Watch Out Francis Underwood. MOCO ain't afraid to throw you off the platform!

Oh, that poor Francis Underwood.  First, his mistress turned on him, then his chief of staff got bonked on the head by a former prostitute.  And, let's not even mention that little unpleasantness in the parking garage during the first season.

Francis' latest nemesis?  The Maryland House of Delegates.  They just gave him a new pair of Francis Underwood cufflinks.

At this point you non-DMV readers (I suspect I can count you all on one hand, but I love you all!) are probably wondering where I'm going with this.  It turns out that House of Cards isn't actually filmed in DC.  It is filmed in Maryland, mostly in Baltimore, Harford County, and Annapolis. 

And, those poor sods who produce House of Cards tell us they'll have to get in a bread line leave if they don't get another round of tax credits.  That's right, the guys who brought you Francis Underwood are playing hardball.  They are threatening to move production out of Maryland and find some pretty row houses elsewhere if the requested tax credits aren't forthcoming.  Keven Spacey even came to Annapolis to make the case. 

According to the Washington Post Maryland is allowed by law to allocate 7.5 million to movie/TV production in the state.  Last year a special dispensation was passed that allowed greater amounts of tax credits.  With the one time additional allocation, House of Cards got 11 million in tax credits in its first season and 15 million in its second season.  It is now asking for more credits in its 3rd season, although the Post reports the production company hasn't stipulated how much it will need. 

Which brings us to Delegate C. William Frick (D-Montgomery County).  No, he didn't off anybody.  But he did swat the ball back in the House of Card's court with a loud thwack.  Specifically, he introduced an amendment (read it here) to an unrelated bill  that basically gives the state the right to use eminent domain to seize production equipment of film companies who leave the state after having received the tax credit.  And, it passed easily. 

So, which Francis Underwood should we support?  I'm going with Frick.  I doubt he'll off his opponents, for starters.  I also expect he's thinking about the state's interests more than the House of Cards Production team is.  In fact, I haven't seen anything yet to convince me that House of Cards is losing money.  At some point, corporations, even those in Hollywood who can usually get away with this stuff because everyone assumes they are progressive, need to suck it upbehave more responsibly. Contributing to the Maryland economy while also making a profit should be enough.  The Maryland folks who work on your crews are just as important as your investors.  Do you really need another yacht? 

Corporate welfare is unattractive, even if Kevin Spacey is the one whipping the votes in support of it.   

Place, Longing, and the Wheaton Rec Center

 

This morning I read in the Washington Post that the Montgomery County Council voted NOT to give the Wheaton Recreational Center historic status.  Although advocates said the building's pagoda style roof made it special, the council ultimately disagreed.  The county can now tear the building down (likely) and build a new, updated rec center.   
 
 So, this morning I decided to head over to the center to see what all the fuss was about and take some pictures.  Full disclosure, I'm not from MOCO and had never been to the Wheaton Rec Center before this morning.  I'm also skeptical about battles to have particular buildings deemed historic.  It is often the go-to tactic of people resistant to change of any type.  When I lived in DC, for example, several people in my neighborhood tried to have our local Giant designated as a historical structure.  The building wasn't historical--it was a dumpy brick block with the charm of a paper cut (see it here)--but they were willing to use any available weapon to prevent redevelopment of the property.    

Fortunately, the Wheaton Rec Center was nicer than my old Giant, and prettier than I thought it would be.  That's not to say it hasn't seen better days.  It has.   

Ultimately, though, I don't have a dog in this race.  My visit did remind me, though, how much heart and meaning all of us invest in particular places.  It's never the bricks and mortar that people love.  It's not even the architecture in most cases.  Rather, its the association to other people, particular events, or even a mood of a certain time or place.

Hell, Led Zeppelin played at the Wheaton Rec Center (we think--attendees might have been too stoned to remember the right location).  There were probably lots of girls screaming over a shirtless Robert Plant, and just as many guys playing air guitar to Stairway to Heaven.  I'm too young to have seen the bad boyz of Led Zeppelin, but I can imagine how stoked I would have been if I had, and why I might never want to see the building go. 

Purple Line Follies--Snarky but Revealing

Last Wednesday, Washington Post metro columnist Robert McCartney wrote an editorial in which he shared some unwelcome news with the Town of Chevy Chase---the Town is not, as was previously thought, the center of the universe.  

Ok, he didn't say that.  He was far more polite.  He suggested the town should stop spending its tax money on lobbying to have the Purple Line moved from its current route and instead work to lessen its impact.  The line's route has now been approved by federal, state, and local governments.  It isn't likely to move. 

Well, not surprisingly, the Town of Chevy Chase didn't like that.  No, it didn't.  Not one bit.

On Saturday, the Washington Post's editorial page gave its "Local Opinions" space to Jim Mich, a resident of the Town of Chevy Chase. Mich wrote in to say that McCartney was wrong--the Town is indeed the center of the universe.

Ok, Mich didn't say that either.  But he was miffed that McCartney had stereotyped the Town's residents as "a bunch of rich people who don't know what to do with our money."  He also suggested the state could learn something about "sticking to a budget" by watching how the Town manages its money.

When I got to that line in Mich's letter I thought to myself "Oh no he didn't!"  So, naturally, I kept reading.  And, what I found was revealing.

Mich stepped outside of the normal parameters of Purple Line critique (that it will put children in harm's way, cut down hundreds of trees, cost too much, and increase traffic) and said what this is really about--stopping development.   

As Mich argued, "The driving force behind the Purple Line is the people who want it to provide a catalyst for more development. This is a development issue, period, and we would be remiss if we suddenly took a back seat to the development industry which, left unchecked, will run amok to the detriment of residents."

So, what to make of the anti-development sentiment here? 

My first reaction is that trying to stop development in this region is akin to thinking you can stop a barn fire by closing its doors.

According to Census quick facts the District added nearly 45 thousand people between 2010 and 2013.  That's a percent change in the population of 7.4% (in the US as a whole the percent change was only 2.4%).  Census quick facts for MOCO show greater than average growth as well.  Between 2010 and 2012 the county added almost 33 thousand people (a percent change of 3.4%).

You can't blame developers for numbers like these (and I say this as someone who blames developers for a host of things).  The DMV has a lot going for it--plentiful, well paying jobs being one of the main draws.  So, stopping the purple line won't stop population growth.  However, not building the line in the face of this growth will make it harder to move around the inner suburbs.

In light of these trends, the Town of Chevy Chase's opposition to the purple line seems more like a 'the rest of you be damned' sentiment than a garden variety 'not in my backyard' one.       








   

Random MOCO Pic of the Day 3/22/14

Today's addition--cranes and trucks and recyclables, oh my!

These pics are from the Montgomery County Transfer Station, where you drop off your large recyclables.  The last time I saw a crane this big it was at a shipyard in Belfast.  And, how about all those old school fatty TVs at the bottom of pic 1?  

How do people get by on less than a living wage?

Yesterday I provided some living wage figures for the DMV.  In MOCO, a single adult needs to make at least $13.20 an hour to make a living wage.  A single parent with one child needs to earn $25.02.  I concluded yesterday's post by noting that discussions about a living wage are so important because a lot many people don't make one. So, how do people get by when they DON'T make a living wage.

Let's look at what people do to get by in terms of housing.  I focus on housing here because as the author's of the living wage calculator note, housing (and childcare costs) tend to be higher in metropolitan areas. 

In densely populated parts of the DMV (e.g. downtown Silver Spring, Columbia Heights, Ballston), people with low wages often double and triple up in one bedroom apartments.  This happens in 2 bedrooms too, but not as often.  Why?  Well, for starters, there just aren't as many 2- and 3-bedrooms in the DMV as there are 1-bedrooms.  And, their scarcity makes them more desirable, and thus more expensive.   

In my last apartment in DC there were two families who lived in 1-bedroom apartments in my building.  One family included 2 parents and 1 child.  The other had 2 parents and 2 children.  I don't know what their wages were, but I do know that squeezing into a 1-bedroom apartment was what they had to do to afford to live in our neighborhood in the city.  Even the small houses in the area cost upwards of $800,000.  I understood why they were willing to make the squeeze.  The schools were good and access to buses downtown was literally out our front door.  But, it was a sacrifice too.  A 1-bedroom with 3 and 4 occupants is definitely cozy, but exceptionally crowded.  There's too little closet space, not enough privacy, and only one toilet for the all of you.   

Millennials do this teaming up as well.  Although many of the millennials flocking to DC are young professionals, it is useful to keep in mind that being young and professional doesn't mean you can afford DC's luxury rents (Numbeo puts the average 1 bedroom rent in the city center at $1,984.38).  This is especially the case for interns and entry level staffers on the hill, and almost anyone at any level working for an NGO.  There's a reason a lot of millennials haven't left the nest, or have returned to it.  They can't afford to rent.

People do this in the suburbs as well.  There, though, the house is what gets piled up with people.  In households where people don't make a living wage, it is not uncommon for multiple generations of families live together under one roof.  Sometimes, families will also rent out their basements, or even single rooms.  Housing costs in DC's suburbs are lower than in the city, but they are still high, especially when compared to suburban locations in smaller cities, or in cities that aren't experiencing urban booms (e.g. Cleveland or Detroit). 

For people who don't make a living wage, the idea of a nuclear family in a single family house is just that--an idea. It isn't a reality, or likely to be one anytime soon. 
 

What's a 'living wage' in Montgomery County? the DMV?

Although there are hundreds of definitions out there for a living wage, they are all variations on a simple theme.  A living wage is supposed cover the basic cost of living (housing, healthcare, daycare, food, etc.).  

The DMV is an expensive place to live (see my earlier blog post about how much it cost to buy a house in the DMV).  But, how much do you need to make to cover the basics here?  My gut says 'a lot', but my gut isn't good at math. Fortunately, MIT has a handy living wage calculator.  Let's take a look for the DMV shall we?

A couple of caveats.  First, a good benchmark for thinking about these wages is to consider the federal minimum wage--currently at $7.25 an hour.  Second, the calculations from the site are also conservative.  That is, the actual or real living wage may be higher in some places.  The site's authors' note, for example, that the calculator "is likely to underestimate costs such as housing and child care" in metropolitan areas (i.e. the DMV).  Finally, it is useful to keep in mind that a living wage is NOT a middle class wage.  This is the wage you need to get by on.  It only covers the basics--specifically: food, child care, medical costs, transportation, taxes, and an 'other category' for emergencies.  What's not covered?  Entertainment (going to the movies), vacation (a trip to the beach), savings (for a rainy day), education (tutoring, private school, college for you or the kids).  

So, let's start with a comparison between DC, Maryland, and Virginia.  (the table below is created from data selected from the website, which includes much more detailed data).

Place	Living Wage	Adult	Adult, 1 child	2 Adults, 1 child
	Hourly wage	$13.68	$26.37	$23.54
DC	Annual income	$28,454	$54,842	$48,959
	Before taxes
	Hourly wage	$11.79	$23.41	$21.04
Maryland	Annual income	$24,515	$48,696	$43,757
	Before taxes
	Hourly wage	$10.54	$20.77	$19.49
Virginia	Annual income	$21,927	$43,200	$40,543
	Before taxes

A few patterns emerge.  First, DC has the highest living wage, followed by Maryland and then Virginia.  Second, the living wage is higher for a single parent with one child than it is for 2 parents with 1 child.  Why, you might ask?  Well, single parents usually HAVE to rely on child care.  In 2 parent households childcare costs can be eliminated because one parent can stay home with the child. This doesn't always happen, of course, but it CAN happen. 


Now, let's look at how areas within Maryland stack up against each other.  To capture the state's diversity, I'm including a rural, suburban, and urban place. 

Place	Living Wage	Adult	Adult, 1 child	2 Adults, 1 child
	Hourly wage	$7.70	$18.59	$16.21
Garrett Co.	Annual income	$16,013	$38,672	$33,715
	Before taxes
	Hourly wage	$13.20	$25.02	$22.66
Montgomery	Annual income	$27,464	$52,049	$47,135
	Before taxes
	Hourly wage	$11.24	$22.88	$20.51
Baltimore	Annual income	$23,373	$47,595	$42,667
	Before taxes

Not surprisingly, MOCO is more expensive than rural Garrett County.  But, it is also more expensive than Baltimore (city).  For people who live in the DMV this won't come as a surprise.  Many people commute from Baltimore to DC because it costs less to live there.  In this regard, even though MOCO is a suburb, its proximity to DC is both a blessing (all those free museums) and a curse (high cost of living).

Finally, a couple of points.  MIT wouldn't be coming up with a living wage calculator if most people made one.  We have these kind of nifty tools precisely because many people don't make a living wage--especially in expensive metropolitan areas like the DMV.  Second, the federal minimum wage--$7.25--simply isn't enough to live on anymore, even in rural Garrett County (though it isn't far off).

In  my next post I'll talk about how people get by in a context where they don't make a living wage.  See you soon...

NIMBYs and Nazis? After a Good Start to the Week the Purple Line Hits Bumps in the Road

This week started off with good news for the purple line.  The project was selected for federal funds, which will make private investment in the line more likely.  On hump day the news was mixed.  And, by Friday the story was anything but positive.   

The Gazette (a local paper for Silver Spring and Takoma Park) had an above the fold headline entitled "Civil Groups May get Seat at Purple Line Discussion."  According to the story, two MOCO council members are asking County Executive Isiah Leggett to transform the "Coalition of Purple Line Neighborhoods" into a formal task force that would interface with the MOCO's Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transit Administration as the final route is finalized and construction begins.   

What's wrong with civil participation you ask?  Well, it depends on how civic minded the participation will be.  This could be good if the civic groups in the coalition push for added safety along the line, especially where pedestrians could cross the line, or better breaks for families and businesses whose property will be taken via eminent domain.  But, it could also be a fox in the hen house moment.  The Town of Chevy Chase, which has filed a lawsuit over the line, is in the coalition.  If they get to meet regularly with the Maryland Transit Authority (MTA) and MOCO's Department of Transportation, they could turn NIMBYism into an executive level function.  I'm sorry, but the lawsuit makes it hard for me to trust their motives.   


The news on Friday was worse.  The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) sent a warning letter to Montgomery County officials reminding them that federal contracting rules do not permit discrimination against potential bidders.  Some context.  One of the companies involved in the bidding as an affiliate is the French company SCNF.  During World War II SCNF transported Jews to Nazi death camps.  The Maryland House of Delegate's Kirill Reznik (Democrat, Montgomery County, District 39) has introduced a bill to force SCNF to pay reparations to victims of the Holocaust and their surviving family members.

SCNF says the company was taken over by the Nazis during the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Hitler during World War II.  They have also paid reparations, but only to French victims/family members.  No Americans have received reparations.

Reznik says his bill isn't designed to kill the purple line (he counts himself as a supporter).  And, he has suggested he'll change the bill to prevent scuttling the project.  But, the testimony to Maryland House and Senate committees from survivors and their family members was a brutal reminder of wartime atrocities and the collaboration of many companies that allowed it to happen.  If SCNF wins the contract, it will cast a pall over the project.  Let's hope it doesn't. 

Random MOCO Pic of the Day

I sometimes forget that the train lines through downtown Silver Spring aren't just for the metro.  Freight trains travel through here too!  Today it was a Union Pacific train sitting on the bridge over Colesville Road at a standstill--sort of like the traffic below it.

Colorful houses in my 'hood!

The first time I visited Miami I was taken with how colorful the city's houses were.

I saw houses painted bright red, vibrant blue, day-glow orange, deep purple, and even pepto pink.  Others were painted in soft shades of pastel, and a good number were multicolored.  It was a cacophony of color and I loved it.  In the neighborhood I grew up in everyone (and I mean everyone) lived in a brick house. We measured variation by shades of brick--camel, brownish red, dark red.    

Things aren't much different in the DMV.  There are more exceptions than in my hometown, of course, but as a general rule the houses here are just as buttoned up as their owners.  Brick is where it is at, whether you live in a center hall colonial or a Wardman era row house.  Even when people do paint their houses, they tend to be awfully conformist.  The colors don't stray far from the beige spectrum--tan, taupe, or antique white.     

Fortunately, not everyone in the DMV is a conformist!  Here are some of the more colorful houses in my 'hood.  With temps set to fall to 25 degrees tonight, these house colors remind me of Miami (and warm weather!):

    

What Does Jeffrey Thompson's Guilty Plea Mean for the Suburbs?

For two years DC prosecutors have been building a methodical case against the people involved in funding a shadow campaign to help Vincent Gray unseat incumbent Adrian Fenty in the 2010 mayoral campaign.  Today, the key architect of the scheme--businessman Jeffrey Thompson--pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy.  Prosecutors allege that Thompson spent upwards of 600k on the campaign, and that Gray, despite protests otherwise, knew about it. 

So, what does all of this mean for MoCo and other suburban jurisdictions of the DMV?  In the immediate, not much.  But, there could be some long term consequences if Grey doesn't win the primary.  (Remember, DC really doesn't have a Republican Party--at least not one organized enough to win elections--so the winner of the Democratic primary is the presumptive winner of the general election.)   

The most important long-term implication concerns the District's housing policy.  If Grey is out, the current policy could change.  It is too soon to know how it would change, but let's hope it changes for the better.  Under Gray, low income housing has suffered, and that has effects in the suburbs.

Gray's first mayoral campaign slogan--One City!--was on the face of it all about unity.  But, it was interpreted by many citizens as a comment on gentrification and its divisions.  Indeed,  the city's poor and minority populations saw the changes under former mayor Adrian Fenty as favoring whites and wealthy citizens.  At candidate forums in 2010 primary campaign, citizens on the eastern side of the city frequently complained about dog parks and bike lanes, which were, as Washington Post columnist Colbert I King noted at the time, code for "white influence." 

When Gray got elected, however, he didn't do much to preserve (or build new) low income housing.  In fact, a lot of people who thought he'd be an ally were deeply disappointed.  The result of Gray's approach to low income housing is that the city has been 'exporting' its poor and working class citizens to neighboring suburban districts.  People displaced by gentrification have to go somewhere, and many choose to stay in the area even though they leave the city.

The other side (the backlash if you will) of Gray's housing policy is growing homelessness.  The number of homeless families has been skyrocketing in the District.  Although no one knows exactly why--the numbers are higher now than they were at the start of the recession--we do know that among its neighbors DC has the most generous housing policy for homeless people during cold weather.  When the weather gets below freezing, homeless citizens have a right to overnight shelter.  This winter was really cold, so more people needed, and could demand shelter.  The Gray administration has struggled to find temporary shelter for all those in need of it.  It has also publicly complained that the city is housing homeless people from suburban jurisdictions. (This complaint is rich given that some of those people probably lived in the District not long ago...but I digress).     

Poverty and its negative side effects don't respect municipal borders.  So, if someone besides Gray wins election, DC's housing policy could change.  And, that will effect all of us, whether we live in the city or the suburbs. 

Some Love for the Purple Line

The Purple Line is one step closer to becoming reality after Wednesday's announcement that the Federal Transit Administration had included the Purple Line on a list of 7 projects slated for "new starts" grants. 

Although the state has been lining up private money for the project, few people believe private money will materialize without federal backing.  In that regard, Wednesday's news can be viewed as an insurance policy of sorts--private money is now more likely and with it so is the purple line.     

Here's the most recent map of the proposed route. 

Of late the coverage about the purple line has focused on its opponents (e.g. the Town of Chevy Chase).  As with any big public works project, though, the goal is to benefit far more people than you disadvantage.  So, what are the benefits of a Purple Line?  Here are two that come to (my) mind:  

1.  The purple line will update the metro system's hub and spoke design.  A hub and spoke network is basically designed to move people from suburb to city (and vice versa).  People that want to go from suburb to suburb don't tend to get much benefit from a hub and spoke system because the spokes only connect through the hub.  If I want to take the metro to go from Silver Spring to Bethesda, for example, I have to go through DC and then back out again.  The distance by road is about 5 miles.  By train it's around 15 miles.  The purple line will provide people going between Maryland's DMV suburbs with another, faster public transportation option.  

2.  Transit beckons development.  Urban planners love something called 'smart growth,' which in the DMV usually translates into building at higher density around transit points.  And, since the fashion these days is the 'mixed use development,' the transit stations along the purple line could see a boost in housing and retail options.  This trend won't have a huge affect in a place like Bethesda, which is already well developed, but stops on the eastern half of the line, where development has been anemic, could really benefit.   

There are, of course, potential downsides.  And, it is worth considering those not normally considered in the papers (i.e. let's stop worrying about those poor wretches with the best legal representation money can buythe Town of Chevy Chase for a minute and think about who else might see less love than pain from the purple line)

1.  The working class Hispanic population.  Let me start with some context.  Most of the transit stops along the proposed purple line are in areas geographers and urban studies types call 'first suburbs.'  The Brookings Institution defines first suburbs with two criteria--they were built before 1950 and are located in counties adjacent to the main city.  In DC this usually means suburbs inside (or touching the beltway).  First suburbs are a study in contradiction.  Some of their neighborhoods are quite posh (Bethesda).  But, some have experienced significant disinvestment (Langley Park).  This is especially true as you move east along the proposed purple line.  This wealth gradient means that housing in MoCo's eastern suburbs and PG county's western suburbs has become an affordable oasis in a metro area where housing prices are ridiculous (see my earlier post on this topic here).  Big stretches of University Boulevard, for example, now have large immigrant populations from Central America.  The area around 'Tick Tock' Liquor store is a veritable little El Salvador.  There are also some amazing Asian and African places tucked in between the pupersaries and Peruvian chicken places.  The boom of immigrants to these areas has made them culturally vibrant places.  Developers coming into these neighborhoods may appreciate this 'diversity' as a selling point, but they probably won't build new houses or apartments for the working class Hispanics already living in the area.  Instead, they'll do what developers in DC have done--aim for the luxury market.  And, that will mean gentrification and displacement. 

Suburbs and Sidewalks

Ben Adler has an interesting piece on Grist about the new Safe Streets Act, a bill just proposed by Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

The legislation would require that all federally-funded transportation projects incorporate so called Complete Street Principles--the catch phrase for making sure streets take into account a variety of users, including pedestrians, bikers (Schwinn and Harley I presume), public transit, etc. There would be exceptions of course (no one is going to start requiring bike lanes on the interstate!). 

The Complete Streets idea is great, and it isn't just for gentrifying cities.  In fact, Adler points out that the bill's co-sponsors hail from Alaska and Hawaii--states not generally regarded as urban hotspots.  Urban or not, these states still have lots of people who need to walk.  Hawaii is a big retirement destination, and many elderly people can no longer drive.  Likewise, suburban and rural kids still have to walk to school (or the nearest bus stop).  Many walk on the shoulders of busy roads--trips that become more dangerous in winter when daylight comes after school starts and ploughed snow covers usual routes.   

All of this got me thinking about my own neighborhood's walkability.   In many ways my neighborhood is a study in contradictions.  From my house I can walk to a grocery store, a pub, several sandwich shops, a bakery, a coffee shop, a vet, and even a palm reader (suburbanites worry about their future too I guess!).  But, my journey to any of these places requires navigating a wide mix of walk environments. 

The main streets in my neighborhood have sidewalks, but my side street does not.  University Boulevard and Colesville Road also have sidewalks, but crossing either street is difficult.  The crosswalks are few and far between, and crossing between them is a little like running with the bulls in Spain.  You never know what sort of lumbering behemoth of an SUV will come charging your way--walk sign on or not.  

So, what could make my neighborhood more walkable?  Well, the first thing they could do is put in more sidewalks inside the residential parts of the neighborhood.  I don't even think doing so would be that difficult.  One of the first things I noticed when I moved here was that it looked like the lots were designed to have sidewalks out front.  Most of the houses sit on terraces, with a gentle slope down to a flat space in front that looks tailor made for sidewalks.  Here's a picture of one of these flat spaces.  Under all that snow is grass, but the spacing of trees and stair rails suggest a sidewalk was supposed to go here at some point.  
 

Here's another photo from my street.  You can see the same gentle slope down to a sidewalk like area.  Alas, no sidewalk, just grass (or in this case, snow on top of the grass).  

Sidewalks would not only make the street 'cuter,' they would provide a place for people to walk their dogs, play with their kids, and hang out.  And, best of all, the neighborhood wouldn't have to be retrofitted to put them in.  The space is there, waiting for walkers like you and me!

 

Snow Day well played MOCO

My husband had jury duty today at Montgomery County Circuit Court.  Because of the snow and ice, the court was closed.

My husband thought he'd have to show up tomorrow or in a couple of weeks for a makeup day.  Imagine the surprise when he found a notice on the website telling today's scheduled jury pool that they would be summoned again in 2 years! 

That is some snow day/reprieve/extended absence/sabbatical/public service vacay MOCO!   

Of course, this probably means I'll get called to serve on a grand jury, or selected for a high profile case that requires jury sequestration.  Until jury karma comes knocking, though, let me say 'well played MOCO! Circuit Court!'  You must not have the difficulty DC does in getting potential jurors to show up for court.