DC Government

Dear PoPville – DC Homestead Deduction Question and Rant

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user thisisbossi

Dear PoPville,

File this under DC Dysfunctional Government –

Since I’ve moved into my DC condo over 3 years ago (back in 2009), I’ve been trying to get the Homestead deduction. It’s pretty significant amounts to several hundred dollars a year.

The first few times I applied, my application was not accepted because there was a apparently a mistake in how my deed was recorded. It had to something to do with the square and lot numbers not matching up with the unit numbers. (i.e. the original unit numbers in my 4-unit building were 1,2,3,4 but they ended up changing it to B, 1,2,3 so there was a mix-up).

I called my title company, and they went about correcting it. Apparently, they re-recorded the deed back in summer 2010 or 2011, so that my square and lot numbers would correspond to the correct unit number in all the paperwork (deed, Condo Declaration, etc).

I re-applied for the deduction soon thereafter, and received no response. I’ve called a few times, and I had been told that it takes time for DC to make the change.

I called again recently to see what’s going on, and I had then found out that your ownership of your home shows up in two databses: The Recorder of Deeds and the Property Tax Assessment database. Apparently, the DC Recorder of Deeds made the appropriate change in their database when my title company re-recorded the deed back in 2010 or 2011, but the Assessment database is not necessarily updated.

Of course, this is a little ridiculous. I’ve been paying my property taxes, and the DC government has been happily accepting my payments. You would think that the DC government would change their database to reflect who’s actually paying the taxes and to reflect the actual owner per the Recorder of Deeds.

I’ve been trying to call and email the Supervisor and Auditor at the Office of Tax and Revenue, per instructions I’ve received from the DC Customer Service line. I have not gotten any responses to my phone calls or emails.

Has anyone else experienced the same issue? And how did they fix it?

Third Question Posted for DC At-Large Council Candidates – Education

By Prince Of Petworth

In light of the debates swirling around the District around education this week in particular, Let’s Choose DC (a partnership of PoPville, Greater Greater Washington and DCist) asked the at-large candidates about their vision for education:

DC’s education system has improved in recent years for many kids, but many schools remain inadequate to our children’s needs. If you could design a better school system for DC, what would it look like? Would we have more teacher evaluations or fewer? More charter schools, fewer, or different ones? More or fewer kids going to local schools? How else would your school system differ structurally from the one we have today?

Seven candidates responded: Diallo Brooks, Matthew Frumin, Patrick Mara, Perry Redd, Pedro Rubio, John Settles, and Elissa Silverman. Since last week, AJ Cooper has dropped out. Anita Bonds and Michael Brown did not respond for the third week in a row.

Check out the responses at Let’s Choose DC.

Dear PoPville – Broken non-working fire hydrant, down for over a week

By Prince Of Petworth

Dear PoPville,

Once again someone has run over and destroyed the mid-block fire hydrant in the 1800 block of Wyoming Avenue, NW. Once again no water gushed or even dribbled out, which means the hydrant was not working (for how long, one wonders) and would have been of no use at all had there been a fire in that block. It’s been that way for over a week now, though the City did pick up all the discarded Christmas trees piled next to, but not obscuring it.

The last time this happened, about 18 months ago, I posted a photo and note about it on PoP. Someone from the City posted a response saying I should have sent the information to the City’s 311 website rather than posting it.

So this time I did go to the City website and tried to submit the info. No luck.

I went the City’s website, then to the City “Services” home page, clicked on “Request Center Online.” Then clicked on the “Select Service” tab, the “Submit a New Service Request.” But then I had to select from a drop-down menu a “Service Type” before it would let me try to go forward. I can choose from list of a pretty thorough 87 subjects, ranging from “dead animal pickup” to “potholes” to “sign missing stop investigation” even “parking meter,” but nothing referring to “fire hydrant.”

If I choose the other option of “keyword search, under keyword
fire” and under “F,” I find three choices (all available on the original drop-down):

FEMS: Community Events
FEMS: Fire Safety Education
FEMS: Smoke Alarm Application

Keyword: “hydrant” produces no results.

But I cannot continue without choosing one of the 87 original choices. And that is after spending a good 10 minutes just trying.

So unless a dead fire hydrant qualifies for dead animal pickup, I’m back to PoP, now Popville. Is there a simpler way to report this problem? I just want it taken care of, but not with just a new fire hydrant, but with one that works. THANKS!

Results are in for the first question on Let’s Choose DC

By Prince Of Petworth

 

Click to see the full infographic of results.

The results are in for the first question on Let’s Choose DC, and with over 2,500 votes cast, DC voters rated Elissa Silverman tops for her vision for DC, followed by Matthew Frumin and Diallo Brooks.

Nine candidates provided answers to our question, while interim Councilmember Anita Bonds and former Councilmember Michael Brown did not participate. The question was:

The District has changed a lot since 1993, and will likely change much more by 2033. What are 2-3 changes you hope to see by 2033, and how will electing you to the DC Council help bring them about?

In addition to rating how persuasive you found each of the candidates’ answers, we asked you whether they seemed to answer the question or not. Silverman, Frumin, Brooks, John Settles, and Pedro Rubio all scored well here. Patrick Mara and Jon Gann got more “neutral” ratings, while Paul Zukerberg and AJ Cooper got lower marks.

Cooper also dropped out of the race yesterday and endorsed Silverman.

You can still vote on Question 2, where the candidates talk about their ideas for fighting crime. Voting on that question closes Monday, and we’ll post the results later next week. On Tuesday, we will have the candidates’ responses to question 3, about education.

 

“The District of Columbia now joins 37 other states that permit liquor stores to be open on Sundays”

By Prince Of Petworth

From an ABRA press release:

District of Columbia Mayor, Vincent C. Gray, signed yesterday the comprehensive “Omnibus Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Emergency Amendment Act” (Bill), which is now in effect on an emergency basis. The Bill was authored by Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham based on the recommendations of an ABC Working Group, which was formed in December 2011. The Council adopted the Bill on December 18, 2012.

Of significance, the Bill allows Sunday alcoholic beverage sales by liquor stores. The District of Columbia now joins 37 other states that permit liquor stores to be open on Sundays. Liquor stores are currently permitted to remain open on Sundays in Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland. ABRA Director Fred Moosally stated, “ABRA will begin accepting applications from liquor stores to sell and deliver alcoholic beverages on Sundays starting on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.”

Growlers, which are reusable containers holding up to 64 fluid ounces of beer, may now be sold for off-premise consumption at brew pubs, liquor stores, and full service grocery stores. The sale of growlers of beer for off-premise consumption was previously limited to the District’s three licensed breweries.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

MPD Conducting Pedestrian Safety Effort This Week

By Prince Of Petworth


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From DDOT:

In order to spotlight pedestrian safety in the District, The Metropolitan Police Department announced that, from January 15 to 17, officers will be focusing on the intersection of 17th and K Streets with high visibility enforcement of safety laws.

In conjunction with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the initiative is the beginning of a quarterly campaign of specific, high visibility attention to pedestrian safety.

“We had more than 900 pedestrian crashes last year. The average is 653 people hit by a car every year,” said the Metropolitan Police Department’s Commander James Crane. “But no matter what the numbers are, it’s too many.” Crane said the number of citations for failure to yield to a pedestrian has gone up 87% in recent years, and citations for blocking bike lanes have quadrupled. With this high visibility enforcement, pedestrians will be a major focus for awareness and education. Police will be stopping pedestrians for infractions, citing some of those stopped, and handing out educational “tip” cards.

But, the responsibility does not only fall on pedestrians. Drivers need to be aware when turning to look for pedestrians in crosswalks and at intersections. Drivers should always stop and give right-of-way to pedestrians crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.

In addition, with the impending Inauguration, when so many out-of-towners are not used to driving and walking around the city, the District has more pedestrian challenges than the suburbs. Data show one of every 10 DC residents walks to work every day. DC is ranked the 7th most walkable city by Walk Score. In fact, last year the number of pedestrians killed tied with 2002 for the lowest number on record since at least 1931. But, despite the decrease in pedestrian deaths, one death is still too many. Pedestrians need to be reminded to cross only in crosswalks, cross with the signals, avoid distractions while crossing roads, and to pay attention to drivers at all times, said Crane. And, drivers need to make sure they are aware of pedestrians at all times.

“We’re out there because we want to help save your life. Every death is preventable,” Crane said. “This isn’t about writing tickets. It’s about saving lives.”

Second Question Posted for DC At-Large Council Candidates

By Prince Of Petworth

This week, Let’s Choose DC —a partnership of PoPville, Greater Greater Washington, and DCist—asked candidates for the April 23 at-large special election about crime.

We asked the candidates:

Chief Lanier and Mayor Gray have made a lot of the drop in homicides, but other crimes—assaults, robberies—remain stubbornly high. How should DC police deal with those challenges, and do you have an opinion on how many officers MPD needs?

Read and vote on candidate responses here. Let’s Choose DC gives you one candidate response at a time, selected randomly. Your vote will count toward the results once you vote on 5 responses.

We posed the question on January 8 to all of the candidates who had taken out petitions by that point. Nine candidates replied: Diallo Brooks, AJ Cooper, Matt Frumin, Jon Gann, Patrick Mara, Pedro Rubio, John Settles, Elissa Silverman, and Paul Zukerberg.

Voting on the first question, about candidates’ vision for the future, has ended; we will tally the results and post them later this week.

Dear PoPville – Any Tips on Rat Abatement?

By Prince Of Petworth

Dear PoPville,

I live in the U Street area, and have had problems with rats getting into my basement. The rats have created a fly problem (yuck), and nothing that I do seems to have any effect. Has anyone had good experiences with rat/pest abatement professionals in the area?

Living in DC, I don’t think that the standard kill-them-all approach is going to solve the problem — once these are gone, there are _always_ more.

Thanks for any advice!

You can learn about the Department of Health’s rat abatement program here. Has anyone gone the private route?

Anyone Else Notice New Talking Crosswalk Signals?

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to a reader for sending in video of the one above at 7th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW. Another reader finds one in Woodley Park and wishes they would turn the volume down:

I live near Woodley Road and Connecticut Ave and have noticed that all of the crosswalk signals now have a speaker that says when the signal has changed, etc. Is there any way the volume on these things can be turned down at certain hours? I seriously hear these 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK. Don’t want to sound insensitive but I doubt there are any blind people out in the middle of the night who need to be told when it is safe to cross. I will write/call/do whatever! Can’t go to sleep and wake to the automated voice any more!! There is no need for the volume to be so high at all hours of the day. I’m used to the traffic and all of the other noises on Connecticut Ave but I don’t want to be able to hear the signal when I’m trying to sleep!! Please help!!

Learn About DC At-Large Council Candidates at Let’s Choose DC

By Prince Of Petworth

Cross posted at Greater Greater Washington and DCist

I’m pleased to announce a new site to help DC voters get to know the candidates for the upcoming April 23 special election for DC council at-large: Let’s Choose DC, presented by Greater Greater Washington, DCist, and PoPville.

Let’s Choose DC’s goal is to dig into the candidates, and their stances on the issues that matter most. It will help you decide, and also help you better understand how other people view the candidates.

Each week we’ll send each of the declared candidates a question on an issue of importance to DC, like education, crime, affordable housing, and so on. We’ll post their responses on the site. You’ll not only get to read them, but also vote on them. If you think a candidate is too vague, say so! If there answer is detailed and precise, even if you don’t agree with it, you’ll get to tell them—and other readers—as much.

As the weeks go by, we hope to build more detailed profiles on each of the candidates, and challenge them all to think beyond traditional sound bites and talking points. And by the time the election rolls around, you’ll have a single place to come to see where the candidates stand.

We asked all of the candidates the first question during the holiday break, and almost all of them have responded to the question:

The District has changed a lot since 1993, and will likely change much more by 2033. What are 2-3 changes you hope to see by 2033, and how will electing you to the DC Council help bring them about?

See their responses and give your votes at Let’s Choose DC.

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