Staff Bios
Michael Neibauer
ForMichael Neibauer city hall reporting is the most effective way to feed a hankering for budgets and municipal regulations. He enjoys weeding through bureaucracy, rooting out waste, asking the tough questions, tracking our leaders successes and failures – keeping them honest, or at least trying to.
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D.C. gas customers face monthly surcharge
Published: Oct 13, 2009
Washington Gas customers in the District face a surcharge on their monthly bills starting in 2011 to pay for a program aimed at preventing degradation of pipes and dangerous leaks. The surcharge amount has not been determined, but the District's share is expected to run more than $6 million a year divided among 151,000 Washington Gas customers -- an average of about $40 per year.
The settlement between Washington Gas and the Office of the People's Counsel, the District's utility ratepayer advocate, is nearly five years in the making. During that period, the utility was accused by experts of playing a "wait and see" game by failing to address segments of pipes vulnerable to...
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Activists demand privacy protections for DC One Card
Published: Oct 11, 2009
Privacy advocates have sounded the alarm about the District government's effort to issue a single, traceable identification card to residents, urging the D.C. Council to adopt legislation that protects the privacy of all users.
The DC One Card has been adopted by the Fenty administration as a single credential for use as a school and government employee ID, as a SmarTrip card for Metro, as a library card and as a recreational facility access card. It is designed to be used by any District government agency, though only a handful have signed on so far.
"People get very nervous when they're tracked from birth certificate to death by government agencies collecting information about...
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Family angry over girl's death, Fenty's response
Published: Oct 09, 2009
The family of a 15-year-old D.C. girl who died last week at a public pool still has no answers about what caused her death and little solace, they say, from the Fenty administration's lack of response to the tragedy.
D.C. emergency responders were called to the William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center just before 6 p.m. Sept. 30 for the report of a possible drowning. Police spokeswoman Gwen Crump said Chantice Caruth, a Woodrow Wilson High School freshman, fell on the pool deck and "suffered some sort of seizure." Moments earlier her DC Wave swim team had started practice.
Chantice was transported to Children's National Medical Center, where she was declared dead. The chief medical examiner...
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D.C. Council cans Fenty's choice for parks director
Published: Oct 07, 2009
D.C. Council members booted the city's acting parks director from her post Tuesday, a slap at Adrian Fenty that is certain to further degrade an already tenuous relationship between the mayor the council.
Ximena Hartsock, acting director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, is out of a job after the 7-5 vote against her. She is the first Cabinet-level nominee to fall in Fenty's nearly three years in office.
Council members complained that Hartsock, a former D.C. Public Schools principal and member of the DCPS administration team, has repeatedly ignored laws requiring DPR to continue operating day care programs that Fenty has sought to outsource. She "appeared to be simply...
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Catania puts gay marriage bill into play
Published: Oct 07, 2009
D.C. Councilman David Catania on Tuesday began the District's journey toward legal same-sex marriage with the long-anticipated introduction of legislation that he said balances human rights with religious freedom.
"We're a civil and secular society, and we have to extend equality to all of our residents," said Catania, one of two openly gay council members.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act would redefine marriage in D.C. as the "legally recognized union of two people" who are otherwise legally allowed to marry. The bill guarantees the clergy's right to refuse to marry a gay couple.
It was a circus inside and outside the council...
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D.C. gay marriage bill could find tough going late
Published: Oct 06, 2009
The gay marriage bill that the D.C. Council will soon have before it should see a relatively smooth ride through the local legislative process, before it runs into expected resistance in Congress.
At-large Councilman David Catania, one of two openly gay council members, said he will introduce the long-awaited marriage equality bill Tuesday. The proposal has the strong support of at least 10 of 13 members, virtually guaranteeing its adoption.
"I think it will be remarkable how little energy is expended on this effort," Catania told The Examiner on Monday.
The District already recognizes gay marriages legally performed elsewhere. Catania's bill defines marriage in D.C. as "the legally...
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Graham retains taxicab oversight
Published: Oct 06, 2009
D.C. Councilman Jim Graham will retain oversight of the District's taxicab industry despite the alleged involvement of his staff in a massive taxicab bribery scheme that netted nearly 40 arrests last week, the council's chairman said.
Graham chairs the public works and transportation committee, which oversees all taxicab-related legislation. Ted Loza, his chief of staff, was arrested Sept. 25 on suspicion of accepting $1,500 in bribes to steer taxicab legislation through the council. Two more Graham staffers were called to testify before a grand jury investigating a $300,000-plus bribery ring involving the D.C. Taxicab Commission.
Council Chairman Vincent Gray said Monday that he has...
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Think tank seeks financial support for CareFirst fight
Published: Oct 04, 2009
The D.C. think tank that has led the lobbying effort to divide an area health insurer's massive financial surplus for community use is now imploring its supporters for money to continue the fight.
Walter Smith, executive director of the nonprofit D.C. Appleseed, asked Appleseed supporters for their financial help "at this critical time in the long fight to make CareFirst meet its obligations as a 'charitable and benevolent' not-for-profit company."
"Going toe-to-toe with CareFirst over whether the company has built up excessive surplus funds has forced us to incur $100,000 in unanticipated expenses during particularly difficult economic times," Smith wrote in an e-mail Thursday to...
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Southeastern U. failed despite cash influx from D.C. coffers
Published: Oct 04, 2009
The now-shuttered Southeastern University received a $1.5 million gift from D.C. taxpayers three months before the school was notified that it would lose its accreditation -- and eight months before it canceled classes.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education revoked Southeastern's accreditation as of Aug. 31, after concluding that the school lacked general quality, was losing faculty and was destabilizing financially. The university subsequently scrapped its fall semester, effectively shutting down, while many of its students transferred to other accredited universities in and around Washington.
The accreditation decision came down March 5, three months and a day after the...
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D.C. proposes looser restrictions on urban chickens
Published: Oct 01, 2009
District backyards could soon resemble urban farms as the D.C. Council considers a bill that would ease long-standing restrictions on raising chickens and harvesting eggs on residential property.
Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells is proposing to erase rules that prohibit fowl within 50 feet of any building “used for human habitation,” a regulation that denies most District residents the opportunity to harbor hens.
Urban chickens are increasingly popular nationally in the down economy, as families look to produce their own eggs and cities pass laws to ease the process. The D.C. measure was drafted on behalf of a Capitol Hill family, Wells’ constituents, whose eight...
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Audit: $100k in D.C. health grants misspent
Published: Oct 01, 2009
Four D.C.-area nonprofits misspent or wasted more than 40 percent of $235,000 in grants awarded by the city's health department in 2007 to help sick children promote public health education, District auditors allege in a new report.
The Office of the Inspector General disallowed or questioned $99,335 of the nearly quarter million dollars invested by the Community Health Administration, a branch of the D.C. Department of Health, on the four grants.
Of that, the IG urged the District to attempt to recollect $47,326 "because these costs were not valid."
Auditors also found that three CHA employees who were responsible for either monitoring or awarding the noncompetitive grants also...
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Anti-smoking proposal could push D.C. smokers into the streets
Published: Sep 28, 2009
The D.C. Council is eyeing an extension of the city's anti-tobacco prohibitions into public space, allowing all private property owners to ban smoking outside their buildings -- including the public sidewalk.
The proposed legislation, a major expansion of the District's smoke-free law, sets 18 as the legal age to purchase or possess tobacco products, requires retailers to post signs warning of the dangers of smoking, ramps up enforcement of sales to minors and authorizes smoking bans up to 25 feet from the wall of any private property -- residential or commercial.
The goal of that last provision is to disperse packs of smokers who congregate outside office buildings, said Councilman...
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FBI seeks records on nonprofit, taxi industry
Published: Sep 25, 2009
FBI agents searching the office of D.C. Councilman Jim Graham's Chief of Staff Ted Loza had on their list of items to seize records related to Fiesta D.C., a nonprofit that received a six-figure city financial grant and has close ties to the councilman.
Agents raided the office of Graham's right-hand man shortly after noon. Loza was arrested at his home earlier in the day and charged with two counts of bribery on suspicion of accepting cash and trips from individuals in the taxicab industry. Loza is alleged to have attempted to influence taxi-related legislation on behalf of the bribers.
Authorities were searching for any documents, computer files, telephone records and toll records...
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Top Graham aide charged with taking bribes
Published: Sep 25, 2009
D.C. Councilman Jim Graham's top aide pocketed cash-stuffed envelopes and other gifts in return for steering taxicab legislation through his boss's office, law enforcement officials alleged Thursday.
Ted Giovanny Loza, 44, was arrested at his Columbia Heights home Thursday morning, shortly before FBI agents raided his office at the John A. Wilson Building. Loza, the Ward 1 councilman's chief of staff, tinyurl.com/loza-indictment, to which he pleaded not guilty during a late afternoon arraignment.
He was released without having to post bail. Graham immediately placed him on administrative leave with pay.
Loza is accused in the 10-page indictment of accepting "a stream of things of...
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D.C. Councilman Graham's chief of staff arrested on bribery charges
Published: Sep 24, 2009
The top aide to Councilman Jim Graham was arrested Thursday morning, charged with pocketing bribes to help steer taxi cab legislation through his boss’ office.
Ted Loza, Graham's chief of staff, was scheduled to appear in federal court hours later, charged with two counts of bribery. He was arrested early Thursday and his city hall office raided by federal agents.
He is a longtime aide to Graham, D-Ward 1, who chairs the council’s transportation committee and who earlier this year introduced legislation that would have lifted a moratorium on expensive taxi cab licenses — called medallions — for “environmentally friendly” cabs.
Graham fled from a...
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D.C. proposes 5 hours of free parking for mourners
Published: Sep 24, 2009
Funeral attendees in the District would be free to violate parking meter and residential parking restrictions for up to five hours under legislation now before the D.C. Council.
Introduced by at-large Councilman Michael Brown, the bill provides that the vehicles of mourners, marked by placards provided by funeral organizers, could not be ticketed for residential permit and parking meter infractions for five hours during and after a funeral service. The measure also bars non-funeral attendees from parking in designated funeral zones during the same five-hour period.
"Mourning and honoring the passing of a loved one at a funeral is a difficult yet important part of the healing...
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Good news? D.C. revenue estimates not worse
Published: Sep 24, 2009
D.C. leaders received positive news from their finance chief this week about the District's economy: It hasn't gotten any worse.
Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi's newest revenue estimates, issued to Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, remain unchanged since his June projection. While sales tax collections "have deteriorated in recent months," Gandhi said, withholding tax collections are up 3.5 percent for the year and the collapse in deed taxes is slowing.
"Although the general economic outlook has improved somewhat since the June revenue estimate, uncertainty is still great and risks remain for both the national and local economies," Gandhi wrote.
The CFO's...
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Segways now sidewalk legal for D.C. disabled
Published: Sep 23, 2009
The District's disabled residents are free to ride their Segways on downtown sidewalks without fear of being ticketed by police, the D.C. Council decided.
City law prohibits Segways, deemed by the D.C. Code to be a "personal mobility device," on sidewalks within the Central Business District, bounded by 23rd Street NW to the west, Massachusetts Avenue to the north, Second Street NE to the east, and D Street to the south. The council on Tuesday adopted this caveat to the statute: "unless operated by a person with a disability."
The two-wheeled, self-balancing, motorized propulsion devices are increasingly popular among visitors on private tours. But for the disabled,...
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Fenty gets OK to buy warehouse for $85 million
Published: Sep 23, 2009
D.C. Council notes
» Adopted a code of ethics, minus any sanctions or censure provisions.
» Barred new private fire hydrants without signed document stating who will maintain them.
» Maintained $10 Class 3 property tax for blighted properties, excluding vacant lots
The Fenty administration will spend more than $85 million to purchase a vacant warehouse in Southeast that the government has paid more than $15 million to rent while it has stood unused since mid-2007.
Authorization to buy 225 Virginia Ave. was included in the fiscal 2010 Budget Support Act, which won the D.C. Council's unanimous approval Tuesday. The act, which takes effect Oct....
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D.C. Council to vote on code of conduct
Published: Sep 22, 2009
The D.C. Council will vote Tuesday on a new "Code of Official Conduct" for its members that sets out ethics guidelines for city lawmakers but makes virtually no changes to existing law nor contains any sanctions for violators.
The code, Council Chairman Vincent Gray said, is but a "framework" for a more complete ethics rulebook for the council, a body shaken by Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry's questionable earmarking and penchant for hiring girlfriends.
The proposed ethics document contains a series of guidelines "based on existing regulations." A second resolution would appoint the council's general counsel, currently Brian Flowers, as its "ethics counselor."
The D.C. Code and...
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D.C. could prohibit new private hydrants
Published: Sep 22, 2009
Confusion over who is responsible for the upkeep of private fire hydrants in the District has spurred emergency D.C. Council legislation barring permits for new hydrants unless someone first stakes claim for their care.
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson's emergency resolution would prohibit new hydrants on private property without a signed document stating who is responsible for maintaining them, now and in the future.
"There should be no more of these permits that allow a private hydrant where 20 years in the future, it will be unclear who's responsible for that hydrant," Mendelson said Monday.
The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority maintains, repairs and replaces the city's...
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The 3-minute interview: Dan Silverman
Published: Sep 15, 2009
Silverman, 34, recently quit his day job to blog full time as the Prince of Petworth, the Northwest Washington neighborhood where he's lived for six-plus years.
What is the technical definition of Petworth?
That's a loaded question. It's basically from the crossroad of Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire bordered by Georgia to the west, and bordered by North Capitol [Street] to the east and Kennedy [Street] to the north.
What do you do for a living?
As of yesterday, I was full time. But what I did before that was a homeland security analyst.
What do you love about it?
When I moved to Petworth there was so much development on the horizon. The neighbors were so nice. It was a...
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House moves to de-Hatch D.C.
Published: Sep 14, 2009
D.C. could soon find itself free from a federal law that restricts city workers’ participation in partisan political activity, constraints that have seriously confused the election process for hundreds of potential candidates.
The Hatch Act bars federal and D.C. employees from running for partisan public office, from soliciting or receiving political contributions, or from engaging in political activity while on the job. The mayor and D.C. Council are explicitly exempt, but elected advisory neighborhood commissioners and members of the State Board of Education are not, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
“Should the District have its own Hatch Act, and the...
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IG eyes Medicaid, tax office, schools for '10 D.C. audits
Published: Sep 14, 2009
The D.C. inspector general's audit blueprint for next fiscal year heavily targets Medicaid, tax collections, procurement and city spending of roughly $900 million in federal stimulus -- all areas of high risk or extensive past problems.
The 65 investigations proposed by the Office of the Inspector General blanket most aspects of the District government, from payroll and the lottery to D.C. Public School consulting contracts and construction of the $133 million forensics lab.
Each agency or service under the microscope is there for a reason, be it a constituent tip, a newspaper article or a request from an elected official, said William DiVello, assistant inspector general for...
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Ghost bikes reappear at Dupont intersection
Published: Sep 11, 2009
A busy Dupont Circle intersection was beset by 22 "ghost bikes" Thursday, two weeks after the District government removed a single memorial to a cyclist run over by a garbage truck there.
"It was straight-up grave robbing as far as I'm concerned," said 27-year-old Legba Carrefour, a self-described anarchist who led the effort to replace a single white-painted bike with 22 new ghost bike memorials -- four of which were pilfered before 10 a.m.
Alice Swanson was riding her bike westbound on R Street on July 8, 2008, when she was struck and killed by a garbage truck at the intersection with 20th Street and Connecticut Avenue. The truck driver was traveling in the same...
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Fenty: New Tenleytown library will be able to support future development
Published: Sep 10, 2009
The Fenty administration on Wednesday finally committed to spend upward of $1 million to build structural supports into the new Tenley-Friendship Library that would allow for residential development atop the branch.
The added supports are vocally opposed by neighborhood leaders who fear a residential tower would steal a significant amount of already-limited green space from the adjacent Janney Elementary School. They are widely backed by smart-growth advocates who want to see transit-oriented development on the prime site at Wisconsin Avenue and Albemarle Street, steps from the Tenleytown Metro Station.
"You have a building that's practically sitting on top of a Metro station," said...
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Judge halts D.C. tax sale of properties
Published: Sep 10, 2009
The District's tax office on Wednesday delayed its annual lien auction after a D.C. Superior Court judge struck down the city's decision to limit the number properties sold based on the amount owed.
Judge Brook Hedge issued her order Tuesday, a day before the scheduled start of the tax sale and a week after the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue announced it would auction only those properties with back tax bills of $1,200 or more.
"A legal challenge has been made to the District's right to set a threshold for the sale of delinquent real property taxes," the Office of Tax and Revenue said in a statement. "Consequently, the District is reviewing its legal authority to set a...
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Some delinquent D.C. taxpayers spared from real estate auction
Published: Sep 08, 2009
D.C. property owners whose 2008 delinquent real estate tax bills total less than $1,200 will not have their holdings auctioned during the District's annual tax sale, the tax office announced last week.
During the tax sale, scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, the Office of Tax and Revenue auctions the liens on D.C. properties with back tax bills. As of Friday there were about 4,900 such properties.
But OTR issued emergency regulations Friday that let some 2,000 owners off the auction hook. Any tax bill -- including penalties and interest -- of less than $1,200 will not be sold.
The decision will mean about $1 million less for D.C.'s already meager coffers -- assuming the property...
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D.C. cracking down on outsiders getting free city health care
Published: Sep 06, 2009
The District is closing a loophole that has allowed non-D.C. residents to get millions of dollars worth of free health insurance at the expense of city taxpayers.
The D.C. Healthcare Alliance is a free health care program for thousands of city residents who are ineligible for any other benefits
such as Medicaid. The city spends $189 per person per month to insure each participant.
The absence of safeguards toshield the alliance from fraud might have enabled rampant cheating in past years, outside auditor Bert
Smith & Co. reported in early 2008.
Non-D.C. residents had easy access to free care, the audit found, as there was “minimal or no documentation” required from...
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Neighbors speak out against SW library design
Published: Sep 03, 2009
Leaders of a far Southwest D.C. community have asked a city planning board to reject a proposed branch library design they say is bizarre and utterly out of touch with their neighborhood.
The D.C. Public Library requires two zoning exemptions from the Board of Zoning Adjustments to build the new Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library at 115 Atlantic St. SW, a block off South Capitol Street. The BZA hearing Tuesday provided a handful of neighborhood leaders the chance to deride the library's ultramodern look -- a design from renowned British architect David Adjaye.
"It's not designed for us, and it's not designed for the culture of the neighborhood," Theresa Jones, a Washington...
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