A Day at the Pool

Banneker Pool.  Photo Credit: Andrew at The New Columbia Heights.

The District has some great public pools, so good that when residents come to enjoy a nice summer day, they often find every sign post and railing wallpapered with bikes and every seat at the pool taken. 

According to District government officials, they have doubled the number of chairs at recreation centers such as Banneker, located on Georgia Avenue NW across from Howard University.  After residents went as far as to form a Facebook page to advocate their case, the Department of Parks and Recreation added sixty chairs this summer.  Nevertheless, on any given weekend, there is no available seating.  DPR states that it plans to order more chairs next year, but it has no funds in its budget for this season. 

Likewise, the city has depleted its budget for bike racks.  Although a recreation center would seem to be a logical place for bike racks, Banneker has none.  The lack of bike racks leads more people to drive, both because its difficult to find a secure and convenient place to lock a bike and because its not possible to carry a chair when riding.  It also may impact the ability of disabled individuals to access the pool, given that bikes cover railings and intrude upon the sidewalks and walkways.  The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) has had some success in working with the Department of Parks and Recreation and District Department of Transportation to purchase and install pike racks at Jelleff Pool in Georgetown.

There's an easy solution that does not require the District government to place precious tax dollars in a recession toward such luxuries as pool chairs and such conveniences as bike racks. 

Aside from chairs and bike racks, there's one other thing that is obviously missing at the District's recreation centers... drinks.  Surprisingly, there are no vending machines.  Many poolgoers would happily shell out $1 to enjoy a cold bottle of water or $2 for a sports drink or soda.  Current choices are drinking so-so water out of a fountain, bringing a drink that turns warm as it bakes in the sun, or walking several blocks to buy one. 

When I was a Brooklyn kid, my friends and I occasionally sold drinks on Brighton Beach and Coney Island.  In just a few hours, we would walk away with enough profit to triple our allowance.  With just a little bit of entrepreneurship, the District could generate enough revenue to fund all the chairs and bike racks it needs and make poolgoing in the city an even better experience for all.

The District's outdoor public pools are open Monday through Friday from 1pm until 8pm and on weekends from 12pm until 6pm.  There is no admission charge for District residents, but be sure to bring your DC drivers license or other ID.  You can find the nearest outdoor pool here including its hours of operation.

On a Quest?

What's the deal with that property?  There is an interesting tool on the District government's website, Property Quest, that may provide some quick answers.

This interactive database developed by the Office of Planning combines several DC government resources to allow the public to look up any property in the District.  Put in an address or a square and lot number, and it will provide plat and arial maps, and ownership, zoning, and tax status.  Property Question will also note whether the property is within a historic district, its political representation (Ward/ANC), and its police district.  It will provide a photograph of the property and provide a link to Google Maps street view. 

What may be most helpful about this tool is that the user can click on any property and pull up the information.  That's particularly useful when the precise address of a property is not known.

There are some limitations.  The database is not integrated with the DC Public School System, which would allow users to determine the schools for which the property is zoned.  It also could provide more than the Ward, Advisory Neighborhood Commission, and Police Service Area number that the property is within, but also the name of each official, an e-mail link, and other contact information.  Finally, the database provides only property ownership, not business, information.  In the future, Property Quest could integrate data available from the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration on ABC licenses or Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs regarding certificates of occupancy and business licenses.

You can find links to Property Quest and many other fun DC resources on the bottom of the side panel of the Other 35 Percent.

Franklin School to Become New UDC Law School?

One week ago, at a meet and greet in Cleveland Park, DC Council Chairman and Mayoral Candidate Vince Gray declared, "I think the Franklin School would be a great place for the David Clarke School of Law. That certainly would better serve the community than another hotel."

The Fenty Administration has remained silent on this issue.

Seven months have passed since the deadline expired for Requests for Proposals (RFP) for use of the historic Franklin School building.  Three applicants submitted proposals for use of the site: a boutique hotel/culinary school, a successful Chinese-language immersion charter school, and the Coalition for Franklin School, a group that has urged the District to refocus on promising educational uses for the site.  Representatives of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) have repeatedly declined to comment on the status of the process.  An earlier RFP for Franklin, focusing on charter school use, was abandoned as "not viable." 

Use of the Franklin School as a new home for the UDC's law school is promising.  Currently, the law school, which has about 300 students and 20 faculty members, occupies one floor of two buildings on the Van Ness campus, plus a basement level.  Classrooms and clinics are on the second floor of building 38, administration and reception/special event space are on the 2nd floor of  building 39, and the library is at the basement level. 

In 2008, Councilmember Kwame Brown (D-At Large) introduced legislation, co-sponsored by 9 fellow councilmembers, to require UDC to develop a campus plan for the purpose of modernizing its facilities, including a separate facility for the law school.  The legislation does not appear to have moved forward, however, the law school's website states, "We are planning a state-of-the-art 'green' building, in which we will co-locate with many D.C. legal services providers to better serve clients and provide great internship, community service, fellowship, clinical, summer and post-graduate job opportunities for students." 

The status of plans for a new building, now two years later, are not known.  New and green sound snazzy, but there is something to be said for location, location, location.

Is Franklin a good fit for the law school?  Here's what a UDC student wrote us:

The David A. Clarke School of Law is the only American Bar Association-approved law school in the United States without its own, stand-alone building. We are currently housed on a single floor of the incredibly bland UDC-Van Ness campus. On an aesthetic end, a recent coat of yellow paint was applied in an attempt to make the interior of our building more bearable, but no one was fooled. Our school is tiny and our classrooms cramped, even with a student body of under 300 future lawyers.

Having such limited space inhibits enrollment, which in turn hampers our school's ability to recruit and develop a student body that reflects its mission statement of serving those traditionally underrepresented in law school enrollment. The current concrete building in which our one-floor law school sits looks as if it were built in Soviet Russia. Sometimes it feels like it, as well.

As a member of the student body, I have heard rumor after rumor that our school is looking for a stand-alone building in which to put the law school. Someone even suggested that a bland office building downtown would be our next home. But imagine our school in your building. We wouldn't have to remodel as much as would be needed to turn a suite of offices into a law school. Your building is already a school. And quite a beautiful one at that. It once helped shelter homeless persons--our school runs clinics that help lower income DC residents like the homeless. The fit seems perfect.

I agree and apparently so does Vince Gray.

Courtyard expansion area

The Franklin School could provide a great boost to the reputation of UDC's law school. It would provide 51,000 square feet (38,000 usable) including 14 classrooms with room for about 400 students and its Great Hall.  There's room for expansion.  As the RFP notes, while adding additional floors above the existing building is not feasible due to its historic designation, "use of some of the rear yard is expected to provide modern core facilities."  The site is zoned for a height of up to 110 feet with the highest Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 10.0.  This area might host a new modern library and administrative space.  More importantly, the location would place law students within blocks of the District's courthouses and numerous private firms.

It also meshes well with the school's proud focus on public interest law. As the Coalition pointed out in a recent letter pitching the idea to Law School Dean Katherine S. Broderick, "As the administrative headquarters for the DC Public Schools for 40 years in the Twentieth Century, the Franklin Building was often the site of demonstrations, sit-ins, and court challenges related to the struggle to integrate DC public schools."

What say you Mayor Fenty?

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."

When Do the Kid Gloves Come Off?

The Examiner reports that a fight among "youth" under the auspices of the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services broke out in none other than city hall itself in the presence of the Mayor Adrian Fenty and juvenile justice experts.

The throwdown, which involved three girls who were apparently receiving awards from the mayor as among the most successfully rehabilitated offenders, involved chairs, fists, and went on for several minutes before D.C. fire and rescue workers arrived at the Wilson Building to reestablish control. 

An investigation by Attorney General Peter Nickles that began after three DYRS killed Shaw Middle School principal Brian Betts revealed that 71 percent of the juvenile offenders in DYRS were convicted again within two years and that youths had been disappearing for weeks at a time before the agency sought an arrest order.  Thus far in 2010, at least 10 youths who were supposed to have been under the supervision of the agency have been charged with murder, and six of the agency's youth have been slain themselves.

I keep seeing the word "youth," but check the ages. 

In the Wilson Building incident, police arrested Grace Ebiasah, 18, Anna Ebiasah, 20, and Deanna Morris, 19, with fighting in a public place.

In the Brian Betts' murder, the youth charged in his killing -- Sharif T. Lancaster, Alante Saunders and Deontra Q. Gray-- were all 18 years old, had lengthy criminal records, and were at large.

Many of the "youth" that are under DYRS supervision are actually not youth at all.  They are often over 18 years of age, yet still get treated as if they are children.  With respect to these "girls," the city does not even have a holding facility, given that New Beginnings only serves boys.

At some point, isn't it time for the city to take off the kid gloves?

Lucky Lions Kick Off 5 Eye Film Series

The 5 Eye Asian Film Series in Mount Vernon Triangle had a great opening night.  Although a chance of showers lingered throughout the day, the weather was just perfect for the 8 pm show.  The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute Lucky Lions kicked it off - they were superb and drew quite a crowd.  Jet Li's Hero did not disappoint.

Join us next Sunday, August 8, as the The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in US presents
Cape No. 7 (Hái Jiao Qi Hao), the top grossing film in the Taiwan’s cinematic history, surpassing Titanic, which will be shown for the first time in the Washington, D.C. area.

Attend Summer School, Get Paid?

Some District taxpayers are asking whether the District's controversial Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is giving cash to underachieving students to go to summer school rather than paying them to work?  It appears that the answer is yes, and the message it seems to send is that if you don't do well in school, no worries, you'll still get a D.C. government job.  Just like the real world?  I hope not.

Last summer, 3,370 of 22,076 youth enrolled in SYEP (15% of the total enrollment) were assigned to the D.C. Public Schools, according to the Mayor's press release.   The 2010 press release lacks such detail.  But in testimony to the D.C. Council on June 16, 2010, Department of Employment Services (DOES) Director Joseph P. Walsh reported that 8,360 youths were assigned among DCPS, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), and the Department of Energy (DOE) of this summer's 21,000 total enrollment. 

An additional 1,316 and 641 youth were assigned to charter schools in 2009 and 2010, respectively.  No information appears to be available as to the nature of these "employment" assignments.  Predictably, statements by the Mayor and other DC government officials tout the number of placements with private employers and at actual worksites.

Summer school is open to high school students who need three or fewer credits to graduate or to move to the next grade level.

Those whose summer work assignment is the DC Public Schools participate in the "Career Pathways" program. 

According to the DC Summer Fun website, "DCPS understands that students might need both to attend summer school and to work. Therefore the “Career Pathways” program was created to allow students to remain on track for promotion and graduation while they grow professionally during the summer by participating in SYEP."  Students can enroll both in summer school and SYEP, their attendance in regular and Career Pathways classes is separately recorded, and the students are paid for their attendance in the later.

In a letter to parents of high school students, Chancellor Michelle Rhee explained the program as the summer approached.  Rhee notes that Career Pathways is cosponsored by DOES and is part of the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program.  It allows students to take up to two courses to earn academic credit, without pay, while also taking at least one paid Career Pathways course for which they do not receive academic credit.  Career Pathways is career services guidance.  "We hope that this program will prevent students from having to make the difficult choice between attending summer school or taking a summer job," says Rhee.

Perhaps that's just the type of difficult choice DC's youth should have to make.  It might teach them that if one does not focus in school, he or she will have difficulty getting a job or may have to work extra hard (nights and/or weekends) to make a living.

Leadership & Strategy Needed for DC Voting Rights

In today's Washington Post, long-time Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, pledges to take a shotgun, no pun intended, approach to D.C. voting rights and Home Rule, by introducing nearly every approach under the sun.  Throw it all against the wall and see what sticks, if anything.  Such a strategy is doomed to go nowhere.

"If I am reelected, I will introduce a series of bills in the next Congress that include not only the pending House-only approach, but also bills for Statehood and for votes in both the Senate and House," Norton writes. 

What we need, and is lacking, is leadership and a sound, politically astute, strategy. 

First, District residents should reach a consensus that a single vote in the House isn't worth the effort, in fact, its counterproductive.  One vote in 436 or 437 (if an extra seat is extended to Utah) doesn't provide real representation.  That's why the founders provided a Senate.  They recognized that small states were not adequately protected in the House.  Obtaining such a marginal improvement will only result in expenditure of scarce political capital that is needed for obtaining true representation.

Second, representation in the Senate, whether it is through Statehood or some other means is not going to happen without a strategy.  A closely divided Congress will not vote to alter the balance of power by adding what will certainly be two new Democratic Senators from the District unless the proposal also includes some way of preserving the political status quo.

In a post last week, I noted one possibility that has not been closely considered -- pairing up the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, which some mistake as Democrat-leaning but is actually heavily Republican, for Statehood.  There is a long history of such arrangements, which are the norm, not the exception.  Even the bill that would have provided the District with a single vote in the House was based on giving an additional Republican seat to Utah. 

The other option for full representation in Congress is some form of "limited retrocession," in which the District remains a separate entity but is represented by, and votes for, Maryland's Congressional representation.  This has roots in history as well, since the District was formerly part of Maryland and its residents voted in Maryland's elections.  It keeps the balance of political power by not adding two new Democratic U.S. Senators, but giving District residents the right to vote for seats already held by Democrats.  (This approach does have a downside -- the District would still not have the independence and Home Rule that residents have long sought.  It is will also, no doubt, be subject to a constitutional challenge, the outcome of which is unpredictable.)

Nevertheless, Norton and others seem to put philosophy, principles, and entitlement over strategy and political reality. 

For instance, DC political commentator Mark Plotkin asked House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, whether he sees the potential for Puerto Rico and the District to be jointly admitted as states.  Hoyer responded, "We shouldn't have to make a deal about how the District of Columbia comes in."  

Really?  Isn't that what politics is - the art of dealmaking?  Isn't that the history of how most states were admitted to the Union?  When the core issue of representation for the District is at issue -- why do our representatives put their head in the sand?

Home Again: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

In 2002, Mayor Anthony Williams introduced the "Home Again" initiative, a program designed to transform vacant and abandoned residential properties into single-family homeownership opportunities for residents.  About a year ago, it died, and no one even noticed.

The program "bundled" groups of vacant houses and lots.  It placed the bundles up for purchase by developers meeting certain qualifications.  Developers were required to set aside a certain number of the houses in the bundle for affordable home ownership opportunities, while it would set the remainder at market rate.  Keep in mind, these are not large city-owned properties like school or office buildings, but private homes that fell into government hands usually because of a calamity, such as a fire or collapse, or because it was abandoned.

While the program had some initial successes, I came to notice that many of these properties, sat and sat some more.  Given the emphasis placed to addressing privately owned vacant properties through the vacant property tax and increased enforcement, it seemed wrong that city-owned properties were left to rot.

A Mount Vernon Square house in the program (460 Ridge Street NW) collapsed in November 2007 and the lot was then neglected.  Nearby, another property in the program, a historic facade, remained in that state for years while nearly every other house on the block was renovated and sold (454 N Street NW).

Last summer, I decided to investigate.  I found that the District's Home Again website had not been updated since April 2004.  It remains in that state today.  I also tried to find out the status of the properties in the Home Again program the old fashioned way -- calling.  The phone number listed for the program immediately went a voice mail that appeared to be a wrong number.  There was no e-mail contact information listed on the website.

Finally, I found a number for Home Again on a 2006 press release that led to the Department of Housing and Community Development's "Property Aquisition Disposition Division."  On the third try, I reached someone. "There really isn’t a Home Again program," she said.  Responsibility for the program now is through the Aquisition Disposition Division, which is now auctioning off the properties.

That brings us today.  One year since my initial inquiry I toured Home Again properties.  Through DC Atlas, I found 113 properties identified by the city as in the program.  One in four are vacant homes ("vacant improvement") and the remainder are empty lots.  They are in every area of the city except Ward 3.  The most, 47, are concentrated in Ward 5.  I began by visiting properties in Wards 1 and 2.

I expected the worst.  Overall, however, the properties are secure and maintained.  That may not have been the case for many of them months ago, before "No Trespassing" signs suddenly appeared.

Two of the lots included a notice that they were among 18 to be auctioned off on June 30, 2010 at the Washington Convention Center - 501 Rhode Island Avenue in Shaw and the prime real estate Logan Circle property at 1335 R Street NW (The Victorian next door to the Logan Circle property sold for over $1.1 million in 2000).  According to Housing Complex, the 13th and R Street lot went for $590,000 after a bidding war.

According to a press release, this was the second such auction of government-owned vacant property by the Property Acquisition and Disposition Division [results of the 1st posted here]. Only bidders in specific categories were allowed to participate in the auction: home buyers who intend to occupy the property as their primary residence; non-profits; and DC Certified Business Entities. The Department of Housing and Community Development will hold a public hearing in August to announce the proposed disposition plans for the auctioned properties.  That may be progress.

Another two of the properties, both in Columbia Heights, had already been sold and developed into condominiums - 2809 Sherman Avenue and 3004 13th Street NW.  Also good.  The house on Sherman appears to have been purchased in March 2009 (sale price not listed) and then sold as two units for $395,000 and $459,750 last summer.  The 13th Street property was auctioned off for $380,000 in January 2009 and then sold as two units this past March, with each fetching over $550,000.  Wow.

There were some bad cases.  In Ledroit Park, a historic corner property at 475 Florida Avenue NW has a skylight that is not of its own making.  Curious that it sits in this condition, since it was apparently auctioned off by DC in the first batch of vacant properties for $300,000 in January 2009 - did the sale fall through? 

At 756 Park Road NW, a nice block that includes a police station also has a boarded up Home Again property - it's also on the list as sold in January 2009 (for $160,000).  Huh? 

It's only a matter of time before what is left of 454 N Street NW collapses like its neighbor at 460 Ridge Street NW.  At 1319 Harvard Street NW, neighbors appear to have taken charge by hiding an enclosed empty lot with a beautiful flower garden.  Good for them!

The ugly, however, is 709 Kenyon Street NW.  Posted prominently on the front of the house is a notice by the fire chief condemning the property as unsafe.  The rear of the house, along with the roof, has partially collapsed.  The alley alongside the property was filled with trash and empty beer cans and bottles.

Ward 1

475 Florida Avenue NW (Ledroit Park)

 

1319 Harvard Street NW (Columbia Heights)

756 Park Road NW (Columbia Heights)

709 Kenyon Street NW (Columbia Heights)

2809 Sherman Street NW (Columbia Heights)

3004 13th Street NW (Columbia Heights)

Ward 2

454 N Street NW (Mount Vernon Square)

460 Ridge Street NW (Mount Vernon Square)

501 Rhode Island Avenue NW (Shaw)

  

1818 6th Street NW (Shaw)

1735-1737 10th Street NW (Shaw)

1335 R Street NW (Logan Circle)

Challenges Galore, Board Paralyzed?

Ward 1 Democratic Chairman Bill O'Field has provided an analysis of the numerous challenges to nominating petitions filed by candidates seeking to be on the ballot for the September primary [Election Education Incorporated].  The deadline for filing such challenges expired yesterday.

According to Fields:

Valencia Mohammad filed challenges to the nominating petitions of mayoral candidates Carlos Allen and Sulaimon Brown and Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff filed a challenge to mayoral candidate Leo Alexander’s petition. Chairman of the Council candidate Calvin Gurley’s nominating petition was challenged by Alonzo Edmondson.

Four challenges were filed to the nominating petitions of the five candidates seeking the Ward 5 City Council seat currently held by Harry Thomas, Jr. Cynthia M. Gill filed a challenge to Kathy Henderson’s petition; D.C. lawyer Cary Clennon is challenging Delano Hunter’s petition; and candidate Henderson is challenging both Kenyan McDuffie and Tracey D. Turner. Ward 6 Council candidate Randy Brown’s petition is being challenged by Jim Abely.

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has until August 3 to rule on the challenges.  That may be an interesting feat given this morning's news that the Chair of DCBOEE, Errol Arthur, submitted his letter of resignation, effective August 2.  The three-member board has been running with only two members since February 2009.  With one member, the Board will lack a quorum to take action.  The D.C. Council and Mayor Fenty have been at an impasse on appointees for the already vacant position with the Council finding Mayor Fenty's nominees unqualified.  Last year, he sought to fill a vacant seat with one of his running buddies. 

If appointments to the DCBOEE are not made quickly, then the Board (and the election) will not be able to operate.  With the Council on recess, Mayor Fenty has threatened to make an interim emergency appointment, even though D.C. law does not explicitly provide him with such power.  Even the Mayor's cheerleaders at the Washington Post say "don't do it, Adrian."

Some have questioned whether the Board in its current condition will be able to certify the results of the September primary.  A more pressing question is whether they can even certify which candidates will appear on the ballot? 

Puerto Rico: Key to DC Statehood?

There's a long history of new states being admitted in pairs in order to keep the balance of power in the U.S. Congress.  Yet, there seems to be little consideration of whether Puerto Rican statehood could be the key to the future status of the District of Columbia.

Early on our nation's history, states were admitted in pairs -- free states and slave states: Indiana and Mississippi (1816-17), Illinois and Alabama (1818-19), Maine and Missouri (resulting in the Missouri Compromise of 1820 specifying that Louisiana Purchase territory north of latitude 36° 30' would be organized as free states and territory south of that line would be reserved for organization as slave states), Michigan and Arkansas (1836-37), Iowa and Florida (1845-46), and Wisconsin and Texas (1848, 1845).  California followed by pledging to maintain the balance with one pro-slavery and one anti-slavery Senator (1850).

The U.S. has now gone the longest period of time since the last state was admitted - 51 years.  Those two states - Alaska and Hawaii - also represented a political compromise, which came in the charged context of the civil rights movement.  At that time, Hawaii was considered a Republican territory because it had mostly had Governors appointed by Republican presidents and Republican state legislatures.  On the other hand, many believed that Alaska would turn out to be Democratic (ironic in the Palin world).  Statehood for Hawaii, as the first state to have a majority nonwhite population, was expected to result in two pro-civil rights senators, endangering the ability of southern segregationist Democrats to maintain a filibuster.  The result was that both Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959.  Even the District's most recent failed quest for voting representation inwas based on giving Utah an additional seat in the House prior to the 2010 census.

That brings us to an interesting column by George Will in Sunday's Washington Post.  Will notes that there may be a popular misconception that because Puerto Rico is majority nonwhite and its residents make substantially less income per capita than even the poorest state, its voters favor Democratic candidates.  Not so.  Puerto Rico has a "very Republican" governor, Luis Fortuno and an overwhelmingly Republican legislature.   According to Will, 78% of Puerto Ricans are pro-life, 91% oppose same-sex marriage and 30% of the 85% who are Christian are evangelicals. A majority supports an agenda of tax and spending cuts, trimming public payrolls, and reducing the state budget deficit.  The Republican party platform, since 1968, has endorsed Puerto Rico's right to choose statehood.

Let's face it.  A closely divided Congress is not going to recognize D.C. Statehood if it means two additional Democratic Senators that would shift the balance of power.  A DC-PR compromise could maintain the balance of power in the Senate and give Republicans an additional bone for providing rights to D.C. residents -- the possibility of a slight gain in the House of Representatives.  Puerto Rican statehood would come with six House seats compared with just one vote for the State of New Columbia.

Puerto Ricans are still deciding whether they want to become a state or continue to enjoy a status that D.C. residents lack -- where they have the benefits of citizenship, but don't pay federal taxes (they also don't get to vote for President and have only a nonvoting delegate in the House).  They rejected statehood in 1967 and 1993, and were almost evenly divided in 1998.  The momentum, however, appears to be increasingly moving toward statehood.

With the Utah-DC idea off the table, is a DC-PR compromise worth seriously examining?

Historic DC

The national capital, Washington, D.C. Sketched from nature by Adolph Sachse, 1883-1884.  
(Balti[more] A. Sachse & Co., 1884.)  Zoom in of Logan Circle.

A neighbor passed on this interesting link from the Library of Congress, which includes panoramic maps of our city from about 1850 to 1996. In lieu of aerial photos, these painstakingly detailed, hand-drawn maps are hugely important "snapshots" of DC. Used with city directories, they show the state of development in parts of our city overlooked by contemporary tour guides.

The most interesting may be the Aldolf Sachse map circa 1883-1884 and the grand maps done by Williams and Heintz in the 1920s. You may be able to zoom in on the high resolution images to see your very block over a century ago.  Looks like what is now Whole Foods was a whole lot of grass.