DC FRIDAY

Richard Layman suggests that instead of building a UDC community college from the bottom up, it becomes part of a regional institution working with Montgomery and PG County community colleges. He asks: "Why not have a combined system, leverage the strengths of the jurisdictions, and slim down the size and cost of having separate administrative structures? Not to mention that DC hasn't demonstrated a good track record for creating best practice institutions from the ground up." It's worth considering. Incidentally, one of the sad moments in DC history was the creation of UDC, which turned out to be an overlarge and-over politicized creature that swallowed up three smaller institutions that were beginning to show real promise: a teacher's college, Federal City College and the Washington Technical Institute. One of the problems when you let institutions become too large is that their leaders have to be better at politics than they are at whatever they're really meant to be doing.

Harold Brazil has joined a select group of city council members remembered for their brushes with the law as well as their creation of it. In the group are Doug Moore who once bit a tow truck driver and another councilmember who earned the nickname "Jumpin" when he reputedly leaped out of a window to avoid being caught by a certain woman's husband who had arrived home unexpectedly. Here's the story of how Brazil earned his honor, although the Post is quite wrong in describing him as a member of a group of "first term ant-establishment reformers." Brazil, who worked for Pepco, never had an ounce of anti-establishment blood in him.

Washington Post - Former longtime D.C. Council member Harold Brazil was arrested last night for allegedly assaulting a tattoo parlor employee during an argument inside the Georgetown shop, D.C. police said. Brazil, 59, entered the Jinx Proof Tattoo shop in the 3200 block of M Street NW with two women, one of whom went to the back of the store to receive a tattoo, police said. When Brazil tried to follow the woman, an employee told him only customers were allowed in the work area, which prompted an argument and then a fight. It took three employees to subdue Brazil before officers were called at about 7:30 p.m., authorities said. He was arrested and charged with simple assault and taken to the 2nd District police station, said Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes. Authorities released Brazil with a citation and a summons to appear in court at a later date, officials said. Brazil could not be reached for comment.

And would be city council member Dee Hunter wants to join the club. According to the Post, he "bounced a check for $2,087.51 back in August, and vendor VMW Printing Inc. is still looking to get paid for pumping out 20,000 brochures that touted Hunter's 'New Energy, New Ideas.' In a Sept. 9 letter to Hunter, Hyattsville-based VMW reminds Hunter that he promised that he would not "stiff us on the bill. As of today's date, Sept. 9, 2008, we have yet to receive payment from you," the letter reads. . . It's another problem for Hunter, a lawyer, already dogged by disciplinary charges from the Office of the Bar Counsel that he bilked clients in three cases. Hunter has said that the clients did not understand how settlements work. In the case of the bounced check, Hunter said, "Our check bounced, and we're taking care of it."

The Green Festival, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America will be back for its fifth year on November 8 & 9 at the Convention Center. On hand will be 125 speakers, 350 exhibits, how-to workshops, games and shows for children, a film festival, yoga classes and live music. New to Green Festival is the Green Teen Pavilion. Fee: $15 for adults and free for those under 18.

Washington Blade - Frank Kameny didn't know until this week that actor Paul Newman, who died Sept. 26, supported his bid to become Washington's first non-voting delegate to Congress in 1971. The $500 donation came too late to spend on the campaign, but Kameny's campaign staff used the money to travel to New York City, where they met with the Gay Activists Alliance. Upon their return to Washington, they founded the Gay Activists Alliance, which operates today as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance. "I was well aware that they spent residual funds . . . for the trip, but I was totally unaware of Newman or any other specific person as the source," Kameny told the Blade in an e-mail this week. When asked why he thought Newman donated to his campaign, Kameny said, "I suppose it was simply something forward thinking. I was only the second person in the entire country to run as an openly gay candidate, so I got a good deal of publicity."

Washington Post - The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics and the company that provides the city with its voting equipment are both responsible for last month's primary election blunder that caused thousands of phantom votes to appear in initial results, according to a preliminary report from a special D.C. Council committee. The report says Sequoia Voting Systems, a California-based firm, "was too quick to exonerate itself and the equipment used in the tabulation process. . . . To date, the evidence appears to indicate that there was a problem both in equipment (the server) and in the software." . . . The report dismisses Sequoia's theories that human error or static discharge, not defective software or hardware, was at fault when a cartridge from Precinct 141 added thousands of votes. . . But those issues cannot be resolved before the Nov. 4 election, which officials expect will draw a record number of voters. The committee's recommendations include actions to be taken Election Day. A significant step is to train poll workers to persuade voters to use optical-scan machines instead of electronic touch-screen ones, although the primary night blunder has been traced to a cartridge from an optical-scan machine. The committee -- composed of council members Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) -- said the optical-scan machines, which use paper ballots, would create "a verified paper trail" that could be audited, should another mishap occur. The optical-scan machines are also faster, because more voters can fill out ballots at the same time. Just one person at a time can use a touch-screen machine, the report says.

City Paper - The arguments for and against a taxpayer-financed baseball stadium in the District bear something of a resemblance to the ongoing debate about a Wall Street bailout. Back in 2004, populists protested that the park would be a giveaway to the fat cats in Major League Baseball, and their antagonists countered with the notion that the park would buoy the long-depressed economy of Southeast. . . Now that the team has officially chalked up 102 losses and the worst new-stadium attendance since the '82 Minnesota Twins inaugurated the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, definitive answers about that 2004 civic rumble are pouring in. Yes, we did fork over our money to fat cats-a stingy and petty family of fat cats at that, one that won't pay rent on the ballpark that it received for free. Yes, the stadium did foment economic development, notably in the form of a new Five Guys outlet. But no, it did nothing for our communal spirits, our civic pride, or however you wish to couch those inestimable intangible benefits. The whole experiment failed to insinuate itself into every night of spring and summer. In D.C., only the humidity can pull off that sort of stunt. Proof of the failure of Nationals Park to unite us all lies in the ticket. The Nationals' ticket is a nice-looking specimen, rectangular with a drawing of an idyllic Nationals Park at the top. But that's where its allure ends. In cities where the ball club is a source of civic pride, you wave your tickets around, and people come running. Got extras? How much are you asking? Here, you wave your tickets around, and people come up with excuses. Sorry, gotta work late. Nats tickets can be had for $5 a pop at the gate, so it's hard to depress the market much further. In the 2008 season, however, that's precisely what happened, as season ticket holders in many cases struggled just to offload the seats on someone who would make use of them. If the national economy ever suffered such a blow, everyone would be talking about a bailout package. But hey, we already gave the Nats a nearly $700 million stadium.

DC North - The District's historic preservation plan released last month says Ward 5 has many places of significance to preserve and warns that many of those resources are under threat. The plan acknowledges that "extraordinary" redevelopment pressures throughout the District target Ward 5 in particular. Many valuable resources in neighborhoods that are currently undesignated as historic are being lost to demolition and "character-destroying alterations," the report states. The report names Brookland, Bloomingdale, Eckington and Deanwood as having lost and continuing to lose historic resources. The report names "pop-ups," oversized additions, demolition and neglect as some of the main threats. . . On the issue of protecting historic landscapes and open space, the city says it is working to "accommodate reasonable demands" for new development at the Armed Forces Retirement Home and McMillan Reservoir. Both projects planned for the sites would turn vacant land into high-density, mixed-use development that residents have opposed in part based on arguments about the need to preserve the historic open spaces. . . Dubbed New Town by its backers, the proposed development is meeting stiff resistance from many landowners. Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas is trying to move legislation to slightly shrink the footprint of the project in an attempt to gain the support from a majority of landowners that it needs to go forward.

Mike DeBonis, City Paper - Seven at-large candidates traipsed down to John Tyler Elementary on Capitol Hill for the race's first candidate forum of the general election-and most of them arrived on time. . . David Schwartzman. . . beat extremely low expectations with candor, a sense of humor, and showing up in a coat and tie. Make no mistake that Schwartzman, a Howard University biology professor, is well to the left of any other candidate out there, and he was not at all reticent about positioning himself as a "real independent progressive." That's not to say LL endorses his policy positions: On the need for austerity measures in upcoming budgets, Schwartzman said that spending on housing and human services issues is too low and called on a steep tax hike on the richest 5 percent of D.C. residents to pay for it. Probably a bad move in this economy, but it's a nice change of pace to have an unabashed small-s socialist in house, in any case. Grade: A

Washington Times - A federal judge has ruled that the District failed to comply with a two-year-old agreement to improve services for special-needs students and has set forth an exhaustive list of questions for Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to answer when she testifies Oct. 20, as the judge ordered last month. In a harsh appraisal, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman wrote, "The District has not made those requirements a priority and has not tasked particular individuals . . . with day-to-day hands-on responsibility [for them] . . . "Indeed, it is not even clear to the Court whether . . . it is [D.C. public schools] or the [Office of the State Superintendent of Education] that is responsible for implementing certain Consent Decree requirements. " Judge Friedman also ordered State Superintendent Deborah A. Gist to appear before him with Mrs. Rhee.

Washington Times - The D.C. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helped a record number - more than 30,000 - households during fiscal 2008. Of those, 8,000 had at least one child younger than 5. The program offers one-time grants to help low-income residents pay overdue utility bills and suggest ways to use less energy. . . About 1,000 D.C. residents were turned away from an annual Joint Utility Discount Day, hosted Sept. 30 by the city and utility companies to offer discounts on bills and to enroll residents in the city's energy-assistance program. Organizers were overwhelmed when more than 7,000 residents arrived.

Kaitlyn Funk, Examiner Starting this week, the Department of Public Works [recycling program] will collect film plastics, such as grocery bags, as well as aerosol cans and a variety of rigid plastics including toys and milk crates. . . Jim Dougherty of Sierra Club D.C. said that although recycling initiatives are a good thing, the city's recycling record is poor. He pointed to the Department of Public Works' annual report, which says 22 percent of D.C.'s waste is being diverted to recycling facilities. Compare that with another major city like Seattle, he says, which recycles 52 percent of its waste. "[D.C.] loves to portray this as a good program, but it's a sick program," Dougherty said. Public Works Director William Howland said the expansion of recyclables will allow residents to recycle their bags at home rather than take them back to the store. . . .

Examiner - The D.C. Council is considering legislation that would impose a $100 fine on drivers who infringe on bicycle lanes and would mandate a 3-foot clearance between cars and cyclists. . . D.C. law prohibits cars and motorcycles from using bicycle lanes but does not impose a fine on violators, the lack of which discourages enforcement, Graham said. . . If passed, the law would be the second this year to impose increased fines on drivers who endanger pedestrians or bikers. The Council last month approved a $250 fine for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians and a $65 fine for double parking if the violation occurs in a bicycle lane.

The SEIU won a 15% raise over three years for 50 cleaners at the Justice Department, who will also get a 150% increase in employer contributions to their pension plan and improved health care benefits.

Mark Segraves finds a cast to play a movie about DC pols

562 FORECLOSURES & BANKRUPTCIES IN DC BY PRICE AND LOCATION