Want Metro to run during MLB Playoffs? Let the Students Pay for it.

Truth is usually stranger than fiction.  Today's exhibit?  American University has agreed to pay to keep the metro open late for the Nationals' playoff games this fall.  You can read all about in today's Washington Post.

That's right, a university (funded largely through tuition) is offering to pay an expense a corporate tycoon refuses to pay.  I'd say there's not only some entitlement in the air, but a whiff of desperation as well.

This isn't the first time the Nationals have refused to pay to keep metro open late.  It happened a couple of years ago when the team made the playoffs.  The company Living Social ended up picking up the tab.

To be fair, picking up the tab for extended metro hours during a major league sporting event usually isn't that costly.  In fact, all of the other major sports franchises in the city have agreements to pay the upfront costs.  Why?  Because metro agrees to refund the fee if ridership covers the expense, and it usually does.

So, given all that, why in the hell can't the Lerner family--the entitled tycoons at the center of today's truth is stranger than fiction drama--manage to cough up the cash?  It appears the Lerners, who didn't even pay for most of the stadium their team plays in, think the city should cover it.  Why?  Well, here's what the Nationals PR hack unitteam had to say by way of explanation:  "What matters is that our fans will be able to ride Metro to and from postseason games and not have to worry about missing a second of the action." 

Another interpretation is that what we have here is a classic case of a corporate welfare queen grown so fat and lazy that it's now looking for private largess to add to its government goodie bag.* 

FYI, you know you're in trouble when even the owner of Washington's football team agrees to cover expenses for his late night games.

What about AU's role?  Full disclosure--I teach at AU.  My initial reaction, when my husband read the headline to me this morning, was disbelief.  Why would AU--a university at the other end of town from the stadium--pay for that?  It's not like AU is a well known location for 'natitude.'  Sure, some of the students, staff, and profs like the team, but it isn't visibly noticeable in any way.  In fact, a lot of students are from other cities, and continue to root for their home teams when they come here.

Turns out, AU is a "higher education partner" with the Nationals.  According to the Washington Post article linked to above, the partnerhsip gives the university "high visibility inside the ballpark through signs, T-shirt giveaways and other promotional activities."  I wonder if my smiling face graces any of them? Sigh, a girl can dream. 

You could call this an innovative way to market a university.  Or, you could call it an own goal (sorry to mix my sport metaphors dear reader, but I simply could not resist).  None of the comments at the end of the article applauded AU for the move.  Most comments focused solely on the Nats (and none of them were good).  When AU did get a mention, the tone was blase at best (this is what all universities do) and scathing at worst.  At least two commentators saw a branding effort in backfire mode, as in AU just demoted itself to the amateur league where the community colleges** and for-profit universities play the advert game.   

We seem to have an advertising fail.  So, why don't we create a scholarship win instead?  Take the money and establish a scholarship for a local kid in the DMV who can't afford AU's tuition but wants to come here.  That's a positive way to build a brand in the city and region.          

* It is also possible that MLB is playing hardball, pushing the Lerner family to refuse to pay the fees so other teams in other cities won't have to agree to similar deals.  Even if this is the case, it doesn't make the Lerner's entitlement any better.  It just makes MLB look bad as well.  
** I wish community colleges did more advertising.  They are cheaper than for-profits and they have much higher graduation rates.  Check 'em out!

What does a declining GDP look like?

This weekend the Washington Post reported that the GDP for the Washington DC metro area declined by .8% between 2012 and 2013.  The average change for the country's 381 metro areas was +1.6%, although some places saw gains of as much as 10% (Mt. Vernon-Anacortes metro area in Washington State and Greeley Colorado).  

The DC metro area performance puts us is in the bottom 6th of the 381 metro areas in the US.  In more graphic terms it means our change in GDP was on par with the change in Atlantic City, Birmingham Al, and Springfield Illinois.  That's right, DC didn't even outperform the town Donald Trump just left.   

So, what's behind the change?   

The government shut down played a big role.  It lasted for just over 2 weeks.  The Sequester, which created broad cuts across government was probably just as important, and unlike the shutdown isn't a one time thing.

What does a declining GDP 'look' like?

Let me start with a personal anecdote.  My husband is a government contractor.  During the shutdown his company allowed him to use vacation and sick leave to cover the lost days.  After the first week it also told employees they could borrow from their 2014 vacation allotment.  My husband was lucky in that he still had a fe vacation days when the shutdown began in October.  But, given its duration, he ate through it and all but a few days of his sick leave (he wanted to keep some in pocket for emergencies).  He then had to borrow about a week of his 2014 vacation time.  A lot of his colleagues didn't have any vacation left so they chose to forgo paychecks (presumably to avoid the prospect of facing a 2014 without any time away from work).

Although Congress reinstated the pay of civil servants, companies with government contracts were left to negotiate for back pay.  My husband's company is still going through that process.  What did that mean for our spending?  He didn't buy gas for two weeks--no need to if he wasn't going to work.  We also didn't go out to eat at all during the shutdown, and this year we also spent less on vacation (and overall) because we still don't know if my husband will be in the 'hole,' and owe vacation time/pay to his employer.

Now, a more graphic view.  On the way to my son's daycare every morning I pass an informal day labor site wedged between a 7-Eleven and a small dress shop.  I've been driving by this location all summer, and every morning around 8:15 there are about a dozen men waiting there.  I can make that count because the site is at an intersection where I'm often waylaid by a persistent red light.  The sad part is that during all of those brief pauses I've never see anyone looking for workers there.  I'm sure people looking for workers come here, but the fact that I've never actually seen someone at a peak hour for a day labor site is troubling.

Government workers (civil servants and contractors) cut back their spending, so contractors do as well.  The people who would usually work for them are then forced to wait for a job at a 7-Eleven, hoping they'll find a job, at least for the day.   
   

This is how a shrinking economy unravels at the edges.  A drop in GDP tends to 'show up' (to be visible) at the bottom of the job market first, but with data like these, it won't stay there.

Next post--how to square a declining GDP with tales of a booming DC.     


* The Washington Post report was based on a study just published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  
** The Census name for the DC metro area is "Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV"

George Orwell in the Maryland Court System?

You can't make this stuff up.  Really.  In fact, I wish I or someone else was making up the story I'm about to recount for you.  As you'll see momentarily, these events belong in a George Orwell novel, and not in a Maryland court.  

Let first start out by noting that this story came to the Washington Post via Courtland Milloy, who is an opinion columnist, not a reporter.  Maybe they should switch Milloy's hat and title because this story should have been on WAPO's front page when it first happened in late July.

So, here's the rundown.  A judge in La Plata Maryland used a stun-cuff on a defendant who was representing himself, poorly as it turns out.  That is, the judge didn't like the pace the defendant was using or the case law he was citing.  So, instead of enduring what teachers have to endure everyday, the judge, Robert Nalley, ordered a deputy in the courtroom to administer a 50,000 volt shock to the defendant/legal council via a bracelet attached to his ankle.  The defendant is described in multiple accounts as falling to the ground "screaming" and "writhing in pain."     

No, I'm not joking.

This really happened.  You can read the first journalist report about it here.  Props to the journalist, Ruben Castaneda and his paper the Baltimore Post-Examiner. 

Milloy's piece rightly focused on the human rights abuse entailed in this act.  As he notes, electric shock cannot legally be administered because a judge doesn't like what he's hearing.  It can only be used if the defendant is about to hurt himself or someone else.  And anyway, rules aside, when did the court system become a site for torture, a "little Guantanamo" as Milloy put it? 

Let me focus in on another element.  The defendant, Delvon King,apparently holds a number of anti-government ideas.  In particular, King believes he is a "sovereign citizen" and as such not under the jurisdiction of the judge. 

This sort of language is reminiscent of the militia movement of the 1990s and more recently by Cliven Bundy in Nevada, a rancher who feels entitled to use Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land without paying for it.

I am no fan of anti-government rhetoric.  Civilized society requires government, and I would obviously include a judical system as part of effective government.  But, in a civilized society power must come restraint.  Nalley failed that test miserably.  He also just gave anti-government types across the country some evidence that their conspiracies might not be so far off the mark after all.  Well done Nalley, you've just become the boogey man incarnate.  I bet your mother is proud. 

I hope he is removed from the bench immediately and punished accordingly.  His behavior is stomach churning. 

DC2024--A Rogue's Gallery of Supporters?

It is official--DC is under consideration to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.  There's even a webpage chronicling the effort. 

What a bad idea.  A bad idea on so many levels.  There will be multiple posts about this folly to come in the weeks ahead.  For now, let's just focus on who is supporting the bid.  If some of these 'civic-minded' folks have something to gain, it should give us pause.

When I looked at the DC2024 webpage 'boosting' the bid, one pattern was brick-through-the-window obvious.  Major league sports are behind the venture.  Specifically, Ted Leonis (who owns the Washington Capitals, the Vizards, and the Mystics), Mark D. Lerner (who owns the Nationals), and Paul Tagliabue (a former NFL commissioner).  The only major players missing are Dan Snyder and the DC United's Owners.  Given Snyder's level of toxicity, Tagliabue is most likely the NFL's stand in.  And, DC United is still focused on trying to get a stadium, meaning it doesn't (yet) have a dog in this fight.    

I know, at this point, some of you are unhappy with the direction this here tirade is going:

• "Paws off! I'm going to marry Ovi, and for that to happen, he needs to live here" 
• "Ladies Love Cool Mystics!" 
• "Natitude!" 
• "If George Will supports the Nats, then so do I!"  

Ok, just kidding on the last one.  Will's prolix (and tedious) fandom is reason enough to start rooting for, gasp, the Braves.  (I'd say the Orioles, but O's fans are far too loyal to have dropped their team when a newer stadium opened up closer to home--major props to them). 

But, I digress.  The role of Major Leagues sports give me a stop-me-in-my-tracks-can-I-get-off-this-train level of pause. 

Leonis and Lerner both have something to gain from having the Olympics in the city.  They respectively own and lease  the Verizon Center and National's Park.  And, though a successful Olympic bid would likely require building some new facilities, both venues are new enough to get some use (and as a result, to generate fees for their current lease holders).  The baseball stadium also has a view and looks great in photographs taken from the other side of the river.   

Although Leonis has been a fairly good corporate citizen, it would be hard to put Lerner in that category.  He's basically tried to shift the costs for his team onto the city since he first started negotiating for the stadium nearly 10 years ago.   

It started when he demanded the city pay for the full costs of his stadium.  Apparently, the owners of major league franchises are a lot like the former Governor and First Lady of Virginia--they think someone else should pick up the tab.  Since then, Lerner's been late on his rent to the city, and gotten fussy about paying the metro system to keep the system open for games that go late (even though the city will reimburse him if the ridership is high enough).

In my mind, these guys have too much vested interest in an Olympic bid to be viewed as reputable voices on behalf of the city or metro area.

Public investment should be for public, not private gain, and should be substantial rather than ephemeral.

Review of the National Book Festival's first year Inside

I am a book nerd.  And, I don't mean a Kindle or Nook or any other e-reader nerd.  I love the real deal.  Books with pages you can turn and spines you can crack. 

So, I was happy to head to the National Book Festival this weekend with my family.  In years past the festival was held on the National Mall.  This year, for the first time, it was held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. 

Festival organizers chose the new location under duress.  The National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, decided that the Festival did too much damage to the grass and would have to look elsewhere for this year's event.  The Convention Center isn't too far from the mall, but it is definitely a different kind of space.  Organizers were understandably worried that attendance would drop. 

Fortunately, things were just fine.  And, though I'd prefer the festival be held on the Mall, MOCO Musings can offer a positive review of the festival's first indoor iteration. 

Bye-bye porta-potties.  I skipped the 2010 festival because I was 8 months pregnant at the time.  I wasn't worried about the walking or the heat.  But, the fear that I wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes put the fear of (your favorite holy guy here) in me.  The Washington Convention Center has bathrooms--plenty of them.  And, except for the bathrooms right by the doors, none of them had lines. 

Metro Accessible.  You can take the  metro right to the Convention Center.  This makes it easier to avoid driving to the Festival.  It also a big bonus if you've got mobility challenged people in your party.  Whether you drive or take metro, a trip to the Mall usually requires some walking.      

The Pavilion of States.  Maybe it is my imagination, but the Pavilion of States really upped its game this year.  For starters it felt like they had more space in which to spread out.  It was still crowded with kids and adults trying to get stamps, but the throng of people was manageable and worth it.  We scored cool state magnets, marbles (I'm looking at you West Virginia!), one free kids book, and MAPS (shout out to you Kansas!).  I didn't make every state, but here's a map of the states I did get stamps for.  Personally, I like the Kansas stamp the best.  But never fear, the Maryland Crab was a close second. 

Yay books!  And, long live the National Book Festival.  It is one of the few non-partisan things in this town.  It was started by Laura Bush and continued by Michelle Obama.  Let's hope the next first lady or first gentleman keeps it up!  

Cray Cray in MOCO?

When I moved to the suburbs two years ago I was worried I would leave behind some of the urban crazy I'd come to love.

In my old neighborhood an elderly gentleman used to walk a loop of blocks wearing a rain poncho--usually only in the summer when it was sunny and hot.  He would also give you a big smile and say "glorious morning to you".  I loved running into him because crazy or not, he was sweet.  And, unlike most people in DC, he'd actually acknowledge your presence on the street.

There was also the lady who cursed like a sailor.  Her hangout was in front of the National Cathedral.  Something about the yin and yang of the holy and profane used to always make me smile. 

Well, I shouldn't have feared.  MOCO has as much crazy as anyone else.  Last weekend's story about a landlord, an arborist, and a hapless Homeland Security Agent proved me wrong.  You can read the full story here.  But, let me break it down for you.  

A local landlord with a checkered past wanted to evict an elderly woman and her son from their apartment because they were 2 weeks behind on the rent.

The formal procedure being too too slow for the landlord's tastes, he hired a 'heavy' to forcibly move them out.  A heavy nicknamed Bunny.  A heavy whose day job is as an arborist.  As you can probably guess, Bunny doesn't look very soft and cuddly in his mugshot.

And our hapless Homeland Security agent?  Turns out the landlord shared his plans with our DHS guy in advance.  To his credit, the DHS guy told the landlord his plan was a bad idea, but still drove him to an ATM, presumably to get money to pay the heavy coming over later that night.  And, when the heavy arrived and the crazy began, the DHS guy wasn't exactly quick draw McGraw.  Despite the advance warning and 'screams' from the tenants, our man still couldn't manage to get a picture of the license plate on the getaway car.

Let's hope he's in HR and not in intelligence.

Unaccompanied Minors in the DMV

It's official.  Some of the unaccompanied minors coming across the US/Mexican border from Central America are now in the DMV.  As I'll explain below, their arrival isn't surprising.

Although most Hispanics in the US are from Mexico (or have parents from Mexico), in Montgomery County they are much more likely to be from Central America (or have parents from there).  The table below shows 2010 Census data on the Hispanic share of the population, and the percentage of that share by place of origin, for MOCO, Maryland, and the US.

To understand how unaccompanied minors from Central America got here let's break it down into push and pull factors.  Push factors explain why a person leaves a place.  Pull factors explain why they go where they go.

THE PUSH
In Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala--the 3 countries where the overwhelming majority of kids are coming from--gangs are a ubiquitous menace.  Central American gangs aren't like gangs in the US who control relatively small turf in poor neighborhoods.  These gangs are much bigger.  In some places the control entire towns; in others they control multiple neighborhoods as well as major streets and highways.  Sure, if you are a rich person in these countries you can afford to (mostly) cocoon yourself.  You can hire a private security detail, live in a gated community with armed guards, and confine yourself to high end areas that are well policed by private forces.

Everybody else is left at the mercy of gangs.  And, since most of these countries don't have sizable middle classes, 'everybody else' constitutes a majority of the population.

So, what are Central American gangs like?  Well, you can always check out the think tank accounts (see here and here), but let me break it down in simple terms.  Most gang members are young men, many of them teenagers.  All teenagers have poor impulse control.  These teenagers also have high caliber weapons and follow the creed that power is key and dominance is power.

If you are a parent or caregiver this is terrifying because it means that your kids can be roughed up, raped, or beaten unconscious by local gang members simply throwing their weight around.  Even worse, your kids could be forced to join a gang and become one of the monsters themselves.

If you are a kid, this is terrifying AND confusing.  The adults, who are supposed to be in charge, can't protect you because it's the teenagers running the show.

As a parent, my first instinct would be to get my kid out of that mix STAT!  If I was living with them, we'd head out together.  If I was in the US, I'd hire a coyote (a smuggler) to get them to me.    

THE PULL:
Why come to MOCO?  Many unaccompanied minors come to the US to be with their parents, who often work here without papers.  MOCO has a higher than average concentration of Central Americans, so it's not surprising that there are reunions happening here and in other parts of the DMV.   

Since this issue first hit the news, I've heard people ask "why would a parent ever leave their kids behind in the first place?"  There's usually a hint of judgement behind the question, but there's also genuine curiosity.  Well, let's start with the fact that there aren't nearly enough jobs to go around.  And, then, even if you get a job, it is likely to be minimum wage.  Central American minimum wages are abysmal (here they are just crappy).  They are not enough to cover basic food staples.  So, these parents leave for work, but the calculus is more than economic.  If you need money for food for your kids, you're talking about survival.   

I've also heard people ask the flip side of this question--why would you ever let your kid travel through Mexico unattended?  The trip is truly hazardous.  Everyone wants a mordida (a bribe) from migrants, and some want more than that (sexual favors, material belongings, forced labor).  In light of this, people often think--"they must be mad for encouraging their kids do that."  The thing is, the dangers aside, the trip opens up a light at the end of the tunnel.  If you make it, things will get better.  Staying behind is like accepting a tunnel with no end, no light. 

When the kids come here they are, in a sense, coming home.  For them, home is with family members in a safe space.  We are that, at least by comparison.  Yes, deportation looms, and we have our own gangs here too.  But, at least for a short while, they can take a breath.  And, exhale.

I hope we give them the space and sanctuary to do just that for as long as they need to.