October 2, 2006
Morning Roundup: Don't Go, Dan!
What a beautiful weekend, eh? Except for a bit of rain on Saturday, the weather was, if I
may say so myself without sounding like my grandmother, delightful. We hope you got out
during it, as the city played host to a number of activities - the National Book Festival, Crafty Bastards, and a bit outside
of town, the continuation of the Maryland Renaissance
Festival. Which I went to, mainly to gawk at the costumes and tear into a turkey leg
or two. And to see the terrifying wench cleavage.
As our friend put it, "Until today, I found cleavage attractive." But, most importantly,
the Redskins came back to win in overtime! Booyah. On to the news.
Say It Ain't So: Metro's interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini has agreed to withdrdaw as a candidate to become the permanent chief. Instead, he's decided to take a job as D.C. City Administrator if Adrian Fenty is elected mayor. Darn it, Dan. I think this is good news for the city, (in the position Tangherlini would oversee the city's daily operations, including more than 40 agencies), but isn't there a way you can somehow swing doing both jobs? The Post has more.
We're Shocked, Really: And what better way to continue the week's news with some totally crazy racism allegations about the leadership of everybody's favorite local publication, the Washington Times? The Huffington Post reports that the wife of Francis B. Coombs Jr., the managing editor of The Washington Times, has confirmed that Coombs believes that blacks are "born genetically 15 to 20 IQ points lower than a white person" and that abortion is necessary "to keep the black and minority population down in this country." Following the firing of a Times employee for internet-ly seducing who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, things must be coming up roses over there.
Double Shooting in Northeast: Just before 5 p.m. on Sunday, there were two shootings in the 1300 and 1600 blocks of Kenilworth Avenue. As of the time that I'm writing this, there hasn't been much more information except that the shootings may have been caught on tape. Police are, of course, investigating.
Bad Season Puts Pressure on New Stadium: As the Nats at-home season drew to a close with the news that Frank Robinson would not be returning, it turns out that poor revenue and a worse records makes it all the more imperative that the new stadium be built in time. The Post reports that basically, until (and unless) the Nats get better, the promise of a fancy, brand-spanking new stadium is the only way to keep fans interested. Good thing that the stadium construction is on schedule, according to WTOP. Apparently, there will be a massive steel delivery to the stadium on Friday. Woo! Steel! You can watch a webcam of the stadium's progress over here. Pretty nifty.
Newer, Lower, Shinier Property Tax Rates: With the end of D.C.'s fiscal year also comes the new property tax rates, which have, fortunately for those who own in D.C., dropped. From 92 cents to 88 cents. We know, thrilling. Homeowners, rejoice!
Briefly Noted: Creepy toy-aisle-child-stalking-groping man caught ... Man killed in Northeast on Sunday morning ... Erhlich sending out dollar bills with campaign contribution solicitations ... Some bastard set a hunting trap that ended up snaring a kitten ... Cyclist hit and killed by SUV on Annandale Road.
This Day in DCist: We congratulated DC United, who clinched a playoff berth.
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What, no mention of pedophile Congressmen and the GOP leaders who cover up their crimes?
I went to RennFest, too. I am glad to know I am not the only one who found the shelf boobs a little disturbing. It is like the Holy See for Dungeons and Dragon folk. Only *there* are they normal and I am weirdo for wearing jeans and a hoodie and having normal non-shelfed boobs. But, god bless fried pickles and fried cheese. And getting blitzed on raspberry wine and cider cocktails mid-day.
Could be worse... Dan > Skinner.
Now the money question is where is Skinner going to be placed?
Ease up Brody, they have to save something for later in the day.
Sinclair Skinner will replace Dan Tangherlini as Metro's General Manager. I am confident he will do an excellent job, as he has proven to be a caring, compassionate citizen who is in touch with the needs of the Washington metropolitan area.
Unless DCist can come up with a uniquely "local" angle on this page-gate thing, I don't see why it should bother chiming in on it. Leave it to Wonkette, et al (who by the way are doing a great job at it). Stick to what you do best DCist: local not national.
"Sinclair Skinner will replace Dan Tangherlini as Metro's General Manager. I am confident he will do an excellent job, as he has proven to be a caring, compassionate citizen who is in touch with the needs of the Washington metropolitan area."
That seems bloody unlikely seeing as Graham("zilla the black business killa") is on the Metro board. He may have mended fences with Fenty enough to support his mayoral bid, but I can't see him handing over the system to Skinner. Besides, it's not Fenty's choice to make.
Reid - I think you can file post #5 under S, for "Sarcasm."
Oh, yeah, my mistake. I took it for a Skinner shill. I guess I'm just really afraid that he would actually get a post like that.
Property tax rates should de bropped further and replaced with a universal poll tax. Renters are the bane of the city...unmotivated slackers with dead-end jobs and no investment in the community. I'd go further and say that only owners should be allowed to vote, but that would probably invite some shrill outrage from whatever baristas are surfing DCist during their shift breaks.
Why don't we just go back to white land owning men?
I've been active in my ANC, post on message boards, attend all sorts of community meetings, know the police officers, know my neighbors... And my landlord (who lives in the same building) had to have the ANC comissioner pointed out to him. So um, yea. Great system you've got there to determine who's active in the community and who's not...
Yeah, all those damn renters. Who needs coffee anyway, or menial workers - or people who can't afford decent housing. Here's to DC for the monied elite and Skinner in charge of the metro system! Who's with me...
Reid - A legit concern, there are a lot of crazy people with a lot of crazy ideas out there. See post #10 for an example.
As I've mentioned before, Skinner is nothing more than Fenty's version of Karl Rove; so don't be shocked to find him on the city's payroll come January.
Hill Rat:
The Skinner/Rove comparison is easy, but I'm not sure it works. Rove's pretty accomplished.
Yes, all those layabout slackers renting $1500+ studio apartments. They should get jobs, dammit.
What's the problem with the Rove/Skinner comparison? They're both political legbreakers of dubious morality. Rove may be working on a larger stage right now, but he and Skinner both use the same playbook of political dirty tricks.
Does VanNessist think he lives in Iowa? In many cases, renting in DC costs more than owning, you schmuck.
Renting costs more than owning in DC? That hasn't been my experience. In fact, there are a lot of huge rent control apartments in DC that would, in a real free market, command probably triple what they currently go for. And quite often the apartment is housing someone making $100,000 a year, sucking up benefits that are supposed to go to the actual working poor.
Rent control needs to be means tested. Of course, rent control actually makes rental more expensive overall, as countless studies have shown over the years. But, then, most of the populace doesn't know that, so politicians are more than eager to use that ignorance.
And I believe I recently saw a stat saying that to rent the average place in DC it now costs around 60% of what it would cost per month if you'd bought the place.
In a lot of situations, the difference is actually a lot more pronounced than that.
As for renters vs owners, yes in some instances renters are quite involved in their community.
But it's no secret that in DC, particularly on Capitol Hill, we have tons of people that rent here, never register as DC residents (so they don't have to pay local taxes or serve on juries), never register their cars here, etc. The city does suffer overall because of their actions which are, in a word, selfish.
The problem is that there is abundant evidence that Rove is accomplished, while Skinner lost both his ANC seat and his fight for lower Georgia. There's also little or no evidence he swayed hearts and minds toward Fenty in the primary. The comparison just isn't supported by the available facts.
Hillman speaks the truth, in my building that's being converted to condos there is going to be a shocking and steep increase in people's monthly payments once they close on their units. We have one gentleman paying $280/month for a 2BR on Capitol Hill.
Such is the price of ownership.
If they're employed in DC, aren't DC taxes being withheld by the employer? Obviously this doesn't fit all cases.