ABCDE METRO sunday, september 19, 2010 POSTLOCAL.com 67, 9 a.m. 78, noon 83, 5 p.m. 75, 9 p.m.


Obituaries Author Barbara Holland, 77, wrote more than 15 books that included a historical look at the appreciation of cats and two wry books about the presidency. C6


It’s game day Pumped for the Redskins game? Our fan page at PostLocal.com has everything you need to get ready for the battle against the Houston Texans at FedEx Field.


TRANSPORTATION


Wilson Bridge race Expect street closures from 7 to 11 a.m. Sunday during the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon; the GW Parkway will be closed in both directions from Mount Vernon to Belle Haven. C3


Fairfax County spends big bucks in hopes of big breaks in betting


by Tom Jackman


It’s football season, and for millions of Americans that means betting season. Yes, that stomach-churning time of year when people illegally wager money on such crucial issues as whether the Houston Texans can beat the Redskins by three points, or whether the two teams can combine to score more than 44.5 points. It’s a crime that Fairfax County police take seriously. So seriously that in one recent gambling in- vestigation, they spent — and lost —more than $300,000 in cash to take down a Las Vegas-based on- line bookie and his group of Fair- fax-based associates.


But neither the ringleader nor another man who handled bets out of the Eden Center mall in Falls Church received any jail time. Both agreed to repay the money they’d won from Fairfax


PHOTOS BY JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST Eliberto Merando mops a floor at Marbury Plaza, where a two-year rent strike protesting the complex’s disrepair was recently settled. Ready for a return to glory


With rent strike settled, raft of changes in store for once-grand Anacostia complex by Chris L. Jenkins


The garden-style apartments, and a pair of red-brick high-rises towering over the Anacostia Riv- er, had once been a symbol of black middle-class progress east of the river. But Lee Edwards was fed up al- most as soon as he moved into Marbury Plaza in 2001. His car, parked in the garage, was burglar- ized. Then, he noticed mold in his bedroom. The air conditioner leaked and sputtered. Work tick- ets to get problems fixed were lost.


When a new dishwasher flood- ed the same day it was installed in 2005, creating a shallow pool in his living room, he knew it was time to take action.


“I had had it, ” Edwards said. “It was so basic: Install the dish- washer right. . . . When I was growing up, I heard nothing but great stories about Marbury Plaza —how it was the place to be. All of that really opened my eyes.” Residents considered a plan to


April Goggans, president of the Marbury Plaza Concerned Tenants’ Association, takes photos of reported vandalism at the Anacostia apartment complex.


buy the 672-unit complex, re- searching city law, talking to de- velopers and even holding cook- outs and fish fries to raise money. The effort stalled. But two years ago, led by about a dozen young professionals, a


group of residents started a rent strike that ended last month with an agreement by the complex’s owners to pay $5 million for re- pairs. For the first time in 15 years, a raft of changes is in store for the once-grand complex.


The air-conditioning and heat- ing units will be fixed. Security cameras and a building-entry sys- tem will be installed, and man- agement will ensure that the com- plex complies with federal dis- ability requirements. “We decided that we had to do


something about this,” said Claris- sa T. Edwards, who used to visit Marbury when she was a child in the 1970s. Like her husband, she was stunned that the complex had fallen on such hard times. “Even though the bottom fell out of the housing market and the funders backed out, it got us started.” What’s happening at Marbury is representative of the way newer residents are demanding change east of the Anacostia, in commu- nities including Congress Heights, Hillcrest and Fairfax Vil- lage.


River East Emerging Leaders, a social leadership group of people mostly in their 30s and 40s, has encouraged its members to run for advisory neighborhood com-


marbury continued on C10 4 council candidates


come from one area Neighborhood in Montgomery could gain tighter governing grip


by Michael Laris


Montgomery County stretches across a diverse terrain of more than 495 square miles. But if po- litical wisdom in the heavily Democratic county holds, four of nine County Council members will live within three miles of one another by year’s end. Three council members al- ready do, right along the Takoma Park-Silver Spring border. Hans Riemer, a Silver Spring political organizer, joined three neighborhood incumbents in winning Democratic nomina- tions in Tuesday’s primary. If the four are victorious come Novem- ber — as many assume they will be in a county where registered Democrats outnumber Republi- cans by more than 2 to 1 — their tree-lined patch of Montgomery


north of the District line will deepen its remarkable grip on lo- cal government power. It would be as if 193 of the


House of Representatives’ 435 members lived in an area smaller than Connecticut, prompting some in Montgomery to raise questions about fairness and the appearance of favoritism. The area is home to District 5 council member Valerie Ervin and two at- large incumbents, George Leven- thal and Marc Elrich, who won countywide primaries Tuesday. Riemer also ran countywide. But Leventhal, a former legis-


lative director for Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D) and a Takoma Park resident for a quarter-century, said he has put major miles on his Mercury Mariner hybrid working for constituents and campaign- ing across Montgomery. “If the voters countywide felt


they wanted a different mix of residencies for the at-large mem- bers, they had the opportunity to cast their votes as they saw fit,”


montgomery continued on C4 C DC MD VA S JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON


Answer man on Alexandria Was Alexandria’s retrocession in 1846, during which the city voted to become part of Virginia again, a result of congressional economic slights and an inability to maintain services or a desire to maintain its slave trade? That depends on whom you ask. C3


A gamble police say is worth it


police, in $200 or $250 monthly payments, which will take each man roughly 40 years. The mon- ey spent by the police had origi- nally been seized from a bookie in a related investigation. Police critics have long won- dered why law enforcement spends valuable time and money on combating sports gambling. In Fairfax, the police rarely pub- licize their arrests, and the de- tails of their investigations are little known outside the small corps of detectives in the money laundering unit. Unlike drug cases, police in Virginia are al- lowed to keep 100 percent of the assets they seize in state gam- bling cases, so other agencies or divisions receive no benefit. And the vast majority of those arrest- ed are placed on probation. “What a waste,” said Nicholas


Beltrante, founder of the Virginia Citizens Coalition for Police Ac- countability, a group formed ear- lier this year in part to combat unnecessary police spending. “The police should be utilizing their resources for more serious crimes.”


gambling continued on C4


After big wins, a chance B


in Tuesday’s Democratic primary have encouraged a wave of optimism that the county can get back on a track toward economic and social progress that has eluded it in recent years. Although the mayoral election in the District has attracted more attention, the triumph of former state delegate Rushern L. Baker III in his third attempt to win the job of county executive could potentially have a more profound long-term impact in the Washington region. Put simply, Prince George’s now has a chance to build a responsible, effective, accountable government that is widely seen as having deteriorated in the eight-year administration of outgoing executive Jack Johnson. The county needs to shed its


reputation as a place where mismanagement reigns — the housing department had to give


for real change in Pr. George’s ROBERT McCARTNEY


ig election victories by reform-minded candidates in Prince George’s County


back millions of dollars in federal money because of mishandled paperwork — and only the politically connected can get deals approved. It’s a big challenge. Even his


backers worry that Baker, with little administrative experience, might succumb to the temptation to give key government jobs to political friends rather than experienced professionals. It’ll be difficult to improve schools and create jobs when the slow economy is straining budgets. However, if Baker and the allies elected with him can transform the county’s leadership as they promise, it


mccartney continued on C3


In Va., Wolf challenger Barnett focuses on future Barnett, 60, is only 11 years


Using a campaign walk, Democrat runs for Congress


by Ben Pershing In 1996, Air Force Col. Jeffery


R. Barnett published a book predicting how wars would be prosecuted in 2010. Now, Barnett is engaged in an uphill battle far different from the ones he imagined: He is running to unseat Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) in the 10th Con- gressional District. Barnett retired from the mili-


tary 11 years ago but hasn’t stopped talking and thinking about what’s next. He worked for Toffler Associates — a busi- ness consulting firm founded by futurist Alvin Toffler — until November, and as a full-time Democratic candidate, he still spends his days trying to see around corners in a way that he says his opponent does not. “He has no idea about the fu-


DAYNA SMITH FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


Congressional candidate Jeff Barnett spends time in Herndon during an 80-mile trek across the 10th District to meet voters.


ture,” Barnett said of Wolf, who has been in Congress since 1981. “In essence, he’s the past. I’m the present and the future.” Wolf ’s campaign scoffs at


Barnett’s message, suggesting that the Democrat has little sup- port and few specific proposals


behind his broad rhetoric. But Wolf isn’t ignoring his oppo- nent. “We’re taking it very seri-


ously. In this environment you’re crazy not to,” said Wolf campaign spokesman Daniel Scandling.


younger than Wolf, but his chal- lenge is designed to project en- ergy and vitality. “I’m Jeff Barnett and I’m run- ning for Congress. Actually, I’m walking,” Barnett said repeated- ly one evening last week as he knocked on doors and visited shops in Herndon. Barnett’s stop in Herndon came on the penultimate day of an elaborate campaign exercise — an 80-mile walk across the 10th District, which began Sept. 3 in Gore, near the West Virginia border, and ended Wednesday in McLean. Short of cash and off the ra- dar screens of both parties’ na- tional campaign operations, Barnett used the walk to attract media attention and to make a point. He said that if elected, he’ll make the same walk every two years, and when he can’t manage the walk anymore, he’ll retire.


Barnett might see a victory in his future, but the recent past


barnett continued on C4


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