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January 20, 2006 News Clips

WASHINGTON, DC NEWS

Williams Fundraiser To Aid Ally On Council
Patterson Gets Lift In Chairman Bid

By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page B01

Mayor Anthony A. Williams has agreed to host a fundraiser for council member Kathy Patterson next week, following through on his vow last month to reward supporters of a stadium lease agreement with Major League Baseball.

Patterson (D-Ward 3) voted against the stadium financing legislation in December 2004 but supports a lease agreement. She is running to replace mayoral candidate Linda W. Cropp (D) as council chairman.

"The mayor has always believed in helping council members who help him," said Vince Morris, a Williams spokesman.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011802461.html

 

Williams Political Ally Is Stadium Mediator

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page B05

Former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer, a longtime political ally of DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams's, was selected yesterday to mediate a dispute between the District government and Major League Baseball over the stalled agreement to build a new stadium.

Archer, 64, was in town yesterday for an initial meeting between Williams and representatives from the Washington Nationals and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission. Officials from the American Arbitration Association, which is handling the mediation process, also were involved.

Vince Morris, a spokesman for Williams (D), described the gathering as an introductory meeting in which details about the controversial stadium lease agreement were not discussed at length.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701476.html

 

DC May Limit Parking Permits
Mayor Proposes Higher Fees, Fewer Stickers Per Residence

By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Page B05

DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) wants to increase annual residential parking permit fees in the District and limit zoned stickers to three per household, a spokesman for his office said yesterday.

Under the mayor's proposed bill, the parking fees would increase from $15 to $25 for the first car, $50 for a second car and $100 for a third. The owner of three cars, then, would pay $175 for three permits allowing street parking in designated zones that generally are in densely populated neighborhoods and communities near Metro stops. The fees have been raised only $5 since 1991.

Spokesman Vince Morris said the mayor wants to encourage more District residents to take public transportation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601057.html

 

Mortgage Program Requires Review of SE Hospital Plan

By Susan Levine and Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 15, 2006; Page C08

The plan by Mayor Anthony A. Williams and Howard University officials to exempt a proposed $400 million hospital from the city's usual regulatory review is not permitted by the federal mortgage insurance program that is critical to half of the project's financing.

The university expects to pay for most of its share of the National Capital Medical Center's cost, as much as $212 million, through tax-exempt revenue bonds backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The mortgage insurance would help Howard obtain a lower interest rate on its borrowing.

But the FHA's "minimum eligibility requirements" will not allow the hospital to move ahead as Williams (D) and the university would like -- by bypassing the "certificate of need" process that is intended to encourage accountability within health care and to discourage unnecessary duplication of services.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/14/AR2006011401037.html

 

418-Room Washington Marriott Sells
By Barbra Murray
Last updated: January 18, 2006  10:26am

WASHINGTON, DC-A partnership involving Amerimar Enterprises, Greenbaum & Rose Associates and Angelo & Gordon has acquired the Washington Marriott Hotel. It is the first time the site has come under new ownership in its 25-year history.

Relying on Molinaro Koger's Rob Koger to orchestrate the transaction, the Auger Family--relatives of the 418-room property's developer Ulysses Auger--sold the Washington Marriott to for an undisclosed figure. Located off M Street at 1221 22nd St. NW in the city's West End neighborhood, the nine-story hotel was developed in 1981, becoming the first Marriott property in the District. 

http://www.globest.com/news/455_455/washington/142090-1.html

 

 

REGIONAL NEWS

Housing, Traffic Lead Local Quality-of-Life Concerns

By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Page D01

A lack of affordable housing and traffic congestion are the top quality-of-life concerns among Washington area residents, according to a Gallup Organization survey sponsored and to be released today by the Greater Washington Initiative.

Discontent caused by those issues could affect the region's economic development, said Tim Priest, executive director of the initiative, a regional marketing group affiliated with the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

The poll found that only 9 percent of area residents think that the region offers enough affordable housing and that it is easy to get from place to place with little traffic. On average, residents of 21 other cities held better perceptions about commuting, housing and other basic needs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601070.html

 

Trailing, Duncan expected to go negative

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006

ANNAPOLIS -- Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, trailing far behind in campaign fund-raising, is expected to sharpen and increase his attacks on Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley to try to narrow the gap in the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The thought of Duncan hammering O'Malley while Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) has a much larger campaign treasury, no primary challenger and the power of incumbency is causing leading Democrats considerable queasiness.

Many top Democrats are worried that a bloody battle between Duncan and O'Malley will make it all the more difficult to unite the party after the September primary. And that will diminish the chances of retaking the governor's office, with Ehrlich hoarding his resources for the final campaign sprint between September and November.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/012006/polia%20s200325_31897.shtml

 

Leaders defend, assail $29B budget

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006

ANNAPOLIS -- Drunken sailors are wearing red this year.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. unveiled a $29.6 billion budget plan Tuesday, boosting state spending by 12 percent for fiscal 2007, the largest increase in decades.

See the full contents of the governor's legislative package at www.governor. maryland.gov.

Ehrlich (R) insisted the spending plan exhibited fiscal restraint, with $670 million set aside to cover forecasted deficits. But Democrats took pot shots, taking revenge from years of being painted as spendthrifts.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/012006/polia%20s200326_31899.shtml

 

Ehrlich Outraising Foes
Campaign Totals Show Md. GOP Gaining Strength

By Matthew Mosk and John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page B04

In a state where Democrats dominate the voter rolls and long held a lock on power, Maryland Republicans offered compelling evidence -- in fundraising totals released yesterday -- that they will be a formidable force in this year's elections.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. reported raising $10.8 million to date for his reelection bid, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's campaign said he has taken in $1.27 million for the U.S. Senate race, and the state Republican Party account showed a sizable financial edge over the Democrats.

"It shows that our message is resonating with the people of the state," said GOP spokeswoman Audra Miller.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011802593.html

 

O'Malley Has Over $4 Million For Election

By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 16, 2006; Page B05

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley is entering the 2006 election year with more than $4 million in the bank, aides to the Democratic candidate for governor said yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, O'Malley's Democratic rival, would not say what his report will show when filed this week. Duncan will make his numbers public tomorrow, spokeswoman Jody Couser said.

Both Democrats are expected to lag far behind Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who aides say will have more than $10 million on hand for the November election.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/15/AR2006011500860.html

 

Kaine Plan On Traffic Unleashes Swift Blitz
Developers Lobby Over Growth Curbs

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page A01

RICHMOND, Jan. 17 -- Developers on Tuesday launched a rapid-response campaign to undermine Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) just hours after Virginia's new chief executive called for broader controls on growth to reduce traffic.

Members of a suit-and-tie posse gathered in the morning a few blocks from the Capitol, ate doughnuts, sipped coffee and were deputized as lobbyists for a day in what developers see as a must-win battle with Kaine over his proposals to let localities deny rezonings if roads are inadequate.

"We've already learned that we can have a handshake and be smiled at and have exactly the opposite happen," warned Anthony Clatterbuck, president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, as the group set out to meet with Virginia's lawmakers. "We can't be naive."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701465.html

 

Homes Staying on the Market Longer

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page LZ06

Home prices jumped over the past year in Loudoun County, but making a sale is taking longer.

Single-family homes and condominiums sold for a record median price of $509,950 last month, up 17.8 percent from the same period a year ago.

But it took 37 days, on average, for a seller to snag a contract last month, up from 26 days in December 2004, according to Multiple Listing Service data posted on the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS® ' Web site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701830.html

 

Metro Considers Tysons Options
Tunneling Might Be More Affordable

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page LZ03

The engineer overseeing construction of a subway line in Barcelona is visiting Fairfax County this week to offer advice on whether a planned Metrorail extension through Tysons Corner should be changed dramatically from an aboveground line to a tunnel.

The tunnel idea has been kicked around for several years as Metro, state and local officials mapped the path of a Metrorail extension from Falls Church to Dulles International Airport and beyond. But the idea was rejected as too costly. Under the current plan, less than a half-mile of the four-mile route through Tysons would be underground, with the rest at street level or elevated above the tangle of highways in the area.

Then last fall, Metro officials reconsidered tunneling as they learned more about a technique becoming popular with European transit systems. It's an engineering marvel that can bore through twice as much earth as traditional machines, drilling a hole almost 40 feet wide, instead of the 20 feet achieved during construction of subway tunnels such as Metro's. By excavating the two tunnels needed for the rail line at once, the new system could be more efficient, transit officials said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701937.html

 

$1 Billion Transportation Plan Emerging In Va. Senate
GOP Lawmakers Split Again On Proposals to Raise Taxes

By Michael D. Shear and Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page B01

RICHMOND, Jan. 18 -- Some Republican leaders in the Virginia Senate will propose as early as Friday a series of tax and fee increases that could grow to about $1 billion a year for road and transit projects, once again setting the stage for a bitter clash over taxes with the House of Delegates.

Their plan will be even larger than the $700 million-a-year proposal the Senate offered two years ago, according to several sources familiar with the plan, most of whom said they didn't want to be named because some details are still being worked out.

"It will be in the range of three-quarters of a billion and $2 billion a year. I'm thinking it will end up right at a billion," said Sen. Charles R. Hawkins (R-Pittsylvania), who chaired a Senate study committee on the topic over the past year and said he will lead the effort to pass the proposals this year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011802358.html

 

GOP Picks Staton As Senate Candidate
Loudoun Supervisor, Herring in 15-Day Race

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page VA08

The race is on for the Jan. 31 special election in Virginia's 33rd Senate District. And from the looks of it so far, this race will be defined, like so much of Northern Virginia politics, by development and traffic.

Loudoun County Supervisor Mick Staton Jr. (R-Sugarland Run) and Democrat Mark R. Herring, a Leesburg lawyer and former supervisor, began their 15-day face-off just hours after Staton easily won a four-way primary for the Republican nomination Monday. The two men are vying to replace William C. Mims (R), Virginia's new deputy attorney general.

First thing Tuesday, both Staton and Herring were claiming to be the better candidate to control growth, and each accused the other of allowing unbridled development to overtake Loudoun County. The 33rd Senate District comprises eastern Loudoun and a small piece of Fairfax County.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011800039.html

 

$150M Condo Towers Top Out
By Barbra Murray
Last updated: January 19, 2006  10:31am

(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)

RESTON, VA-Two condominium towers have topped out at the residential compound known as Midtown Reston Town Center. The site is being developed by KSI Services Inc. in conjunction with construction partner Bovis Lend Lease. Known as Midtown Reston East and Midtown Reston West, the structures will offer an aggregate 293 residences.

The price tag for their development is $150 million. The entire Midtown Reston compound--which will feature about 1,000 condos and apartments, 34,000 sf of retail space and a public park--will cost a total of $275 million to complete.

At 21-stories each, Midtown Reston East and West consist of 145 units and 148 units, respectively. Both will have ground-level retail space, as well as a four-level parking facility.

http://www.globest.com/news/456_456/washington/142134-1.html

 

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY NEWS

Gearing Up for Costly Races
Fundraising Quickens for Executive Bids

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page B04

Montgomery County Council member Steven A. Silverman has outspent Isiah Leggett, his Democratic primary opponent for county executive, by more than 10 to 1 but still has more money than Leggett in the bank.

New campaign finance numbers out yesterday underscore the different strategies between the candidates. Silverman (D-At Large), who has raised nearly $1.4 million, has spent prodigiously to build his campaign organization and bolster his profile against Leggett, a former four-term council member and past president of the state Democratic Party.

But Leggett starts the year with $423,000 in the bank, about $300,000 less than Silverman, setting the stage for what many believe will be a very competitive race. Leggett, who didn't begin raising money until last year, presented an aura of calm about the disparity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011802490.html

 

Dread and Defiance Along the Connector's Path

By Katherine Shaver
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page GZ16

Christy and Ben Graybeal have reluctantly started scoping out nearby neighborhoods. Eve Burton said she won't leave her home without a fight. Floyd Ray Lashmit plans to hire a property appraiser, saying, "Anyone who wants to throw me out of my house, I don't trust."

As Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) recently renewed a promise to begin building an intercounty connector through central Montgomery County and western Prince George's County by year's end, people living in the highway's path have begun to contemplate when they might be forced to sell their homes, pack up and move.

The Federal Highway Administration approved the state's final environmental impact study of the highway this month and is expected to sign off on the project this spring after a public comment period. That would require property owners to begin reaching purchase agreements with the state, finding new places to live and vacating neighborhoods that many said they had planned never to leave.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011800597.html

 

Incumbents Gather As Competition Grows

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page GZ02

Are Montgomery County elected officials getting a little nervous about the influx of candidates challenging them in this year's Democratic primary?

Montgomery's Democratic caucus to the General Assembly has scheduled a meeting of all delegates, senators and council members Sunday at 1 p.m. at the headquarters of the Montgomery County Education Association in Rockville.

"We will be meeting with our senators and council members to discuss the upcoming elections," Del. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery) wrote to county Democrats in the House of Delegates this week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011800946.html

 

Urban Center Plan For Shady Grove Wins Approval

By Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; Page B01

An industrial zone around the Shady Grove Metro station would be transformed within the next 20 years into an urban center with office buildings, shops and enough housing for 12,000 people, under a plan approved by the Montgomery County Council yesterday.

In an 8 to 1 vote, the council agreed to allow as many as 6,340 new residences -- apartments, townhouses and single-family homes -- in the 200-acre area surrounding the northwestern end of Metro's Red Line. One-quarter of that housing would be set aside for families struggling to buy or rent in the county.

The plan envisions the most significant reshaping of a Metro station community in Montgomery in more than a decade. It also represents the council's commitment to a land-use strategy known as "smart growth," which encourages building around Metro and bus stations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701605.html

 

A Dozen Chambers, One Agenda

By Michael S. Rosenwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006; Page GZ04

New years bring new ideas. New goals. New agendas. New you-name-its.

In the case of the county's 12 different chambers of commerce, the new year brings an agreement on their 2006 joint business agenda for the area, which they detailed last week at a luncheon with a tough-sounding theme: "Montgomery County Means Business."

Their agenda has five core areas of focus: transportation, economic development, education, affordable health care and representative government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011801049.html

 
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