008 Republican primary, but lost that fall. He has a better shot at victory next week, especially with the Washington Post endorsing him over the incumbent.
“Many voters see the SBOE as a ceremonial position,” Mara told me. “However, I will maintain the seat to be a forceful advocate for forward-looking education reform.”
He is certainly running hard -- he’s been going door to door in the ward for the past five months, and has appeared at countless public events. Wade, who declined to comment for this article, has been less visible.
“I am everywhere and she hangs up signs,” Mara said. “I’ve been to forums this cycle where my opponent never showed. My opponent -- a very nice woman -- does not have the sense of urgency that is necessary to improving D.C. public schools.” According to Mara, Rhee has said Wade never sought to meet with her during her two years on the SBOE, while Mara, who currently holds no office, has met with Rhee several times.
Mara says he was “disappointed” by Rhee’s exit, “but not surprised. Chairman Gray and Chancellor Rhee did not see eye-to-eye on several issues and the departure of Rhee was a mutual decision.” Mara says he will “continue to support sustainable and aggressive school reform,” and “will cry foul if we go off path.”
Since Mara has run for Council in the past, some speculate he may be gearing up to do so again, with the SBOE as a launching pad. He says that’s not the case.
In Ward 1, SBOE representatives in the past sought the position as a springboard for higher office, while others served as a rubber stamp for the Ward 1 councilmember. A State Board of Education member should be an engaging forceful advocate for children and families.”
In Ward 6, SBOE member Lisa Raymond is not seeking another term. She has endorsed nonprofit housing finance professional Monica Warren-Jones, as have the Post and several current and past councilmembers and SBOE members.
Warren-Jones, who has two children in D.C. schools, told me, “My family has benefited greatly from a public school education here in the ward, and my husband and I are very grateful for that. But I also know that our experience is not consistent with many of my fellow residents across the city.”
She says “much improvement is still needed to ensure that every child in our public and public charter schools have the best possible school environments, including outstanding principals, effective teachers, supportive school cultures, and high quality curricula that challenge them and prepare them for success.”
Warren-Jones concedes that the SBOE has less authority than the pre-reform Board, but says it “can continue to have a positive impact on public education in the District.” Her “central issue is to address how as a policy making body, the board can develop and implement policies that allow all D.C. public and public charter schools to become first and competitive choices.”
Like Mara, Warren-Jones said she is “disappointed” that Rhee is leaving, but sees a good sign for the future in Gray’s selection of Henderson, which she calls evidence “that our new mayor-elect is equally committed to reforms” as was Fenty.
Mara anticipates victory on Tuesday, while Warren-Jones is a bit more cautious.
"I would like to think I have a good shot but ultimately, that decision is up to the voters,” she said. “I am humbled by the support I have received to date for my campaign.”
Warren-Jones’s opponent, public relations consultant Melissa Rohan, did not speak with me for this article.
Mike DeBonis: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/debonis/2010/10/demorning_debonis_oct_29_2010.html
Loose Lips (daily column): http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2010/10/29/loose-lips-daily-can-it-wait-im-hungry-edition/
No comments:
Post a Comment