At our February meeting, we learned about efforts to obtain voting representation in Congress and greater local autonomy for District of Columbia residents. We also enjoyed Greek delicacies, courtesy of our local Parthenon Restaurant.

Abigail Levine, Program Manager at DC Vote, highlighted the inequities of DC residents being subject to Congressional oversight and paying federal taxes without having full voting representation in Congress. She noted that over 80% of Americans nationwide are unaware that DC residents lack such representation, and that many do not even know that there are local DC neighborhoods. To raise awareness, DC Vote has organized campaigns like “I Am DC, I Demand The Vote.”

Walter Smith, Executive Director of DC Appleseed Center, reported on pending federal legislative efforts to secure DC voting rights and greater local autonomy. For example, the DC Voting Rights Act is a bill that would provide voting representation for DC in the House of Representatives along with an additional seat for Utah, the state next up for a seat based on the 2000 census. Although passage is currently stalled, Mr. Smith is hopeful that the stalemate will be resolved soon. He believes that likely constitutional challenges to the act would ultimately be denied in court.

John Forster, a representative of the Committee for the Capital City, suggested that “retrocession” would be the most practical method for achieving full voting rights for DC residents. He explained that retrocession would reunite the city of Washington (with the exception of a small Federal District, consisting of the Capitol Grounds, the Mall, and the White House) with Maryland,

Finally, Michael D. Brown, the shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia, stressed that DC residents should make their voices heard on voting rights, and he encouraged residents to participate in Emancipation Day activities on April 16th. Emancipation Day traditionally celebrates the end of slavery in Washington, DC, and in recent years has been dedicated to the continued pursuit for full Democracy. He said a Voting Rights March to the United States Capitol will demand equal representation for DC residents in Congress.

Contacts from the November 2009 Financial Services Forum

    Contacts from the March 2009 Real Estate Roundtable

If you missed getting the list of contacts of real estate professionals who presented at our March meeting, click here (PDF file - requires proper reader).

Pre-schools that were at the CCCA November 2008 Pre-School Fair Click here for a complete information list on all of the pre-schools which were at the CCCA November 2008 Pre-School Fair.

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