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Native Intelligence
	Fort Lincoln eyed for new prison (Published June 2, 2003) By DIANA WINTHROP

For the past few weeks, talk about construction of a new prison has been at an all-time high in Ward 5, where the new prison is being proposed, and in Ward 6, where the current D.C. Jail is located.

Sources say the current proposal is to build a prison to house felons behind Fort Lincoln New Town, off South Dakota Avenue NE and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The federal parcel seems to be a logical location because of a plan to open a halfway house for felons on Adams Place NE, a short distance away, to house 150 to 250 inmates.

Members of the mayor's task force on the siting of federal halfway houses tell me the D.C. Jail will stay at its present location near the Stadium-Armory Metro stop. The current jail houses roughly 2,400 to 2,600 inmates, including convicted felons awaiting transfer to a federal facility located elsewhere.

The new prison being discussed would be a high-security penitentiary to incarcerate D.C. felons, while the D.C. Jail would continue to be used to house prisoners convicted of lesser offenses. Federal budget woes, coupled with state economic pressures, apparently are forcing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to look at new jail construction within the District for D.C.'s prisoners.

While many residents may be unhappy about living near a prison, statehood advocates have long said that if D.C. is to ever become a state, it needs to house its own felons rather than farming them out to other locations.

However, placing a new prison in Ward 5 is likely to face strong opposition, judging from the reception being given the planned halfway house on Adams Place NE. Florida-based Bannum Inc. has been given the contract to house the inmates on Adams Place, but a group opposed to the site has hired D.C. lawyer Donald Temple to fight it. Temple, who says the mayor is circumventing zoning law to permit the facility, is expected to file suit in federal court this week to try to block the halfway house.

Federal Bureau of Prisons officials had no comment regarding the new prison site. Members of the halfway house task force say that, ultimately, D.C. residents may have no way to block a new federal prison in D.C. because the Bureau of Prisons is not required to get the D.C. government's approval to build a prison here.

MORE "MAYOR TV"? If you have ever tried to watch the D.C. Public Schools cable TV station, Channel 28, you probably won't be surprised to learn that the Board of Education is reviewing a proposal by the mayor's Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications to take over day-to-day operation of the channel.

D.C. residents have complained loudly for as long as I can remember about the channel's poor broadcast quality. In the past few years, the audio quality has been so poor that school board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz has been inundated with complaints from other board members as well as parents and teachers. The station also lacks the necessary equipment to broadcast live school board meetings or to provide on-screen text to identify rebroadcasts or specific individuals who are speaking. The sound is so over-modulated that it is sometimes difficult to decipher what people are saying.

Station critics say the employee turnover for the past few years has been horrific, which some blame in part on DCPS Communications Director Linda Wharton Boyd's management. A rough draft of the proposal indicates the arrangement won't save the school system any money. The proposal does promise to increase the quality of the programming and bring the station into the digital age.

Reservations have been expressed by some school board members that Channel 28 could become another mouthpiece for the mayor's political agenda, rather than an independent public education channel, if its operation is turned over to the mayor's office. Cafritz insists there will be no mayoral control over the content and the channel's independence will be written into the contract. Cafritz says the school system needs a way to communicate with parents and teachers. Her only intent, she says, is "to make a great station citizens can use."

My needs as a citizen are small. I just want to understand what people are saying when I tune into meetings.

FANCY FUNDRAISING: To native Washingtonians, the address "3032 N St. NW" evokes poignant memories. The Georgetown home was the residence of the junior senator from Massachusetts, John F Kennedy, and his wife Jackie before they moved to the White House in January 1961. After JFK was assassinated, his widow and children returned to the house until the family moved to New York.

The house was then occupied by another famous Democrat - former New York governor, ambassador and major Democratic fundraiser Averill Harriman and his British-born wife Pamela, whose U.S. citizenship was a wedding gift in 1971. After the Reagan landslide in 1980, the Harrimans turned their home into a meeting place for the dispirited Democratic Party and a principal site for fundraisers to support House and Senate candidates, as well as presidential contenders. Pamela's political action committee, Democrats for the '80s, raised millions for the party and is credited with helping the Democrats regain control of the Senate in 1986 and the White House in 1992. After Pamela Harriman died in 1997, the home was purchased by Dr. James D'Orta, who has continued the tradition.

On June 10, the house will be opened once again for a Democratic fundraiser - though this time it is not for a candidate seeking national office. D'Orta will host supporters of Ward 4 Councilman Adrian Fenty, who has begun raising money for his 2004 re-election campaign. The popular Fenty, who is one of two native Washingtonians on the D.C. City Council, is expected to be unopposed for re-election next year.

D'Orta's decision to open his home to a council race may have deeper meaning. The junior council member has been mentioned frequently as a mayoral contender in 2006.