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Taking note . . .

Observations about public affairs in the nation’s capital
by the editor of The Common Denominator

October 1 update:

SADDLE UP: Headlines on the D.C. government's main Web site page usually alert residents to in-town events and government programs. However, visitors to www.dc.gov today were greeted with this headline: "Bureau of Land Management Holds Wild Horse and Burro Auction This Weekend for DC Area." The hot link directed visitors to a federal government press release providing details about the "adoption" program Oct. 2-3 in Lorton, Va.

Does this mean the D.C. government is urging residents to stable pack animals in the nation's capital? Hardly, according to mayoral spokeswoman Sharon Gang. Gang said real people in the city's Office of the Chief Technology Officer select and rotate the headlines, rather than delegating that duty to any automated Internet service. She conceded that she might start checking the postings to avoid future embarrassment. "It's not the first time..." she said.

September 30 update:

WHO OWNS THE SENATORS? Mayor Tony Williams wasted no time after returning from Paris last weekend to start making the rounds of local broadcast stations, campaigning against one of the more popular names for the District's new Major League Baseball team: Washington Senators. "We don't have senators," the mayor has protested all week, explaining why he doesn't want to see the Montreal Expos renamed after the last two baseball teams that pulled up stakes in the nation's capital and moved on to greener pastures.

But the District's home rule sentiment may not be the only reason why Williams wants to see the public latch on to a different name for the ballclub. Already needing to persuade skeptical civic activists and many uneasy local merchants that imposing additional taxes to pay for a new $440 million stadium will be a good deal for all, baseball promoters might be reluctant to tack on more costs to the still murky deal.

Seems that the last team known as the "Washington Senators" – that Texas team now known as the Rangers and once owned, in part, by President George W. Bush – still owns the legal rights to the "Senators" name. Officials from the Texas ballclub have not responded to our inquiry about whether anyone from the D.C. government or otherwise associated with an effort to return Major League Baseball to Washington has contacted them to discuss purchasing those rights.

At his weekly press briefing yesterday, Mayor Williams sidestepped a question from Common Denominator reporter Stephanie Brinson about obtaining rights to the "Senators" name. "That's speculation down the road," the mayor responded. "I'm just giving you my opinion: I don't want the name."

September 29 update:

SHOOT BULLETS, NOT PHOTOS: Go figure. On Aug. 9, The Common Denominator's editor and a reporting intern were both detained by U.S. Capitol Police for photographing roadblocks on Capitol Hill – apparently perceived by the powers-that-be as some sort of grave security risk. Less than two months later, the House of Representatives voted 250-171 today to repeal the District's gun-control laws – apparently having no qualms about the prospect of enabling anyone with access to a Washington rooftop to target federal officials or others with assault weapons.

GOODBYE GOP: At-Large D.C. Councilman David Catania made it official today. Catania said he started his day by changing his voter registration, leaving the Republican Party to become an independent.

Earlier this year, Catania resigned his leadership position with the D.C. Republican Party and said he was considering leaving the party altogether after local party chairman Betsy Werronen refused to allow him to attend the Republican National Convention as part of the D.C. delegation because he had disavowed his support for President Bush's re-election. Catania, who is openly gay, broke with the president over Bush's support for a constitutional amendment that would bar gay marriage.

"The time has long since passed for me to stop believing that by working within the party, I can be an agent of change," Catania said. "The Republican Party's urban legacy reads like a deliberate effort to undermine and diminish our cities: more assault rifles, fewer police officers, less job training, lower wages, fewer jobs, more poverty, increased uninsured….The indifference, intolerance and injustice now associated with the Republican Party are too unbearable to ignore or forgive."

Catania's political switch leaves At-Large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz as the only Republican member of the city council. Schwartz, who refused to take her own seat as a member of the D.C. delegation at the GOP convention in protest of Catania's banishment, called Catania's decision to leave the party "a loss."

September 28 update:

STADIUM OPPONENTS ORGANIZING: They're calling themselves the "Prioritize Kids Now! Coalition" and they've got some of the city's most visible and politically active child advocacy organizations signed on to demand that the District "invest in children and youth before it invests $440 million in Major League Baseball." The $440 million is referring to the estimated cost of a new publicly financed baseball stadium proposed for the South Capitol Street corridor, near the mouth of the Anacostia River.

Among the coalition's demands: that Major League Baseball, local baseball team owners, the D.C. government, the local business community and the contractors who renovate RFK Stadium and build a new stadium "commit to an annual contribution of $25 million for programs for children and youth."

The coalition so far includes the Children's Health Care Coalition of D.C., D.C. Action for Children, the D.C. Children's Trust Fund, the D.C. Covering Kids & Families Initiative, the D.C. Kids Count Collaborative and the Washington Council of Agencies.

Chris Bender, a spokesman for Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Eric Price, notes that "for every ticket above 2.4 million sold annually, the Sports and Entertainment Commission gets $1 for a community sports fund to improve youth facilities and opportunities across the city" as part of the proposed baseball stadium deal. City officials are estimating that a D.C. baseball team will draw about 2.4 million in attendance each year, but Bender said "attendance could be higher" in the first three years. If that happens, "that's a lot of money for young people," he notes.

Bender said that "the mayor doesn't have time in his schedule now" to talk with The Common Denominator about details of the proposed stadium deal. D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission Chairman Mark Tuohey, contacted on his cell phone, also said he didn't have time to talk about the proposed deal.

OOPS! NEVER MIND: National Capital Revitalization Corp. spokeswoman Peggy Armstrong called today to inform yours truly that the NCRC Board of Directors made a last-minute decision to take Skyland revitalization off its agenda for today's regularly scheduled meeting. She said the Memorandum of Understanding with city officials is expected to resurface at the NCRC board's October meeting.

September 27 update:

SKYLAND ADVANCES: While civic activists are lining up to take sides on a still-somewhat-murky proposal to publicly finance a new baseball stadium, city planners are quietly moving forward a controversial plan to use eminent domain for redevelopment of Skyland Shopping Center in Ward 7. The National Capital Revitalization Corp. Board of Directors and its subordinate RLA Revitalization Corp. Board of Directors have scheduled public meetings tomorrow night to vote on a Memorandum of Understanding for Skyland Shopping Center. The NCRC board convenes at 6:30 p.m., and the RLARC board immediately thereafter, at Johnson Memorial Baptist Church, 800 Ridge Road SE.

More than a dozen property owners and about two dozen primarily local businesses have been fighting the proposal, which would displace them from the confluence of Alabama Avenue with Naylor and Good Hope roads in Southeast Washington in favor of a new shopping center anchored by national and regional chain stores. The plan already has received unanimously endorsement from D.C. City Council, even though no retailers have yet committed to the site. The parcel is located in the heart of one of the major commercial areas east of the Anacostia River, directly across Alabama Avenue from one of the city's newest and most successful shopping centers, Good Hope Marketplace.

PREPARING A PHOTO OP: Opponents of public financing for a new baseball stadium are fuming over a message e-mailed last Friday to an undisclosed list of "coaches/parents of children" by Winston Lord, executive director of Washington Baseball Club LLC, which has been working for the past five years with the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission to return Major League Baseball to the District. In the message, Lord solicits participation by "kids of all ages in [sports] uniforms" to participate in a rally at RFK Stadium "in case an announcement in DC's favor is made" to move the National League's Montreal Expos to the nation's capital.

"We can provide transportation from schools..I'm looking for little league teams, school teams etc. anybody and everybody. This is hopefully once in a lifetime event that every child in dc is going to want to say they were there for!!!!!" the message sent on Sept. 25 says in part.

Parent Susan Ousley called Lord's message "insulting" when she posted it to a listserv for D.C. Public Schools advocates on Saturday morning.

"I don't think I have to explain to anyone who's ever fought for a library, playground, classroom, field trip bus, school, baseball field, uniforms, or any other item that children need how fundamentally insulting and cynical I found [Lord's] memo," wrote Ousley, a leader of Save DC Parks & Play Spaces.

One of the major arguments being used by opponents of public financing for a new stadium is that it would use tax dollars that might otherwise be spent on improving public schools, libraries and community recreational facilities.

Lord did not return a call for comment.

Copyright 2004, The Common Denominator