It just goes to show you that political parties can matter some, but they are not the end all be all. Even within one party there are factions. I learned this from watching local politics in my hometown of Greenburgh, NY where there was one party that dominated everything. It got so bad that the one party basically split in two.

So now we have the “Democratic” DC Councilmember in Jim Graham doing something very undemocratic.

A bill criminalizing gatherings of more than two people in D.C. is drawing outrage and opposition from community and labor activists, as well as civil rights advocates. "This is a clear and blatant violation of the Constitutionally-guaranteed right of the American people to assemble," said Washington D.C. Metro Council AFL-CIO President Jos Williams. "That it’s been introduced in the nation’s capitol is a travesty of justice and common sense," Williams added.

I think Jim Graham and whoever probably guided him to introduce this legislation has been watching too much of the Bloomberg NYC government in action.

Update: It appears the bill has been withdrawn. I don’t know why this was even a bill in the first place.

To develop or not develop—to gentrify or not gentrify–is that the only question? I was listening to an .mp3 by some activists who caught up with the Mayor at an opening of a new Safeway supermarket near K Street–where they confronted him about the closing of homeless shelters and the new developments of luxury in the district.

Now I like development, there I said it. I like having a Gallery Place and a Penn Quarter (and an Arlington, VA for that matter) where I can go relax, eat, shop (I don’t shop a lot) and catch a movie. Back in my hometown of Westchester County, NY I’ve also liked the development which occurred in White Plains, NY. However, with both of these cases and even with Harlem, NY one thing is always tossed aside. The one thing that is tossed aside are the people who become gentrified.

It’s one thing to kick criminals (and sex workers) out of an area when new developments are going up. It’s another to just force poor people out by the increase in rent payments, closing shelters and not building affordable housing. Everyone ends up moving and I’ve heard that Prince George’s County, MD has been the recipient of this migration. Does development mean the upheaval and removal of the less fortunate in our society?

Is there no confidence in mixed-income neighborhoods? Are with that beholden to developers who want it their way? I would really like to hear the Mayor give a speech on development in DC. I want to hear his views. Is there not room in his city for luxury and affordable housing? If that shelter is closed what does he plan to do? Where are those people going to go? Do you just let them live on the streets or do they end up in PG County or somewhere else? In the end the development is good for the city and I really think Fenty is doing some good things (also his efforts with public education may pan out we’ll have to see), but that can’t be it.

– from Daylife.com

Since I’ve been working and living in the DC metro area I’ve noticed scenes like this way too often. I’ve come across beggars in the street and in the corridors of metro stations almost daily. Sometimes I stop to give them some of the change in my pocket. Most of the time I don’t really have any money on me (you know the whole debit card thing). Every morning on my way to work in Dupont Circle I walk past the same homeless person. Every time I see him I’m reminded of the homeless situation occurring in the nation’s capitol. Part of me often wants to ask him “why don’t you take a job”? Any job that would allow you to not have to live and beg on the streets. For that matter why not go to a homeless shelter? Or is the shelter system too full? Do they only allow people to stay there at night? I also remember speaking to a homeless person back in Westchester County, NY who told me that shelters can be unsafe, so maybe that’s it.

Then part of me also realizes that a lot of the time things aren’t that simple. Even those who are working are barely above or are still below the poverty level. While they may have a roof over their head, their living conditions are usually still deplorable and there’s still a lack of access to opportunity for upward mobility. We call them the working poor and actually up until last year, before I moved, my income put me in that classification. The job I have now–which I’m thankful for since I’m doing something I want to do in the advocacy field–actually put me squarely in the middle class for the first time.

Of course homelessness is nothing new to America. After all I’m from New York and this is something I grew up around in the Bronx. Even when I moved to Westchester homelessness wasn’t hard to find in the county. The question that always comes to mind for me is, why does the local government allow homeless people to loiter and sleep on the streets in the first place? If anything this can be seen as a problem akin to public indecency. Regarding the visual component of homelessness; I was once told that there was an effort in NYC to remove the spectacle because people complained, but nothing was done to solve the problem. The homeless weren’t seen anymore but they were still homeless.

When it comes to the homeless in the District of Columbia, I was also told a story that when the Clinton administration was in power there was less visible poverty in DC. If this story is true then that would mean things have reverted back for the worse. This leads me to my question for the new President. My question is: can we do something to get the homeless out of the streets of the nation’s capitol? I realize that the President will be the leader of the entire nation, but his residence will be here in DC. Shouldn’t he have a vested interested in ensuring that the capitol is a shining city on a hill? Of course by asking this to the new president I’m not absolving the local DC government of anything. My question to them is: why is poverty as visible as it is now? What has the city government done and how high is this a priority for them? While there are some innovative initiatives out there like Street Sense, it’s going to take a lot more to solve this problem.

Technorati : dc, mccain, obama, potus

In the DC Metro system one sees ads done by many different groups. From defense contractors advertising at the Pentagon Metro station to the American Medical Association (who used to oppose universal healthcare) now calling for universal health coverage of some sort. Sometimes you even see good organizations championing their causes in this case, Smithfield Justice.

Advertising on the DC Metro is a great way to get your message out there to the masses. Which is why it’s not surprising that groups do this. Not too long ago I even remember seeing ads at the Metro Center station paid for by CWA Local 14201 talking about the Washington Post and some of the injustices they perpetrate. This morning however as I was exiting one train and going up the escalators to transfer to the next train; I was pleasantly surprised to see a banner paid for by none other than Smithfield Justice.

Smithfield Justice is a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. On the ad, in bright yellow letters, we are informed that managers at a Smithfield plant called African American workers the “N’ word. They also beat people. We are also urged to not buy Smithfield products. In 1997, when workers at the Tar Heel, NC plant tried to unionize they were threatened and intimidated. On the Smithfiled Justice site we also learn that “Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world, the fourth largest turkey processor and fifth largest beef processor in the U.S.” It is headquartered in the town of Smithfield, Virginia, but its operations stretch across the United States, Mexico, and much of Europe.”

With all the money they are making you would think they would not treat their workers this way, but sadly with many corporations the opposite is often true. It’s good to see Smithfield Justice taking to the Metro and I hope they escalate the campaign in this politically minded city of ours.

Technorati : chinatown, dc, dc metro, gallery place, metro, smithfield, smithfiled justice