Shawington

There’s a perception, fueled by my opponent, that the District is one of the most fiscally sound cities in the nation. To be certain, the city has come along way since the junk bond days, but we still have far to go (compare DC’s A+ to Arlington’s much higher AAA rating).

Over the past few years, my opponent has given away millions upon millions to developers, sports teams, and other private special interests, and entered into some very bad deals. How can the city afford to do this?

It can’t.

But we’ve done so by placing these costs on the city’s credit card, dedicating future tax revenues to paying off the debt rather than funding city programs and services.

In fact, according to D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, the District’s per capita debt for 2008 is estimated at $10,902, the highest of any major U.S. municipality. One out of ten dollars spent in the District, and rising, is going toward paying off the debt. For quite some time, Mr. Gandhi has cautioned that going over a 10% debt ratio raises red flags to Wall Street and places the city’s bond rating in jeopardy. In response, Council Chairman Vincent Gray has proposed legislation to establish a 12% hard cap (legally, the ratio can currently rise to 17%).

What this all means is that due to frivolous spending, it will be more difficult for the city to take on major projects that can make a difference, such as establishing a community college system, expanding metro capacity, or true neighborhood development projects along the lines of the O Street Market.

Let’s look at some of the financial blunders in recent years, championed by my opponent, that have placed us in a tight position:

A $611 million+ (now estimated at over $750 million) lopsided baseball stadium deal, paid for by you, the taxpayer. And when the team withholds millions in rent and threatens $100,000 a day in damages, my opponent defends the Lerners. I’ll defend the city, and I’ll put funding neighborhood parks before more ballparks.
$850 million to build a new convention center, which barely brings in more visitors than the previous building that was half its size. We are still paying debt service of $36 million on this project each year. I’ll reclaim this lost opportunity for neighborhood revitalization by filling the empty retail spaces, helping struggling small businesses, and addressing the surrounding vacant property that remains even five years later.
A $50 million gift to the Verizon Center, supposedly for “upgrades” to luxury boxes, including one for the D.C. Council. Although the then MCI Center was built with $200 million in private, not government, funding, that did not stop the after-the-fact subsidy. No more giveaways.
$50 million stolen from the Office of Tax and Revenue. As far back as 2004, the D.C. Auditor alerted the Council to massive discrepancies, but there was no oversight, no action taken. Even after the theft came to light, my opponent continued to push for a substantial pay raise for the CFO. I will restore oversight and accountability by hiring more auditors and inspectors. I’ll ask more critical questions and follow-up to demand fixes until they are implemented.
A $10 million earmark to Ford’s Theatre, a federal property. Next thing you know, we will be paying for renovation of the Washington Monument. That won’t happen on my watch.
Back in 2004, the Council, under my opponent’s leadership, even approved $40 million in public financing for expansion of the private Corcoran Gallery of Art over the objections of then Councilmember Fenty, who objected to the speculative nature of the tax revenue that would purportedly pay off the debt.

Other examples of financial mismanagement continue all around us. For example:
As law abiding citizens pay rising property taxes, for years, absentee owners of nuisance properties have avoided the significantly higher property rate imposed on vacant homes and storefronts. Some even receive the homestead deduction. I’ll make sure the costs of nuisance properties are placed on irresponsible owners, not the neighborhoods.
The District continues to allow rampant no-bidding or pseudo-bidding in economic development deals, and makes intentionally hurried emergency decisions, such as the West End folly, to give away precious public fire station and library properties due to lax financial stewardship. I’ll support reforms to protect public property and establish an open bidding process.
The D.C. Auditor recently found that controls over the District’s cash advance fund were “extremely lax and, in some areas, nonexistent, allowing employees use the fund as a personal piggy bank, and potentially giving out millions in unauthorized funds.

This election provides you, the voters, with a choice. Will we continue down this path, or get more responsible, more critical, with our money? It’s time to shift our focus from always saying “yes, how much,” to sound neighborhood development.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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On Thursday, we had a very strong showing in the debate co-sponsored by the Dupont Circle Citizens Association and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B, which was moderated by Davis Kennedy of The Current Newspapers. There was an outpouring of support at the debate, which highlighted key differences between my opponent and me.

Focus. I an running to be a true Ward Councilmember, committed to working on quality of life and public interest issues – from restoring library services, rejuvenating schools and public parks, and improving public safety. My opponent made little mention of such issues during the debates.

Tax relief. I will focus tax relief on small businesses and long-time residents who have experienced a steep rise in property taxes. My opponent supports across-the-board cuts that would favor big businesses over those who need help.

Quality of life. For example, I strongly support placing reasonable limits on daytime noise, while my opponent voted to strip the noise bill of its effectiveness.

Fiscal responsibility. My opponent has saddled District residents with the highest per capita debt in the nation due to his sponsorship of hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate giveaways. His failed oversight has allowed scandals in the DC Office of Tax and Revenue. Yet, he continues to discuss more publicly-financed stadiums and earmarks.

You can read reaction to the debate on the Penn Quarter Living, OffSeventh,
and Washington CityPaper blogs. The Washington Post also wrote about the race today.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve gone door-to-door in every neighborhood in Ward 2. I recently met voters in Georgetown with Tom Pursley, who served for many years as president of the Dent Place Association. We continue to receive a very positive and warm response. That’s why community leaders and activists from across the ward in every neighborhood have endorsed my candidacy.

Onward to September 9!

(No Ratings Yet)

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Photo: DC Public Libraries. Latest rendition of the design for the new Watha T. Daniels library in Shaw. Where did all the windows go? Click for additional images.
I’ve pushed for the need for the city to build and renovate libraries for the 21st Century. But I was shocked this week by news that you might have missed.

Despite the fact that libraries are seeing increased demand, The Examiner reports that DC public libraries are planning to reduce their hours due to budget cuts, possibly shutting down on Fridays altogether. So let me get this straight. The District’s recreation centers are open only a few hours on Saturdays, closed Sundays, and not open late at night, and now the libraries are starting to close as well. And we wonder why kids have few alternatives to trouble on the streets.

Speaking of scaling back, have you seen the latest version of the design plans for replacement of the Watha T. Daniels Library in Shaw? As I reported, at the last public comment meeting, library officials noted that they would have to cut costs, due to the rising price of materials, unanticipated underground water, and the proximity to the metro line. But the new design looks similar to the old library — except made out of metal rather than concrete. So now not only is there nothing new about the services it provides on the inside, but the outside isn’t a significant improvement either. We’ve got to create inviting libraries that serve the needs of the community!

(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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454 N Street NW is owned by the DC-government. It has sat vacant for years. The property was boarded up and surrounded by a chain link fence after I discussed it in testimony before the DC Council. Meanwhile, a nearly identical property two doors east has been renovated, sold, and is now occupied.

Addressing vacant and nuisance property, as you may know by reading this blog, is an issue importance to me. In most cases, my solution is to make sure we are taxing them at the higher vacant property tax rate (most of the time, the city is not doing so), make the owner clean it or lien it, condemn the property if it is not in habitable condition as required by law, and, ultimately, send it to tax sale. Those who allow historic properties to fall can get in trouble for demolition by neglect. But what is to be done when the property is owned by the the DC-government itself?

I came across this situation several times this year. A DC-owned vacant property came tumbling down feet from a day care center. Then another collapsed. I reported another, a bare facade, only to have DC board it up with chain link fence put around it. In another case, a series of lots awaited transfer to an anxious developer for mixed-income housing for several years without result. According to DC records, there are about 100 vacant houses (improved properties) and several hundred vacant lots in DC government hands. These are properties that generally came into DC ownership due to abandonment, illegal activity, fire, or some other calamity. Many of these are slated for future housing, but they have sat vacant for years.

The city has put a lot of time, effort, and money into bringing those who wear D.C. sports uniforms back into the city. As your Council Member, I’ll focus on bringing back those who wear a different kind of uniform - our police officers and firefighters - and put my time into assisting the public servants who would like to live in the District, but cannot afford to do so.

I propose a new city program that will help more of the District’s police officers, firefighters, and public school teachers to live in our neighborhoods. Let’s put these vacant DC properties to good use by providing affordable housing opportunities to those who are vital to the District’s safety and education. Sell the vacant homes and lots directly to the District’s police officers, firefighters, and teachers at reduced rates. Then, the new owner would commit to restoring the vacant house or building a new home on the vacant lot within two years, and agree to live in that home for at least five years.

I’ll also explore incentives for police officers, firefighters, and teachers to choose to live in the District, such as “city living salary supplements.” The supplement would recognize the increased cost of living in the District and the benefit to the community of having them within the city limits.

It’s a matter of common sense. We’d be a lot safer if more of the District’s 3,800 police officers and 1,800 firefighters remained in DC at the end of their shift. We’d benefit from their eyes and ears. If there’s a disaster, emergency, or terrorist attack, we want them nearby. Our children would benefit from increased tutoring, school programs, and interaction between teachers and the community if we can bring educators back into our neighborhoods.

There do not appear to be any firm publicly available statistics as to the precise percentage of police officers, firefighters, and teachers that live in the District. Some estimate about 20-25% of police officers, even less for firefighters. As the District recruits many highly qualified new teachers from throughout the nation, will they settle in DC, or live in Maryland or Virginia?

Let’s set a goal of having 33% living within the District by 2010 and 50% by 2012.

(No Ratings Yet)

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After paying more than $611 million in public funds to construct a baseball stadium (the true cost is over $800 million), here’s the treatment the District has received from the Nationals:

Failing to meet its contractual obligation to employ District workers during construction process.
Omitting sexual orientation from its vendor procurement affirmative action policy, despite its inclusion as a protected group in the DC’s Human Rights Act.
Taking major events outside the District to Prince Georges County. So while DC’s business community pays for the stadium, Nats’ business goes to the suburbs.
Refusing to allow the city to place an electronic billboard on the stadium grounds to publicize taxation without representation in the District of Columbia.
Suing the city for $40 million (by politically-connected developer and Jack Evans’ friend Herb Miller). Take solace in fact that he will give half of the city’s $2 settlement money to charity. That was earlier this week.

Now, here’s the latest. The Lerners, owners of the Nationals, are withholding $3.5 million in rent on their brand new, taxpayer-funded stadium and threatening District with $100,000 in damages per day for not completing undisclosed “hundreds of items” related to its construction.

Some have suggested padlocking the stadium for the Lerner’s failure to pay rent. But that wouldn’t work because the city’s ability to get paid back for its investment depends on sales tax revenue generated by ticket sales.

You might expect our city officials to be outraged and to strongly defend the city. Some, like At Large Council Member David Catania, himself a Ward 2 resident who voted against the stadium give away, believes “the city has not bothered to look out for its long-term interest, and there is going to be one issue after another for years to come.” But our Council Member seems more concerned about the Lerners, not the taxpayers. As quoted in the Washington Post:

“The owners of the team are very strong business people, and they take a very businesslike approach to the whole relationship. They enforce their rights to the extent they can,” said council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), an ardent baseball booster.

Should the Lerners make good on their threat to hit the city with $100,000 a day in damages, you can count every week as a neighborhood park that the city could have completely renovated for our kids.

I hope you’ll look out for the city’s long-term interests on September 9. The alternative is we’ll soon be going through this again with soccer and football stadiums, and more giveaways.

(No Ratings Yet)

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That’s the sign that recently appeared on this Ward 2 property. Oddly, the strewn trash in front of the house, the weeds arising from cracks in the concrete front yard, and the previous “for sale” sign that has been up for months remain.

This property has been vacant for quite a while. Yet, according to the District of Columbia records, it was purchased by the current owner over two years ago, is being taxed at the occupied rate, and is receiving the Homestead Deduction. (The property to the right, which is advertised for sale with the same phone number, is apparently under different ownership and properly recorded as vacant.) I wonder if these new for sale signs appeared as an attempt to evade imposition of the significantly high property tax rate imposed on vacant properties. $757,490 doesn’t pass the straight-face test.

Folks, it’s time to get serious about vacant and nuisance properties. While your taxes go through the roof, derelict owners take tax cuts while allowing their vacant properties to deteriorate, get dumped on, and become magnets for crime. I will push for enforcement of our tax laws, demolition by neglect laws, dumping laws, and laws requiring housing be kept in “habitable condition,” and, where needed, public nuisance actions, as a comprehensive approach to addressing properties that are a blight on our neighborhoods.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Last week, as I was walking over to meet with residents in Dupont Circle, this invitation came across my Treo:

Greater Washington Sports Alliance Fundraiser for Councilman Jack Evans - July 10th

Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) is currently in a tight race for re-election this year and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance (GWSA) is stepping up to help him. Evans has been a long time staunch supporter of the GWSA and last year, was able to push for a funding amount of $500,000 in 2008, after it the Council had brought it down to $0. In order to show its appreciation, the GWSA will hold a fundraiser at the residence of GWSA Chair, Fernando Murias in Rosslyn, VA on July 10th.

Folks, this seems wrong on some many levels. A $500,000 earmark for an organization to promote DC sports teams when our own recreation centers lack funding to stay open on weekends? Political payback? It’s no surprise that sports organizations are major contributors. With public funding for a soccer and football stadium on the horizon after giving away $800 million for a ballpark, is it time to say enough?

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Does it bother you too?

The DC Council is now apparently developing legislation to allocate $150 million of public funds to building a soccer stadium. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see a new soccer stadium in the District. In fact, this year, I got together a group of friends to go to a DC United game on my birthday.

But $150 million in public money for construction costs?

This is on top of the $800 million spent on the baseball stadium and reports that my opponent is now pushing for a new football stadium for the Redskins.

Sure, let’s support owners who will make an investment in DC by locating here by improving the infrastructure to make it happen — expanding metro capacity and upgrading stations, repaving streets and reorganizing traffic flow, installing new sidewalks and street lighting, developing new bus routes — everything that is needed to make it safe, easy, and enjoyable to go to a game. But paying for construction for a private business, that’s where I would draw the line. I’d like to open a nice deli, but I’m not asking the DC government to build me a store.

Just last night, I organized a meeting with government officials and about two dozen downtown residents to develop a plan for improving a long neglected and forgotten neighborhood park, one of many in the District. The circle center of the park was filled with cardboard boxes of those who had made the park a semi-permanent home. The park reminds me of ancient ruins I explored on a recent visit to Israel — stones around the perimeter have crumbled and are in disarray, the sidewalks are grown over with weeds and grass, remnants of light fixtures of a time past line the park. Residents avoid the area, which is between Union Station and the Convention Center, the gateway to downtown, because they do not feel safe. Of course, the question of the night was where will the city find the money for renovating the park when they can’t even seem to maintain it? Well, when it comes to a few hundred million here and there for stadiums, finding money seems to be no problem. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Professional sports teams get money for stadium construction and luxury boxes. Residents scramble to organize clean ups to make the filth of neighborhood parks bareable. Kids are left on the streets.

It’s time to tell the DC Council that we expect a change in priorities. Before the city spends $150 million on construction costs for another stadium, let’s see it adequately maintain and renovate every single one of our neighborhood parks so that they can be used by residents and their children. Before the city provides another multimillion dollar giveaway for a ballpark, let’s see the city provide enough funding to keep its recreation centers open on weekends. Before the city writes that next big check to a wealthy sports team, let’s see it find the money to give significant tax relief to struggling small businesses.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Friday was the first day candidates for DC offices could pick up petitions to be included on the September 9 primary ballot from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics. You can view a list of candidates here.

DC Council candidates running for a Ward seat must obtain 250 signatures of registered Democrats living within their ward by July 2. Over the weekend, our campaign already made significant progress toward this target, which we will exceed by a substantial number of voters.

Sunday’s Washington Post included a feature on the beginning of the campaign season, noting that while my opponent is a representative of big developers and special interests, serving as a part-time council member while working as a lobbyist, I will work for our neighborhoods full time.

The Washington Post blog referred to me as a “savior of local parks.” One issue that I’ve emphasized in my campaign is the sad irony of my opponent’s positions supporting a near billion in public financing for a ball park, a $50 million giveaway for luxury boxes at the Verizon Center, and lately pumping up the idea of building a new football stadium — all with your tax dollars. Meanwhile, the city’s recreation centers lack funding to stay open on weekends and late weekday nights, leaving few options for DC’s youth, and many parks in our own ward have waited for years, sometimes decades, for needed renovations.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Soon, there will be one less vacant property in the area surrounding the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. But this occupancy doesn’t have residents cheering. The vacant storefront, in a prime location, could contribute to the neighborhood with long-sought retail or as a cafe. Yet, it has been vacant for over a decade, has somehow consistently avoided the significantly higher tax rate set for vacant property, and has housed some failed political candidates.

“What a waste,” said one local resident on a neighborhood blog, who would like to see a Starbucks or an independent coffee shop. “They are going to leave it a flurry of old papers and trash just like the last person in there did.”

Here’s another resident’s take along with the original story on the Washington CityPaper blog.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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