Washington's Hour of Talk Power
Thursday, October 12, 2006; 12:00 PM
Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion by Metro columnist Marc Fisher of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.
Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher will be online Thursday, Oct. 12, at Noon ET to discuss the Virginia and Maryland Senate races, the student protest at Gallaudet University, and new controversy surrounding the Nationals stadium project.
 |
Today's Column:
Check out Marc's blog,
In his weekly show, Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.
Archives:
____________________
Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. Lots on your minds today, and add this to the list of things to mull over: former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner this morning pulled out of the 2008 presidential race, citing a desire to spend more time as a normal human being.
Help me out with this: Today's Page One story by Eric Weiss tells about a new study that concludes that the cost of commuting long distances to work outweighs the savings in housing costs. Certainly, living far from work has all sorts of hidden costs, but I've always thought most of those costs are social and emotional, not so much financial. After all, it takes an awful lot of $3 gallons of gas to make up the difference between a $150,000 house and a $400,000 house, doesn't it? Well, maybe my math is off. What say you?
On to your many comments and questions, but first the Yay and Nay of the Day:
Yay to the aforementioned Mr. Warner, not because I don't want to see him run for president--that would be kind of interesting--but because it's rare to find someone at that level of public life who is willing to say, hey, you know what? I'd rather spend time with my kids and take my family to Italy and so on. I don't doubt that Warner will be back on the political scene in some form--run for governor again?--but the sad truth is that most people who run for president have an almost sociopathic energy and desire that explains why they so often seem to live in a separate reality from the rest of us. Warner seems to have concluded that he's just not that way. Also, he was never really all that comfortable with many of the trappings of high office. (Then again, that discomfort may be one piece of why he was so popular as governor.)
Nay to the student protesters at Gallaudet University, not for their cause, which, though muddled, has a core of validity to it; but rather for their tactics, which have gone way too far and are now alienating even many of their erstwhile supporters. Shutting down the college as well as the other schools on the campus doesn't advance anyone's arguments; it leads only to bad endings.
Your turn starts right now...
Nay to
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: I totally do not get this Galluadet thing. Your column the other day was the closest I've seen to an explanation, but most of the Post stories have been woeful in explaining why this is so important to them. From an outsider's perspective, I just don't get it. I don't see any way out except for Fernandes to resign and the board clearly doesn't want to give in, which is understandable given the lack of a real case against her.
washingtonpost.com:
Marc Fisher: Thanks. Why should Fernandes resign? Simply because some very vocal students don't think she fits their model of a school president? The students make some good points about the sanctity of Gallaudet as the one place where they can and should expect that all communications be accessible to them, that everyone running the college should be fluent in sign language. But while Fernandes may not fit the students' definition of someone who signs first and foremost, the university trustees made their choice weighing that among many other factors. Why should they now yield to bullying tactics?
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: I am hard-of-hearing, not deaf enough to be considered part of the deaf group (I never learned sign language because they discouraged it then) but don't hear well enough to be considered "hearing." I do know that, based on my own personal struggles in the real world, that being deaf is a tremendous handicap and I am quite appreciative of what has happened technologically to put the deaf into the mainstream (TTYs and relay services and closed-captioning and the like). Therefore, I believe that the deaf should be competing in the outside world rather than trying to construct a limited one of their own at Gallaudet. I would be happier if American University or George Washington selected a deaf or otherwise disabled President rather than have it done at Gallaudet.
Marc Fisher: This, of course, is the great split among the deaf these days, and as technological advances now promise to reduce the number of people who are or consider themselves deaf, there is a commensurate radicalization of those who fear losing something of their own special, separate culture. And Gallaudet stands as one of the premier symbols of that separate world. So the emotions on this are running very high, but I don't see why the college trustees should let that take over their decision process.
_______________________
Chantilly, Va: Marc,
Take a bow for that article this morning! It really puts the problem where it belongs, at the Mayor's doorstep. Too bad he doesn't care a bit about it now, being a lame duck and all.
Just for giggles, what DOES the Mayor do now, besides take unnecessary trips abroad and spend money that could be better used elsewhere.
Again, Bravo!
washingtonpost.com:
Marc Fisher: We're told that this journey to South Africa will be the mayor's last big foreign trip of his term. When he gets back, he will begin what looks like a long series of goodbyes, including a roast at Southeastern University and all manner of other farewell and thank-you ceremonies. And despite Williams' ever-growing travel yen, he deserves many thanks. But it's sad to think of what could have been accomplished had he remained engaged through his last year in office.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Unless the Lerners shock everybody and sign off on the Mayor's proposal to increase the spending cap for the new ballpark by $75 million in order to pay for the garages with development to follow, isn't the Mayor's bill DOA before the City Council? Maybe it would be better PR for the Mayor to be here rather than on a trip to South Africa, but if his bill doesn't have a chance of passage why bother going through the motions?
Marc Fisher: A mayor with a real feel for moving legislation would have been here, working the council, creating consensus. But that was never this mayor's skill. I think back to the ghastly visions of Williams sitting in the council chambers during those endless meetings on the baseball deal, waiting for his turn to speak, prepared for victory, only to have the rug pulled out from under him. That could easily happen again next week. Alternatively, the developers, the Lerners and the mayor could settle the parking mess outside of the council and bring aboard a council majority on a deal that does not involve any more money for the stadium project.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: Front page of Metro twice in a week; do we detect a trend?
I understand the concern over parking, but what about paying equal attention to Metro improvements at the Navy Yard station? That's how the vast majority of fans will travel to the games, and I read nothing in the Post about how the Green Line and that small station will be improved to handle tens of thousands of fans.
Marc Fisher: Good question--Metro does plan to expand the Navy Yard station to accommodate fans, just as the Gallery Place station added lots of turnstiles and wider spaces when the MCI Center opened. But time is of the essence there.
On your other comment, I don't quite get you. The column appears on the front of Metro every Tuesday and Thursday, and on alternate Sundays (on the other Sundays, The Listener column appears in Sunday Arts.)
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Don't you think its time for the Lerners and Stan Kasten to stop acting like welfare moms, and start running their business like a business? Any professionally managed business would have taken charge of the parking issue once it became apparent that the D.C. Zoning Commission was not going to approve the above ground garages that the team desired. But instead of looking out for their customers, all they do is threaten to sue if they don't like what the City comes up with for parking. Isn't $611 public subsidy for the new ballpark enough?
Marc Fisher: $611 million should be more than plenty. And since the city-owned land devoted to parking is going to be developed with retail and other income-generating activity, the District shouldn't have to shell out anything toward that construction. Developers have won a fabulous deal in the stadium neighborhood; now it's their turn to invest money and get the economic engine churning.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Regarding your Raw Fisher posting, I don't understand the uproar about Sunday double parking. It's only for two or three hours one day a week; if you need your car, move it a block or two away the night before. That's what I've done for the two decades I've lived here, and it's hardly a major inconvenience. On the other hand, have you noticed that a significant percentage of the churchgoers you're trying to keep out are elderly and/or handicapped? Would you be happier if they had to walk or be pushed in a wheelchair for a half mile? The bottom line is, it's a tiny inconvenience to a few to help a great many who, if the parking laws were enforced, would be physically unable to get to the church where generations of their families have worshipped.
washingtonpost.com:
Marc Fisher: It's no tiny inconvenience to people who find themselves parked in for the better part of Sunday. The old and the infirm can take advantage of No Parking zones found in front of most churches and other institutions and churches can and should provide valet service for such people. There's no reason for the city to suspend enforcement of basic traffic and parking laws to satisfy churches that could easily provide their members with off-site parking in the many lots and garages that go unused on weekends.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Marc --
For those keeping score, as of press time your blog item on church parking had 48 responses. Of those, 46 favored enforcing the law, one advocated "diplomacy" and one was irrelevant. None in favor of the status quo.
Marc Fisher: Right, yet the city has now said that the mayor will punt this one over to the Fenty administration, which probably was Williams' intention from the moment someone came up with the idea of creating a task force to study the church parking problem.
_______________________
Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.: Just to kick a very smelly horse again I have to say that it still fascinates me that people (1) take time to read your blog postings for which they have no stake, and (2) use the opportunity to slam those people for whom it is an issue. The most recent example is the Sunday parking fiasco, and the several people who used it as a reason not to live in the city (as if the suburbs have no traffic related issues). I implore all the people who read your blog: stop the "where-I-live-is-the-greatest" elitism. Really, we get it: some problems are unique to the District, while others are unique to the suburbs.
To put it another way: it's inconsiderate, if not rude, to take a situation that is difficult for a group of people and throw it back at the same people struggling with the issue.
Sorry for the rant, this just makes me tired.
washingtonpost.com:
Marc Fisher: I hear you, but I understand the desire of those who live far from the city to weigh in. First of all, lots of folks are ambivalent about their choice of where to live, and they are constantly reweighing all the factors that go into that decision. So it helps some folks to bash the city (or vice versa) to justify to themselves their lengthy commute. But more charitably, parking is an issue just about everywhere. Parking wars break out in the oddest of places, even in lightly trafficked suburbs, where battles over shopping center or residential parking have been known to result in bloodshed. Two of the three times in my life that I've been threatened with assault with a weapon, the issue was....parking.
_______________________
Bobby Haircut: Marc -- please help settle a debate. Where did this nickname come from? I thought it was in reference to Gov. Ehrlich's helmut-head do. My friend says it goes back to a rather expensive haircut he received that was publicized. Help us out, thanks.
Marc Fisher: You win. I gave the governor his special name in an effort to capture the spirit of his casual, cocky, friendly manner and to note, with admiration, the consistency and solidity of his do.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: Marc, What's your take on Mark Warner's announcement to day that he will not seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008? He says he wants to have a "real life," which obviously as a candidate he would be largely giving up. But do you think there is more to it than that?
Marc Fisher: Inevitably, there is suspicion--what's he hiding? What's the scandal? I even know folks who immediately went searching to see what dastardly stuff was on Warner's daughters' Myspace pages (if they even have them.) But I don't see any reason not to take Warner at his word on this: He has always expressed discomfort with the compromises made necessary by a public life, and his wife has made it quite plain that this is not her preferred vision for the rest of their time on the globe. I first met Warner before he launched his political career, and I found him relaxed, thoughtful and funny in ways that politicians simply don't get to be, at least not in the many, many hours they have to spend under public inspection. It makes perfect sense to me that he and his family would want their old lives back. Also, he's a smart guy and he probably figured he wasn't going to win.
_______________________
Flint Hill, Va. (Rappahannock County): Marc -- my husband and I read your piece about Culpeper, Va., with some amusement and a lot of irritation. I'm sure the subject of your column -- who complained that Culpeper was no longer the small town he grew up in -- didn't mention that the County Supervisors never met a developer they didn't like. In fact, a very large development in the planning at the corner of 229 (going South into Culpeper) and 211 (East-West from Fauquier County over Skyline Drive) has the neighboring counties of Fauquier and Rappahannock in an uproar over congestion, stressed resources, and overcrowding. So rather than blame newcomers and immigrants for changing the nature of Culpeper, that gentleman should be challenging his county's officials to limit growth.
washingtonpost.com: Old Culpeper, New Rules ( Post, Oct. 8 )
Marc Fisher: Thanks--and a bit of a news update: Culpeper's town council this week rejected the restrictions that Steve Jenkins had proposed in an effort to crack down on illegal immigrants in the town. I've heard from quite a few folks in and around the town who make the same point as you do about the council's role in creating the sprawl that Jenkins and others now lament. Part of the growth is beyond their control, of course, but local government can, even in Virginia, send a message about trying to limit growth, and it's not at all clear that Culpeper has tried to do that.
_______________________
Riva, Va.: Marc, I was born and, except for college and a stint in the military, have lived all of my 52 years in Riva, Va., which is 10 miles from Culpeper. I know Steve Jenkins casually but think his opposition to the area's new Hispanic residents is misplaced. I, too, miss the "good old days," but I think their demise is due to the literally thousands of new homes in new housing developments that have sprung up around the city in the past decade. What started out as a small trickle is now a major roar, as white retirees and some long-distance commuters have descended in droves. This is not a completely bad thing, since most are quite nice. They are also affluent, pay property and other taxes and have attracted upscale shops and new cultural activities. My point is that you could banish all Hispanics and other immigrants and the essential nature of what is now Culpeper would not change.
Marc Fisher: Right--that's the point I tried to make in the Sunday column, that the bulk of the growth that Culpeper and other formerly rural towns have experienced comes not from illegal immigration, but from the wholly legal movement of fairly affluent folks from crowded suburbs to what they view as the country. Of course, their arrival en masse means that their home is no longer country to those who've lived there all their lives, but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and all that.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Is it just me or does anyone else find annoying the traffic control people and their incessant whistles working at Conn and K Street? I'm 48 years old and I don't need their rude help. They stop people from crossing the street when the countdown time still shows 15 seconds and they yell at people if they aren't walking fast enough or walk out of the crosswalk. I don't want them to loose their jobs but why can't these same people be used to patrol the Metro system to make sure there aren't any unattended bags left laying around.
Marc Fisher: I don't know, but my bet is that you won't find much support for your take on the traffic cops. So many Washingtonians clamored for so long for the police to bring back the idea of the traffic cop that when the department finally did it, all I heard was cheers. Are some of them lousy at their work? Sure, but what I usually hear from drivers and pedestrians alike is that they're glad to have somebody out there trying to tame the congestion monster.
_______________________
McLean, Va.: The blog comment that said immigrant children spread smallpox and diphtheria and cause smallpox and diphtheria outbreaks that close down schools was total crap.
Would you mind spreading the word to Fisher-fans that public school systems require diphtheria vaccines and that smallpox has been eradicated from the world and only exists in laboratories?
The "immigrant children spread deadly plagues" lie sounds like a very dangerous one.
Marc Fisher: Somehow I missed that blog comment, but you've spread the word nicely yourself. Thanks.
_______________________
Response to Columbia Heights: Why does anyone in the 'burbs respond? Probably because it's the only voice we have. I live in a county of a million, but more coverage is given to D.C.'s non-Federal problems than any of ours, and its population is about half of ours. The original headline on the Post's Web site was, "Warner won't run in 2008." I mistakenly thought that they meant Sen. John Warner, until I read the story. Anyone who cared about Virginia would know we have two Warners -- both possibly running in '08. Wake up and smell the coffee. If the Post wants to increase its readership, it might decide to write less about D.C., and more about the 'burbs.
Marc Fisher: Hmmm, I suspect you live in Virginia and pick up your paper in the District. Folks who do that often find that the Post they get is not the Post that covers their home community. On most days, there are three different versions of the paper, each zoned to provide more extensive news for residents of Virginia, Maryland and the District. So the paper you get in Virginia has more and more prominently displayed stories about Virginia, and so on.
That said, our reporting resources are weighted heavily toward the suburbs, because that's where more than 80 percent of our subscribers live. Our Virginia and Maryland staffs are much, much larger than our city staff, exactly to reflect that population difference that you cite.
_______________________
Haircut? Haircut?: That's not a haircut. Where I come from, which happens to be Bawlmer, hon, we know a hairpiece when we see it.
Marc Fisher: I wish it were true; what fun we could have.
But I have seen the gov in the wind, and while his spray is powerfully effective, a good gust reveals the truth: It's real and it's his.
_______________________
Crystal City, Va.: Marc, Great Raw Fisher column today, except you used the term "Indians" instead of "Native Americans" and I suspect you did it on pupose. GO TRIBE!
Marc Fisher: Thanks--very much on purpose. I think well-meaning but misguided elementary school teachers are the last folks still pushing the politically correct "Native American" usage; the Indians themselves long ago chose "Indians" and you'll find that usage in effect in the great majority of Indian tribal newspapers, organizations and other official reflections of the population's preferences.
_______________________
At home in NE: On my neighorhood listserve, I just read about this organization called Means For Dreams, which helps teachers in D.C. get stuff they need. I'm plugged into the D.C. education world and had no idea they existed. I went to their Website -- WOW! You should write about them and these amazing teachers in a column! I'm sick of all these sad articles about our schools.
Marc Fisher: I've written on several occasions about that excellent charity, which lets you review teachers' individual projects for yourself and target your donation--even just a few dollars--directly to the classroom where it will be used. Check it out at meansfordreams.org
_______________________
Mayor McMiles: Does Fenty have international trips lined up yet?
Marc Fisher: Nope, he's sticking to the domestic frequent flyer miles thus far, heading off in the coming days for visits with city and schools officials in New York, Chicago and Miami as he puts together details of his plan to take over administration of the school system.
_______________________
MCI--er, Verizon Center?: I still can't bring myself to call it the Verizon Center. After so many years of calling it the MCI Center, I'm planted firmly in that camp.
Marc Fisher: Please join me in using Pollin Center to honor the owner who built the arena with his own dang money and to avoid the humiliation of having to change arena names every time some loser company decides to waste shareholder money on an idiotic expenditure like an arena name.
_______________________
Gallaudet, Again: I hate to harp on the protests when it seems you've moved past them, but I was rereading the comments on your column, and someone pointed out that it's not just kids protesting, but also the Alumni, students and administrators at other Deaf schools, and even NAD (which is kind of the Deaf version of the NAACP).
If the NAACP said that there were problems with the president of Howard, I think people would listen.
Marc Fisher: Right, but you don't see the national organization out there linking arms with the football players who are preventing kids from going to class. It's one thing to embrace the argument, quite another to endorse these tactics.
_______________________
Mt. Vernon Square, Washington, D.C.: Hi Marc,
Last week you were offering a reward for photos of D.C. Police out of their cruisers getting around their neighborhoods. Well that very afternoon on my way home I found an officer on horseback in my neighborhood out talking to residents. No pictures yet (didn't have a camera), but I was, nonetheless, impressed. Even more so considering that the horse was standing rather peacefully along 11th Street at rush hour. Quite the training for that one.
Anyway, just wanted to give credit where credit is due to D.C.'s police.
Marc Fisher: Credit given, and credit deserved. Thanks!
_______________________
Traffic Aides at Conn and K:: I can't stand them! Yes, once or twice, I've seen them prevent an illegal turn, but they are far too whistle happy. Many treat us pedestrians as impediments to the flow of traffic and not part of that flow. I can walk to my office from Farragut North much faster (and still legally) when they're not around.
Better than suspicious packages, they could be cracking down on all the people EATING on Metro (not arresting of course, just tell them to put their food away). Whistle that!
Marc Fisher: I sit corrected. I kind of like the wild whistling; adds a frenetic flavor to the streets that I very much enjoy. But as usual, your mileage will vary.
_______________________
Church parking: I live down the street from a large Seventh Day Adventist church on Capitol Hill. It takes up half my block and when they have services on Saturday, there are cars with Maryland tags on every curb, legally parked or not. And I know if I leave on Saturday morning to do errands, I will not get a spot within 4 blocks into the afternoon.
But for the rest of the week, there is more parking than on any other block. The building is beautiful and lovingly maintained, and if I'm in my front garden on Saturdays, a lovely parade of nicely dressed children and friendly ladies in big hats.
They are the perfect neighbor.
Marc Fisher: Sounds like you've made your peace with the Sunday situation, but I don't hear a whole lot of complaining from people who live near churches where the members just park illegally. No, the problem really arises when the churchgoers double and triple park. It's not so much the breaking of the law that bothers people as the inability to drive away from their own homes.
_______________________
D.C. Double Parking: Marc,
On the church double parking, I think it was D.C. Watch that once suggested that blocked-in residents organize to move their vehicles before church services on a couple of Sundays, and then return and double-park their vehicles and block in all the suburban church goers. It would be interesting if the shoe were on the other foot, no?
Marc Fisher: Ouch. Too cruel. No, it's better to rise above, but of course that would require having a city administration and police department that were willing to do their job and ticket those double parkers.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: Marc, do you have any idea why several fighter jets have been flying over the D.C. area this afternoon? I've seen or heard at least five in the past half hour.
Marc Fisher: Late response to the Manhattan incident of yesterday? No, I have no idea. Anyone?
_______________________
Vienna, Va.: $150,000 for a house as opposed to $400K? OK, I know you're making a general comparison, but have you seen the costs of homes in the outer 'burbs? NOT inexpensive by any means, even when comparing to homes closer in. I think that's the unspoken/unwritten issue in the D.C. housing market -- the fallacy that you can move out and live more cheaply, when in fact housing prices seemed to have grown more uniform within a 45-mile radius of the city.
Marc Fisher: Quite right--to find a new $150,000-$250,000 house, you often have to travel well more than an hour from the city, but of course that's what many people have resigned themselves to doing. They'd rather get the big house and yard two hours away than go for the modest sized house close in.
_______________________
Anonymous: Hi Marc -- love the chats. Regarding the high costs of commuting, it's tough to make up the diff in your $150K to $400K example, but you can easily (modestly) get $100K plus in home spending assuming certain vehicle costs. Here's how: take 44 cents per mile in wear and tear(Fed tax numbers), assume 50 miles RT, 200 days/year, for $4,400 in vehicle costs. Add a $400 monthly payment for add'l $4800, you're at $9,200 PER VEHICLE costs per year. If you have an interest-only loan (simplifying assumption) at 6 percent, your payment on $100K would be $500/month ($6,000/yr). So $9,200 (remember, just on one car - most have two)buys you $150,000 in home costs, even ahead of the tax benefits.
Sorry for the windiness, I'm a finance person!
Marc Fisher: Very good--I think you've got it, by George. Yet even when shown the numbers, I bet many folks would say, heck, I'm still going with the longer commute. These things are rarely as rational as we might like them to be.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: The fighter jets are for the opening of the Air Force memorial.
Marc Fisher: Ah, makes perfect sense--many thanks.
Readers to the rescue once again.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: "Please join me in using Pollin Center to honor the owner who built the arena with his own dang money and to avoid the humiliation of having to change arena names every time some loser company decides to waste shareholder money on an idiotic expenditure like an arena name."
Under that same rationale, would you also favor returning the football venue to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium?
Marc Fisher: Not yet. I give each new venue one lousy corporate name. If they manage to keep that name, good for them. But if they sell the name to another company, I go back to the original, non-commercial moniker, or, as in the case of the Pollin Center, I create a name that the team would have used had it not been so darn greedy in the first place.
_______________________
South Riding, Va.: Loudoun County seems to have a never ending debate on growth. When I moved to South Riding eight years ago, I knew that the area needed to grow before we would finally get our own schools and stores. We need to grow more if we want medical care and other businesses in the area.
There seems to be two options: let the developers rezone the land and provide the county with funds for road improvements and land to build schools and parks or let the developers build on the land without rezoning and without providing any funds to compensate for the added population.
Personally, I think that getting the funds and land are better than getting nothing even if it means that there will be more people moving into the area and traveling the roads. But, I would like to hear an outside perspective on the issue.
Marc Fisher: Well, there is a third alternative: Control the growth by steering it to already developed areas to create the density that justifies spending on infrastructure.
_______________________
Bowie, Md.: I'm a little puzzled by the panicked talk by politicians and the media about the electronic voting machines in Maryland, and how unreliable they are.
I thought the problems in Montgomery (undelivered access cards) and PG (improper handling of the cards after the polls closed) indicated that the election board and some poll workers were unreliable, not the machines. Were there that many breakdowns of the machines themselves?
Conservatives often seem to be generally anti-technology, so I expected to see Ehrlich complaining, but I was surprised at the Democrats and the media joining in as well. I guess it's always easier to blame machines than people (especially ones you're responsible for hiring).
Marc Fisher: I don't see this as a lib-conserv question. All sides seem to agree that the main problem with the fancy new machines is that the lay volunteers who must operate them don't always know how to do so. So why complicate things? Voting technology doesn't need to be cutting edge. Use the paper/optical scanner combination that has worked so well for years; the poll workers can handle that and the accuracy studies are consistently impressive on that technology.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: A Yes/No question? Are you disappointed in the Lerners since they took over?
Marc Fisher: Too soon to say. If you're forcing a Yes/No, I have to go with No, not disappointed. They did the right thing in fixing up RFK a bit and adding concessions. They added some entertainment at the park that fans love (presidents race). They dumped Frank Robinson, which had to be done. Are they being difficult with the city? Sure, but they are legitimately frustrated that they can't get the District to put someone in a position of real authority to work with the team. But the jury is still out: Will they spend big money on players? Will they make a real effort to keep Soriano? Will they get the parking mess taken care of and pay real attention to building the neighborhood around the stadium?
_______________________
Silver Spring, Md.: Who gets the parking fees? The Lerners, or D.C?. This may explain the Lerners' fears fears about the parking situation.
Marc Fisher: Depends on where the parking is--there are hefty taxes on the parking and the city gets that money, but the basic parking fees go, as always, to the owners of the facility. That's one reason why the city wants more parking on its land right away, rather than on Monument's land across the street, where the developer gets the profits.
_______________________
Traffic Cops: Sorry Marc, I agree with the other poster about the traffic cops. They are down by 14th and Penn as well and are completely unneccesary... better off patrolling the metro or doing something else. The whistles are absolutely obnoxious and, again, they do nothing to control traffic ( pedestrian or car) that the traffic lights and walk signals can't do.
Marc Fisher: I'm clearly out of step with the Conn and K pedestrian crowd today. Another...
_______________________
Traffic cops: The people complaining about the traffic cops are most likely those rude individuals who like to continue crossing a street, even when the red hand is up. For those not in the know, that means me (the driver) now gets a turn to navigate that intersection. Everyone take turns, then we won't need the traffic cops.
Marc Fisher: Ah, well, somebody agrees with me. And another...
_______________________
Rockville, Md.: Regarding the DC traffic "cops", one poster said "They stop people from crossing the street when the countdown time still shows 15 seconds." At 15 seconds, the orange hand starts. That means DON'T START WALKING!!! This is the time for cars turning to do just that. If you expect cars to yield to pedestrians, pedestrians have to follow the laws of the road too.
Personally, I love them. They stop cars from entering the intersection when they can't make it through, thus preventing gridlock. Where did basic driver training go? Motorists should know to never enter the intersection unless you know you can pass through.
Marc Fisher: Ok, enough of that. In our final minutes, a return to the Gallaudet matter and a couple of odds and ends.....
_______________________
Washington, D.C..: Do you agree that Jane Fernandes should resign from becoming President of Gallaudet?
Isn't there a lot of fear and oppression at Gallaudet?
Marc Fisher: Oppression? Very strong word. No, I don't see the slightest evidence of oppression of any kind. I see an administration trying to deal with a very volatile emotional issue while pushing to improve academics at a school that has a real problem with graduating its students.
_______________________
Greenbelt, Md.: I've been talking to students there, and it continues to bother me that their message is not getting out. Some of that is their fault, but some of that is a failure of others to hear.
One issue that you and other reporters haven't addressed is racism. Many of the students tell me that they are protesting an unqualified white woman being picked over a black man. It would be nice to see you (or anyone from the Post look at this angle).
Marc Fisher: I've not seen any evidence that race was an issue in the selection of Fernandes. It's hard to take such allegations seriously when we're talking about a college administration that is about as attuned to issues of minority representation as any institution on the planet.
_______________________
Rockville, Md.: I am heartened to see so much in the press about the lack of parking. The gyrations they are going through won't help much, because with 1,200 some spaces, folks like me (20-game plan holders) still won't have a place to park.
My suggestion -- use RFK's lots, and create a service road of some sort, not open to public traffic, along the river, to the new stadium. If not subject to traffic snarls, wouldn't that work, get folks to games, and not cost mega millions? At least for the first few years?
Marc Fisher: There'll be lots of other spaces in the various office building garages around the area, but those who insist on driving to the stadium will definitely have to do some walking--but that's no different from many other stadiums. The Redskins require most of their fans to walk great distances and that doesn't seem to be much of a problem.
_______________________
Southwest D.C.: A couple of questions about your article today:
1. Why do you think the city is sticking with Herb Miller, even though their agreement with him has expired? Do they like Herb that much? Is there some fear that he might find some way to sue the city?
2. Do you really think that an ex-Mayor Williams wants to be the President of AU? When the job first became vacant, he said he was not interested, even though it came with a house in D.C. My understanding was that Williams wanted to set up some sort of international municipal consultancy business after he left the Mayor's office, which would have a guaranteed amount of foreign travel in its operations.
Marc Fisher: There are longstanding relationships between Miller and some on the council. Miller and Marion Barry, for example, have been close for decades.
I don't know what Williams' job preferences are; I only know that he has told people close to him that he wants to make a lot more money than he does now.
_______________________
Right, yet the city has now said that the mayor will punt this one over to the Fenty administration: Like I said earlier, WHAT is the Mayor doing these days? Besides collecting a paycheck.
BTW, did he ever buy a house in the District?
Marc Fisher: Nope, he never did buy a house, despite seven years of promises to do so.
_______________________
Have to disagree with this statement: "Also, he was never really all that comfortable with many of the trappings of high office."
I knew MW before he was gov, and he admitted that he had a huge ego and responded to people who appeal to that. Also, if you've been to his house in Alexandria or his 'summer' place, he is very comfortable spending the huge amounts of money he earned trailblazing the cellular industry. He is energetic, power-driven, very ambitious.
Marc Fisher: No contradiction there--by trappings of high office, I wasn't referring to the few niceties involved in being governor, but rather to the loss of any privacy and the sense that your family is always on display.
_______________________
Palisades, Washington, D.C.: Do you find any irony that the Republican, Theresa Conroy, running in the Ward 3 council race, has fully embraced the NIMBY viewpoint, which was (tongue in cheek) so successful in the Democratic primary?
Marc Fisher: It is funny to watch some of the liberal upper Northwest folks who are the foundation of the area's stereotype now running to the shelter of the Republican who promises to stand up to development. Ward 3 voters spoke clearly against the tiny, loud NIMBY minority that dominates the neighborhood listservs: the majority is fully supportive of the much higher density that the city needs to start building its population back up to anything like 1950 levels.
_______________________
Gallaudet, Again (again): I agree with your point--the tactics that are being taken worry me. Yet, it seems that none of the other tactics have worked: NAD has written letters, the faculty voted no confidence on Fernandes. (They also did so three times when she was Provost, but she remained.) What would you have the protesters do instead?
Marc Fisher: The protests were getting lots of attention before they escalated to a shutdown; if this is about winning attention, it's massive overkill.
_______________________
Jets: Although I have no official information, I believe the AirForce Thunderbirds are here for the dedication of the Air Force memorial.
Marc Fisher: Lots of you offered this info--thanks to all.
_______________________
American Indian here: I stopped calling myself Indian because I work in a highly technical environment and when I said "Indian" everyone assumes Asian Indian (though I don't look the part, but that's another story). I started putting the American on the front end. It's less about PC for me.
Marc Fisher: Sounds clear and simple. Thanks.
_______________________
Arlington, Va.: But if he called it the Pollin Center, people would be making fun of him for egotism.
Marc Fisher: Good point; that official honor will likely have to wait until he passes on.
_______________________
Marc Fisher: Thanks very much for coming along, folks. Back with you again here next week. This Sunday's Listener column visits with some folks who are recreating the classic sounds of the nation's original Top 40 radio stations. More politics coming up in the column next week, and there's always more on Raw Fisher at washingtonpost.com/rawfisher
_______________________
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
