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Good morning, DCGC will return on Monday with significant stories from Thursday and Friday and full Saturday, Sunday and Monday stories.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Best, Karyn-Siobhan Robinson a/k/a DC Government Clips
D.C. Government/D.C. Council media clips: Wednesday, November 24, 2010.
Missed yesterday? http://bit.ly/eCtYkU
Twitter: DCGovClips
Budget
Summer jobs on Fenty's list of cuts - Washington Post
Few escape pain under Fenty's budget cut plan - Examiner
Who will carry the burden of D.C.'s budget cuts? - Examiner
Fenty offers plan to close $188M gap - Washington Business Journal
Furloughs will be in D.C. plans, union says - The Washington Times
The District's budget and the mayor-elect - Examiner
What Fenty Would Cut - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Read Fenty's revised budget proposal (finally) - TBD.com
A Tale of Two Speeches - DCist.com
Behold: The Meaningless Lame Duck Budget Proposal - Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Grays Says 'Daunting' Fiscal Challenges Ahead For D.C. - WAMU
Will Gray raise taxes? Should he? - Washington Post
D.C. Council
Non-profit controlled by D.C. council member spent $200,000 in donations - Washington Post
Secrets of Team Thomas - Washington Post
Nickles: “Harry Thomas is in Big Trouble.” - Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Thomas defends nonprofit, pledges to turn over documents by deadline - D.C. Wire (Washington Post blog)
Evans proposes pay cut for some D.C. employees – WTOP
Barry has to reschedule D.C. Thanksgiving giveaway for lack of turkeys -
Washington Post
Washington Post
Temporary Aid to Needy Politicians: Why Marion Barry is Veering Right on Welfare Reform - Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
What's Up With The Can Of Steel Reserve On Tommy Wells' Desk? - DCist.com
D.C. Government
D.C. Lottery gets numbers of complaints - Washington Times
Advocates, city at odds over historic downtown building's future - Examiner
ANCs Win! But Pawnshops Win Also! - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Economy / Police / Metro / Other
Short-Stacked: How IHOP Qualified as a Small Business in Columbia Heights - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Options Emerge For McMillan - Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
D.C. Cop Accused of Cheating Had High Standards - City Desk (Washington City Paper blog)
Governors and mayor agree: Metro needs reform - Examiner
Of interest (link only)
Read: Marion Barry’s Press Release on Turkeygate
Posted by Alan Suderman on Nov. 23, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
What's Tweeting Courtland Milloy?
The Washington Post columnist tweaks D.C.'s newcomers as "myopic little twits," but is he the crotchety grandpa the city needs?
By Rend Smith on November 26, 2010
Washington City Paper
Are the Azaleas Doomed?
National Arboretum may remove plants
Updated 11:00 AM EST, Tue, Nov 23, 2010
(Because DCGC loves azaleas)
Budget
Summer jobs on Fenty's list of cuts
By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112306942.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112306942.html
Wednesday, November 24, 2010; B07
The District would greatly reduce the summer jobs program for youths as part of a plan released Tuesday to close a projected $188 million budget gap in the current fiscal year, and it_blank would also reduce welfare assistance to residents and delay the start of a program requiring public schools to serve students healthier meals.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's much-anticipated proposal puts the final say on what are sure to be controversial decisions in the hands of Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D), currently the D.C. Council chairman, and the rest of the council.
The plan was expected to be delivered to the council last week, but Chief Financial Officer Natwar N. Gandhi combed through a draft and sent it back to the Fenty administration to revise. The 48-page document, certified by Gandhi, landed with the council Tuesday. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for next Tuesday.
By incorporating a recent proposal by council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) to reduce welfare assistance, the budget proposal would bring the program in line with federal regulations, for a saving in fiscal 2011 of $4.6 million. Other council members had balked at the proposal by Barry and Alexander, who said the current system is creating a cycle of poverty in the city.
In another move, Fenty (D) postponed implementation of council member Mary M.Cheh's hard-won Healthy Schools Act, which would require schools to provide healthier meals and more exercise. The delay would contribute more than half of an $8 million saving in the District's office of the state superintendent for education.
"I'm trying to be open-minded about this. If everyone is going to feel the pain, everything is going to be on the table," Cheh (D-Ward 3) said, although she added that she has to look at the budget closely.
In apparent deference to Gray, Fenty would significantly cut the summer youth employment program to six weeks and a maximum of 12,000 participants - a major turnaround from his philosophy of serving every youth who wanted a job.
That policy has caused the summer jobs program to go over budget by millions of dollars and has eaten away at the budget of the Department of Employment Services, which has struggled with the challenge of managing nearly 20,000 participants. In all, Employment Services would save $4.7 million in Fenty's new budget proposal.
Gray has said the summer jobs program should be smaller to be more effective.
The Fenty administration issued a news release that made no mention of the three major changes, while highlighting other aspects.
About 500 special education students had already been taken off the rolls of expensive private schools, a cost heavily subsidized by the District, said Sean Madigan, a spokesman for the Fenty administration. Fenty's budget team identified the amount saved as $22 million. Other savings identified by the Fenty administration include $6 million attributed to favorable interest rates on current borrowing. On the added-revenue side was $18 million in federal stimulus funds directed to D.C. public schools and public charter schools.
In October, Fenty ordered agencies to freeze hiring and to reduce spending on non-personnel items by 10 percent, although he has been criticized for breaking the freeze to hire some former campaign workers. City agencies appear to have heeded Fenty's order to save money in a variety of ways.
In the news release, the Fenty administration noted that the proposal included no tax increases - a campaign promise Fenty made in 2006.
Gray, who will succeed Fenty in January, has made several statements -including in a "state of the city's finances" address Monday - indicating that tax increases are on the table.
"We made some very tough but necessary decisions in developing this budget proposal," Fenty said. "These are tough economic times for residents across the city, and we cannot afford to ask them to shoulder a bigger financial burden.
Also included in Fenty's proposal:
· 100 vacant positions would be eliminated and 25 to 30 people could be laid off.
· The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities would reduce subgrants by $450,000.
· Parking fees in Metro lots would be increased.
· Circulator bus service would be reduced on weekend nights.
· Public safety training and the number of canine officers would be reduced.
"The government is no longer in a position to provide all these services. ... To the mayor's credit there's no tax increases," said council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), chairman of the Committee on Finance and Revenue. "I suggest my colleagues accept these cuts. We have $345 million to go in April."
Few escape pain under Fenty's budget cut plan
By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
11/24/10 9:05 PM
Services for the poor and the police department were targeted for deep cuts in Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposal to fill a $188 million budget gap, but no District resident would escape the pain under a shrinking city budget.
Fenty's proposal calls for slashing spending by $161.2 million and shifting cash from several funds to bring $27 million into the operating budget.
"A lot of the cuts fall heavily on folks already hurt by the recession," said Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. But reductions like the slicing of library funding and the removal of funding for a program designed to bring healthy food choices into the city's schools means "it hurts all around," Lazere said.
The D.C. Council may cut the budget further. Mayor-elect Vincent Gray said Monday that he wants to find an additional $50 million that could be saved to offset an even larger budget shortfall expected in the next fiscal year.
Among the hardest-hit city agencies are the police department and child family services.
Fenty wants to reduce the police department's budget by $8 million by cutting into training and recruiting costs, and by better management of a contract for running the city's speed and red light cameras.
Police union chief Kris Baumann said less spending on recruiting will likely reduce the force's size as officers retire and aren't replaced.
Child family services would be cut by nearly $6 million. A $2.6 million chunk of that comes from a 50 percent reduction in subsidies to grandparents designed to keep children with their families and out of the foster care system.
The proposal keeps funding for the city's schools at the same level as previously budgeted with the help of increased federal funding.
Fenty did not call for increased taxes. But he wants to drain $7 million from a fund designed to provide tax cuts to small businesses when work is being done on roads in front of their doors. He also proposed a $1 fee increase at the city's Metro station parking lots. The council will now consider Fenty's plan, and counter with its proposal within two weeks.
"We made some very tough but necessary decisions in developing this budget proposal," Fenty said in a statement. "These are tough economic times for residents across the city and we cannot afford to ask them to shoulder a bigger financial burden."
Who will carry the burden of D.C.'s budget cuts?
By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
11/23/10 10:53 AM
Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposal to fill a $187 million shortfall should be in the D.C. Council's hands very soon — it didn't come through on Monday as expected. But when the slashing is done, who will bear the burden of carrying the cutting room scraps through history?
There's no rule that requires the council to deal with the city's budget woes between now and the end of the year. While delaying certainly wouldn't help, the council could sit tight until Vince Gray is in the mayor's seat and Kwame Brown is Council Chairman. It's just another six weeks and not much is likely to change.
There's likely two reasons for Gray's push to get it done now. On the practical side, the longer the city waits to make the necessary cuts, the less room there will be to maneuver. But again, six weeks won't likely change much. Also, if Gray can get through the necessary deep cuts, he won't have to carry the burden of the tough decisions on the back of his administration. It'll belong to Fenty.
Back in October, Gray said he wanted to not only deal with the cuts for the current 2011 fiscal year, but also the $345 million shortfall the District will likely face for the 2012 fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1.
But that was when he also hoped to have Fenty's budget proposal by the first week of November. There's no time for the council to handle all those cuts now. It'll have to stick to just the current fiscal year and Gray will have to take full responsibility for the slashing that will likely happen next year.
By not moving as quickly as Gray would have liked, Fenty sneaks by with a little less historical baggage. This will help him as he moves to shape the public image of his administration.
The result is that both Gray and Fenty will have to carry the burden of the inevitable cuts.
Fenty offers plan to close $188M gap
Washington Business Journal - by Michael Neibauer
Date: Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 12:43pm EST - Last Modified: Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 1:49pm EST
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will leave office without having proposed a single major tax increase during his lone four-year term. The District’s outgoing chief executive, per a gap-closing plan submitted to the D.C. Council Tuesday, suggests eliminating a $188 million budget shortfall by slashing agency spending, emptying some pots of money and raising at least one fee. But no tax hikes.
Of course, the council will probably shred Fenty’s plan. But, finally, the conversation can begin on how to balance the $5.3 billion spending plan in the face of tanking revenue.
Fenty’s proposal would cut agency spending by $138 million, freeze or eliminate 125 vacant positions and lay off at least a dozen employees.
"We made some very tough but necessary decisions in developing this budget proposal," Fenty said in a news release. "These are tough economic times for residents across the city and we cannot afford to ask them to shoulder a bigger financial burden. We found efficiencies and cut non-essential spending in a plan that will keep our government moving without harming service delivery."
The mayor suggests emptying Councilman Jim Graham’s fledgling streetscape survival fund of its $7 million. Adams Morgan and H Street businesses were counting on that pot to stave off disaster as their respective streetscape projects continue.
The plan would also shift $6 million in surplus baseball stadium funds and $3.5 million in tobacco settlement fund dollars to the general fund. And it would eliminate all funding, about $5 million, for the Healthy Schools Act.
The Department of Public Works, under Fenty’s plan, would axe its Small Business Improvement District Litter Program to save $613,000. The Commission of Arts and Humanities would reduce grant funding by $450,000. The Metropolitan Police Department would defer equipment upgrades, saving $944,000, and slash training expenses by $1.6 million.
The Department of Transportation would reduce funding for paving projects by $1.1 million, and slash funding for traffic control officers outside Nationals Park and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center by $416,000. Metro is proposing to raise parking fees by $1 at its D.C. lots, and to cut late night weekend hours on the Woodley Park-McPherson Square Circulator loop, which would allow the District to reduce its Metro subsidy by $500,000.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education would save another $168,000 by killing valedictorian scholarships.
The D.C. Public Schools and D.C. charter schools were spared any proposed cuts thanks to stimulus dollars.
In most cases, executive agencies were able to limit personnel cuts by freezing or eliminating vacant positions. The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, which proposes to lay off 12 full-time equivalent employees, is a notable exception.
D.C. Council Chairman Vince Gray, the mayor-elect, said Monday he will not propose a tax increase until the council has scrubbed the budget "and found every last dollar in savings first." But tax hikes, he said, are on the table.
Couple other random items from Fenty's plan:
· Hikes the "assessment" on every licensed hospital bed in the District from $1,500 to $2,000.
· Reduces the D.C. government contribution to employee health plans from 75 percent to 72 percent.
· Freezes Fire and Emergency Medical Services salaries.
· Slices $1.1 million from the Neighborhood Investment Fund, one of the few pots of money left for earmarks to nonprofit community groups.
· Cuts Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (welfare) by more than $4.5 million.
Furloughs will be in D.C. plans, union says
Leaders see move as a job saver
The Washington Times
8:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 23, 2010
As the Democratic chairman of the D.C. Council Finance and Revenue Committee calls for payroll cuts, a union that represents thousands of city-government workers said furloughs will be a part of the District's budget-cutting proposal.
The District has not furloughed its workers since the mid-1990s budget crisis that resulted in a congressional takeover of city finances.
Union leaders view the D.C. furloughs as a job saver, because the money just isn't there, said Dwight Bowman, national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 5,000 workers.
"Everyone is in agreement that the first priority is to save jobs and everyone understands that this is a very serious fiscal situation," he toldThe Washington Times in an interview.
Remedying the spending problem "calls for a mixture of things, furloughs being one of them," Mr. Bowman said. "No one wants to have furloughs. Many of the people we represent live in the city and know that service cuts can be devastating to the community. But we know those [deficit] numbers are significant and we want to go ahead and make the cuts that should be made. At the end of day, we have to make the sacrifice."
The Washington Teachers Union, which had hundreds of workers laid off in recent years, did not respond to calls for comment by Tuesday evening.
The issue of mandatory furloughs was pushed Tuesday by the city's most-senior lawmaker, council member Jack Evans, who said "we cannot balance the budget" on the backs of residents and small businesses.
Mr. Evans, who also is chairman of the finance panel, urged his colleagues to stop the budget gimmicks and cut the overspending with mandatory furloughs and a 3 percent, across-the-board spending cut on all D.C. agencies.
"[W]e have been overspending our revenue for each of the past four years and this year we will no longer have [reserve] fund balance or federal stimulus monies to paper over this problem," he said Tuesday. "With election season over, it is time for all of us to step up to the plate and make the difficult decisions we were elected to make."
The calls for furloughs and the AFGE's support followed Monday's news that the city faces a $188 million shortfall in the current budget year and a potential $345 million deficit next year.
The Times reported Tuesday that the severity of the fiscal crisis means there are no sacred cows, and such traditionally sacrosanct programs as schools and public safety face budget cuts.
Republicans, meanwhile, said the city's elected leaders should stop the rhetorical shenanigans and consider their own spending habits.
"For the last several years, we have had our elected officials use words like cuts and fiscal restraint, but we still end up with bloated budgets that our city cannot afford," said Paul Craney, head of the D.C. Republican Party. "Until our elected officials actually do put everything on the table, including their own salaries and their large staff salaries, we will continue to have rhetoric over restraint."
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty did institute a hiring freeze, but neither he nor his successor, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, has laid out a detailed cost-cutting plan for the public.
Some individual lawmakers have publicized their agendas, including at-large council member Michael Brown.
"We have to look at programs that traditionally are not on the table," Mr. Brown told The Times. "Police, fire and schools. These are agencies that haven't traditionally been on the table."
The District's budget and the mayor-elect
Examiner
11/24/10 9:05 PM
Mayor-elect Vincent Gray delivered a State of the Budget speech Monday but told residents what they already knew: The District faces a budget gap for this current fiscal year 2011 of $188 million. In 2012, the problem is greater: $345 million.
But the man who currently leads the D.C. Council and soon will be the chief executive of the $10 billion public corporation called the District government didn't offer a solid fiscal blueprint. Instead, Gray repeated what he'd said on the campaign trail: everything is on the table; there will be budget cuts; there may be tax increases; the public will have an opportunity to offer ideas.
After he concluded his speech, he didn't accept questions on camera from the media -- a maneuver that sometimes was deployed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and for which the outgoing executive often had been criticized.
"He stated the obvious and then left," said one council member, who, like others, was baffled by Gray's actions.
Gray's tone was somber and his language at times was strong. But his most inventive solutions were timid: create a $50 million reserve, freeze capital projects, and establish a blue-ribbon commission.
Council Chairman-elect Kwame Brown, who attended the event, also sounded tough: "I will ensure that the Council, as a co-equal branch of government, will thoroughly review the city's long term financial health, and approve spending measures which are fiscally responsible to allow the District to persevere in a struggling economy."
That's all good. But, talk always has been cheap. In Washington it's lower than bargain basement prices.
Neither Brown nor Gray offered any assessment of the revised budget submitted Monday by Fenty to address the $188 million shortfall. That seemed odd, since Gray had reported that he and his staff were intimately involved over the last several weeks with the executive in the development of the gap-closing plan. Further, during his speech, he said he and Gandhi had thoroughly examined the budget.
Still, there wasn't a clue from Gray whether he embraced those across-the-board cuts that, among other things, Fenty has proposed. "It's very good plan," said one city hall source. "[Fenty] has about $180 million in cuts--to human services, schools, public safety. There is nothing left untouched."
Equally troubling, Gray didn't discuss the fact that nearly half of the $188 million budget gap comes from overspending: covering 2010 deficits with 2011 funds. Then there are projections of more so-called "spending pressures" in 2011; will any of those be covered by 2012 funds?
Truth be told, a budget is simply a document. Fidelity and enforcement by financial managers are how it achieves relevancy and force. If Gray is unprepared to hold CFO Gandhi and his multi-million dollar team accountable, then it doesn't matter what he says in any televised speech. The city will face the same problem in 2013 -- even if the recession improves.
What Fenty Would Cut
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
So, not that this matters much, but Almost Not Mayor Adrian Fenty has submitted his plan to close the $188 million budget gap. Michael Neibauerhas a bunch of the highlights, and here are a few more items on the chopping block from the Housing Complex world that the incoming mayor and Council could choose to keep (or not).
· $2,374,000 in security and janitorial services for municipal buildings. Heads up SEIU!
· $500,000 from ABRA reimbursable detail program: Fewer cops on rowdy streetcorners after hours.
· $300,000 from the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, which helps poor families pay for heat in the winter.
· $689,000 from the Renewable Energy Incentive Program, which helps people put solar panels on their houses.
· $300,000 from tree planting.
· $808,000 from alley repaving.
· $1,091,000 from repaving local roads.
· $300,000 from pedestrian safety enhancements.
· $300,000 from healthy grocery initiatives from the Department of Small and Local Business Development.
· $1,595,000 from commercial revitalization initiatives, like storefront renovations.
· $40,000 in postage at Office of Planning (they spend $40,000 on postage?)
· $38,000 from the Office of Planning's zoning map maintenance and development project, which makes this reporter saddest of all.
Read Fenty's revised budget proposal (finally)
TBD.com
November 23, 2010 - 04:52 PM
It's been almost two full days since we were told D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty had delivered his revised budget proposal to the D.C. Council, but we finally have the thing itself to look over. You can download the PDF here (fair warning, it's 48 pages), or you can scroll through the document below.
We're just starting to look through it, so feel free to add your initial impressions in the comments. Anything surprising jump out at you?
Mayor-elect Vincent Gray has set a public hearing on the budget for Nov. 30. The city must close an estimated $188 million gap within a matter of weeks.
UPDATE 6:22 p.m.: OK, I've had a chance to flip through Fenty's budget proposal by now -- you can follow some of my Tweets highlighting certain proposed cuts, including:
· The virtual elimination of the Healthy School Act programs, to the tune of about $5 million.
· A freeze on pay increases for firefighters and emergency medical technicians, saving $657,000.
· A call for a $4.64 million cut from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
· A $450,000 reduction in the amount of grants for artists from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
· The Office of the State Superintendent of Education would lose $168,000 by ending scholarships for valedictorians.
· Saving $65,000 by cutting late-night weekend hours on the Woodley Park-McPherson Sq. Circulator line.
· Trimming $300,000 from pedestrian and bicycle safety improvement plans.
· Trimming $1.1 from the Neighborhood Investment Fund grant pool.
· Eliminating 125 vacant or redundant positions citywide.
There's many more, obviously, adding up to $138 million in suggested spending cuts. But I'm not sure it's worth worrying over the details just yet, because the reality is that this Council, still led by Mayor-elect/Council Chair Vincent Gray, is probably just going to start from scratch. Why would they care what Fenty thinks? They answer is, they don't. Fenty isn't going to be around to see these cuts implemented, and Gray is going to have his own ideas of how to get this done. So we'll just have to wait and see how the Council responds.
A Tale of Two Speeches
By Martin Austermuhle in News on November 23, 2010 4:45 PM
DCist.com
Yesterday, Mayor-elect Vince Gray delivered a speech in which he laid out the District's bleak financial future. A 2011 budget gap of approximately $188 million and a projected 2012 gap of $345 million means that city officials have to severely trim the budget.. While Gray said that every option remained on the table, he was very clear about one point -- tax increases will only be considered as a last resort. Gray promised that District residents would not "pay one single dollar in tax increases without first assuring them that we have scrubbed the budget and found every last dollar in savings first."
Seems pretty clear that tax increases aren't in the offing any time soon, right? Not for the Washington Post, whose report on the speech made it sound like tax hikes were a first, not last option.
"D.C. Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D) said Monday he might propose higher property, income or sales taxes to close a budget shortfall expected to exceed $500 million in the next two years," wrote the city's newspaper of record.
Here's how the majority of the city's media outlets headlined the story:
(Headlines from various media outlets after Gray's budget speech yesterday.)
And now, the Post's:
(Today's Washington Post headline on Gray's budget speech.)
Seems a little backwards, or at least upside down, huh? Yes, Gray left the option for tax hikes open, but he certainly didn't put it close to the top of his list. (Why that's the case is certainly something that plenty of folks are pondering.)
This isn't a new development, either. Throughout his city-wide townhall tour, Gray repeatedly spoke about the city's finances and fielded questions on how to close the District's budget gap. Tax hikes were never Gray's first response, even in front of friendly crowds. Heck, he even demurred on the chance to raise taxes on the city's wealthiest during debates over the budget in May, despite the fact that some of his colleagues favored the option.
The fact is that future negotiations on the District's budget are going to be ugly, and they're going to be painful. Cutting spending is significantly more difficult than raising taxes -- and saying that tax hikes might be coming is a very simple-minded way to frame a very complex problem facing the city. The Post isn't completely wrong, mind you -- it's just missing the larger and much more complicated part of the story.
Behold: The Meaningless Lame Duck Budget Proposal
Posted by Alan Suderman on Nov. 23, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Still Mayor Adrian Fenty has finally proposed his plan for closing the city's $188.4 million budget gap. It's got some cuts that kinda look like political payback, like delaying implementation of Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh's Healthy Schools Act, but in the end it's not really a big deal.
The council has the final say on the end product and Almost Mayor Vince Gray's team has already been busying itself coming up with their own potential cuts and revenues increasers. You know, the ones that actually matter.
But for the truly bored, here's the mayor's almost meaningless budget proposal, in all its glory.
Note from DCGC: Click link to read budget.
Grays Says 'Daunting' Fiscal Challenges Ahead For D.C.
Patrick Madden
Patrick Madden
WAMU
Listen (Windows Media): http://wamu.org/audio/nw/10/11/n6101123-38920.asx
November 23, 2010
"Daunting." That's how D.C. Mayor-elect Vincent Gray is describing the fiscal challenges facing the District. Gray says the city's gloomy financial outlook will require some tough decisions when he takes office in January.
Gray says "all options are on the table," meaning lawmakers will likely take a long, hard look at raising taxes as a way to get a handle on D.C.'s ballooning budget deficit. The latest revenue estimates peg it at nearly $200 million for this year, and Gray says the deficit grows to nearly $350 million next year.
"The reality is, it could be a number of years before the District's economy recovers," Gray says.
Other than calling for a freeze on all capital projects that are not yet underway, Gray offered few specifics on how he'll balance the budget when he takes over as mayor next year.
Current Mayor Adrian Fenty delivered his revised budget to the city's fiscal office Monday for approval. Later, the council will make revisions and take a vote on the spending plan Dec. 7.
Will Gray raise taxes? Should he?
Washington Post
Wednesday, November 24, 2010; B02
shred11: Here is an idea: Cut spending!
Kathy8: Severely reduce the number of government-issued BlackBerrys and other handheld devices that connect to the Internet. Most city workers who need to be available all the time can make do with a simple cellphone without all the bells and whistles.
overtaxedindc: Give me one hour with the budget and let me see what I can do.
lilnemo: [Democratic primary loser and outgoing Mayor Adrian M.] Fenty had his faults, but he never had a problem making hard and unpopular political decisions like saying "no" to the activists who never saw a budget cut they could support.
Nosh1: I am generally no fan of the District's government, but I can honestly say it is leaner and more effective now than it has been in the entire 30 years I've been here.
hungrypug: It probably will take at least several years to eliminate all wasteful spending from the government. That's not to say that the D.C. government is especially wasteful - I can think of many others, including the federal government, that are more wasteful - but it's a reflection of the fact that, in government, as in everything else, it's pretty easy to waste a dollar here and there.
weaverf: I miss Fenty.
ronjaboy: Cut discretionary spending to 2005 levels, then start work on the fixed costs. Bump up the sales tax by 1%, the property tax by 1% and the income tax by 1%.
tslats: Be a leader, Gray: Figure it out without tax increases.
D.C. Council
Non-profit controlled by D.C. council member spent $200,000 in donations
By Mike DeBonis
Washington Post
Washington Post
Tuesday, November 23, 2010; 10:32 PM
A nonprofit group controlled by D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. collected and spent more than $200,000 in donations while Thomas served as a legislator. The disclosure came Thursday after more than a month of wrangling with District authorities. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles is pressing Thomas for more information on the group's activities and donors.
Thomas (D-Ward 5) provided information about the nonprofit group while flanked by two prominent attorneys at a John A. Wilson Building news conference Tuesday - the deadline set three weeks ago by a Superior Court judge who ordered him to comply with a city subpoena concerning the group, called Team Thomas.
"This is a very sensitive issue," Thomas said. "My life's work is being questioned."
In the past three years, Team Thomas has raised $216,159, with the majority of the money - more than $188,000 - raised in 2008, according to the disclosure. The organization spent essentially all of its earnings during that period.
The funds, Thomas said, paid for youth programs teaching "swing sports" - baseball, golf and tennis - including camps, equipment and training material. Thomas also said he had taken sports-related trips with nonprofit funds, including to Atlanta, Florida and to a sporting-goods convention in Las Vegas.
Thomas did not offer a detailed accounting of the group's donations or its expenditures. An attorney for Thomas, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., said the city's request did not require an itemized list. Another attorney, John Ray, said it would violate donors' rights to privacy to disclose their identities without approval.
But Nickles said he plans to issue another subpoena Wednesday ordering Thomas to deliver detailed fundraising reports, including a "dollar-for-dollar financial statement," by Monday.
"The tip of the iceberg has now been shown," Nickles said.
Among the unanswered questions is whether lobbyists or companies with interests in city government donated to the group.
At the news conference, Thomas played a video produced by Comcast depicting a 2007 event at Langston Golf Course in Thomas's ward. Among the persons interviewed praising the event are executives of Comcast, which is granted a cable television franchise by the city. One is David W. Wilmot, who is registered to lobby city hall for Comcast and other companies.
Thomas would not say Tuesday whether Comcast or Wilmot had given to Team Thomas.
Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for the national good-government organization Common Cause, said it is "not unheard of" for legislators to solicit funds for their own nonprofit groups. "These are often ways for outside interests to get closer, to buy access to electoral office," she said.
Cooke rejected suggestions that the donations and expenditures of a sitting legislator's nonprofit organization should be disclosed in the same manner as is required for campaign and constituent services funds. He likened the nonprofit group to outside employment, which other council members have, adding that Thomas is required to report any conflict of interest on an annual financial disclosure form. None of Thomas's forms since 2007 list any conflicts.
Team Thomas dates to before its namesake's 2006 election to the council. It was created to provide programs at the Harry Thomas Recreation Center in Eckington - named after Thomas's father, who served as Ward 5 council member from 1987 to 1999. Thomas Jr. serves as president of the group's board of directors. His wife, Diane Romo Thomas, and sister Debra Truhart are the other members of the board.
The current inquiry is rooted in allegations leveled in October by the D.C. Republican Committee, which alleged that Thomas had used the group as a "slush fund" and had not registered for federal tax-exempt status. Team Thomas had also allowed its corporate registration in the District to lapse on several occasions.
A deputy to D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles requested information on the group, including details on its organization and financial operations. When Thomas did not immediately comply, Nickles filed a subpoena for the documents. Thomas challenged the subpoena, calling it political retribution from Nickles and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), but on Nov. 2, Election Day, Judge Bruce D. Beaudin ordered Thomas to comply.
Cooke took responsibility for the delay in producing the answers, which ended up amounting to a four-page letter plus attachments. "His lawyer was distracted with other things," Cooke said.
But Nickles accused Thomas and Cooke of trying to run out the clock on his tenure, which is expected to end before Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray (D) takes office Jan. 2. "The strategy here is, 'Get rid of Nickles; the next attorney general will leave us alone,' " he said.
Thomas vowed to fight Nickles's demands, renewing claims of a political vendetta. "We complied with his original order," he said. "It is becoming evident that this has become abuse of his office and his power."
Ray said that he had recommended to Thomas as far back as 2008 that he shut down Team Thomas because of the political liabilities. "All you need is someone running against you to make an allegation," Ray said. "That's what happened here."
Thomas beat Tim Day, his Republican opponent who first leveled the claims, by nearly 80 percentage points.
Secrets of Team Thomas
Editorial
Washington Post
Wednesday, November 24, 2010; A14
THE D.C. COUNCIL'S Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) claimed, not so long ago, that Team Thomas, a nonprofit he formed ostensibly to help city youth, had lain dormant since he became a council member in 2007. That claim is now, apparently, inoperative. Mr. Thomas acknowledged Tuesday that the group has raised and spent more than $200,000 in donations during the time Mr. Thomas has served on the council.
Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas's promise to be transparent about this money is also, apparently, inoperative, so we still don't know who contributed funds or how they were spent. This refusal to provide information that the public so obviously has a right to know is unacceptable. The office of the D.C. attorney general is right to continue to seek reasonable disclosure.
Mr. Thomas, under a court order to produce information by Tuesday, provided the barest of details about the group he founded in 2000. A four-page letter from one of his attorneys reports that from January 2008 to the present, Team Thomas raised $216,159. Most of the money - $188,110 - was raised in 2008. Essentially all was spent during the past three years.
When questions were first raised about the group by his Republican election opponent, Mr. Thomas and his attorney, John Ray, said they were closing out the organization and would make public a list of donors and expenses. At Tuesday's news conference, The Post's Mike DeBonis reports, Mr. Ray said it would violate donors' privacy rights to disclose their identities without approval. Mr. Thomas's other lawyer, Frederick D. Cooke Jr., said the city's request did not require an itemized list.
So that leaves the public not knowing whether those providing money to Mr. Thomas were lobbyists or companies with interests in doing city business, although we earlier uncovered evidence that at least two contributors were firms with interests before the city. Also not detailed is how the money was spent, although Mr. Thomas acknowledged Tuesday that he spent some of it on trips out of town for sports-related events to solicit gear for city youth. A golf day camp for young people was held in 2008, and Mr. Thomas said funds were also used for sports equipment and training materials. But information about specific expenditures is lacking - save for the one expenditure we uncovered that showed money donated to Team Thomas was used to print an annual report extolling Mr. Thomas's work as a council member.
Perhaps Mr. Thomas is hoping that he can run out the clock - that Attorney General Peter Nickles, part of the outgoing mayoral administration, will leave office while voters are still in the dark. We would hope that whoever is attorney general will see the need to get answers to these troubling questions.
Nickles: “Harry Thomas is in Big Trouble.”
Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. held a news conference today, probably hoping to put behind him the saga of Team Thomas, his youth sports nonprofit that critics allege is an unregulated slush fund—and which Attorney General Peter Nickles is investigating.
Instead, it looks like we’re on to the next, more interesting chapter.
“Harry Thomas is in big trouble,” is how Nickles began his conversation with LL this afternoon. Nickles had just looked over the documents Thomas and his legal team handed over today.
Three weeks ago, a Superior Court judge had upheld a subpoena Nickles issued for Team Thomas’ financial records. The records Thomas handed over don’t include much in the way of details, like who donated to the nonprofit and how the money was spent. Instead, the documents contain a rough outline of Team Thomas’ finances, including revenues of $216,159 and expenses of $226,783. The bulk of both the fundraising and the expenditures took place in 2008.
Nickles says he’s about to issue another subpoena asking Thomas for a lot more detail about who gave what and how it was spent.
“What you have on its face is a confession, and it’s unlawful solicitation because he was neither licensed by [Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs] … nor registered by the IRS,” Nickles said.
Team Thomas said in its documents that Team Thomas was good to go with DCRA in 2007 and 2008, and that “efforts will be made to file reports required by the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act for 2009." The same documents say Team Thomas applied for tax-exempt status from the IRS but changed its mind and “never held itself out” to be a tax-exempt charity.
Thomas’s financial documents might not have had much detail, but the councilmember was more forthcoming about how the nonprofit spent its money at his news conference. Thomas said the organization, which is geared towards getting D.C.’s kids interested in baseball, softball, tennis and golf, spent its money on things like equipment and greens fees. No salaries were paid by Team Thomas.
Thomas also said the nonprofit helped cover costs for trips he made to Atlanta, Florida and Las Vegas, where he went to a sports equipment convention to solicit gear donations for District kids.
Thomas’s lawyer, Fred Cooke Jr., said that if a company had helped pay for Thomas' nonprofit travel and that company had business before the council, then Thomas was required to report that on his financial disclosure forms. Thomas’s financial disclosure forms for the past three years say he’s had no conflict of interest with any company doing business with the District.
But at his news conference today, Thomas showed a video produced by Comcast highlighting the 2007 “First Annual Team Thomas Fore Our Youth Golf Tournament" that Team Thomas put on and the cable giant sponsored. (One lucky tournament winner went home with a six-month "triple play premiere service package" from Comcast.)
Lobbying disclosure forms show that Comcast lobbied Thomas in January of 2007. (Making an appearance in the Comcast video is its main lobbyist, David Wilmot.) So LL's not clear how Comcast could donate to Thomas' nonprofit and lobby him without those facts being disclosed to the public before now.
LL has a call into to Cooke to get some explanation on the financial disclosure form issues and to get a response to Nickles. LL will update as needed.
Thomas defends nonprofit, pledges to turn over documents by deadline
By Ann Marimow
D.C. Wire (Washington Post blog)
November 22, 2010; 12:11 PM ET
D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) said Monday that he would meet the Nov. 23 court-imposed deadline for turning over documents subpoenaed by Attorney General Peter Nickles.
Thomas said his attorney plans to hand over the documents related to his nonprofit organization, Team Thomas, on Tuesday morning, and he defended the group as a "noble organization that I'm proud to have."
Thomas said the records would show donations the group received, expenses and events hosted by the nonprofit.
"That's all that's in it," Thomas said.
A D.C. Superior Court judge gave Thomas three weeks to provide the documents to Nickles, after the council member and attorney general disagreed about the timing for handing over the information.
Nickles is investigating the group, created in 2000 to provide grants to children and community-based groups in the Northeast Washington neighborhoods Thomas has represented since 2006. Team Thomas is not registered with the Internal Revenue Service and had its license revoked last year by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
Evans proposes pay cut for some D.C. employees
WTOP
November 23, 2010 - 4:32pm
D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans wants District government employees who live in Maryland and Virginia to take a pay cut.
Evans, who is the Chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee, tells WTOP he will introduce legislation that will propose a 10 percent pay cut for all government employees who live outside the District.
The District would garner $80 million if the legislation is passed, Evans tells WTOP.
More than 50 percent of D.C. government employees do not live in the District:
· 18,444 District government employees live in Maryland
· 3,720 District government employees live in Virginia
· 18,593 District government employees live in the District
Source: D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi
Barry has to reschedule D.C. Thanksgiving giveaway for lack of turkeys
By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112305809.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112305809.html
Tuesday, November 23, 2010; 6:13 PM
On Tuesday morning, with residents anxiously awaiting D.C. Council member Marion Barry's annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway at a Southeast Washington church, Barry - a former mayor known for his work with the less fortunate - didn't have his poultry.
In his words, he didn't have "the birds."
Barry (D-Ward 8) blamed Giant food stores for the problem with the giveaway, which has been rescheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, when the promised poultry should be thawed enough to distribute. He said the company, which has been praised for opening the first new supermarket in his ward in several years, was inflexible when he fell $9,000 short of the $26,000 he needed to buy 2,000 turkeys.
"It's heartless. That's all," Barry said.
Jamie Miller, a spokesman for Giant, said the chain delivered 250 turkeys Tuesday and would provide the rest Wednesday. In a statement, Miller said the company began working with Barry this month and offered free delivery of the birds to Union Temple Church.
"While we're disappointed in the Councilmember's comments, Giant is committed to delivering the remainder of the turkeys so that hundreds of families in Ward 8 can enjoy their Thanksgiving meals," Miller said. "Giant is a proud and strong supporter of alleviating hunger in the communities we are privileged to serve."
Barry, who said he initially thought about staging a boycott, vowed to continue working with Giant and to follow through with what has become a Thanksgiving tradition.
"I'll have 1,750 turkeys tomorrow," Barry said in an interview Tuesday. "I'm going to raise the money . . . had the money committed, but it takes two or three weeks to get through the corporate system."
Barry declined to identify contributors to his turkey giveaway, which will be held at Union Temple Church on W Street SE. "They do it because they want to give, not for publicity," he said.
He acknowledged that raising money has become increasingly difficult. Last year, Barry mustered $20,000, but it wasn't enough to meet a demand so high that police had to intervene when he ran out of turkeys.
Barry said he initially set a goal of 4,000 turkeys for this year but realized it would be an impossible feat. He aimed lower but said businesses were "tapped out," pointing to the mayoral race between incumbent Adrian M. Fenty (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D). "This campaign dried up a lot of money with Vince's $2 million and Fenty's $4 or $5 million," Barry said.
Still, Barry said he tried to salvage his giveaway by talking to a Giant regional vice president on the phone Monday night. As for the families, Barry said he expected them to return Wednesday.
"They were very understanding," he said of the 300 residents who came to the giveaway Tuesday.
Temporary Aid to Needy Politicians: Why Marion Barry is Veering Right on Welfare Reform
Posted by Alan Suderman on Nov. 23, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Loose Lips (Washington City Paper)
Last week, Attorney General Peter Nickles says, he was walking outside the Wilson Building when someone in a silver Jaguar hollered at him, trying to get his attention.
The person behind the wheel was Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, who called over to Nickles to show off the fancy ride. Nickles says he just kept walking.
A similar rebuffing occurred earlier in the month, when Barry fired off a testy e-mail to Nickles, demanding to be kept in the loop on a problem the Department of Health Care Finance had with Medicare and Medicaid money. Asked what Nickles did with Barry’s message, Nickles mimes throwing an invisible piece of paper into an invisible trash can.
“Marion is a guy who craves attention,” says Nickles, “He doesn’t know what to do with himself… He just wants to show that he’s still there, he’s still vibrant, he’s still relevant.”
If all Barry wants is attention, then last week—other than Nickles’ brush-off—was pretty good. In short order, Barry managed to become a born-again media star by making the universally accepted point that indefinite welfare payments to poor residents without any viable plan or program to get people off of government assistance is pretty lousy public policy. (Barry’s bill, which he introduced along with Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander, calls for limiting cash assistance through the Temporary Aid for Needy Families program to five years, which is what the federal government agreed on 14 years ago.)
Barry’s star turn included plenty of local newspaper and TV coverage, anappearance on the Fox Business Channel, a positive editorial in The Washington Post, and his own op-ed in the same paper. (As LL noted on his blog, before the editorial or the op-ed ran, Barry penned a confusing, scolding e-mail to Post editorial writer Jo-Ann Armao, calling her unprofessional.)
The media appearances have been plenty entertaining to watch, especially when Barry tries to cast the white anti-poverty do-gooders who have problems with his proposal as sinister crypto-racists who want to keep people of color “enslaved in joblessness, poverty, and a dependency on the government.”
Never mind that 1.) perhaps no person in D.C. has gotten more people checks from the local government than Barry, and 2.) he called his own proposal “imperfect and incomplete.”
But besides attention, what else is Barry after? The more charitable souls in the Wilson Building say Barry’s stance on welfare reform isn’t out of line with his previous work against poverty.
“He’s been kind of consistent on this—he just went over to the provocative side,” says Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells. After a pause, Wells chuckles at what he’d just said: “Ha, Marion Barry, provocative.”
A more cynical view is that Barry’s welfare reform proposal, apart from getting him some time under the klieg lights, is aimed at furthering his own political aims.
One theory floating around is that Barry is trying to lay the groundwork to become the chairman of the Human Services Committee, which oversees welfare programs and other social services.
With Kwame Brown about to take over as council chairman, committee assignments are up in the air, and councilmembers are jockeying anxiously for position. Brown hasn’t said what changes he’s going to make, but he has said Barry will chair a committee.
Barry was stripped of his previous committee, Housing and Workforce Development, after being censured earlier this year for doling out contracts to his then-girlfriend. During the primary, Brown’s opponent, former Ward 5 Councilmember Vincent Orange, said Brown had promised Barry the Economic Development Committee in return for an endorsement. That seems unlikely, as Brown might keep that committee for himself. Besides, he doesn’t appear to be the type of guy who wants to take his own political career out back and shoot it in the head by giving Barry such a plum assignment.
But giving Barry the Human Services gig might be a more realistic option. The committee’s current chairman, Wells, clearly has his sights set on other things—namely, Transportation, which would create an opening on a committee that’s not generally sought after by political up-and-comers.
One council source suggests Barry’s conservative rhetoric on welfare reform might play well with the west-of-the-park crowd, giving Brown political cover to give Barry the committee. (In Barry’s home ward, his proposal doesn’t seem to be getting much attention. Philip Pannell, president of the Congress Heights Community Association, says he was at a well-attended Ward 8 town hall meeting with Barry last week, and the issue of welfare reform never came up.)
Meanwhile, the committee chairmanship is a way for Barry to get access to a large chunk of the city’s budget and rev his stalled political patronage machine back to life.
The committee oversees five agencies whose collective budget is about $750 million. Being head of the committee responsible for so many social services would allow Barry, who is up for re-election in two years, to “pick up the phone and have checks cut, contracts crafted,” says the source.
“It’s like Christmas…This is just a big pot of money and an opportunity for him to get to it.”
Adding credence to that theory: Barry’s own statements. Laughter about Barry comparing himself to Richard Nixon making a trek to China obscured it, but Barry has argued for the D.C. government to “launch massive job training and career development programs” with a goal of creating job opportunities for thousands of jobs for current welfare recipients within the next year. Presumably, the head of the Human Services Committee would have a large hand in guiding such an endeavor.
Another source says Barry’s ambition might not be so grand; he could just want the current head of the Department of Human Services, Clarence Carter, replaced with one of his friends.
At a hearing last Monday, Barry played the role of a cat playing with its dinner, while Carter played the role of a spooked mouse. When a bumbling Carter muffed a question about job statistics, Barry pounced.
“Mr. Carter, you’ve been before this committee enough times to know that you should have come prepared with that information. Mr. Wells, and I myself, don’t like the idea of ‘I’ll get back to you.’ That doesn’t work around here,” Barry said, later adding. “All of this messedupness happened under your watch, didn’t it?”
For his part, Barry wasn’t very forthcoming when LL tried to ask about his motivation.
“I’m pissed at you. Let me call you back,” Barry told LL. He didn’t call back.
Maybe it’s helpful to look at the last time Barry made waves by reversing a long-held position. In 1997, there were a string of police officers murdered in the city. Then-Mayor Barry announced he was giving up his life-long opposition to the death penalty and introduced legislation that legalized the capital punishment for those convicted of murdering police officers.
The bill didn’t pass, and Barry was accused of making the switch for a wide variety of political reasons. Nevertheless, the Post reported that Barry’s conversion came shortly before a poll showed that the majority of the city’s residents, for the first time, were in favor of capital punishment.
Barry could be a slightly ahead of the political curve on the welfare issue as well. At a recent get-together with former Fenty fans in a living room on Capitol Hill, a woman asked Almost Mayor Vince Gray what he was going to do about welfare recipients who weren’t interested in finding jobs. Gray said he was going to take a “hard” look at TANF benefits and added: “I’m not sure that we haven’t become enablers.”
What's Up With The Can Of Steel Reserve On Tommy Wells' Desk?
DCist.com
Yes, you read that correctly: Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) has a can of Steel Reserveon his desk.
While taking in this otherwise staid video on the District's bag tax, a DCist tipster happened to glance into the background at the Councilmember's desk -- and sure enough, right next to the conventional globe and the token office plant is a can of Steel Reserve. Now, Wells has been known to ooze nerdy cool before -- take, for instance, the fact that he said he owns cuff links made from both D.C. state quarters and old D.C. streetcar tokens -- but...Steel Reserve? On the desk of a D.C. Councilmember? It just didn't seem like a normal knickknack.
We contacted Charles Allen, Wells' Chief of Staff, to see if he could shed any light as to precisely why -- besides, perhaps, an enjoyment of one of America's finest "high gravity lagers" -- Wells was showing it off. Allen told us that Wells received the can -- which is cleverly wrapped in a black disposable bag -- as a cheeky gift after he fostered through a ban on sales of single containers of alcohol in Ward 6 in October 2008, which was, coincidentally, also right around the time he was working on the plastic bag tax legislation.
"It's fun to see who gets thrown off when they're looking at the desk and their eyes stop at the can of Steel Reserve," Allen added.
I have to admit: the idea of Wells' meeting with business leaders (like, say, Walmart) with a can of Steel Reserve in a plastic bag sitting out in the open is pretty rad. Keep it real, Mr. Wells.
D.C. Government
D.C. Lottery gets numbers of complaints
Transition to Intralot system results in glitches, long lines
The Washington Times
8:28 p.m., Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Change did not come easily Tuesday for D.C. Lottery retailers and customers, who waited in lines and struggled with a new lottery system run by Greek gaming giant Intralot and Maryland businessmanEmmanuel S. Bailey.
After an unprecedented five-hour delay in commencing the lottery system — about three hours of which put off payouts from winning numbers — users on both sides of the bulletproof glass in D.C. convenience stores began the day with a host of complaints.
The Washington Times visited six retailers at random in the four quadrants of the city and heard complaints including the design of the new betting slips, glitches in the touch-screen terminals and the slow responses of lottery officials and operators to calls for assistance.
Just after 11 a.m. at Mudrick's Supermarket in the Trinidadneighborhood of Northeast, Donald Martin longed for the old betting slips now piled in a garbage can in the corner of the store. He was dismayed by the requirement that he fill out a separate box on the new slips for each number he wished to play.
"Man, are they trying to lose money with this thing?" he said, as a lottery official scrambled to stock shelves with new betting slips and replace the old D.C. Lottery pencils with pens.
The official, Sandra Mitchell, said she was among 15 dispatched to address customer concerns and retailer needs across the city. Pausing to point out the new lottery logo, which is supposed to represent a cherry blossom, she said: "We tested different logos and people responded to this one without even recognizing what it is."
At nearby Stanton Liquors on Bladensburg Road in Northeast, Ms. Mitchell's colleague, Chul Hong, acknowledged that store owners had been calling for help, but some said that was to be expected on the first day of a lottery system that replaced one run by the same operators for 27 years.
A new lottery contract was awarded last year to Intralot after a contentious procurement process during which Mr. Bailey, who headsVeterans Services Corp. (VSC), became a 51 percent partner. That process is now being investigated by the D.C. inspector general's office.
Since its inception in 1983, the D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board in Anacostia housed the computer server that communicated with lottery terminals in retail outlets throughout the city. Under the new system, the server is in Ohio. While Intralot's proposal called for an Internet-based communication system, D.C. officials said, it delivered a less-sophisticated system based on cable and wireless service.
Meanwhile, across the Anacostia River at O'Connor's Liquors on Minnesota Avenue in Southeast, more than a dozen people stood in line and grew increasingly grouchy as store owner John Ahn stood behind the plate-glass-enclosed counter and stared at the blank screen of one of the two lottery terminals.
"The new machines are too slow," Mr. Ahn said apologetically, prompting a woman named Nonie to reply: "We already know that. It's a damn mess."
A beefy man in a Boston Celtics jacket stepped into the store, took a look at the line and turned around and left.
Standing patiently in line, Andrea Edmonds said she waited 15 minutes for a lottery ticket at Penn Branch Liquors in Southeast and walked out of Fairfax Liquors because more than 20 people were in line. "This is my third store today," she said, shaking her head.
Mr. Ahn said he called the D.C. Lottery to come and fix his non-responsive terminal, but he could not reach anyone. "I called many times, the phone was busy," he said.
"That's D.C.; that's the people they hired to run this," said Rodney Smith. "They knew what they were doing yesterday under the old system. They should have had technicians out here today."
Near Nationals Park at the foot of the South Capitol Street Bridge in Southwest, Cap Liquors' sign reads "Last Stop in D.C." — but not for a lottery ticket, not as of 2 p.m. Store owner Jackie Lammanned the counter with a glum look, standing behind a small white sign taped to the bulletproof glass that read, "Line Down."
Asked how many lottery tickets he ordinarily sells, Mr. Lam said 1,200 tickets each day and about the same number each night. Asked how many he had sold Tuesday, he said: "None. Nothing. Too many stores and not enough people to get the terminals fixed. They say they are coming today. I don't know when."
In Northwest, lottery players were having trouble adjusting to the new betting slips, said Yebeltal Kebede, owner of ABC Grocery at Sixth and O streets. "Too many numbers on the slips and the spaces to fill in are too small," Mr. Kebede said, adding that some of his elderly customers had given up and gone home.
"We don't like it," said a man named Valencio, whose companion Kim had been at the counter off and on for an hour trying to play all her numbers. "They don't know what they're doing yet."
The story was no different at Guilford Liquors on Rhode Island Avenue and Fifth Street Northwest. "I like the old slips better," said Sam Johnson, who said he plays the lottery every day. The new slips are too thin and have to be handled too carefully to avoid ink rubbing off, he said. "If I hit my number and my number comes off, are they still gonna pay me?"
Advocates, city at odds over historic downtown building's future
By: Liz Farmer
11/23/10 9:05 PM
Examiner Staff Writer
Examiner Staff Writer
Community groups and the District are at odds over the future of the historic Franklin School, a building where the imposing cost of renovations has stymied progress for the better part of a decade.
Community advocates are speaking out against the city's desire to turn the property on 13th and K streets Northwest into a boutique hotel, while others are calling for more openness from city officials.
Steven Glazerman, a nearby resident, said he believed city officials could have presented more options at a recent community meeting.
"I'd like to know what the best benefits of commercial use [are] and whether they outweigh what the public benefits are," he said. "Right now I'm just hearing assertions."
But whatever is to be done, most sides agree: the cost of renovate the building -- an Adolf Cluss-designed National Historic Landmark -- severely limits the options.
"There's nobody that's willing to write a check for $30 million to fix it up," said Charles Reed, the area's Advisory Neighborhood Commission chairman.
He said the ANC likely would support the city's move to a private operator because such an entity probably could afford to preserve the building.
Still, local groups have supported a range of options over the years, including a charter or a trade school and a homeless resource center.
The school, which opened in 1869, was last used as a homeless men's shelter until it closed two years ago. Homeless advocates have been trying to win the building back ever since.
Eric Sheptock, an advocate who used to live at the shelter, said he wants to see the city turn the building into a resource center because of its central location to other services.
But after its third request for proposals in seven years, the city received one "viable" response this year from a Maryland developer for a boutique hotel.
Jose Sousa, spokesman for the deputy mayor for planning and economic development's office, said two schools submitted other proposals but one didn't have the funding and the other didn't meet the submission requirements.
"Anybody who wants to use that building has to somehow have the funds to operate it, and even before they do that, they have to come up with [millions] right off the bat to renovate it," he said.
Sousa said his office will incorporate the feedback it collected into a report that should be submitted to the D.C. Council in December.
ANCs Win! But Pawnshops Win Also!
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Remember a few months ago when there was this big fight over drastically reducing the rate that pawnshops and payday lenders were able to charge? ANC 4B wanted to stop a pawnshop from going in at Georgia Avenue and Fern Street NW, so they got Councilmember Muriel Bowser to pass emergency legislation that reduced the chargeable interest from five percent per month to two percent per month for new pawnbrokers only. Then, she pushed forward with a permanent version that would extend the interest rate cap to all pawnshops, and make new shops subject to ANC "great weight," which would require DCRA to adequately answer all concerns raised before granting a license.
At today's legislative meeting, the bill survived a last-ditch attempt by Councilmember David Catania to negate the great weight provision for pawnshops relocating within the same ward. But it after intense lobbying from both the behemoth Famous Pawn and the independent shops like Crown Pawnbrokers, the interest rate will stay the same, and ANC great weight will not apply to license renewals (oh, and the final bill doesn't have the word "predatory" in it, which pawnbrokers found particularly offensive).
On top of ANC great weight, there are a few more protections in the final bill; pawnbrokers will be required to dispense itemized receipts, and borrowers will be allowed to rescind their loan on the same day with only a $2 charge. For currently operating pawnshops, however, life can pretty much carry on as usual.
Economy / Police / Metro / Other
Short-Stacked: How IHOP Qualified as a Small Business in Columbia Heights
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
Tuesday morning marked a starchy celebration on Irving Street NW in Columbia Heights: The grand opening of IHOP’s 1,500th location, complete with a dancing pancake, free short stacks of pancakes, and a Washington Monument shaped out of...you get the picture. Inside, IHOP execs visiting from California for the occasion congregated in the back room, while D.C. politicians wore royal blue IHOP cardigans and were presented with commemorative spatulas before digging into their complimentary breakfast.
It’s only fitting that IHOP should be fêting the locals. The owners are, after all, benefiting from $46.9 million in tax increment financing the city earmarked to build the DCUSA shopping complex in 2006. Developer Grid Properties agreed to set aside 15,000 square feet for small, local, minority-owned businesses, which would get an approximately 30 percent discount on rent in those spaces.
Finding those tenants was left up to the non-profit Development Corporation of Columbia Heights. Four years later, exactly two businesses have taken the deal: IHOP, and Señor Chicken, the third location of a Peruvian rotisserie place. It’s not for lack of interest; DCCH’s president and CEO Robert Mooresays around 65 small businesses asked about the spaces. Usually because of financing issues, none of them worked out—the closest was another locally owned franchise of Quizno’s. (Meanwhile, some small businesses DCCH helped place in the nearby Tivoli building didn’t make it).
IHOP, on the other hand, kept cruising. Jackson Investment Company, a small residential real estate outfit that had signed a three-store deal with IHOP, first heard about the location in 2007. The partnership of a father and two brothers was an attractive candidate for a number of reasons—African American, Ward 8-based, retired police and military. But what DCCH liked most was the attribute small business incentives are typically set up to avoid: They were part of an international brand that helped the store get off the ground and will make it harder to fail.
“All the new businesses that you see are franchises,” says Moore. “That’s a stronger way, and it’s a safer way for people to invest.”
—
One morning last week, franchise owner Tyoka Jackson ambles out onto the restaurant floor in a track suit—a habit left over from 12 years in the National Football League—and lowers his considerable bulk onto a cushioned bench. He’d spent most of his time at the Columbia Heights location over the last few weeks, overseeing build-out and training, and was anxious to know how the new store is perceived.
“What’s the buzz?” he asks. “People are saying it’s gonna bring an ‘element.’” Jackson reads the local blogs, which have been pretty much split down the middle on the prospect of a downmarket diner on Irving Street. “When did IHOP become a hot spot for gang members and criminals?” he wonders.
That’s the thing about being a franchise, for better and for worse: People bring their own impressions to it, and for many, it’s just another chain in a complex already bursting with brands. In some ways, the Jacksons’ IHOP enterprise is a small business. They’ve put in the $1 million for construction, made hiring decisions, and will be the ones to lose their shirts if the place fails.
But the Jacksons have a few advantages an independent business could never claim. They get expert business consulting courtesy of the mothership, pooled television advertising, and supplies from a nationwide sourcing cooperative shared with corporate sister Applebees. Recipe development and product design are outsourced to IHOP’s labs in Glendale, Calif.
The last advantage lies in not being an independent business: IHOP is a known quantity.
“Having a sign that says Jackson’s Pancakes is different from putting a sign up that says IHOP,” Jackson explains. “That is a level of comfort for some people.”
Even with all that assistance, Jackson says he couldn’t have afforded market rate rents in DCUSA. Which raises the question: When a sure-fire franchise can qualify for a mandated “small business” set-aside, why would a developer ever go for an actual independent entrepreneur? Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham says he’s been trying to lure IHOP since 2002, when he proposed a location at 10th and U streets NW. He doesn’t see a substantive difference between a franchise like the Jacksons’ and something homegrown, and has been entirely sanguine about other chains opening on his turf.
The local business community, predictably, looks at things a little differently. At an October launch party for the new website of non-profit advocacy groupThink Local First D.C., Graham put himself in for an awkward moment when—right after D.C. Council Chairman-elect Kwame Brown sang the praises of independents—he talked about how great it was that IHOP would be opening in DCUSA the next month.
That didn’t impress Constantine Stavropoulos, owner of popular hangout spots Open City, Tryst, and the Diner. The successful restaurateur says he never heard of any outreach to established entrepreneurs from DCCH about the DCUSA spot—even though developers are banging down his door to put his next location in their ground-level retail space.
Neither, for that matter, did the Tivoli North Business Association, which represents small businesses north of Park Road. Nor did the Mount Pleasant Business Association. If DCCH was trying to find an excellent non-franchise tenant for that space, it was keeping a pretty good secret.
—
One of the groups happiest about IHOP’s new location in Columbia Heights? IHOP itself. If the performance of DCUSA’s other anchor tenants is any indication, the Columbia Heights IHOP should also be a high performer, which feeds back into the corporate coffers. On top of a $40,000 franchise fee, 4.5 percent of Jackson’s net sales goes straight to Glendale (he pays another 3 percent for regional advertising).
On Monday, CEO Jean Birch sits drinking coffee at a corner booth withPatrick Lenow, communications director for IHOP’s parent company, DineEquity Inc. Corporate executives don’t always attend store openings, but the 1,500th was a special occasion.
“This is a big milestone,” Birch says. “We are the 20th largest restaurant chain in the country. It’s a big deal to us.”
Though it’s up to the franchisee to find financing for each new store, IHOP headquarters helps along the way, and signs off on each location. Birch says getting a set-aside rent discount was “fairly unique” for her franchises. It’s fairly unique for the District, too—none of the relevant government agencies could think of another instance where a franchise had received a small business incentive. Typically, franchises don’t qualify as Certified Business Enterprises, the designation that gets them preferential treatment on many government contracts and incentive programs.
To listen to everyone involved in the IHOP deal, taking a chance on an independent operator would be an insane risk for a developer. To prove it, Lenow pages through the laminated menu, pointing out some of their regional specials, the relatively low-calorie Simple & Fit menu, and the mixed beef-and-bacon burgers.
“Would an individual entrepreneur bring that same creativity?” Lenow asks, rhetorically. “Trial-and-error is very expensive.”
Options Emerge For McMillan
Housing Complex (Washington City Paper)
I couldn't make it to the third McMillan Sand Filtration Site community meeting on Saturday, so my information is a little thin. But GGW's Nolan Treadwaywrote up his impressions, and now the whole powerpoint is available at the wikiplanning site. For your convenience–the file is large–here are a few of the key slides.
Perhaps to highlight the difference between the upper limit of how much they could build and what they were actually looking at building, the planners contrasted sketches of the maximum floor area ratio and the more likely amount of density. Of course, preserving views factored in strongly to the conceptual design, so low buildings will cover approximately two thirds of the site. I'm not sure how much those who advocate simultaneously for low buildings, lots of open space, and major retail–like a Whole Foods–realize that they're fundamentally incompatible goals.
…
(Note from DCGC: Click link to view drawings and complete text)
D.C. Cop Accused of Cheating Had High Standards
Posted by Rend Smith on Nov. 23, 2010 at 4:18
City Desk (Washington City Paper blog)
One of the city's favorite cops is likely to face discipline. Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans sent a letter in support of Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, and many of the cop's supporters are hoping for leniency. But complicating that request might be this: Among Metropolitan Police Department officers, Groomes is known to be a stickler for the rules.
Accused of helping other police commanders cheat on a 50-question Intelligence Led Policing (ILP) exam, Groomes could end up facing harsh punishment. "If she's lucky," she'll get demoted, one high-ranking police MPD official tells City Desk on condition of anonymity. There's a chance Chief Cathy Lanier could fire Groomes, instead. (City Desk has an e-mail out to Groomes, but hasn't been able to reach her for comment yet.)
As both an assistant chief and, before that, a district commander, Groomes fostered a culture of accountability among her subordinates. One police source who worked under Groomes draws an interesting and contradictory picture of her. On the one hand—on a personal level—she'd do anything to aid a fellow officer: "She's a good hearted person," he says. "You could walk up to her and ask to borrow $200, and she'd give it to you." On the other, she reamed officers for even minor infractions, the source claims. "The discipline was just off the hook." He says Groomes has always been quick to "write-up" cops who strayed from high standards of conduct. Other MPD sources agree that Groomes is known as a task-master with little patience for disciplinary lapses.
Groomes then, may find herself on the working end of a culture she (understandably and justifiably) helped engender. In a department where disciplinary matters have come to be taken so seriously that a lost ID card means a 10-day suspension, lower-ranking officers are apt to cry foul if a higher-up gets off easy. That probably means if she turns out to have enabled cheating on the exam, Groomes' supporters should take aim at the demotion scenario—which would allow Groomes to stick around while, arguably, preserving morale.
Governors and mayor agree: Metro needs reform
By: Liz Farmer
Examiner Staff Writer
11/23/10 3:10 PM
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Mayor-elect Vincent Gray are going after Metro.
The three executives issued a joint statement Tuesday afternoon in response to a report released last week that called for their direct participation in overseeing Metro's board of directors.
The report recommended increasing the number of primary board members from two to three for each appointing authority and extending the chairman’s term length to more than one year. The oversight commission, comprised of the two governors, the mayor and four other officials, would appoint the chairman.
"We have reviewed and discussed the report and agree that [Metro]’s governance structure needs reform," the joint statement said.
The trio will direct their respective secretaries of transportation to meet and develop a comprehensive implementation plan and schedule for the task force report, which will be submitted to them in 45 days, the statement said.
They also said they planned to meet with congressional members that represent Metro's service area because implementation of some of the recommendations would require congressional consent.
From yesterday:
Mike DeBonis: http://wapo.st/fI3BJh
Loose Lips (daily column): http://bit.ly/ggRulE
DMV Daily (P.J. Orvetti): http://bit.ly/fMmbqp
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