Kytja Weir

Metro's board of directors grappled one day in March with how to fill a $72 million gap in the budget: Cut back bus and train service or ask local governments to pony up more taxpayer-funded subsidies?

Then they lunched on what a caterer dubbed Plato's Pairing: typically Athenian chicken roulade stuffed with spinach and feta paired with a mushroom wine sauce, plus red snapper in dill cream sauce over a bed of pearl couscous. Also on the menu was jasmine-scented rice, asparagus with lemon, bread, Caesar salad and assorted cookies, according to an invoice.

A Post story from 2006 described the evolution of the board's lunch: Cheap Chinese food on fine china (which was later deemed 'inappropriate' and switched out for paper plates), then cold sandwiches, and then lamb and salmon after board members requested hot lunches. After the Post story ran, Weir reports, the board returned to sandwiches for a few months, but now they're back to spending upward of $13,000 on fish with cream sauces and mixed greens.

I put in a call to Cristina Frezzo, a customer service rep at W. Millar Catering, the company that used to feed the Metro board before the Post report, and she says that while pricing varies in order to "create variety" in meals, $20 is fairly standard for a hot lunch.

Still, it sounds like a lot—especially in comparison to the single occasion when the board ate Potbelly sandwiches at an average of $7 per person. Last I heard, Potbelly is well known for its toasty sandwiches. Perhaps a compromise is in order?

Photo by Trustella via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

"Graham made the comment at the close of a Monday afternoon meeting between the Metro board and the National Transportation Safety Board. The two groups met to discuss 16 recommendations the NTSB made to the transit agency last month at the conclusion of its year-long investigation into the deadly crash....

Graham fired back at statements the federal safety board has made, including that the Metro board was 'tone deaf' to safety issues before the crash.

'What could I have done differently?' Graham asked rhetorically. 'I've asked myself that question on a personal level, and I conclude I don't know what I could have done.'"

Wow.

*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Now Metro's board got a new chair
And newbies with fantastic hair
But that isn't all
They've stemmed the shortfall
By adding a dime to the fare

Well, Butterstick, what a good run
Your time in D.C. is near done
Before China takes
Let ol' Land O'Lakes
Treat all of your fans to some fun

Catania will seek reelection
With Motley the other selection
The fight may be fair
But one thing they share:
A hist'ry of party defection

And speaking of talk about rail
The prez wants high speed up to scale
Not in the sound bites:
D.C. voting rights
Despite what showed up in the mail

Councilmember Jim Graham, who is chairman of the Metro Board, just called in to report a few things to City Desk regarding yesterday's Metro crash. Graham mentioned that the board's $250,000 relief fund for the Metro crash victims' families. He emphasized that this is not hush money.

"We wanted to have this immediately," Graham explains. "We know there are probably going to be significant legal actions."

Graham says that one of the inspirations for the relief fund came from the circumstances involving one of the victims—Ana Fernandez, who left behind six children. The Examiner notes that she lived in Hyattsville and had resided in the area for the past 10 years. She worked evenings as a part-time housekeeper. Graham says: "We don't know how many more are like that. Those needs came to my attention today....And now there's emergency relief."

Graham says that reps from El Salvador's embassy have reached out to the Fernandez family as has Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

Graham says the issues with the aging train cars has been a longstanding issue. "We have talked about it repeatedly," he explains. "This is a significant number of cars. Within the next two days, we're going to be talking about more of our options. We also have a regular board meeting [on] Thursday."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery