Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Vol. XX, No. 19
THE GEORGETOWN CURRENT Council tackles $188 million gap
JUST NICE
■ Budget: Cuts, tax increases
produce spirited discussion By ELIZABETH WIENER Current Staff Writer
Staring down a very deep budget hole, D.C. Council members Tuesday insisted that residents protesting cuts in their favored programs also suggest ways to slim down the city government or raise
additional revenue. And in a daylong hearing, many of the roughly 150 witnesses complied, offering ways to shake loose more federal dollars, combine programs, cut salaries or overtime pay for city workers and — in a now familiar refrain — raise income taxes. Immediately at issue is Mayor Adrian Fenty’s new proposal to plug a $188 million budget gap for the current fiscal year. His proposal,
submitted to the council last week, avoids any tax increases, as the outgoing mayor has long promised. But it would cut funding for virtually every city agency, for a total savings of $161 million; use federal stimulus money to maintain current “per pupil” school funding levels; and eliminate 125 vacant or “redundant” positions. One controversial budget item identifies $22 million in savings from having moved about See Budget/Page 29
Guy Mason renovations set to begin By TEKE WIGGIN Current Correspondent
Bill Petros/The Current
Sisters Caroline and Emory Haynes got a chance to meet Santa and pose for a picture with him Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Center, which is hosting both Brunches with Santa and meet-Santa afternoons this holiday season.
Renovations at the Guy Mason Recreation Center are scheduled to begin this week following delays caused by a D.C. Council member’s concerns and continuous permitting snags through the summer and fall. The $4.7 million project — which will install a new elevator and heating and cooling systems and add more bathrooms — should be finished by late May, according to Tony Robinson of the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization. “Really we are right on the cusp of construction,” Robinson said. Demolition for the renovations took place in the spring at the recreation center at 3600 Calvert St., but construction did not begin as initially scheduled due to a holdup from Ward 8 Council member Marion See Park/Page 10
Bill Petros/The Current
Permitting complications have held back the start of the long-awaited renovation of the Glover Park recreation center.
Tree dispute looms large in Georgetown
Activists urge city to adopt new anti-bullying measure
By ELIZABETH WIENER
■ Legislation: Charter
Current Staff Writer
The preservation boards that protect Georgetown’s historic streetscape are facing off against local tree lovers who are trying to keep the neighborhood green. At issue is the height of the little metal fences installed around tree boxes to keep dogs, litter and heavy-footed pedestrians away. At this point the dispute, which has played out at the Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission, Old Georgetown Board and — most recently — the august U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, comes down to a mere four inches. But to tree advocates, including the city’s chief forester, those four inches could determine the life or death of beleaguered street trees.
NEWS ■ Ellington looks to ‘Dreamgirls’ to fill its budget gap. Page 2. ■ EastBanc changes plans for historic post office. Page 3.
schools argue for exception By JESSICA GOULD Current Staff Writer
Bill Petros/The Current
A federal commission says the city’s 18-inch treebox standard is unsuitable for Georgetown. “It’s not easy for street trees out there. Let’s give them a little bit of real estate to do their thing,” said John Thomas, head of the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration. “When we use an 18-inch [fence], no one goes in — bikes, dogs, humans.” Thomas told the Fine Arts Commission that higher See Trees/Page 10
PA S S A G E S ■ GWU exhibition looks at summer World Cup trip. Page 17. ■ Local hospice aims for comfort during holidays. Page 17.
Trina Cole always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. She envisioned makeup and miniskirts, shoulder-length hair and knee-high boots. “Many children know what they want to be in life,” Cole testified Monday before the D.C. Council. “And so did I. I wanted to be female.”
SPORTS ■ Sidwell Friends boys basketball aims for title game. Page 15. ■ Local girls basketball teams have new looks on the court. Page 15 .
The problem, of course, was that she wasn’t. For most of her life, Trina was a boy named Tristan. Then, when Cole was 14, she began attending classes at Dunbar High School dressed like a girl. And that, she said, was when the bullying got really bad. “I was assaulted verbally and physically abused at school,” she said. She was called “faggot” and “low life.” She was banned from the girls’ restroom, she said, and ridiculed in the boys’. Now, city council members say See Bullying/Page 30
INDEX Business/9 Calendar/32 Classifieds/45 District Digest/4 Exhibits/37 In Your Neighborhood/28 Opinion/12
Passages/17 Police Report/6 Real Estate/27 School Dispatches/18 Service Directory/40 Sports/15 Theater/36