CRIMES IN PSA 202 FROM FEBRUARY 1 TO FEBRUARY 13
ROBBERY
- P/P (pick/pocket),  2/4,  unknown
BURGLARY
- 4000 Warren, house
- 3800 Warren,  house
- 3700 Windom,  house, attempt
- 4800 Massachusetts,  supermarket
- 4400 Fessenden,  house
THEFT
- 5100 Wisconsin, drug store (closed)
- 5400 Western, Hospital
- 4500 40th St,  grocery store
- 5200 44th, unknown
THEFT FROM AUTO
- 4700 Belt,  street
- 4300 Jenifer,  street
- 5200 43rd St.,  street
- 4200 Ingomar,  street
- 4600 49th,  street
- 4600 49th, street (same day and time as other on 49th)
STOLEN AUTO
- 4200 37th,  street
- 3900 Yuma,  street
- 4900 Chesapeake
SIMPLE ASSAULT
- 4900 Wisconsin, street (closed)
- 5000 Wisconsin, restaurant (closed)
- 4500 40th St., bus (closed)
CPWL (carrying a pistol without a license),  3900 Windom,  street

SUMMARY: Starting January 1, 2000
Sex Abuse (non rape) 1
Robbery 9
Assault 1
Burglary 7
Theft 29
Theft From Auto 24
Stolen Auto 8
Simple Assault 4
Destruction of Property 5

Drug Possession 1
Fraud 2
Unlawful Entry Disorder 1
CPWL 1

Total: 93
 

From:   DBEDC (David):

On Friday afternoon, Feb. 10th  my wife watched from inside our house as two
men stepped out of a beige, beat up old sedan and proceeded to walk around
the parking lot behind Rodman's.  Their object was the Complete Building
Services mini-van which was parked  close to the ally next to the open space
in the parking lot behind Rodman's.  She saw  one of them take a long screw
driver out of the trunk, cross the field ( leaving footprints in the snow)
and begin work on the lock, eventually ripping it apart and punching in the
lower cylinder. She says she called the police and she saw them appear
between 15 and 20 minutes later exactly one minute after the two men loaded
up the trunk and then the back seat with everything that was in the minivan.
I came home just after this all happened.  I walked over and spoke with the
driver of the van who said that the tools taken were all Milwaukee power
tools (one of the best grades of tools) including all his hand tools.(no
identifying marks) We remarked that this was one of the reasons why
everyone's insurance costs so much! I'm a little disappointed in the police's
response: incredibly slow! and no followup with my wife.  I'm only sorry she
didn't get the tag # off their car.

----------
From:   Cristine.A.Romano@usdoj.gov:

The item below prompted me to respond, because I noticed the very same thing
at our home very recently:  footprints left overnight in fresh snow, leading
from the alley into our gated backyard and up stairs to the back porch.  But
unlike the person below, the alley behind our house on Fessenden is quite
well lit.
So I guess these days we should be vigilant, regardless of our alley lighting
situation!

----------
From:   Heidi.Pasichow@usdoj.gov:

I continue to read your report and appreciate the gravity of its
contents.  We have been in frequent contact with the detectives in
MPD an have  met with the  Commander several weeks ago.  Kent
Cassibry attended a business association meeting, and Charlene Graves,
our Community Outreach Specialist, continues to be kept on her toes.
We are handling some serious violent offenses as well as "quality of life"
cases here in the USAO.  If there is a particular meeting that you think
would be productive to have a rep from the USAO attend, please let me
know in advance.  Please spread the word that our US Attorney, Wilma
Lewis, will be participating at the CAC meeting on March 1, barring
unforeseen circumstances.

Heidi Pasichow, Chief
ROC North, Community Prosecution-MC Section, USAO
 
 

NEWS FROM WARD 3 DEMOCRATS
From:   Spozen (Thorn Pozen):

At last week's Ward Three Dems meeting, we got an update from the Army Corps
of Engineers on the Spring Valley munitions clean up and we passed a
resolution opposing spot zoning generally and the upzoning requested for
Albemarle and Nebraska specifically.

We tabled the other two development resolutions on the agenda--one on
supporting the creation of a people's counsel for land-use and development
issues, and one requesting a moratorium on development until the conclusion
of a Ward-wide traffic study.  Both those tabled resolutions were referred to
our newly formed Development Subcommittee, which will report back to the full
Committee at our next regular meeting (the third Tuesday in March).

Below is the press release for the spot zoning resolution.
 

                WARD THREE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE
      OPPOSES UPZONING AT ALBEMARLE AND NEBRASKA;
                             DECRIES SPOT ZONING
 
Washington, DC -  The Ward Three Democratic Committee has voted to oppose an
upzoning proposed for the plot of land on the west side of Albemarle Street
at Nebraska Avenue, NW.  The Committee's overwhelming vote reflected
widespread concern that this request would set a precedent for the rest of
the Ward in favor of spot zoning, the practice of changing or increasing the
zoning density of a specific parcel of land for the benefit of only one
developer.
 
This position supports the overwhelming sentiment of  the Tenleytown
neighbors who have organized with petitions, demonstrated, and raised funds
to maintain the quality of their single-family neighborhood, as well as
citizens throughout the Ward, said Ward Three Democrats Chairman Thorn Pozen.
 The Ward Three Democratic Committee feels that the upzoning at Albemarle and
Nebraska is inconsistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan (which clearly
calls for low density residential development on the site) and that if it is
approved it will set the stage for similar upzonings across the Ward with
major impacts on traffic and the quality of life in the Ward.

The Committee has prepared a list of over 50 active or soon-to-be active
development projects in the Ward. These developments must be looked at
carefully, said Pozen. Those that the community can support must be planned
and coordinated in a thoughtful and intelligent manner. Any zoning changes
that will be required must also be done in a coordinated, thoughtful,
comprehensive way, and not on a project-by-project spot zone basis.
 
 

A SERIOUS COMMENT ON HUMOR
Reprinted from themail@dcwatch.com
gimhoff@erols.com (Gary Imhoff)

Few Laughs in themail, February 13, 2000
Dear Jokers:
Let me make one thing clear: I am not the person who titled Kathy
Patterson's message in this issue, "Councilmember Talks Trash." She did
that herself. Self deprecating humor is perhaps the only form of humor
allowed in today's America. Other than that, Mrs. Grundy is in charge
more firmly than she ever was in Victorian England. In November, the
idiots at the New York Times fired 22 employers at their Norfolk office,
and one in New York, and issued warning letters to twenty other
employees. The people who got warning letters had merely received jokes
over the Internet; the ones who were fired had committed the
unpardonable offense of forwarding those jokes to others. These messages
were the kinds of joke lists that we all get and forward, and that give
us the little laughs that brighten our days. The dolts at the Times,
including its publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., argue that
employees don't have any right to make jokes, since jokes may be
offensive, and it is necessary to prohibit anything in the workplace
that may raise a complaint of sexual harassment or discrimination.

I was reminded of this incident by the current issue of the Costco
membership magazine, in which a column on making presentations
recommends that speakers avoid using any jokes in their speeches, since
humor is dangerous. I hate to sound like an old fogy, but I'm glad that
I was born during a time when humor wasn't a firing offense, when
speakers were advised to start a speech with a joke or two, and when a
joke was more likely to get a laugh than a lawsuit. Please laugh today,
make a joke today, and screw the s.o.b.'s.
 

This little column struck a chord with me because I think it's sad that we've
gotten to the point where we have to be oh so careful about what we say, lest
we offend someone, or lest our words be taken out of context or misconstrued.
Communication is difficult enough and most of us are not so glib on our feet
that we don't have to remove them from our mouths from time to time. I am
particularly troubled by the 'Gotcha Folks' in this city who know how to grab
headlines by suggesting that a public person is a racist or a sexist, or
whatever-ist because of some statement, regardless of context of the
statement or track record of that individual.-- KS
 

-----------
Gary Imhoff's Column started out with a reference to a letter from Kathy
Patterson to his  newsletter. Here is that letter followed by a letter of
appreciation from one of her constituents:

Councilmember Talks Trash
Kathy Patterson, KpattDC3@aol.com

In response to Larry Seftor's "where was she" posting: demands made of,
and information shared with, Mayor Williams, City Administrator Norman
Dong, and DPW Director Vanessa Burns by me and my chief of staff, JoAnne
Ginsberg, over the last three weeks, are a major reason many streets
(finally) got
plowed or treated, and trash got picked up -- in some instances after a
month without service. These conversations took place during the day,
during the evening, and on  weekends. And they are continuing because
the city government is still not at 100% delivery.

It is true that I did not attend Carol Schwartz's committee hearing on
snow removal and trash, but anyone who attended or watched the hearing
saw my colleague wave at Director Burns the 20-page, single-spaced list
of streets not treated and trash not picked up in Ward 3 supplied by me
and my staff expressly for that hearing. Carol also asked questions on
my behalf, as we had discussed, and I am awaiting written responses from
DPW on other specific service breakdowns.

There is another facet to the executive branch's failure to effectively
clean streets and alleys: the debacle of the last three weeks has set my
office days if not weeks behind in budget and legislative preparation
because of the extraordinary number of calls taken from frustrated,
angry constituents who have every right to expect city services. For any
constituent waiting for information or any other response from my office
NOT related to snow and trash, I am sorry for the delay. I would also
like to publicly thank my staff for their efforts over the last three
weeks to assist constituents. By the time constituents call me they've
already been ignored or mistreated by someone who should be providing
services. Yes, my staff is paid to do a job, and working with
constituents is a big part of that, but working with angry, frustrated
residents takes a toll, and I appreciate the commitment of these
particular public servants. As to my not being more visible: I will take
to the airwaves when necessary, but that's a last choice in trying to be
effective. Had the Williams Administration NOT paid attention to this
particular squeaky wheel, yes, I would have been sending messages
through the media as I did following the blizzard in 1996. From the
mayor on down, executive branch officials know I have a press list and
they know I know how to use it!
 

-----------
From: Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com:

Our Council Person from Ward 3 came under fire in a recent issue of
themail by a writer who found that Kathy is not effective and not going
public with what she is doing as a Councilmember. That criticism is way
off the mark. Ms Patterson is probably the most tenacious and fervent
digger into the workings (or non-workings) of the D.C. Government. Ms.
Patterson does her homework and investigates thoroughly all of the
issues in her purview. There are times that I don't agree with Ms.
Patterson's conclusions and/or recommendations (e.g., an appointed
School Board) but I admire her for her willingness to do so much work in
finding out what is really happening in the D.C. Government.

If you want to see just how Ms. Patterson has worked to find out how
enmeshed the District is with its highly paid consultants, just read the
last two issues of the City Paper's Loose Lips column. Would that all
the folks on the Council have the dedication shown by Kathy Patterson.