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Taking note . . .

Observations about public affairs in the nation’s capital
by the editor of The Common Denominator

D.C.’S FOLLY: Little noise has been made about the District’s first-in-the-nation, non-binding Democratic Presidential Primary since the winner of that contest – Howard Dean – managed to come in a distant third in the vote that counted on Feb. 14 at the D.C. Democrats’ ward caucuses. Dean recently suspended his campaign for the presidency after failing to win any other primaries.

However, one person who continues to make noise about the Jan. 13 primary that she labeled "a waste of taxpayers’ dollars" is Betsy Werronen, chairman of the D.C. Republican Party. The primary election, which Democratic city council members insisted on holding despite its violation of national Democratic Party rules, cost between $300,000 and $400,000.

"I can’t be the only one who sees the folly," Werronen said.

FILLING THE VOID: When Laura Gardner resigned her four-year mayoral appointment to the D.C. Board of Education last August, she was the last of Mayor Anthony Williams’ original four appointees to the board since it was restructured in 2000. Gardner said she resigned because she was angry at the mayor for not providing full funding for the school system. The mayor, who continues to seek more personal control of the school system, left Gardner’s seat vacant for more than six months.

Now that the mayor’s plan to take over the school system appears to be headed for the shelf, due to council opposition, Williams has nominated former deputy mayor Carolyn Graham to fill out the remaining months of Gardner’s term, which expires in December.

The Graham nomination was given the nod by education activists and school board members, who this time gave the mayor kudos for appointing someone who does not have to play "catch up" on the problems facing the embattled school system. Council member Kevin Chavous, who chairs the education committee, has promised to hold her confirmation hearing quickly, but no date has yet been set.

FREE RIDES: For the past 20 years, longtime D.C. resident Jerry Schaeffer, owner of Liberty and District cab companies, has offered free cab rides to the polls on Election Day. Schaeffer’s commitment to voting hasn’t always garnered many takers, but during the D.C. Democratic Party’s presidential preference ward caucuses on Feb. 14, it was quite different. This time Schaeffer’s cab companies received a record number of requests, in part because Democratic Party officials made sure the word was out that there were free rides to the polls.

Schaeffer says it is good practice to take people to the polls and he emphasizes that he has always offered free rides to both Republicans and Democrats. But since Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city, he said he can’t recall many requests from Republican residents.

Copyright 2004, The Common Denominator