Washington Post Makes Me Laugh

I pulled out the special Election section of the Washington Post this morning to read this teaser in the bottom right corner:

The District: Vincent Gray was elected mayor in a landslide, while Kwame Brown was chosen to succeed Gray as D.C. Council Chairman. Council races remained too close to call early Tuesday night. A29.

Vincent Gray, Democrat 96%

Carlos Allen, Independent 2%

Can we rewrite that as:

The District: Vincent Gray held off a write-in effort and beat token opposition, while Kwame Brown was chosen to succeed Gray as D.C. Council Chairman. Council races could not be called because many voting precincts remained unreported early Tuesday night. A29.

Vincent Gray, Democrat 74%

Write In 23%

Carlos Allen makes the front page of the Post's election coverage.  Seriously?  His15 minutes of fame should be long over.

Burying the Lead

A front page headline on today's Metro Section reads: "2,600 D.C. voters switch to the Democratic Party ahead of mayoral primary."  But aside from the lead paragraphs, most of the article is about how a wholly different issue - Mayor Adrian Fenty's "pocket" veto of legislation passed by the D.C. Council that outlawed vote buying. 

This is why the Washington Post has a reputation as a cheerleader for the Fenty Administration.  A more accurate headline for the story would have been "Fenty blocks vote-buying bill."  That's not my invention, its what the Post called it when they posted the story online at D.C. Wire.  Instead, they buried that not-so-nice-sounding press in the print edition.

That 2,600 voters changed their registration to Democrat on the eve of the District's primary is indeed newsworthy, but it's not adequately covered by the story, which might have explored questions such as how many voters typically switch parties for the DC primary, was this year more or less than usual, or how many voters who switch immediately switch their registration back to Repubican or Independent when it's over?  The reporters could have interviewed a handful of voters who switched their registration this election (names and addresses publicly available from the Board of Elections) or who routinely do so each election season, to ask why they do it and how they feel about needing to do so.  The article might have considered calls for an "open primary" and the ridiculousness of a system in the Nation's capital - a place with already limited representation - that requires thousands of voters to switch their party, then switch back, in order to have a meaningful vote in local elections.  Alas, the article doesn't get into it.

Which just shows the true story.  It's not every day that Mayor Fenty vetos legislation.  And the fact that it was a bill to prohibit vote buying that was apparently spurred by accusations that Peaceoholics, whose founder Ron Moten has handed out money to youth to vote in a straw poll in Ward 8, a charge he denies.  Moten, who, in the words of the article, has become a "chief strategist" for the Fenty campaign, also organized several go-go concerts to entice young people to register to vote.  It was supported by every member of the D.C. Council, including those who back the Mayor's reelection, aside from Tommy Wells and Jim Graham who abstained (most likely because they are up for reelection in challenged races) and Marion Barry who was absent.

Here is what the bill actually says:

It shall be an offense for any person to knowingly or willfully:

(A) Pay, offer to pay, or accept payment of any consideration, compensation, gratuity, reward, or thing of value either for registration to vote or for voting;
(B) Give false information as to his name, address, or period of residence for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, that is known by the person to be false;
(C) Procure or submit voter registration applications that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent;
(D) Procure, cast, or tabulate ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent; or
(E) Conspire with another individual to do any of the above;

(2) A person who violates paragraph (1) of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $ 10,000, be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”

Does the bill properly draw sufficiently clear lines as to what is permissible and what is criminal?  Obviously, giving out money in exchange for a vote is and should be illegal.  What about other types of practices that our local politicians routinely use?  Free dinners at straw polls?  Get-out-the-vote concerts?  Free t-shirts for supporters?  Campaign-funded shuttle buses for seniors to the polls on election day?

News Round Up

Annie Ropeick, an intern at NPR, was randomly stabbed at 7th and H Streets NW at 9am Wednesday.  Annie stands in front of a vacant building in Mount Vernon Square.  Photo: NPR.

Intern stabbed in Chinatown.  There doesn't seem to be any news on the condition of Annie Ropeick, 20, an NPR intern who was randomly stabbed in the neck, with no warning, by what appears to be young woman with mental illness.  It happened yesterday when Annie was walking to work at a busy intersection in Chinatown, just outside the PNC Bank at 7th and H Street NW.  According to witnesses at the scene, given the amount of blood, they presumed her dead.  Fortunately reports confirm that she made it to Howard University hospital and her family was at her side. Good samaritans acted quickly to hold the assailant, 24-year-old Melodie Brevard, and care for Annie.  Annie, a Silver Spring, Maryland native, is entering her junior year as a classics and philosophy major and student journalist at Boston University.  She is Executive Producer of Intern Edition at NPR, blogger, and a cappella singer.  Keep her in your thoughts.  UPDATE: According to Boston University's student newspaper, a family source said her injuries were non life-threatening, and that doctors expect her to make a full recovery.  “She was conscious and talking the whole time,” the source said.  “Basically, she’s a lucky girl.”

Fenty Loses on Home Turf.  Last night, Mayor Adrian Fenty has actually managed to lose a straw poll in his home Ward 4 to challenger Vince Gray.  In fact, gray came within 2% of the 60% vote needed for an outright endorsement of the Ward 4 Democrats at the roudy forum.  You can watch the entire forum online here.  After sweeping every precinct in the city in 2006, Fenty has squandered this good will to lose straw polls in every area except Ward 2.  Can he turn the momentum around as the primary approaches in just six weeks?

Can't Go Home Again.  Washington CityPaper reporter Lydia DePillis exposes how the city's Home Again program, which was formed to eliminate neighborhood blight, has instead perpetuated it.  "The Department of Housing and Community Development is now phasing Home Again out—but many properties are still stuck in its portfolio, mired in litigation and bureaucracy, sticking neighborhoods with blight that otherwise might have been cleared up long ago. Which is, of course, exactly what the program was set up to avoid."

ANC Election Season Begins.  DCist reminds us that nominating petitions for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner positions are now available.  While it only takes 25 valid signatures to get on the ballot, these positions are important and can have a significant effect on the quality of life in a neighborhood.  They can promote or discourage development, permit or stop more liquor stores from opening, fund beneficial and worthwhile projects or give taxpayer dollars to friends and political supporters, and demand community involvement in government policy decisions or stay silent.  You can view the list of candidates who were first to pick up nominating petitions.  Think about running.  Make sure to cast an educated vote.

A New DYRS?  Think Again.  For those who thought Mayor Fenty's appointment of prosecutor Robert Hildum to head the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services would take the troubled agency in a new direction, that assessment is already looking fuzzy.  The Examiner reports that among Hildum's first actions was to hire Linda K. Harllee-Harper to serve as the agency's head of internment.  Harllee-Harper formerly served on the Board of Directors of Peacoholics, the organization that received millions in public funds during the Fenty Administration and has worked closely with Ron Moten, the organization's founder -- you know, the one who compared Fenty to "Jesus," was involved in the fire truck sent to the DR, was accused of paying youth to vote in a straw poll for Fenty, protested Council legislation against vote buying, and sued a Ward 8 ANC Commissioner for libel.  Now Harllee-Harper will "play a pivotal role" in awarding DYRS contracts to organizations, including Peaceaholics.  Taxpayers, hold onto your wallets.

Free Summer Movies in Mount Vernon Triangle.  Patty Yao, a native Taiwanese and contestant in the 2010 Washington Metropolitan Miss Chinese American Pageant Finals will sing live at the DC Premier of Cape No. 7 on Sunday, August 8, at 8pm at 5th and Eye Streets NW.  The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in US presents this second of five free outdoor movies in the Five Eye Asian Film Series, Cape No. 7 is the highest grossing film in Taiwan's history.

DC Gov Would Take Away Little Disabled Pet Chickens From Children.  The Washington Post profiles a Capital Hill family that had to send their pet chickens to a farm in Virginia.  "Flash is a chocolate-colored bird in that awkward stage of chickenhood, somewhere between chick and hen. Flash also has a deformed leg. Sam's sister, Maxine, 7, explains why they have to care especially for the crippled bird. 'He's smaller than the other birds because he can't feed himself so well,' she says."  The family applied for a permit from the DC Health Department and built a mini-chicken coop in their backyard with the support of neighbors.  All seemed to be in order until the Department declared the hens illegal, finding that their own regulations allowing chickens are superseded by a contradictory statute banning poultry and any other creatures not specifically allowed. "Sam and Maxine, meanwhile, are left with the worms to find and play with. If that's allowed."

Not Quite Done

I have not posted on TheOther35Percent in a while, but you can continue to read my posts on issues of local concern on Life in Mount Vernon Square. Some of the recent ones include:

• Signs of Progress: DCRA begins enforcing its billboard moratorium in response to our efforts. The Examiner covered the issue here.
• Will it Ever be Home Again: A discussion of the District's failed program to redevelop vacant properties into affordable housing. One of the many Home Again properties is discussed here.
• The Good News in Mount Vernon: Detailing progress and recent positive happenings in the neighborhood including new restaurants coming this fall.
• What Goes for Progress in Shaw: Will the District turn a vacant lot slotted for recreational and residential use into a massive parking lot? Why? The post is part of a larger discussion on the Bundy School property on the 400 Block of O Street NW. The Washington Post had a brief article on the community's engagement on this issue.

You can also read about our challenge (available here) to the validity of Bishop Harry Jackson's voter registration and his referendum to revoke the District's gay marriage recognition law (Rev. Jackson is the Pastor of a Maryland-based church, who lives and works in Maryland, but recently registered to vote using a D.C. address in order to serve as the principal proponent of the referendum):

• D.C. may revoke Rev. Jackson’s voter registration (The Blade, 7/10/09)
• Board of Elections informs Jackson of residency challenge (GLAA Forum, 7/2/09)
• 2 local activists want Jackson investigated (The Blade, 6/26/09)
• Two D.C. Residents Challenge Bishop Jackson (DC Wire 6/24 and Washington Post, 6/25/09)
• Mount Vernon at Center of Gay Marriage Controversy (Life In MVS, 6/10/09)
• Where does Rev. Jackson live? (The Blade, 6/9/09)

The DC Board of Elections has provided Reverend Jackson until the end of July to respond (letter here).

Notes from the News

Not Happy Today: The $54 million lawsuit against the Cheung's continues in the D.C. Court of Appeals. They closed their SE store, but currently operate Happy Cleaner's in Shaw. AP Photo.

License to vote. The District is considering requiring Taxation Without Representation license plates and taking away the option to have http://www.dc.gov/ instead. Another example of DC focusing on symbolic, feel-good PR measures rather than addressing substantive, Home Rule issues.

Failing grade. D.C.'s public schools were rated last in the nation, according to Education Week's annual "report card" released today. Maryland and Virginia came in 1st and 4th, respectively. Chancellor Rhee reaction: Comparing a city to states is apples to orangles. True, but if you move to the county level, it doesn't get any better. Nearby Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax, Virginia are known as having the best public schools in their states -- which complicates D.C.'s efforts to retain residents who have children. Here is the executive summary and the full state-by-state analysis. Council Chair Vincent Gray is considering hiring an independent evaluator to assess the District's progress in reforming its school system.

Pressing on with the pants suit. Roy Pearson, the former administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million claiming that it had not lived up to its statement "satisfaction guaranteed" posted on the wall after it purportedly lost his pants, strikes again. After losing his appeal before a panel of the D.C. Circuit, he has requested review by all 9 appellate judges of the court. (Read the actual petition here). Pearson, as you may recall, brought the suit under the District's Consumer Protection Act, which, as it reads, provides any person can sue for damages of $1,500 per violation regardless of whether he or she was actually injured by an allegedly deceptive practice. The owners of the cleaners, the Cheungs, ultimately closed the location Pearson used and moved back to their original location, Happy Cleaners, on 7th Street across from the Convention Center. From the press release of their attorney, Christopher Manning:

“Mr. Pearson’s Petition is sad and unfortunate. Amazingly, despite two resounding defeats, Mr. Pearson has, once again, decided to prolong the needless agony of this case for the Chungs, for the DC taxpayers and for everyone involved. The Chungs and I hope the DC Court of Appeals will deny Mr. Pearson’s Petition and will put this case to rest in this jurisdiction. Most importantly, the Chungs and I call on Mayor Fenty and the DC City Council to amend the very vague and often unfair DC Consumer Protection Act so that cases like this cannot happen again."

Buy high, sell low. While D.C. gives away valuable property such as the Southwest Waterfront for a mere $1 a year, it is simultaneously buying up dilapidated properties from absentee owners for far above the market and tax appraisal values, reports The Examiner.