1. Davis Kennedy/Publisher & Editor
Chris Kain/Managing Editor
One-size-fits-all
On many D.C. blocks, residents have trouble parking near their
homes due to motorists from elsewhere in the city or beyond who take
up much of the street. One approach that has proved effective has been
resident-only parking, also known as Enhanced Residential Permit Park-
ing. Under that city program, one side of each street with Residential
Permit Parking (RPP) is designated only for residents of the same park-
ing zone while the other side allows anyone to park for up to two hours.
The D.C. Department of Transportation now has proposed expanding
that program for blocks that meet certain criteria, which in general is a
good idea that could help many residents. But sadly, the agency’s spe-
cific proposal is deeply flawed and needs to be revised.
Our primary concern is that to add a single block to the resident-only
program, every RPP block in an entire advisory neighborhood commis-
sion would receive similar restrictions, without regard for the widely
varied locations in many large ANCs.
For instance, if a Spring Valley resident sought parking protections
from customers at the local shopping area, Foxhall Village would have to
accept the same rules three miles away at the other end of ANC 3D.
Even in geographically smaller commissions closer to the city center —
such as ANC 2A in Foggy Bottom/West End — some community lead-
ers have pointed to a diversity of blocks under their jurisdiction, citing
concerns that resident-only parking would stand empty during the day.
There are multiple drawbacks to this all-or-nothing approach. An
ANC accepting resident-only parking may burden some of its constitu-
ents — including local businesses — with unnecessary restrictions on
parking for visitors and customers. On the flip side, residents whose
blocks are uniquely affected by visitor traffic may be kept out of the
program, if their ANC decides the program would have too many
unwanted consequences in other locations.
We understand the Transportation Department’s goal. Previous park-
ing restrictions applied only on a block-by-block basis, rather than using
a consistent policy. The new proposal calls for ensuring that an ANC
includes at least five blocks that would truly benefit from resident-only
parking, and its consistent application is intended to prevent one block
from pushing its own parking problems to nearby residents.
But residents have repeatedly stressed that one-size-fits-all parking
rules are inappropriate, and the message remains true within an ANC.
The Transportation Department needs to find another way to achieve its
goal — perhaps by listening more to residents who have long sought
parking rules tailored to reflect their blocks’ particular needs.
Closetheloopholenow
It would seem obvious that if any part of the criminal justice system
orders an individual to wear a GPS monitor, that individual is legally
required to do so.
But since 2014, judicial precedent in D.C. has disagreed, with a rul-
ing that only certain entities — a judge or the U.S. Parole Commission
— actually carry any legal authority on GPS mandates. The Court Ser-
vices and Offender Supervision Agency, which is responsible for many
local convicts, has no such power, according to a recent Washington
Post article. A convict could simply disable or remove his or her GPS
device and essentially face no consequence.
Infamously, this loophole allowed Antwon Pitt, now 22, to beat and
rape a woman in her Southeast home last year, shortly after he was
arrested for disabling his GPS tracker but then released. Mayor Muriel
Bowser is now proposing a legislative fix that would explicitly crimi-
nalize such behavior.
We wholeheartedly support the change, and the D.C. Council should
act promptly — on an emergency basis — to carry it out. We can fath-
om no legitimate basis for inaction or delay on this matter.
Ward 5 Council member Kenyan McDuffie, chair of the Committee
on the Judiciary, did raise one concern to The Post: Many juvenile
offenders are among the individuals under GPS monitoring, and they
are entitled to broader privacy protections.
We would not want to see juveniles inappropriately affected by a
legal change. But surely the council can make necessary improvements
to the law now to cover adult offenders, and then cycle back to tackle
the juvenile issue in the future when writing permanent legislation. The
status quo is unacceptable, and the solution is clear. It’s time to act, as
soon as possible.
Current
the northwest
n ch6 Wednesday, september 21, 2016 the Current
R
egarding The Current’s Aug. 17 editorial
on senior services, I’m not clear why the
paper suggests that Ward 3 must choose
between having a D.C. Office on Aging-spon-
sored senior wellness center or multiple smaller,
independent sites.
The fact is, Ward 3 already has multiple small-
er sites offering senior programs, such as the Uni-
versity of the District of Columbia’s BodyWise,
Sibley Memorial Hospital’s senior association, the
Wilson Aquatic Center, Iona Senior Services’ pro-
gram at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, and the
Department of Parks and Recreation’s Guy Mason
and Chevy Chase community centers. Thank
goodness for these caring providers who have so
admirably stepped up to care for our seniors,
since Ward 3 has the highest concentration of
seniors compared with the rest of the city and still
no senior wellness center.
As someone who founded Club 60+ at the
Chevy Chase Community Center in 2013 and
whose mother is elderly, I continue to be alarmed
at the lack of any comprehensive plan to address
the unique needs of seniors in Ward 3 and in
Ward 4 west of Rock Creek Park. Social isolation
is an epidemic in our country facing seniors in
retirement, and it doesn’t care what you look like
or how much you have in the bank.
Even with multiple service providers serving
our area, one still finds that the class variety is
limited, classes are not offered daily, classes do
not cater to the range of physical abilities of
seniors ages 55 to 95-plus, and in some cases
popular classes are closed to newcomers — ses-
sion after session.
Contrast this to a D.C. Office on Aging Senior
Wellness Center that operates full time Monday
through Friday, with many locations offering Sat-
urday hours, as well.
Last year, Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary
Cheh generously allocated $100,000 to study the
needs of seniors in Ward 3. Unfortunately, this
sum was redirected to fund the D.C. Office on
Aging’s citywide senior survey, distributed last
month to identify service gaps across the District.
Where does that leave Ward 3 now? According to
the Office on Aging, there is no money in its bud-
get until 2018, and even then there is no guaran-
tee that it could fund a senior wellness center. It is
up to us to make our priorities known.
In July, Advisory Neighborhood Commission
3/4G (Chevy Chase) passed a resolution unani-
mously seeking parity with six other wards
through the creation of a senior wellness center
for our community. We recognize that Ward 3
continues to lack the long-term planning, assess-
ment, coordination, expertise and oversight
housed in one centralized Office on Aging loca-
tion, operating full time for the benefit of Ward 3
and western Ward 4 seniors (and their caregivers).
Essentially, we’re asking for a budget line item
for Ward 3 comparable to those previously allo-
cated to six other wards for establishing their
senior wellness centers.
The good news for Ward 3 is that this is not an
either-or situation: Smaller senior sites continue
to operate in other wards in conjunction with a
city-sponsored senior wellness center to ensure
the needs of seniors are met. Indeed, no one loca-
tion can possibly accommodate all seniors. Why
can’t Ward 3 have the best of both worlds, too?
The fact is that for years no one realized that
Ward 3 and western Ward 4 were being deprived
of the kind of full-time, publicly sponsored facili-
ty that six other wards had! Now that we’ve
uncovered this fact, let’s join together and resolve
this disparity as soon as possible. One day, we all
may find ourselves grateful for the activities
being offered at our own senior wellness center.
Here’s to aging well and aging in place.
Carolyn “Callie” Cook is a member of Advisory
Neighborhood Commission 3/4G (Chevy Chase).
Ward3deservescityseniorwellnesscenter
VIEWPOINT
CAROLYN “CALLIE” COOK
City over-relies on
standardized tests
In response to The Current’s
Sept. 7 editorial “Administrative
glitches,” I think it is essential
to always point out that stan-
dardized test such as the Part-
nership for Assessment of Read-
iness for College and Careers
(PARCC) test and D.C.’s previ-
ous standardized exams, such as
DC-CAS, have no consequences
to the student.
Students are essentially tak-
ing the test as a favor to the
school, so it is not surprising
that students concerned about
Advanced Placement or SAT
scores give priority to tests that
matter to their future. Tests like
PARCC should therefore never
be used to evaluate schools or
teachers. How a “no-stakes” test
for the student was ever consid-
ered valid for “high-stakes”
evaluation of schools and espe-
cially teachers has never made
sense, but D.C. teachers have
lost their jobs as a result of the
misuse of such test scores.
Linking student test results to
specific teachers is impossible
without following individual
student test scores from year to
year, which has never been
done. Comparing this year’s
group of 10th-graders to a com-
pletely different group from the
prior year is not statistically
valid. The scheduling problems
discussed in the editorial simply
compound the inherent prob-
lems with the use of tests of no
consequence to the test takers.
Arthur Siebens
Retired biology teacher
at Wilson High School
Park Service isn’t
adequately funded
The Aug. 31 editorial “Mon-
umental failures” addresses the
limited access to the Washing-
ton Monument after the 2011
earthquake and insufficient ren-
ovation made to the elevator.
You’re right that the monu-
ment is not in good shape. Like
many national park sites around
the country, it has suffered from
congressional budget cuts that
have resulted in an almost $12
billion maintenance backlog
across the system. This number
grows every year, in part
because Congress has not ade-
quately funded the National
Park Service’s construction
account, which pays for critical
repairs and restoration projects.
This has led to unmaintained
trails, crumbling roads and visi-
tor centers in disrepair. Low
budgets mean park staff must
make tough choices about
which projects to prioritize and
which projects must wait. The
elevator issues at the Washing-
ton Monument, along with the
alarming deterioration of the
Memorial Bridge, are two glar-
ing D.C.-area examples.
In addition to being the right
thing to do for our national
parks and all who visit them,
investing in parks makes good
financial sense. For every dollar
Congress invests, $10 is
returned to the American econo-
my, because national park visi-
tation generates roughly $32
billion to our U.S. economy
annually.
Hopefully visitors will again
soon be able to experience the
tallest monumental column in
the world. And hopefully Con-
gress will honor our national
treasures by reallocating funds
to properly maintain them.
Laura Atchison
American University Park
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
Tom Sherwood is on
vacation. His column will
resume when he returns.