Comments on: Say What You Will About Fenty, But He Is Fixing Up a Lot of Parks

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:10:43 +0000

The City Paper says that Justice Park is a $12 million project:

Fenty’s DCHA Contracts: Some Questions
Posted by Mike DeBonis on Oct. 23, 2009, at 8:16 pm

You have questions about the $82 million dollars in parks-and-rec spending that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is sending to the D.C. Housing Authority? LL has (some) answers!

What are these projects?

According to data furnished by the D.C. Council, they are 12 projects to renovate 12 parks or recreation facilities. One, to build a $1.3 million ballpark at Emery Rec Center, was awarded in January. The rest—concerning 7th and N park ($800,000), Bald Eagle Rec Center ($5.3M), Barry Farm Rec Center ($15M), Chevy Chase Playground ($1.3M), Fort Stanton Rec Center ($12M), Guy Mason Rec Center ($3M), Justice Park ($12M), Kenilworth Rec Center ($12M), Park View ballfield ($1.2M), Rosedale Rec Center ($16M), and a new park in LeDroit Park ($1.7M)—were awarded last month.

By: Sick of Poverty Pimps

Sick of Poverty Pimps — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:33:44 +0000

The executive’s job to produce results for the citizens. Schools and Parks & Rec are curcial to the success of our children.

Harry Thomas and Gray are running around bragging about their power to hold things up. You can see the smiles forming at the corners of their mouths. They don’t give a damn about progress. They care about feeling important. They care about their friends (who have bilked billions over the course of the Barry thru Williams administrations) getting their schemes going again.

Now that they are on the outside looking in, they want to point fingers and call names.

Fenty said within a day of learning about the contract issue that he would send everything but executed contracts back to the council.

But, they won’t settle for that, they want to review everthing over 75K. OK. you were mad about contracts over a million. So they react by asking for more than citizens every agreed to let them review. They want to stall everything so they can get their fingers in every pie. Grandstanding Poverty Pimps!!!

Harry Thomas is the worst of the lot.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:08:13 +0000

Don’t be so convinced that because Fenty is from here that he has the city’s best interest in mind. There are a host of African [d]ictators that cared very little about their country.

Fenty compared to African Dictator?? I am not his biggest fan but this is stupid.

Newspapers need not worry blogs will eventually destroy themselves…

By: Buck Turgidson

Buck Turgidson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:38:40 +0000

@Dirty. That’s an interesting factoid. However, given that the tax burden for the rich has been steadily decreasing for a generation (down from the pre-Reagan 90% marginal tax rate), and the class warfare has been *increasing* at the same time, I’m not sure how you reach your cause-and-effect conclusion.

I’d argue that the USA was far better off in those pre-1980 days, when income inequality was kept in check by a highly redistributive income tax on the top 10% of the population, and the middle class was growing. It’s all been an express train to the Third-World since then.

By: Dirty

Dirty — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:49:57 +0000

Nate – the top 10% pay 71% of federal income taxes, 40% pay 0%. Not sure what small pool constitutes to you, but to me the entire country does not share the burden and that is the problem. The class warfare exists because not everyone pays even 1% in federal income taxes.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/250.html

By: gswiszcza

gswiszcza — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:14:03 +0000

Anon, I don’t know where you’re getting your figures, but the Justice Park renovation is $750k for the entire park, not just the half of it that is going toward the community garden. Which is still a decent amount, but it’s less than the cost of renovating the 14th and Girard Park and only slightly more than the cost of the S & T Street parks.

Also, the garden portion of this park was a community driven feature that DPR didn’t even think of until someone at an early community meeting for the park brought it up. The garden idea was consistently supported by community members over and above other designs such as using the park for passive space, which is why it is in the design now.

By: nate

nate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:34:39 +0000

Dirty Says:
Sounds oddly familiar to what is happening at the National level…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
True. But at the national level, an entire country shares the burden. On a city level, a small pool of tax paying citizens shoulder the burden.

By: Dirty

Dirty — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:33:06 +0000

“Call it what it is: a money run our tax dollars. Fenty and his cronies are stealing our tax dollars under the radar, all while billing it as something good for us. Yet, we are so caught up in the moment when see the new park, we don’t realize it. These works are rarely vigorously demanded. Many are rarely used and some are over run by rowdy juvenile kids.”

Sounds oddly familiar to what is happening at the National level…

By: nate

nate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:26:43 +0000

Fenty is smart though. He is copying the formula of every black mayor that preceded him. Black people are very easy to manipulate. Build us a park in a crappy neighborhood and we'll forget you never solved the crime. Most of us have grown accustomed to it by now. It's no big deal. But show us you care for us by building us a park or a rec center, and you have our vote for life. Give us some money by way of redistributing wealth through a meaningless Summer Job seals your candidacy for life. Just think of how many black people still brag about how Barry's Summer Job gave them their first job. Never a mention of how that job was a springboard for them. We don't want to do for our self. But we are happy with sticking it to the white man by voting for the guy that gave us something.

By: Parks

Parks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:52:57 +0000

You want an idea of how well the city maintains parks and in particular fields, read this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/29/AR2009102904610.html