Another Reason Linda Cropp Shouldn't Be Mayor

She doesn't drink. Personally, I don't trust people who don't drink. Either they don't drink for religious reasons (which makes me think they are knuckle-draggers or future cult members) or they don't drink because they use to drink and ended up with a "problem." Either way, I don't want elected officials who don't occassionally throw one back.

Republican Mayoral Candidate's Website is Up

Sorta. Here is Dave Kranich's campaign website. I have chatted with him and he seems like a good guy. I am hoping the DC media will pay some attention to his campaign at some point. I understand that the media is going to pay way more attention to what is happening on the Democratic side, especially given the slug fest between Cropp and Fenty. However, at some point, this city needs to have a real debate about the issues and about the solutions we choose to the challenges facing us. The more voices involved in that debate, across the political spectrum, the better.

Debating the Role of Government

Last night I found myself in a hell of a debate with some of my neighbors about the role of the government. I hadn't intended to get into a debate about it, but after a few drinks I am always prone to provoking political debates. This one, like so many, didn't start off any where near where it ended. The debate started with me asking a couple of my neighbors about the upcoming DC Mayoral primary. Ok, in all honesty, it was a little less like I asked them and a little more like I provoked them with my, "I sure as hell hope none of you people are actually thinking about voting for Linda friggin Cropp."

Alas, a couple of my registered D neighbors are planning on voting for Linda Cropp... and for the worst possible reason - her support for the Mayor's crime bill. Ugh. This revelation really got me going. I immediately launched into a tirade about why the crime bill is such a frigging disaster. I was starting on my "we shouldn't sacrifice our civil liberties" line when one of my neighbors point blank told me - "oh don't give me that civil liberties crap."

The next thing I know I am listening to my uber-liberal Democratic neighbors advocate expanding the government's ability to monitor us, defend the government's role as an arbiter of decency, and defend the government's role as chief nanny in charge.

It's depressing to think that the concept of defending individual liberty has been so degraded by our current political environment.

Marion Barry Lives in Bizarro World

That's really the only explanation for this unbelievable piece in the Washington City Paper. Loose Lips reports that B*tch Set Me Up Barry actually criticized fellow City Council member Kathy Patterson for being - SOFT ON CRIME!

I couldn't make this crap up if I wanted to... from the City Paper:

Barry kicked off his harangue by announcing with great disgust that “people are being murdered on the streets of Washington!” He should know something about murders. When the police chief reported to Mayor Barry, the District’s annual homicide tally topped 440 for four years running. (In 2005, the city recorded 196 murders).

Then Barry began to zero in on his mark: “Some of our colleagues are soft on handguns,” he bellowed. “Soft! On! Handguns!” Barry then held up a D.C. map and gave a quick tour of where handguns have been seized. At the end he noted that seizures were “very few in Ward 3.”

“Yet we sit around and are nice and gentle about guns,” Barry said. “Mrs. Patterson, I know you care, but you don’t care enough.”

Barry is apparently miffed at Patterson’s unwillingness to support his bill, which would force judges to impose a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence upon those convicted of handgun possession. Patterson is no fan of the mandatory minimum. “The research shows mandatory minimums do not serve to deter crime and do not serve to rehabilitate,” she says.

“[Mandatory minimums] tend to send lots of young African-American men to prison.” She backs an approach that gives judges more leeway in dealing with first-time offenders, including the option to lock up convicted gun toters for 10 years. That’s not tough enough for Barry.

“I’m gonna start naming names on this council,” Barry shouted, “and let the public know you are soft on guns.” He also rattled off a list of members who share his views, including Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, Patterson’s only opponent in the Democratic primary race for council chair.

Another Reason Not to Vote for Linda Cropp

Really the reasons are endless why no one in their right mind should vote for the Captain of the Titanic, aka City Council Chair Linda Cropp. Talk about rewarding bad behavior. Why in God's name should we promote Linda Cropp to Mayor?

Well the latest reason not to vote for Cropp comes from her own mouth - in an interview with the Washington Post, Cropp claims that a new poll showing her trailing isn't relevant because it doesn't factor in Fenty's opposition to the do-nothing, feel-good, knee-jerk, misnomered "DC Crime Bill" that the Council just passed. According to The Post:

Linda W. Cropp dismissed yesterday a Washington Post poll that found she trails Adrian M. Fenty in the race for D.C. mayor and said the results would have been different had the survey been conducted after the D.C. Council approved a crime bill last week.

Cropp (D), the council chairman, said Fenty (D-Ward 4) was out of touch with residents because he was the only council member to oppose the crime legislation. The bill, which came after a city crime emergency declaration, imposes a 10 p.m. youth curfew, gives police immediate access to some confidential juvenile records and installs surveillance cameras in neighborhoods.

"Mr. Fenty does not even recognize that there is a neighborhood crime problem," Cropp said. "Obviously, he's not talking to the community.

"When the real poll is taken September 12" -- the date of the Democratic primary -- Cropp said, "we will be victorious. If you took [the poll] last week . . . it would have had a different read."

What a load of crap. What has Cropp done to make the District safer during her tenure on the DC Council? What has she done to reform the MPD? To reign in the power of the police unions? Did anyone bother to tell Cropp that this latest surge in violence took place on her watch as City Council Chair? No reason to let something like the facts get in the way of some quality political grandstanding.

Fisher on the Last Days of the Dems Mayoral Battle

Interesting analysis from The Post's Marc Fisher on the last seven weeks of the Democratic battle for the Mayoral nomination. Fisher's column comes on the heels of a Washington Post poll that shows Adrian Fenty inching out to a small lead over Linda Cropp (39-31%), with Marie Johns in a distant third at 8%.

Fisher says there is "increasing pressure on Johns to bow out, but neither the Fenty folks nor the Cropp crew seem terribly confident about where Johns' votes would go." My guess is that the Johns people would lean towards Fenty since both are trying to run outsider campaigns (while Cropp runs the consummate insiders campaign - quite a feat in this disaster of a government).

I guess I am rooting for Fenty - given his pledge not to raise taxes (tho I am very suspicious of this pledge considering Fenty's record), his opposition to the DC "crime" bill, and his support for civil marriage equality. Unfortunately, I can't get that excited about him. Like the rest of the Dems he promises more of the same big government, big spending, big bureaucracy that has failed so miserably. In the end I guess it doesn't matter what I think, I can't vote for any of them (since I ain't a registered Democrat). But for now, consider this the best of the worst, half-hearted, kinda-hope you win, endorsement.

Census Adds 31,000 Victims

According to the Washington Post, the census has added 31,528 victims, err residents, to the District's population estimate. I am sure the DC Council and the Mayor's office are just giddy about the additional revenue that will be squeezed from new residents. How long till the Council uses these new residents as the reason for some new spending program, or even worse, some new tax scheme.

Honestly, I am happy that folks are returning to the District. Maybe new folks will be a little less likely to put up with the bs from our city government.

In Praise of Fenty's Crime Vote

Let me begin by admitting that I haven't been kind to any of the Democratic candidates running for Mayor this year. On taxation, spending, real reform, etc I haven't seen much day light between the group. I will, however, give credit where credit is due. Councilman Adrian Fenty, one of the Mayoral front-runners, deserves a large dose of credit for his principled vote against the Mayor's so-called crime package.

I have made my thoughts on this crime package clear - I think it stinks. In my earlier post on this subject I said:

The Mayor fundamentally doesn't get it. The failing DC bureaucracy needs reform from top to bottom. It doesn't need more of our tax dollars, nor should residents be asked to sacrifice their civil liberties just because the MPD can't do its job.

Given my thoughts on this subject I was obviously pleased to read that Fenty had voted against this ridiculous, knee-jerk proposal. I was even more pleased to read Fenty's spot-on criticism of it... From The Post:

Fenty, who along with Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) is a front-runner in the mayoral race, said that it was a "knee-jerk" bill and that the city's elected leadership instead needs to demand more of the city's police department.

"I agree there is a spike in crime, but what the community needs the most is much better policing of the neighborhoods," Fenty said.

Councilman Fenty is absolutely right to have broken ranks with the rest of the chicken little Council on this worthless crime bill. What we need is an MPD that does its job. What we need is an MPD who doesn't "collectively bargain" away its responsibility to serve and protect the citizens of the District. What we need is a police chief who actually has a clue.

Kudos to Adrian Fenty for doing the right thing.

On the Mayor's Six-Step Proposal to Curb Crime

Outgoing DC Mayor Anthony Williams has outlined a "Six-Step Proposal to Curb Crime" in the wake of a July murder spree. The Mayor's letter to the Council can be found here.

Let me shortly sum up what I think of the Mayor's "proposal" - it stinks. Rather than working to fix the failing Police Department structure, the Mayor is proposing installing surveillance cameras in the city, and naturally, he has a laundry list of feel good things* the District needs to spend money on immediately.

The problem isn't that the Police don't have the tools to do their jobs, the problem is that they aren't doing their jobs. Why in God's name would you give a failing incompetent agency MORE authority? The MPD doesn't need new tools to allow them watch DC residents. What they need to do is tell the police union to take a flying leap. They need a police chief who actually knows what the heck he is doing.

The Mayor fundamentally doesn't get it. The failing DC bureaucracy needs reform from top to bottom. It doesn't need more of our tax dollars, nor should residents be asked to sacrifice their civil liberties just because the MPD can't do its job.

*Note - The laundry list of feel good things that nanny DC wants to spend your money on includes such obviously governmental functions like this tid bit:

$75,000 (annual: $300,000) to continue girl gang/crew mediation and peace-building initiative in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8. This initiative involves peer mediation activities, summer employment opportunities, leadership development, and a retreat for gang/crew members.

Incompetent? Congratulations, Here's a Raise!

Part 2 of The Washington Times series on pay for District employees is out. The first paragraph pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with our government:

No clear link exists between the D.C. government's rising salaries and the performance of city executives enjoying higher wages, city records show.

It's actually worse than it sounds. Not only is there no clear link between rising salaries and actual performance, the Times piece points out several occasions where poor performance was actually rewarded with a raise!

For example, Lee E. Williams had earned $103,318 a year as the head of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, overseeing 15 employees. The city government boosted his salary by 3.5 percent, to $106,934, last year - just before Mr. Williams was fired for incompetence.

In another example, the D.C. government hired E. Michael Latessa in January 2004 to head the Office of Unified Communications, which handles all of the city's 911 emergency calls. His salary was $111,000.

During his tenure, the agency has been beset with complaints from residents about improperly dispatched calls from emergency technicians about being sent to incorrect addresses and from call-takers and dispatchers about poor working conditions.

Why aren't more people just absolutely irate about crap like this?

DC Police Had Suspects' Address Before Georgetown Murder

There are times when the incompetence of the District administration is aggravating because it wastes limited time and financial resources. This time the incompetence of the District administration cost more than time and money, it cost a man his life. According to The Washington Post:

Detectives investigating a series of robberies in Georgetown had the address of two of the suspects now connected to the slaying of Alan Senitt three weeks before he was attacked.
The information came from a 24-year-old Georgetown woman who was held up June 11 -- three blocks from the place where Senitt later would be slain. She said she provided the address on Robinson Place SE after learning that her credit card was used to make a purchase that was shipped there.

that's right - 3 weeks before the murder the police had the address for 2 of the suspects now connected to the murder. This information didn't come from a psychic, it came from a woman who was held up and actually provided the MPD with a STREET ADDRESS for her attackers.

More:

"I thought when I gave them the address, it would be a grand slam and they would get the guys," the woman said in an interview.

But it was not until July 9 that police apprehended anyone at the address the woman had provided.

Talk about how tragedy could have been averted and innocent life spared:

About a week after she was robbed, the Georgetown woman said, she got a letter from her credit card company notifying her that her card was used to order an item being shipped to the 2700 block of Robinson Place SE.

The item was ordered from a company that sells male-enhancement products. The woman said she alerted the police, figuring the information would lead to the robbers.

Police responded by telling her they could not get an arrest warrant without first doing surveillance at the apartment building and then conducting a lineup to determine whether she could identify suspects. She said she was sure she could identify her attackers and was waiting for a call from the police.

Instead, she said, on July 9 she saw the faces of the men who robbed her flash across a television screen because they had been arrested in Senitt's slaying.

Charmingly the MPD finally did follow up on the woman's lead (I mean its almost insulting to call it a "lead" when the person provides a street address for their attackers. Instead of lead she provided a friggin destination.) -

The day after Senitt's killing, police called the Georgetown woman and confirmed what she already knew: that the men were suspected in her case, too, she said.

You know what, I don't want to hear excuses from the MPD. It takes a friggin Declaration of a Crime Emergency to allow them to "adjust" assignments. The leadership of the MPD (along with their 150k+ salaries) should be sacked. A man died because these folks couldn't do their jobs. Jobs paid for with our tax dollars.

District Govt Tackles Most Important Issues of the Day

Like stopping non-District residents from securing cab licenses (Hat tip - To The People). The DC City Council, and the DC government in general, is a total disgrace.

I talked to a DC cab driver about this issue today. He told me that we can expect cabbies to counter with a city-wide cab strike in the next few weeks.

Yet another summer of fun in the District of Columbia.

The Fleecing of District Taxpayers Continues

The Washington Times today ran the first of a three part series on how much the District is doling out in salaries to city bureaucrats. Outrageously, the District (570,000 residents) has more bureaucrats making in excess of $100,000 than Baltimore (628,000 residents) and Chicago (4 millions residents) combined!

Compared with other cities of similar size, the District, with a population of 570,000, has seen staggering growth in its payroll, with 1,268 employees being paid an annual salary in excess of $100,000 -- up from 690 workers in 2002. In Baltimore, which has 628,670 residents and 15,500 city workers, 55 employees earned annual salaries of more than $100,000. Two of those employees earn salaries of more than $150,000. Even in Chicago, which has a population of nearly 4 million and 37,639 employees on the city payroll, 1,100 workers make $100,000 or more and 28 earn $150,000 or more.

Thats right, 1,268 District employees make more than $100,000! Unbelievably 55 city workers make more than $150,000!

And surprise, surprise, 92% of city workers are unionized:

Lisa Marin, who heads the D.C. Office of Personnel, said 92 percent of the jobs under the mayor's authority are union jobs that provide contractually negotiated pay raises. She said the city has been negotiating to make more pay raises merit-based instead of automatic.

"We're trying to fix -- to right-size -- our pay structure so we don't have those," she said, "so that it's not an entitlement to get a pay increase."

Thanks Lisa. Glad to see that the DC Office of Personnel is "trying" to make pay raises merit-based rather than automatic. What a concept!

Is It Just Me, or Is This the Worst Op-Ed Ever?

Georgetown's Hidden History. Who knew that liberal icon Eleanor Roosevelt was such an unreconstructed bigot? Maybe someone should inform the author of this oped that Eleanor Roosevelt championed the DC Alley Dwelling Act of 1934. The same Act that this op-ed claims was intended to drive minorities out of Georgetown.

DC Government's Response to Crime Increase?

A raise for the Police Chief and a proposal to install police cameras all across the city! I only wish I were joking.

Never fear though, Chief Ramsey announced a new effort to coordinate with other local and federal law enforcement agencies in the District. Good to see that it took the senseless murder of 14 people over 13 nights to convince the police chief that,

"It's really more effective when everyone is involved, from the courts to the U.S. attorney to federal law-enforcement agencies and our own department," he said.

We might also look out for a MPD union strike given this nugget,

Chief Ramsey has suspended provisions of the union contract that mandate a two-week notice before changing officers' assignments and has doubled the reward to $10,000 for information leading to arrests and convictions in robbery cases. Starting next week, he will institute a six-day workweek for officers. "That will give me another 350 people on the street," Chief Ramsey said. The officers will receive overtime pay.

The union fought for and got a contract that mandates a two-week notice before changing an officer's assignment? Unbelievable. For all of the rest of the non-unionized working stiffs out there I wouldn't recommend telling your boss you need "two-week notice" before changing your assignment.

About This Time Every Year

I start pining for football season and wasting money on every NFL preview magazine I can get my grubby hands on.

Personally, while I am worried about Brunell's age and health, I am expecting another playoff caliber season out of the Skins. Randle El, Brandon Lloyd and Christian Fauria are certainly upgrades to the passing game, and the defense looks as solid as ever (thank God Sean Taylor ain't headed off to prison).

I think the real question is going to be what does the rest of the NFC East look like? Are the Cowboys for real or will the Terrell Owens experiment blow up? Do the Eagles stink as bad as I think they do? Are the Giants going to take a step back? Obviously, a weak NFC East makes the road to the playoffs that much easier.

What a Surprise - Police Union "Handcuffing" the Department

Ah yes, one of my favorite topics - unions. In response to my entry on the declaration of a crime emergency in DC I got this telling comment:

I work for MPD. The reason why Chief Ramsey has to declare a crime emergency in order for the sort of scheduling flexibility you mention is because of the current collective bargaining agreement the cops have. A lot of them got tired of being assigned to Ward 8 as punishment, and / or having their shifts (and thereby their metabolisms) jerked around with little or no warning. You have no idea how the union has handcuffed the department. Just FYI. (My emphasis added)

What a surprise. The Police can't do their job of protecting the citizens of the District because of the union's collective bargaining agreement. Un-freaking-believable. Read that one sentence again and remember we are talking about the people who are charged with protecting and serving the people of the District:

"You have no idea how the union has handcuffed the department."

You know the very basis of the compact between the government and the governed is the understanding that the government will protect the governed from physical harm. Just about the only time I am not pissed about government spending is when it is being spent on things like police on the streets. Well thanks to our DC police's labor union, our government is unable to perform the most basic and critical governmental function. Shame on the union and shame on our pathetic government for allowing this to happen.

The Real Cruella De Cropp

A blistering Washington Post piece on the real Linda Cropp... she sounds like a real snake charmer...

Cropp Decides Freedom of the Press Stops When She Says So

From the you can't make this up category... Linda Cropp, City Council Chair and Democratic Mayoral hopeful, apparently shut down the council's monthly breakfast meeting yesterday because a Washington Times reporter was lawfully recording it.

According to the Washington Times,

D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp yesterday abruptly ended the council's monthly breakfast meeting because a reporter for The Washington Times was recording the proceedings.

"You're not recording this, are you?" Mrs. Cropp, an at-large Democrat who is running for mayor, said to the reporter. "Stop."

When the reporter cited the council's rules allowing the breakfast to be public record, Mrs. Cropp said, "OK, meeting over."

Apparently this isn't the first time Mrs. Cropp has attempted to limit press access:

Mrs. Cropp, who opened the breakfast meetings this year, and other council members have long tried to limit coverage of the meetings, saying they are closed-door, informal sessions. Some members have said the sometimes raucous discussions during the breakfasts could make them look foolish if reported.

Yes, that's right, there is concern that the "sometimes raucous discussions" could make our council members "look foolish if reported." Trust me, we don't need the press to make the council look foolish - we need only look at the sorry state of the District these folks are supposed to be running.

DC Crime Emergency Declared

I can't even make this up, just as I am reading the headline about a crime emergency declaration in the District a police car, sirens blaring, goes whizzing down the street in front of my house.

What has a boat load of tax dollars bought us today? Why its a Crime Emergency! According to the Post,

District Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey today declared a crime emergency in the city in response to a sharp increase in crime this month.

Of course, what the heck does this actually mean? More from The Post,

Under a crime emergency, D.C. police commanders are given greater flexibility to adjust work schedules and assign more officers to high-crime areas.

IT TAKES A CRIME EMERGENCY DECLARATION TO GET THAT? Seriously? What the hell? You need a crime emergency to "adjust work schedules" and to "assign more officers to high-crime areas"? Shouldn't you be able to do that anyways???

Man Have I Been Slack

Ok, so between way too much work and a week vacation in Maine, I have been slack as heck in updating my blog. I plan to change that very soon.

In the meantime, check out the Post's coverage of the delivery of nominating petitions by Mayoral candidates here in DC. Lots on Fenty and Cropp (who apparently felt compelled to attempt to impress us by collecting a ridiculously superfluous number of signatures), while the Republican candidates don't even get mentioned by name. Thanks to The Post for it's continued fair and balanced coverage!