New ID Card Serves Students, Rec Centers, Libraries in D.C.

Some details are being refined. Signs at community centers last week said the One Card was required to enter the facility. Several people at the Chevy Chase Community Center said facility users were asked to sign up for the One Card if they were planning to exercise or attend a meeting.

On Monday, Kundra said people attending meetings at the centers would not have to sign up for the card. Instead, patrons could gain access to centers with library cards.

The One Card is available at 17 recreation centers, and Kundra's office established a Web site with more information.

The new card would save money for the D.C. government, but Kundra could not offer specifics about those savings for agencies or the city. The expenses associated with the card include costs for printers, $3,000 to $5,000 each; scanners, $100; and cameras, $50.

The recreation department plans to spend about $66,000 on the program, Kundra said, though the amount of equipment needed is unresolved.

In the fall, Kundra said, District public school students who are in the summer jobs program will already have their One Card school IDs, saving the expense of new cards. Previous policy allowed each school to pick its own system if it determined an ID was necessary.

The IDs will be used to take attendance as well, he said, adding that the school system spends $800,000 a year tracking attendance. Although the initial investment in the card might be near that figure, eventually the system will save money, Kundra said.

Dan Tangherlini, city administrator and deputy mayor, said the card concept emerged after several agencies said they wanted new IDs, including the Department of Parks and Recreation and the library systems. Tangherlini's response: "Why not have a common platform?"

"You could be a person who has several different services from the District of Columbia walking around with seven different cards in your pocket," he said. "That kind of seems ridiculous."

Not all community center users are happy.

"Why should one need an ID to go into a public building with no security problems?" said Ted Gest, who uses the Chevy Chase Community Center every week. "I think that it's a very slick salesman who has sold the city this system. Because unless you put a scanner by every single door to the facility, people will get in by the side doors. People come in and out of those doors all the time."

For more information on the One Card, go tohttp://dconecard.dc.gov/dconecard/cwp/view,a,1242,q,461163.asp.