Two Birds With One Stone: What To Do With Vacant Properties

This is one of those posts where the title is disproportionately long with the post itself, but whatever.

Vacant properties are a huge problem in DC, and a particular blight in our neighborhood. Owned by everyone from churches to foreign governments to local slumlords to even the DC government, they are dangerous, unsightly, and break up the mesh of our urban village. But what do you do about them?

At the same time, one of my pet issues is the difficulty the people who serve our neighborhood have in finding places to live here. Our police should live in the neighborhoods they protect. Our teachers deserve to teach the students they meet in the street. Our fire fighters ought not live seventy miles away when a three-alarm blaze hits. But the city has so far provided no good ideas for addressing the lack of affordable housing for those who, while not below the poverty line, are underpaid thanks to our screwed-up value system.

I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it before, but Cary Silverman, who we are supporting in his bid for the Ward 2 council seat currently occupied by Jack Evans, has a great idea about this. Turn vacant property into affordable housing for exactly this purpose! Simply brilliant!

Anecdotes in the Great Meter Debate

Though we usually walk most places, since we are without cars, Hedda and I will hop into a cab more often than many. The impending switch from the archaic zone system to standard modern taxi meters is a welcome change, from a consumer’s perspective. The drivers, though, have been in an uproar since the switch was announce. Or have they?

More and more, the protest against meters seems manufactured by some power-that-is, that somehow benefits in some murky and little-understood manner, and not by the cabbies themselves. That this grass-roots movement is turning out to be astroturf is made firmer in my mind by our personal anecdotes. Whenever we grab a cab, we ask the driver his opinion on the impending switch.

Our sense is that most of them really don’t care. They realize there may be a minor change in income – more for some, less for others – but that it will work out to be roughly the same. Further, almost all recognize the meters as an improvement to the customer experience, and an end to most of the fare arguments with customers. Finally, all of them felt the meters were a done deal, and there wasn’t anything to be done to change it.

So who is behind all the hubbub? If it’s not the drivers, then who?

Bizarro World: No Stadium for the D.C. United

We must be living in Bizarro World, where Stupid Ideas rule the day, simply to spite Good Ideas for being too good. The Post is reporting that talks between the city and the D.C. United have fallen apart over the finances. It seems the city has balked at footing the bill for some $200 million in infrastructure to support the stadium, despite the team’s offer to pay for the entire cost of the stadium itself.

Really? Don’t we live in the same city that just last year – against a fairly large chunk of public opinion, including myself – agreed to build at its own cost the entire stadium and all supporting infrastructure for a brand new, fairly lousy baseball team? I think so, but perhaps a review of the facts is in order.

Now, I don’t dispute that baseball gets more fans per game, and plays a lot more games, than soccer. But the DC United, in addition to consistently being one of the best teams in Major League Soccer, have worked extremely hard to become a valued and loved member of the DC Sports community. They want a new stadium, and have been negotiating in good faith a very reasonable compromise that benefits all parties. The United’s behavior demonstrates their loyalty to the District, and are working hard to stay here!

Contrast their behavior with that of Major League Baseball and the Nationals: They came on the scene demanding every concession, offering nothing but there mere presence in return, and making no compromises. The city was forced to build a boondoggle stadium at immense cost, and it was either their way or the highway. The baseball owners were quite happy to take their team someplace else if we failed to kowtow to their tantrums, and in the end they got their way, just like a spoiled, screaming child.

We’ve shoveled an enormous pile of money at a team that hardly gives a damn about their home, so why are our leaders afraid of spending less than one-third of that on a team that has already demonstrated themselves worthy? Come on, Mr. Fenty, I know that you’re not happy with the baseball stadium. Sure, it was a raw deal, and we all knew it. But that’s no reason to ruin a good thing that we already have. We need to make a new stadium happen – but this time for a team that deserves it.

You Are Not The Most Important Person in The District

I appreciate the varied ways our communities communicate, and the ready accessibility of the public officials and government enabled via electronic communications. Things like the MPD-3D mailing list and the Logan Circle News mailing list allow us to cut through the morass of inefficiency and bureaucracy, straight to the heart of the matter – and often the solution.

Lately, though, I find myself annoyed and frustrated by the continued degeneration of these tools into mere paging services for citizens, not to be bothered with seeking answers to questions on their own, as a sort of fact-well from which to pump gossip and stories to quench their own undying, self-indulgent curiosity.

Here’s a prime example, posted to the MPD-3D list on June 23, 2007, at 12:54:

Could anyone from the MPD give some details as to what happened at 8th and R
Streets last night?

It’s followed up by the same poster, a mere 27 hours later, with:

I know that yesterday was a busy day with all of the events going on in DC
but I was hoping that you may be able to tell me what happened on 8th Street
between RI Ave and R Street on Friday night…thanks.

When pressed for a little more specific information, he responds:

Somewhere between 7 and 11? Seriously, it was a shooting but I am curious
on details…right outside of the Lincoln Westmoreland

Really? You’re curious? You’re pestering a very busy police officer for information because you’re curious? Here’s an idea: Control your curiosity, and restrain from harassing our officers just to satisfy your passing fancy. They have jobs to do.

And how about this gem, sent tonight to the Logan Circle News list:

Hi,

Can someone from the ANC please advise about the Chinatown Bus Problems agenda item? I’m a regular user of these buses.

Thanks,

[Name Removed]

Now, it’s clear that you’ve seen the agenda for the upcoming ANC 2F meeting. It follows, then, that you know both the location of the meeting (Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle NW) and the date and time of the meeting (July 11 at 19:00), since they’re both at the top of the agenda you read to pose your question. It seems a fair conclusion to draw that this topic, about which you’ve asked, is going to be discussed at this very meeting!

Perhaps you should consider attending it, and learning – along with the rest of us – what the problems are, at which time you’ll probably be given a chance to raise any questions, along with everybody else. It will certainly be more useful than wasting the time of the too-polite commissioner who will respond, who I assure you is at least as busy and important as you are.

What’s that? Are you going to be out of town? Perhaps you should consider contacting your own elected commissioner directly. After all, that’s why they ran for office. There’s a nice helpful list, including contact information, for just that purpose. Isn’t the Internet amazing!

Of course, I don’t expect anything to really change. But the ever-increasing sense of personal entitlement, and the ensuing outrage when a response is not immediately forthcoming, exhibited by some of the residents on these lists is just so frustrating. I can only imagine at that the frustration of the officers and officials at which these incessant requests for hyper-personal attention are directed. It must be overwhelming at times. Please remember that we’re not all like that.

And for those who are like that: Yes, you pay taxes and work hard and want results from your city. But please at least try to remember that you really aren’t the most important person in the District.

Free Parking on 4th of July

It seems that DPW is going to be closed tomorrow, and that means that MPD will be responsible for enforcing parking. And since they generally have bigger fish to fry, that means Free Parking!

DPW TO OBSERVE INDEPENDENCE DAY, TRASH/RECYCLING COLLECTIONS TO “SLIDE” TO NEXT DAY; PARKING ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER SERVICES WILL BE SUSPENDED

(Washington, DC) The DC Department of Public Works will observe Wednesday, July 4, Independence Day, and trash, recycling, parking enforcement and other services will be suspended. Trash and recycling collections resume Thursday when Wednesday’s collections will be made, Thursday’s collections will be made Friday and Friday’s collections will be made Saturday.

Parking enforcement (meters, residential and rush hour lane restrictions, and booting, towing or abandoned vehicle removal) also will resume Thursday. Other services that will be suspended for Independence Day include scheduled street and alley cleaning, graffiti removal or nuisance abatement and the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station will be closed.

While DPW’s trash and recycling trucks are identical, trash and recycling materials are collected separately from one another. Trash and recycling containers should be put out for collection no earlier 6:30 pm the night before collection and removed from public space by 8 pm on collection day(s).

Residents with questions about the holiday schedule may call 202/727-1000 for further information. Also, the “Slide” Guide to holiday collections can be viewed in English and Spanish on the DPW Web site: www.dpw.dc.gov.

Let’s hope they’re playing with the $500 Rule.

(Free Parking image modified from the Board Control, Endgame by rossination, used under a CC Attribution license, and re-distributed under the normal terms of this site.)

The Asshole from Texas is Right

Let’s get this out of the way first: I want voting rights. I’m angry over my disenfranchisement, and I seethe at paying taxes without a vote in the matter. The UN considers me a human rights violation, and I’m inclined to agree.

So if you haven’t been paying attention to our plight – and honestly, if you don’t live here why would you really? – here’s a quick round-up: There has been some legislation winding its way through Congress called the DC Voting Rights Act, which aims to give us – me – a seat in the House of Representatives; and to prevent a perceived imbalance in this delicate Congress, to provide an additional seat to Utah as well.

There is some concern as to whether or not the legislation is even constitutional, since it grants representation to the States, which DC technically is not. Even our (relatively recent) vote for President is a special-case! The lack of Statehood is a touchy issue with many residents; but while it may seem tangential, indulge me and remember that most DC residents think we should be a state.

A few days ago, while the bill was being debated on the floor, Mr. Lamar S. Smith, a Republican from Texas, caused it to be abruptly pulled after suggestion amending the bill to modify the District’s extremely restrictive gun laws, in addition to granting a vote. It might seem odd if you haven’t been following along, but as a Federal district, our laws and self-governance are at the whim of Congress. So if they pass legislation that repeals our gun laws, then our gun laws are repealed. Of course, this got everyone up in arms – so to speak – and even made for an amusing segment on the Colbert Report the other night.

Coincidentally, those very same laws were recently struck down as unconstitutional by a Federal appeals court.

Here’s the other shoe: One of the arguments made by lawyers for the city in favor of the laws is that the Second Amendment applies to militias for states, and since the District of Columbia is not a state, the Second Amendment doesn’t apply. So we should be a state, with voting representation, and all the rights that entails – except for when we’d rather not?

Sorry, but the Asshole from Texas is right, and his crude political ploy makes an eloquent point for those who care to listen: We can’t have our cake and eat it, too. If we want voting rights, we have to do it the right way. The sound way. The way that isn’t going to get overturned in court at first chance. No shortcuts, no baby steps, no half-assed bills that the President is going to veto anyway. We have to achieve either actual statehood or another special-case amendment to the Constitution. There are no other ways.

Fenty Inaugural Ball – Kind of a Drag

Hedda snagged a couple of tickets to the Fenty Inaugural Ball this evening, and took me along as her date. It was a “black tie optional” evening, and we opted not to. Instead, she wore a cute black dress with a fantastic boa, and I wore a black pinstriped suit. We looked fine.

The ball itself, though, was kind of a drag. The entire main floor of the convention hall was rented, with a stage against one mall in the middle, and cordoned sections for presentations from each ward. They were pretty cool, and ranged from highlighting local artists to representatives from the zoo. Amusingly, the Ward 8 section had a table dedicated to Former Mayor-For-Life Marion Barry, which looked almost like a funeral shrine, complete with a smiling photograph surrounded by flowers. We were pissed at the Ward 2 area, though. It was all about Georgetown and Foggy Bottom, with absolutely no mention of any of the other vibrant neighborhoods, including Logan Circle and Dupont. What the fuck?

Food was scattered throughout the hall in “grazing stations,” and you could meander through the hall from one to the next trying new things. Several restaurants also had little tables and were serving free fare from their menu. By far the most popular was Clyde’s. They were serving fresh crab cake, and the line stretched halfway across the hall.

The bands playing were pretty cool, although there were strangely long gaps between groups playing. The last group we heard had stopped playing roughly a half hour before we left, and the hall was almost silent during that time.

We left after a couple hours, with the new mayor having yet to appear. The floor was concrete, and there was virtually nowhere to sit, and our legs were screaming for mercy. As we left, we noticed that they had stopped even trying to send people through the metal detectors we had been required to pass through on our way in – now they were just letting waves of party goers by en masse, with no screening whatsoever. Also, strangely, they had no escalators going up, and we saw more than one elderly couple pausing every few stairs as they made their way back up from the basement.

There just seemed to be a zillion little details that were overlooked. The whole affair seemed very unprofessional and poorly planned. For an evening costing some half a million dollars, we were really rather unimpressed.

Regardless, it was fun to go. The pictures are here.

My Idea to Bridge the Metro Budget Gap

With all the hubbub over possible massive fare increases on the Metro, I feel like I should throw my two cents in. After all, without a car, public transit is my primary method of non-pedestrian transportation. Such fare hikes would certainly affect me.

DCist has a rambling writeup on the issue. Feel free to read it or not – I’ve quoted the relevant portions of it here, re-ordered and with my comments.

Metro’s general plan could be summed up as charging for congestion. The goal is to spread demand over the system more evenly, and recoup the costs of congestion from those who most contribute to it.

Forgive the cliché, but the new Metro plan fails to see the Big Picture. The proposed budget makes perfect sense if Metro were a private entity intended to turn a profit. After all, if you increase the prices when demand is high, then you will spread the demand to less utilized resources, and maximize your profit. DCist says it a bit more eloquently.

However, the flaw in this thinking is that the market of Metro riders is elastic. Riders get off at downtown stations during rush hour because that’s where they need to be when they need to be there. With limited off-peak hours, few commuters would be able to take advantage of lower fares.

That is to say, this plan won’t decrease congestion, and instead penalizes the very people we should be encouraging to take the metro. We do not want their cars on the road!

Like any transit system, Metro is not designed to make a profit. [...] As we have pointed out in the past, Metro provides a benefit not just to riders, but to non-riders in the form of less pollution, less traffic, and a transportation option for workers without cars who nonetheless contribute significantly to the regional economy.

As others have pointed out, Metro’s current budget shortfall is due to the fact that it is virtually the only major transit system in the country without a dedicated source of funding. While D.C. has passed a measure to guarantee $50 million a year to Metro over 10 years, Maryland and especially Virginia have been so far unwilling to do the same. This keeps Metro from getting the $1.5 billion that Virginia Rep. Tom Davis has lined up in Congress that is conditional on dedicated local funding. As a result, Metro has to plow scarce operating revenues into expensive capital investments like new rail cars, helping to create the current budget crisis, and no doubt more in the future.

Ay, there’s the rub. The problem is that two of the three jurisdictions that benefit greatly from Metro – namely Maryland and Virginia – refuse to grant it any public funds for subsidy. It’s basically the commuter tax problem. The District has agreed to cough up regular funds, but everybody else is freeloading.

Since the budget is directly related to the lack of permanent funding, I think the new fare proposals should only penalize riders who live in those jurisdictions. Metro should modify the SmartTrip system to record the jurisdiction of the purchaser, and then charge higher fares to those who live in areas which do not publicly subsidize Metro. After all, those of us in DC are already paying higher fares because our tax dollars are spent on the Metro!

Voting When It Doesn’t Matter

It’s election day, my first in DC, and I voted this morning. I was musing with Hedda on our way to the polling place about how depressing it is that our vote really doesn’t matter. I don’t mean that in the figurative sense that most people voting (or not) today might, but in the most literal sense possible: My vote really doesn’t matter. Not only are we denied representation in Congress, but even our local elected officials have no real power. The Mayor, the D.C. Council, our ANC representatives: Every person we marked a ballot for this morning has no real final authority because our locally enacted laws and policies can be arbitrarily overridden by Congress, in which, as previously mentioned, we don’t even have representation.

But we did it anyway. We voted, going through the motions in some sort of pathetic Democracy Theater. For us, the ring of the bell of freedom is hollow and shrill – gutted by the dissonant noise of power-hungry politicians who fail to act to correct this moral injustice that is anathema to the ostensible founding ideals of our nation. It was incredibly depressing.

The ballots, however, were the best I’ve ever used. I’ve voted on touch screens (Virginia, 2004), paper punch cards of the infamous hanging chad variety (Chicago, 2002 & 2000), and while I didn’t vote in 1998 and 1996 due to failure to obtain an absentee ballot while I was away at college, I do remember the insane switches and levers inside the big mechanical voting machines from when I used to go inside them with mom and/or dad when I was little. The ballots today definitely win in every way.

It was a paper ballot: a big 8½ x 16 piece of high-grade, almost paperboard material. The names were clearly printed, and next to each name was an arrow, broken into two parts. To vote for a candidate, you simply drew a line, connecting the pieces with a pencil to create a complete arrow. Then you would walk the ballot over to a machine, which sucked it up into its gullet, and that was that. (Feel free to check out the sample ballots from the primary.)

So let’s see:

• Simple Enough for Anybody:
• Easily Machine Countable:
• Paper Trail for an Audit:
• Minimal bulky, expensive equipment:

Why can’t it be this simple everywhere? Why on earth do we need insane, computerized, touch-screen voting? Maybe I’m wrong: Maybe nobody’s vote matters anymore.

Gunshot Sensors in D.C. – Buy These Instead of Cameras

The Post has an article talking about gunshot sensors that have been installed in the District to help combat the most violent of crimes. It’s a really cool idea – one that I had heard about in Chicago before Hedda and I moved here.

The idea is simple: With a few sensitive microphones and a little bit of digital signal processing, you can triangulate the location of gunshots to within – it used to be a block, but the article says things have improved – a few feet. Since even owning a handgun is illegal in The District, and all rifles and shotguns must be unloaded and have trigger locks, sending police to the triangulated location of a gunshot is a good bet.

These things are a far sight better than the cameras MPD has been hanging all over the city. I really dislike the idea of the police watching over my shoulder constantly, and quantifying the effectiveness of cameras has proven difficult. [1]

Still, here in DC, they have gone up with relatively little resistance. Councilmember Jim Graham sends out a little note to the MPD-3D list every time a camera goes up or he successfully pushes through some funding for them – but he always adds this little addendum, as if to deflect impending attacks from civil liberty nuts like me. Like from this message last week:

AS [sic] I have said many times, crime cameras have limited utility: they can record evidence of crimes, but, as important, they dislodge embedded crime. Of course–once imbedded crime has been scattered–MPD has got to be ready to give chase. Yet the very act of moving crime has advantages, since what are probably long standing patterns are disrupted. Blocks which have suffered for years due to drug markets and other crimes know what I am talking about.

Chief Ramsey has committed to an action plan for just that type of police work for the Third District.

Let’s hope MPD really is ready for this, and let’s hope these statements are not forgotten once they have served their purpose. I fear that the political will to remove them is as ephemeral as the electrons via which I received the email.

(CCTV Camera Sign modified from the original by jsmjr, used and re-released under a CC BY-SA license.)

1. See, for example, Public Video Surveillance:
   Is It An Effective Crime Prevention Tool?, and The Effect of Closed Circuit Television on Recorded Crime Rates
   and Public Concern about Crime in Glasgow.