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Wednesday, January 2, 2013
the FoGGy Bottom
Current
davis kennedy/Publisher & Editor chris kain/Managing Editor
Moving forward
Members of the D.C. Council, by and large, are surely glad to see an end to 2012. It was a year that brought the forced resignations of Chairman Kwame Brown and Ward 5’s Harry Thomas Jr., as well as ethics investigations into the behavior of other officials. The scandals for the most part overshadowed the council’s legislative work. Even though only one new member will take the oath of office today, the council will see some substantial changes this year. The ascendancy of atlarge member Phil Mendelson to chairman left a vacancy, filled on an interim basis last month by longtime Democratic activist Anita Bonds. She will face a crowded field of contenders in an April 23 special election. (Michael Brown, who in November lost his at-large seat to newcomer David Grosso, has not ruled out running, although he has not yet picked up petitions.) The biggest change is in committee leadership posts — and the creation of a new panel to oversee education matters. Heading the Education Committee will be at-large member David Catania, who has a reputation for dogged oversight, extensive research and targeted advocacy. We believe he can help push forward school reform so that every child in D.C. will have the opportunity for a high-quality education. And with Michael Brown’s departure, Ward 4’s Muriel Bowser is slated to take over leadership of the influential Committee on Economic Development. The timing is fortuitous with major decisions ahead on the redevelopment of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center. We also hope Ms. Bowser will push for regulatory improvements that will help realize Mayor Vincent Gray’s economic development goals for 100,000 new jobs and $1 billion in additional tax revenues within five years. Particularly key is a look at reducing the city’s franchise tax in appropriate sectors: The District has a lot to gain if it incentivizes potentially lucrative areas such as high-tech or new auto sales — where the city now gets little tax revenue. The other changes could prove significant as well. Tommy Wells will head the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, previously headed by Mr. Mendelson. Ward 7’s Yvette Alexander will assume the Health Committee, chaired for years by Mr. Catania. And at-large member Vincent Orange’s committee will oversee business-oriented and regulatory agencies. Other council members generally maintained their oversight responsibilities. Chairman Mendelson has chosen wisely to reduce the number of committees, and while this leaves Mr. Grosso and Ms. Bonds without leadership posts — unusual in recent years — this is hardly unprecedented for freshman and interim council members.
‘A procedural thing’
The CurrenT
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Considering the years-long controversy over proposed construction along the Georgetown waterfront and design of the now-completed park, it’s remarkable that the National Park Service handled the Jack’s Boathouse matter so poorly. It took intervention from the top — agency director Jon Jarvis — to put off a Jan. 31 eviction, so he could personally review the case. The deferral came after an intense letter-writing campaign once customers and other fans of Jack’s Canoes and Kayaks LLC learned of the Park Service’s plans. Given the facility’s history, its proprietor surely earned some consideration. Jack’s has provided boat rentals and storage space since 1945. Park Service officials may be right to raise concerns about the validity of the long-standing lease (which apparently mentions the prior owner rather than Mr. Simkin), and to seek a concession agreement instead. Officials previously engaged in talks about renewing the lease, but Mr. Simkin says officials stopped returning his calls and letters over the summer. An agency spokesperson described the eviction letter as “strictly a procedural thing,” with the Park Service committed to the notion of a boating operation at the site — though not necessarily under the same management. Federal law mandates public input on many seemingly arcane Park Service matters that require environmental impact statements. So, too, should the potential disruption of a community-serving operation that predates even the designation of Georgetown as a national historic district. Unfortunately, the lack of consideration for the community — replaced by an undue reliance on procedure — is far too common when it comes to National Park Service decision-making. Efforts to organize events in Dupont Circle’s namesake park must endure protracted, burdensome reviews. And the District’s plans to install a stoplight at Reservoir and Canal roads — in large part to improve pedestrian access to nearby Fletcher’s Boat House, a National Park Service site — have so far been stymied in the federal agency’s bureaucracy. It’s past time for a more community-friendly approach.
A ‘real’ return to school …
S
o, the holidays are over and the children will soon be back in school. And, so, too, will the D.C. Council. For the first time since 2007, the council has a full-fledged education committee. Oversight of the city’s schools no longer will be in the “Committee of the Whole,” where all 13 members were responsible for it, which meant no one was. And this committee will be chaired by independent at-large member David Catania, who is not known for sailing along with the status quo. Chancellor Kaya Henderson “should be expecting more pointed attention” to her reform efforts, one veteran political observer noted. In fact, the chancellor should expect a lot more monitoring and oversight from Catania, but don’t assume that will be a bad thing for her. “She and David have a pretty good relationship already,” said another insider. “There’s mutual respect, [and] they’ve met a lot over the past couple of weeks.” And this was before Catania was certain that he’d be appointed by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. This might be a good time to recall that Mendelson voted against the mayoral takeover of schools. He has now picked a bulldog member to head the new education committee. In Catania’s previous post atop the Committee on Health, some people joked or ruefully said, the veteran legislator “ran” the health agencies rather than overseeing them. “He drove the health care agenda,” one involved admirer said, from doggedly saving the United Medical Center in Southeast, to providing HIV/AIDS funding, gaining groundbreaking dental services for low-income families, and dramatically increasing Medicaid coverage for the city’s poorest uninsured. There are better health outcomes and the city is a leader in the nation with its reforms, the insider said. But back to school. When the council held its hearings on looming school closings, Catania walked in with a huge binder filled with details on every school. Again, this was before he became education chair. The binder detailed every aspect of each school — enrollment, test scores, staffing, renovations, et cetera. He asked pointed questions about things like staffto-teacher ratios. Mind-numbing television (alas!), but on point. Since then, Catania’s staff has created similar binders for nearly 200 school buildings, both public and charter. Given Catania’s attention to detail, we could be in for the first real dissection of our $1 billion school system and school reform — with all its pluses and minuses. While we can expect “Catania to be Catania,” with his sometimes withering temperament when things are out of sorts, should Chancellor Henderson be even a little bit worried? The insiders we consulted suggested it could be a rocky road but that Henderson may welcome
Catania’s passionate dive into education. He doesn’t want it to falter or fail — that wouldn’t make him look good. Just criticizing? Lots of people can criticize. Instead, one person said, expect Catania to be aggressive in highlighting shortcomings and bureaucratic bottlenecks to push funding for real returns. The new committee chair also will influence the role of the Washington Teachers Union, too. (He’s already met with union president Nathan Saunders.) In that way, Catania could become a powerful ally for Henderson. “Kaya almost wants her feet to be held to the fire,” the insider said. It will give her support to make the tough decisions. Right now, with all that Mayor Vincent Gray has on his plate, the mayor can’t be the No. 1 backer of Henderson. The new era starts this month when Henderson announces her final list in the latest round of school closings. There is no formal role for the council — and no required vote — but we’ll see how things move along from here. ■ Catania’s committee. The chairs of council committees hold great sway over what those committees do. But the other members count, too. Those on the new education committee include Marion Barry (Ward 8) and Tommy Wells (Ward 6) — both former school board members — as well as Yvette Alexander (Ward 7) and newcomer David Grosso (at-large). It is essentially the same committee that Catania had as Health Committee chair; the only difference is that Grosso replaces Mary Cheh (Ward 3). Grosso has a kind of earnestness and, as a former council staffer, a knowledge base to get up to speed quickly. Grosso also asked to be on education and likely will work well with Catania. But what of Barry? He and Catania had another of their occasional blowout rhetorical exchanges recently, with Catania saying Barry is a worn-out, past-hisprime politician. (We’re cleaning it up a bit.) But Catania and Barry have a thorough understanding of each other. They can be remarkably collegial — almost stunningly so. And besides, Barry likely will spend more time on his workforce development committee. So pull up a chair and keep your eyes on the Education Committee. ■ Slurpee to slim? The most surprising news this past week came from The New York Times: “The chain that is home of the Slurpee, Big Gulp and self-serve nachos with chili and cheese is betting that consumers will stop in for yogurt parfaits, crudité and lean turkey on whole wheat bread.” That’s right, 7-Eleven wants franchises to begin shifting stock to have 20 percent of their shelves devoted to healthy food options. Good luck! We’ve generally found bottled water about the best, least fattening thing available there on our infrequent trips. Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.
TOM SHERWOOD’S
notebook
letters to the editor
been very young when sold. Mark Schek
story on slave used careless wording
city should review Zipcar requirements
I’m writing in response to The Current’s article on Yarrow Mamout [“Archaeological interest holds up home project,” Dec. 12]. The article, on the jump page, should have read that he “was sold to slavery in America” — not “came to America,” as if he had a choice. In fact, judging from the dates in the article, he must have
Washington, D.C.
I think I understand the rationale for the apparently silly dance about the colors of taxicabs in Washington, D.C. The goal is to make it more difficult for cabs registered in the suburbs to pick up passengers illegally downtown. This rationale would presumably apply to the Zipcar car-sharing company as well. Why, then,
does the Zipcar that parks regularly on my street in Washington Heights have New York license plate number FMX 1789? The implicit subsidy for this free reserved parking space is worth close to $3,000 annually. Why, then, do we not at a minimum require that the cars be registered locally? The contract that the city has with this company should be examined closely, both to measure compliance and to ensure that we are not subsidizing other jurisdictions. Vic Miller Washington Heights