Two DC School Teams

My sources tell me that if you go to DC school headquarters you will see two distinct teams.

On one team are the older- grayer people; hired by former Superintendent Clifford Janey and the Superintendents who came and went before Janey.

On the second team are the newer, younger people brought in by Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

The second team is really busy with consultants and getting up to speed on what Rhee needs done. They're clearly in charge now, digging in for the long haul, knowing that re-enforcements will soon be on the way.

I'm told that a lot of the members of that first team don't have a lot of work to do these days. In one office several people report for work every day but they have no assignments. They expect their Supervisor will be fired soon; That person has told the staff they might be dismissed in two weeks. The staff has been given no future marching orders by the new administration. They rarely see Chancellor Rhee coming and going.

I talked to both Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee today; both confirmed that people are going to be let go; that the Central Administration will be re-organized and made smaller. Neither would use the word "fired" although I did and they didn't correct me.

Rhee did talk about re-organization and a smaller central office. They both talked about shifting resources to the classrooms and added they won't be letting people go just to replace them with fewer higher paid staffers.

They'll need DC Council approval to suspend current personnel law that protects a lot of employees.

Senior employees can bump down and take jobs from less experienced workers.

DC Councilman Jack Evans met with the Mayor and Rhee today and seems ready to help them find a way to get what they want. Councilman Kwame Brown seems non committal.

It will be interesting to see where Council Chairman Vincent Gray stands on this. I couldn't reach him by phone today. Council is in recess until later in September. When they return there will almost certainly be emergency legislation to speed up the firings.

The Unions will also have to weigh in and will be asked to re-write some contracts for the sake of reform. This should be interesting. Didn't the Union leaders back Linda Cropp over Fenty who went on to win every precinct in the primary?

The political stakes are going to be high should a picture emerge of scores of longtime DC residents being fired to make room for outsiders.

Even impartial observers will be looking at how many veteran school officials are retained. They can't all be part of the problem can they?

Michelle Rhee doesn't have a lot of patience. She wants people out of the way and her new team on the way in by October first, the beginning of the fiscal year.

We should have some direction soon on where people stand after the DC Council reports back to work. Time for talk is over. This is where elected officials on all sides will be forced to take a stand.

That's All Folks, For Now

Keep those clips of Michael Vick at the mike on Monday doing a mea culpa because it may be all we see and hear for a while.

A well placed DC source tells me the Vick legal team met yesterday following Vick's court appearance and talk to the cameras.

It was decided that no one on the Vick team would be making further public comments or appearances for the next two weeks or so..

In the meantime Michael Vick should be meeting with the NFL head Roger Goodell and his investigative team lead by former DC judge and Assistant Attorney Eric Holder. Vick's lawyers want him back on the field within a year. Observers say two or three years is more likely.

Vick's plea agreement requires him to co-operate with Prosecutors, so a meeting in this arena could also take place where Vick might say if other pro football layers bet on the dog fights arranged by Vick's Bad Newz kennel.

And on yet a third front, the Atlanta Falcons are trying to take back the $22 million they paid the star quarterback in bonus money. Sports observers say at best they might get six or seven mill back. Still, it's yet another fire that Vick, his legal and public relations team will be trying to put out in the next several weeks.

Mayor's Security is Back

For about a week and a half DC Mayor Adrian Fenty was driving himself around town and arriving late to some appointments while he searched for legal parking, just like the rest of us.


On Monday, he was back in the saddle with a full complement of Metropolitan police officers surrounding him. It's unclear, whether the decision is his or Police Chief Cathy Lanier's who is ultimately responsible for the Mayor's safety.



Schools opened yesterday and Fenty had a number of locations to inspect along with Chancellor Michelle Rhee, as they are now in charge of what works and what doesn't...Their own assessment is that for the most part "things went smoothly", although Ballou High lacked air conditioning in some places; and Ballou wasn't alone Plaster came tumbling down in a girl's bathroom at Duke Ellington School for the Arts..



The Mayor has no public schedule for Tuesday so we can't follow him around to see if he's traveling solo or with DC Police.

Michael Vick will be back in a Year!

That's what his team of legal and crisis management experts is aiming for according to a well placed DC source. Can you imagine Vick on the football field tossing bombs or eluding tacklers next season?

It's quite a goal considering that Vick hasn't been sentenced yet on the federal dog fighting charge that could lead to 12 or 18 months in prison....and he could still face charges from the State of Virginia.

Sports insiders say Vick's indefinite NFL suspension will certainly continue after his prison stay, although it's far from clear just how long after that;

Michael Vick appeared contrite when he stepped up to the microphones today (Monday) after his court appearance.

He didn't read from a script and that was a good call on the part of his handlers. He obviously was told to be himself--a lifelong football player and not a speaker--again that was a good call.

There was nervousness, pauses, quivering, all good stuff for a guy reaching out- not to reporters- but to sports fans...fathers and sons..who once loved him. They're the ones who will ultimately decide if and when he returns to the sidelines.

Vick apologized to fans, his team and National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell; after pleading guilty to a federal charge that he plotted to run an interstate dogfighting ring.

He denounced dogfighting as ``a terrible thing'' in the televised news conference and said he had used ``bad judgment,'' and now felt ``ashamed'' and ``disappointed'' in himself.

Vick's plea agreement, entered Aug. 24, said he helped run Bad Newz Kennels, which bought, trained and fought dogs in Virginia, and other States. The agreement also said he funded gambling associated with the ring and agreed to the killing of poor-performing dogs.

``I accept the responsibility for my actions and what I did, and now I have to pay the consequences for it,'' Vick said today in Richmond, Virginia.

Here in DC, Anthony Ellis told me as he entered the ESPN sports Zone today "He's gonna do the time. He made a mistake. But forgiveness is a good thing. His going to God is a greater thing".

Ellis, of Southeast DC thinks Vick should be allowed to resume his NFL career.

Tony and Omica Davis agree. The Lanham, Maryland couple said over lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl that other NFL players had been guilty of even more serious crimes such as spousal abuse.

Rob Hamilton of Philly was visiting DC when he walked into the Zone. He and his son Josh are prepared to forgive Vick for his role in breeding, training and killing Pitt Bulls; After Vick serves a sentence and suspension. They want to see him play again.

Not so for Billie Kaumaya. She refuses to feel sorry for anyone who would help brutalize a dog.

Billy Martin, Vick's attorney said Monday, ``We hope that Judge Hudson will see the real Mike Vick,'' ``What you've seen is an aberration.''

Vick admitted he ``was not honest and forthright'' with his team or the league while the case unfolded. NFL boss Roger Goodell called Vick's actions ``cruel and reprehensible.''

Team owner Arthur Blank said in a news conference that the Vick embarrassed and betrayed the Falcons, and the team would consider legal and contractual options before taking action against him.

``It's not as simple as standing here today and telling you we're terminating Michael's rights,'' Blank said. ``We simply cannot do that. It's not in our fans' or our franchise's long- term interests. It would be a short-term fix at the expense of our long-term success.''

The Falcons are already trying to recover bonus money prepaid to Vick. News reports say the team would try to recoup $22 million.

``I will redeem myself,'' Vick said. ``I have to.''

Look for the rehabilitation of Vick to hit high gear even before he reports to prison. His handlers will be looking for a "cause" that can use his money; probably in the high six or even seven figures. Volunteer work, with the kids he admittedly let down will be high on the list.

The plan will be to portray Vick as remorseful, humbled and humiliated...anything but the highly compensated, heavily entitled, spoiled superstar that Michael Vick had become.

Willie Hardy

Funeral Services for former DC Council member Willie Hardy will be held Monday Morning.

Ms Hardy died August 18Th from cancer at the age of 85. She had been an outspoken, deep voiced activist for the poor. She served two terms on the first elected Council, from 1971 to 1981.

A host of City officials is expected to turn out Monday at 11 am at Union Temple Baptist Church, 1225 W Street, Southeast.

Anybody Got a Problem With This?

I'm trying to understand the logic and the reality surrounding a city business group paying for DC Police protection outside their establishments in an area where it seems ( at least to me) that police protection should be a given and is already paid for through tax dollars.

The Washington Post reports The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District has begun paying D.C. police officers $55 an hour in overtime pay to increase weekend security in an area where condominiums and office buildings cast shadows over areas known for drug deals and prostitution.

For seven hours on Fridays and Saturdays, an officer walks, bikes or drives through the area to look for suspicious activity and to talk with residents and business owners. Under the arrangement, the officers cannot be redeployed during the shift.

The Mount Vernon district spends about $780 per weekend to cover the patrols. The group's annual budget is about $270,000.

I have written before in this space that Police, firefighters, all other emergency service employees can't expect to work Monday through Friday 9 to 5 shifts. Mayor Fenty campaigned on the promise to put more cops on the streets.

I took that to mean more cops on the streets at night and early mornings; on the sidewalks, around businesses, condos, apartment buildings and single family homes..including weekends. . A lot of us work weekends.

Farewell to Chief Burton Johnson

Let me join the list of people who are expressing their condolences to the family of Burton W. Johnson, this city's first African American Fire Chief .

Funeral services are being held today to eulogize the man who took the reigns of a department in turmoil in the early 1970's when Mayor Walter Washington named him to the top post.

Minority firefighters lead by Romeo Spaulding, Ray Alford and Ted Holmes were leading the protest of the department's racial makeup; at the time it was a majority white male department.

It was also an agency crippled by budget constraints that forced the closing of some firehouses. Chief Johnson ordered the recruitment of more minority firefighters and for the first time took steps to bring women into the department. Johnson died this past week at age 89 from a heart attack at Providence hospital. He lived in the District.

DC trying to collect on the Georgetown library Fire

The DC Government expects to collect more than 13 million dollars from a contractor working on the Georgetown Library when it went up in flames last April. Check out the release.

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of the Attorney General
office of contracting and procurement

For Immediate Release
August 22, 2007

Washington, D.C. - Attorney General Linda Singer and David P. Gragan, Director of the Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP), today announced that the District has filed an approximately $13 million damages claim against a contractor whose negligence they allege caused an April 30, 2007, fire that severely damaged the historic Georgetown Neighborhood Branch Library at 3260 R St., NW.

The $13 million claim was filed against the Dynamic Corporation of Hyattsville, Maryland. The D.C. government contracted with Dynamic in February 2007 to provide exterior improvements at the library. Two Brothers Contracting, Inc. was subcontracted by Dynamic to remove lead-based paint and restore the library's windows.

An origin and cause investigation conducted by the Fire/Arson Investigation Unit (FIU) of the District of Columbia Office of the Fire Marshall and other agencies concluded that the fire resulted from the ignition of combustible materials by electrical heating devices.

"While the filing of this claim represents a mathematical calculation of the city's loss, the true loss is incalculable," Gragan said. "Residents can be fully assured that the District will not accept poor work or poor management of any job from vendors doing business with this city."
"The District is pursuing claims against Dynamic Corporation for its role in the fire.

We believe that this contractor may have been negligent in performing some of the work on the library by not securing the heating guns in a safe and responsible manner," Attorney General Singer said. "Assuming this is so, the District is entitled to damages for the destruction of this historic building, and it our responsibility to city taxpayers to ensure that businesses we engage for work are accountable for their actions."

According to the claim filed against Dynamic, the company is liable for:
ü $12 million in damages to the library's structure;
ü $7,942 in damages to library furniture;
ü $4,000 in damages to computers and other information technology equipment;
ü $925,207.30 for a contract entered into to stabilize the library after fire damages;
ü $111,979.43 for contracts entered into to conduct fire damage restoration on books and collection;
ü $710 in temporary means of irrigation for the Friends of Book Hill Park;
ü $38,798 cost of change in scope of existing architectural/engineering contract for the exterior of the library to employ firms during stabilization;

ü $640 per month for a lease agreement between the District and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington for four parking spaces; and
ü Special collections - value not yet determined.

The District also reserves the right to amend the total if it is determined that there are additional damages.
Gragan and Singer said that pursuant to D.C. Official Code, a contractor may appeal the final decision of a contracting officer within 90 days of the receipt of the final decision to the Contract Appeals Board. The final decision in the library case was made on August 14.

Michael Vick Waited too Long to cut his Deal!

I never went to law school; but one thing that I have observed from covering numerous indictments and trials is that if you're guilty, you'd better have sprinter's speed to the US Attorney's Office to cut your deal with Prosecutors before your partners in crime get there. The first person who enters a plea bargain in exchange for testifying against his "old buddies" is certain to get the lesser sentence.

Let's face it. Any Monday morning quarterback knew that Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick was the "target" in the federal government's investigation into illegal dog fighting and gambling.

Why didn't Vick realize his exposure to prosecution? It seems, Michael Vick either believed his fame alone would get him off or if there would be "trouble", he could assemble the best legal defense team that money would allow.

He did get the best available attorney in Billy Martin. But Vick was too late in making "the call". All Martin has been able to get Vick was perhaps less prison time...a year to 18 months instead of the five years he was facing had he gone to trial and been confronted by his co-conspirators testimony and the mounds of evidence gathered at Vick's Virginia farm, including the remains of Pitt Bulls.

Michael Vick's three "home boys" will be out of the slammer long before he sees daylight because they marched into the US Attorney's Office first to admit they were animal abusers and killers and downright losers who were more than willing to turn in their meal ticket (Michael Vick).

They'll do time for their roles in operating the "Bad Newz Kennel"; But Michael Vick will get the lion share of the prison stays because he was the last to agree to a plea deal. That's how the system works.

Twenty-five days after he declared that he looked forward to clearing his name, Vick said on Monday through Billy Martin that he will plead guilty. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27.

"Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made," Martin said in a statement. "Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter."

Vick's admission of guilt should end the talk of a racial conspiracy against the star quarterback. It won't end the hit and hurt he's put on his fans especially those in Atlanta and other urban areas.

It might end the protests by pro animal rights groups; but it won't end the hurt caused by the news that innocent dogs were bred, brutalized, forced to fight and then killed.

I said some time ago that we needed to hear from Michael Vick. Now we have..That's a good thing! For Michael Vick it means an immediate end to a career and our chance to witness more greatness come Sunday afternoons. Next up, the NFL which today issued a statement.

"We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons," the NFL said.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said in a statement:
"We believe the criminal conduct to which Mr. Vick has plead guilty today cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Speaking personally, as I have previously stated, the practice of dog fighting is offensive and completely unacceptable. I can only hope that Mr. Vick, who is young man, will learn from this awful experience."

In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, Martin said Vick is paying a high price for allowing old friends to influence his behavior, but he emphasized that his client takes full responsibility.

"There were some judgment issues in terms of people he was associating with," Martin said. "He realized this is very serious, and he decided to plead so he can begin the healing process."
The lawyer said salvaging Vick's NFL career was never part of the discussions.

"Football is not the most important thing in Michael Vick's life," Martin said. "He wants to get his life back on track."

Less than One Week Till DC Schools Open

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee have given us an update on where the administration stands at getting the city schools open on Monday August 27Th.. The theme appears to be... they're working overtime, still uncovering problems from past administrations, but not yet there at getting all the books and supplies in the proper schools, and important repairs (like air conditioning) will still be underway when the children show up for classes at the end of the summer break.

I've included the entire press release. What grade would you give the new administration?

"Chancellor Rhee and her team have worked tirelessly to make sure that we are prepared for this new era of public education in the District of Columbia," said Mayor Fenty. "We believe that we have the resources and-most importantly-the energy and determination required to be successful."

School registration continues to be underway and parents of DCPS students are encouraged to register prior to the first day of school, which falls the week before the Labor Day holiday this year. Pre-registration further ensures that schools are prepared for the first day by having a more accurate expectation of student enrollment. This helps identify appropriate amounts of supplies, materials and resources needed for a successful school year.

Textbooks

During the period of July 15 - August 16, the DCPS central warehouse received orders for 69,000 textbooks, with 42,000 (61 %) books delivered and 27,000 books awaiting distribution by the first day of school. Thousands of books are being shipped each day to schools around the city to complete orders and the DCPS teams will return to schools this week to do a second round of verification visits to check progress as schools prepare to open their doors. Since identifying issues surrounding textbook delivery and a dysfunctional inventory system for the DCPS warehouse, school officials have worked to create a system to get textbooks in the hands of students as well as a short-term textbook inventory program for the warehouse.

Warehouse inventory

On August 17, the central warehouse organized orders for nearly 20 schools, with more than 6,000 books to be shipped today. Since Chancellor Rhee's first visit to the central warehouse several weeks ago, she created a task force that improved the textbook request tracking system and a warehouse inventory system identifying 191,000 textbooks items on hand, with at least 500,000 textbooks inventoried within the entire school system.

Supplies

Following a volunteer effort at the central warehouse to organize and identify supplies being held in the facility, bulk supplies will be shipped to schools this week. Those supplies include:
600 boxes of binders
133 boxes of desk trays
94 boxes of scotch tape
9,690 boxes of file dividers
21 boxes of envelopes
3 pallets of construction paper
38 boxes of highlighters
102 boxes of construction boards
138 boxes of school supplies consisting of pens, pencils, glue, notebooks, filler paper, highlighters, scissors, and book bags

THE WEEK AHEAD

August 22: Facilities Readiness Update
A full facilities update will be provided on August 22 by Allen Lew, executive director of the DCPS Office of School Modernization. Lew will provide an update on both the status of school air conditioning as well as cold weather preparation related to boiler functioning.

August 23-24: Preparing Teachers to Succeed
In collaboration with the Washington Teachers Union, DCPS will host a "Welcome Back" event for DC Educators at the Convention Center on August 23-24. Teachers will have the opportunity to prepare for the year ahead, talk about the changes planned for the public schools and continue a dialog to involve the entire school system in the continual effort to create improvements. The event will serve as an opportunity for instructional personnel to come together under the new leadership of DCPS.

The general sessions will serve to motivate, inspire and send a clear message about the need for personal accountability for student success. Break-out sessions presented by master teachers from around the country will offer research-based, proven classroom strategies using hands-on, interactive methods in a variety of content areas.

August 24: Success Through Example
To highlight the work to be done by volunteers across the city on Beautification Day on August 25, Mayor Fenty and members of his cabinet will participate in a school clean-up at Drew Elementary School, 5600 Eads St., NE from 10 am - 1 pm. Fenty has asked his top executives to roll up their sleeves to help illustrate the government's full commitment to the transformation of the city's schools.

August 25: Beautification Day
This Saturday, volunteers from around the District will participate in the 3rd Annual DCPS Beautification Day in preparation for the first day of school. Community members will beautify the exterior and front grounds of school buildings-including painting, clean-up and landscaping.

The event will take place at DCPS schools across the city on Saturday, August 25, 2007, from 8am to 1pm. Approximately 1,200 volunteers have registered and 142 schools are participating. To learn more about Beautification Day or to register, call (202) 727-0488, email us at mailto:volunteer4schools@k12.dc.us

Say Hello to My New friend

In New York for some R and R...had to stop by for a chat outside the M and M store at Times Square; also took in some jazz at the "Sugar Bar", a west side restaurant and club owned by singers Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

Ground Zero

While in New York we decided to visit Ground Zero and we wanted to go at night. There was a constant stream of people; many of them foreign tourists arriving by cab or subway. There wasn't much to see as construction of the monument to the 9-eleven victims was going on-even at that hour- behind a covered wire screen. The cranes that rose from the pit where the World Trade Center Towers once stood were our reminders of what had happened there.

A Reporter's Time Off

Jim Snyder, The News Director who risked his career by giving me a job in Washington once told me "Reporters don't punch a clock". The comment came after he looked at my time sheet and discovered that I was working fifty five and sixty hours per week on average when I first got here. Jim didn't want to pay the overtime; but what he said has proven true many times.

I was off the clock when a 76 year old man died on board an Amtrak train last Friday.

I happened to be on that train with my wife headed to New York. I was able to get a few pictures via my cellphone back to the web page along with a warning to Amtrak passengers that there could be delays because our train was stopped on the northeast tracks for a couple hours north of Baltimore while Police boarded with a medical examiner.

The train conductor was great..last name was Lopez. He used an on board defibrillator in a valiant effort to revive the man. One passenger said he was noticeably ill and had struggled just to board the train. It was clear there was no foul play involved. Still the covered body was placed in the aisle for what seemed like an eternity with the poor man's wife being comforted by passengers, some of them praying.

The entire train was eventually evacuated, except for the body and police and ME. In two groups we were placed on two trains that had also come from DC for the remaining trip to NW York.

Arrests in Slayings of Delaware State Students

Jose Carranza

In Newark, New Jersey, a 15 year old boy and an adult man faced murder charges Thursday in the killings of three Delaware State University students and wounding of another in a schoolyard, a crime considered jarring even in Newark, New Jersey, a city used to violence.

The 15-year-old was arrested Wednesday night, and the 28-year-old, Jose Carranza surrendered Thursday, with his lawyer, directly to Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker after a news conference, the mayor said.

When reached by the lawyer, "I said simply, let's find a spot," Booker said at a second news conference on Thursday. The surrender took place at a police office next to City Hall.

Police Staying Put

Plans to move DC Police headquarters from Indiana Avenue in Northwest to Southeast have been scraped by the Fenty administration which has concluded the move would be too costly. DC Councilmember Carol Schwartz is applauding the decision and taking some of the credit.

In a prepared statement the veteran lawmaker says “I am pleased that the Mayor has decided not to go forward with the plan to move the Metropolitan Police Department to the Virginia Avenue location,” Schwartz said. “Not only was this property extremely expensive for the proposed use, but relocating MPD to this facility would have exacerbated the parking problems in that area by bringing hundreds and hundreds of additional automobiles into the neighborhood daily. Add that to the increased traffic that will affect this area when the new baseball stadium is completed and trouble would have been inevitable.”

The statement goes on to say "When Councilmember Schwartz, who had only recently become Chair of the Committee, learned that Mayor Fenty appeared to be moving forward with the previous administration's negotiated relocation of MPD Headquarters and various other police offices to 225 Virginia Avenue, S.E., she promptly scheduled a public oversight hearing on the matter. At that June 7th hearing which lasted more than four hours, Schwartz expressed her concern about the lease, which was initially set at $6.5 million per year but the building would have required that the District invest at least an additional $100 million dollars to make the facility usable for police purposes. However, during testimony at the hearing, it was learned that the $100 million would have been financed by the leasors of the building, bringing the District’s annual lease payments to $16.5 million.



On another subject--See Kwame Run!

At Large DC Councilman Kwame Brown doesn't seem to have any challengers in his re-election bid next year; but that hasn't stopped the first term legislator and Chair of the Economic Development Committee from amassing an impressive early campaign war chest. In only 30 days or so Brown has collected about $140,000.That will pay for a lot of the yard signs that Brown became noted for in his inaugural run for public office; but more importantly the Councilman is hoping the money will discourage would be opponents from getting into the race. My sources say Mayor Fenty and Brown are set to meet later this month with an endorcement of Brown among the topics to be discussed. The Poplar Point development will no doubt also be on the menu.

Let's Take Back the Weekend Nights!

Let me first say that we all fully support DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier's efforts to get more cops back on the streets, if that is what is really happening;

"All Hands on Deck" and "Taking Back the Night" are both catchy slogans that bring out a lot of public officials and extra cops in an attempt to allay a lot of the fear that grips city neighborhoods.
But if Mayor Fenty and Chief Lanier are listening to what citizens are saying in the sound bites they are giving to TV cameras--they will deploy these cops at NIGHT! beginning Thursdays, especially around the first of the month, (when government checks arrive and the drug dealers and liquor store owners line up for their cut)and certainly on Friday and Saturday nights when most of the violent crime is taking place.

Who becomes a cop to work business hours...9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday? Would a firefighter leave the academy never expecting to fight a fire?

We need to see cops on the streets before dark and all night long, into the early morning hours when the Clubs let out and when the robbers, gangs, car thieves and burglars are cruising our neighborhoods looking for victims. "All Hands on deck" and "Taking Back the Night" should be more than mere slogans and feel good events..



Here's the latest on the Poplar Point Development Issue.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil O. Albert announced today that the District will issue on Aug. 10 a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for Poplar Point, a 110-acre site along the eastern banks of the Anacostia River in Ward 8.

“Poplar Point is one of the District’s greatest assets and we expect there will be no shortage of interest from the development community,” Albert said. “We are going to move swiftly, but we fully expect to hold an open, transparent and community-driven process to determine the maximum benefits to our residents.”

District officials expect the solicitation will stimulate interest from both the national and international development communities. Respondents will have about 60 days to reply to the solicitation and the District expects to select a development partner about 30 days after the submissions are due.

DC School Exclusive

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and his new school Chancellor Michelle Rhee would have given themselves a lot more breathing room if they had come out earlier and said "The City's schools are even worse off than we imagined'.

That's the position they've assumed with about three weeks to go till the start of classes and after a week of touring school basements, storage rooms and the warehouse where for years new books and supplies have been arriving and not going out to classrooms where they are needed in many instances.

A high ranking Fenty official tipped me off this week that a visit to Shepherd Elementary at 14Th street and Kalmia road in Northwest was in order.

This was after Chancellor Michelle Rhee had inspected the school the day before.

News Photographer Keith Williams and I found not one, but several incredible scenes inside the building.

The good news is that nearly a million dollars in long needed repairs, from the roof to the cafeteria to the playground are being made.

But, in a room marked "cafeteria workers only" we found books stacked from the floor to ceiling. New books and old books and lots of books that were never used. Math, reading, English, science, language, dictionaries...The principal, Dan Robinson has been at Shepherd for three years. He says the books go back a lot longer and he can't get anyone from downtown to come pick them up for use at other schools in need of textbooks.

It gets worse. In the basement of Shepherd, which they refer to as a crawl space, the size of half a football field, we saw tons of discarded supplies. Desks, computers, monitors, tables, and Robinson said these items should also have been carted away ...beginning as far back as twenty years ago..for use in other schools. Maintenance workers were already on the scene the day we showed up to clear the crawl space out.

Chancellor Rhee said what she saw at Shepherd, one of the city's better academic schools, is indicative of what's wrong with the system.

Problem is there isn't much of a system when it comes to books and supplies in the DC schools. A source checked for me and found there was no record of Shepherd school having surplus books or computers or desks that needed to be returned to the warehouse for use by some other needy school.

I was also told there are but two, (not one, as the Washington Post reported)employees at the Warehouse responsible for getting books out to schools. They have been swamped by textbooks coming in with no "distribution orders" and no one bothering to call or collect or inquire about a delivery. So the books just sit.

It should also be pointed out that most new textbooks are ordered to cover five year periods. This means the warehouse is far more crowded in the first and second years (this is the time the Mayor and Rhee visited) than at the end of the five year period. They also carry spare books to replace those that are lost or stolen.

Turns out that Eastern high did not receive ELEMENTARY school textbooks this year as Rhee claimed during a press conference. The Eastern Principal has sent a letter to the warehouse manager disputing the claim; And French books where found at MM Washington school where French isn't being taught; but a source says French had been taught there in the past.

Rhee has promised that new systems are on the way to sort all this out;In the future she may have publishers deliver new books directly to the schools.

Click here to watch on what we found at Shepherd Elementary School.

DC Councilman refuses to Back Down

By telephone this week, DC Councilman Harry Thomas told me that he's not backing off statements to the Washington Post that the DC Council should have an African American Caucus.

In a city where the current Mayor is a product of black and white parents, The Council Chairman is African American, and whites hold a majority of seats in the legislative body, Thomas' comment, made a couple of weeks ago, caused some heart burn for his fellow lawmakers.

Chairman Vincent Gray, who's elected at large and soundly defeated a white challenger Kathy Patterson, declared himself, "a representative of all the people".

Ward two Councilman Jack Evans, who is white and obviously upset, with the thought of black Council members segregating themselves to discuss legislation, asked "What's next, a gay caucus, cause there are two openly gay Council members"? A women's caucus?

But Harry Thomas, who's called "Tommy" and holds the Ward Five seat once occupied by his late father, refuses to back down. Councilman Thomas told me that he is motivated in part by the gentrification of once predominantly black neighborhoods.

"Look at what's happening to African Americans and their communities". "Look at U street where condos are now going for $400,000. Who can afford that amount? "Not us,we need an agenda" says Thomas. The first year legislator says he understands that his comments are making a lot of people in the District uneasy.

Mayor Adrian Fenty refused to be drawn into the controversy.This week he told me that he doesn't weigh in on Council business.