Last week, Adrian Fenty unveiled the new “I Am A Healthy D.C. Mom” campaign, targeted at encouraging moms to keep their children healthy and safe inside and outside of the womb. The campaign’s launch was accompanied by the release of the administration’s 2007 Infant Mortality Report [PDF].

According to a press release, the campaign asks pregnant women to “commit to forty weeks of prenatal care, staying fit and eating right, and keeping their baby safe and healthy.”

How reasonable is to to expect a full forty weeks of prenatal care from a woman? It means she’ll have to act like a good pregnant lady—like folic acid in place of booze, or whatever—from the moment of conception. That’s before she even suspects she’s pregnant. Before she misses her period. Before she takes a pregnancy test.

Usually, it’s also before she wants to be pregnant.

Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned. There’s no current data available for how many D.C. pregnancies are unplanned, but there’s reason to believe the number is much higher than the national rate. We do know that 62 percent of children in D.C. live in single-parent homes, compared to 32 percent nationally. Forty-six percent of children in D.C. have an unemployed parent, compared to 33 percent nationally. D.C. also has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation.

Here’s what the campaign will consist of:

* “resource materials “for doctors and moms

* a “pregnancy assistance toolkit” which covers prenatal care through the first year of motherhood

* transit posters

* PSAs in radio, Web and print

Healthy moms and healthy kids are great. Providing women with more information about prenatal care is great, too. How about committing to some other options, too—increased funding for birth control and abortion could go a long way in decreasing infant mortality rates, too.

Photo by freeparking

January 16, 2009 — Mayor Fenty and Police Chief Lanier met with Chris Farris and Todd Metrokin, Co-Chairs of GLOV (Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence), along with Sgt. Brett Parson to discuss solutions to the problem of anti-GLBT violence in DC. Several points from the list of recommendations made to Mayor Fenty and Chief Lanier (see below) recieved immediate commitments.

The most notable commitment was the Mayor’s agreement to comply with existing DC law requiring him to submit an annual hate crimes report to the the City Council Equally important, the Mayor agreed that measurable goals should be set to reduce ant-GLBT harassment in the DCPublic School system and to revisit previous proposals by SMYAL (the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League) on the subject. Both Mayor Fenty and Chief Lanier agreed to facilitate a meeting between GLOV and the new U.S. Attorney for DC, once that person is appointed, to discuss grievances regarding case management and policies.

“Mayor Fenty opened the meeting with a request for actionable suggestions on how the DC government could address the issue,” said Farris, “but would not commit to making a public statement acknowledging and condemning the violence, although we pressed hard for that. To his credit, however, he invited us to continue to send concrete requests his adminstration can act on to him directly. Working with the police, prosecutors, the GLBT community, the schools, and our allies, most notably those who serve on DC’s Anti-Bias Task Force, GLOV intends to act on the Mayor’s invitation.”

Chief Lanier was very receptive to GLOV’s recommendations for her Department, offering to share the current mandatory online hate crimes training curriculum as well as sharing her innovative plan to expand the GLLU program by maintaining the central GLUU office but allowing gay and lesbian officers to serve as liasons within their own precincts, thus increasing the potential number of officers recognized under the GLLU while integrated throughout the MPD.

“I feel that Chief Lanier understands the issue and is truly interested in improving the performance of the MPD.” said Metrokin. “And we assured both her and the Mayor that we are also doing our part
by re-educating our community on safety issues and encouraging reporting.”

“The Chief has demonstrated in the past that she is a partner in our efforts to reduce anti-GLBT hate crimes, and today she re-confirmed that partnership,” said Farris. “We are hopeful that today’s meeting
with the Mayor is the beginning of an equally productive partnership.”

—

GLOV offered Mayor Fenty the following recommendations to address anti-GLBT crime:

I. a strong public statement that recognizes the issue of anti-GBLT hate crimes in DC, condemns that violence in the harshest terms, and pledges all necessary city resources to fight it.

II. Compliance with existing law in submitting an annual report on hate crimes to the City Council

III. The following immediate commitments from the MPD:
a. Hate Crimes training for the entire police force, especially on reporting
b. Sensitivity training when dealing with GLBT victims
c. Staffing of the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU) to the level it was at the beginning of the Fenty Administration

IV. Support for the following:
a. Meeting with Chancellor Rhee of DCPS
b. Meeting with DCAG
c. Meeting with the newly-appointed United States Attorney for DC upon appointment
d. Faith communities outreach

V. For DCPS – measurable goals for decreasing incidents of anti-GLBT harassment and support for student awareness campaigns

VI. Publicly support the establishment of a Panel to address hate crimes against the GLBT community in DC with the mission of outlining the problem and recommending actions and solutions to address it. Panel should be on a short timeline and include, at a minimum, representatives from the following: the GLBT community, the Mayor’s office, the MPD, the USAO (if possible), the AG’s office, DCPS, and faith communities. The recommendations of the Panel should be made public.

Perhaps I spoke too soon on the Baltimore Washington Black McDonald’s Operators Association Inaugural Ball. On Monday, I posted the invitation (the only ball invite I received on this historic occasion), marking the event’s $200 price tag with a snarky “Hamburgler” reference. Today, I received a follow-up e-mail from the association with a “sneak-peek” at the ball’s guest list, which includes Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas, Redskins player Jason Campbell, DJ “Big Tigger,” scholar Michael Eric Dyson, and Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Nevermind that the Black McDonald’s Owners Associations ranks somebody called “Big Tigger” higher than both Dyson and Fenty. Nevermind that I, too, appear on the ball’s guest list. Agent Zero, D.C.’s most adorable and incomprehensible basketball-playing eccentric might be there!

I’m getting closer to believing that anyone would be convinced to pay $200 for this, but questions remain. Prithee BMOA: will the buffet include a Filet-O-Fish option?

Photo by Yogi.

Despite GLOV’s many requests to meet with Mayor Fenty to address concerns about the violent attacks occurring against DC’s GLBT citizens, the Mayor has yet to respond. He did however have time Thursday to speak to Fox News about the issue saying simply, “Hate crimes, I think, are down for the most part in DC this year. We take all of them (bias crimes) seriously and look for trends.”

GLOV cites the recent Logan Circle killing of Durval Martins as evidence that hate-motivated crimes against gays have reached a critical point in the District of Columbia. GLOV’s letter to Fenty, after the jump:

Mr. Mayor:

Over the past several months, members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual
and Transgender (GLBT) community have become increasingly concerned
with violent crime that seems to be targeting our community. Just
yesterday, a man named Durval Martins was shot to death on his way
home from visiting gay bars on the popular 17th Street strip.

GLOV (Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence) has requested on numerous
occasions through your office to meet with you, but we have been
repeatedly informed that you are not interested in a meeting at this
time. We write to ask that you reconsider. The community is nervous
and on edge, as violence around us continues to increase. We have met
with the Police, the United States Attorney’s Office, community
organizations, and members of the City Council (the City Council even
had a Hearing on Hate Crimes last Friday), but we have not heard from
our Mayor. This is not acceptable. We need to meet with you to present
our concerns personally, to hear that you understand the issues, to
learn what your plans are to address them, and to see how we can all -
city agencies, the police, the prosecutors, community
organizations, and business leaders – can work together to end the
hate-filled violence that is plaguing our community.

We would like to ask again that you convene an urgent meeting to
address these issues, and that you include the Chief of Police,
someone from the US Attorney’s Office, representatives of the City
Council, and other city and community leaders who are focused on this
issue. We need your leadership at this time, and we need to know that
you are listening.

Sincerely,

Chris Farris
Todd Metrokin
Co-Chairs, GLOV

Last week, we determined the manliness factor of eight workplaces in the local government sector of the Manliest Workplace in D.C. competition. (See the full 64-workplace bracket here). Let’s go to the standings!

With 47 out of 55 manly points, Fenty’s cabinet edges out the fiery competition to go on to our tournament’s elite eight of Manlieness. Stay tuned later today for the kick-off of our legal competition!

The Manliest Workplace in D.C. Tournament marches on toward the halfway point this week (See the full 64-workplace bracket here). The D.C. government bracket slogs on today as the Water and Sewage Administration faces off against Fenty’s finest. Sewage handlers versus the executive branch—a natural match-up, no?

WASA: So, “DCWASA is a multi-jurisdictional regional utility that provides drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment to more than 500,000 residential, commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia.” But does it also throw the women out with the wastewater? Let’s find out!

Chairman Robin B. Martin (Male, 10 points)
General Manager Jerry N. Johnson (Male, 9 points)
Acting CFO Olu Adebo (Male, 8 points)
Acting Chief Engineer Leonard R. Benson (Male, 7 points)
Assistant General Manager Barbara A. Grier (Female, ZERO)
Assistant General Manager Charles Kiely (Male, 5 points)
Principal Member Daniel M. Tangherlini (Male, 4 points)
Principal Member F. Alexis H. Roberson (Female, ZERO)
Principal Member Alan J. Roth (Male, 2 points)
Principal Member Keith M. Stone (Male, 1 point)

Swish! With 46 out of a possible 55, WASA sure doesn’t put its manpower to “waste.” Get it? Waste? Because they deal with human shit for a living.

—

FENTY’S CABINET: Wow, heh, two pages of Fenty appointees? How am I supposed to rank Office of Ex-Offender Affairs director Rodney C. Mitchell in relation to Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Director Linda K. Argo? Who came up with this contest anyway? Oh well, if your bracket gets messed up please direct your displeasure to this organizational chart [PDF!!!]:

Mayor Adrian Fenty (Male, 10 points, hey, why not)
Acting Attorney General Peter Nickles (Male, 9 points)
Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi (Male, 8 points)
Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby (Male, 7 points)
Deputy Mayor Neil O. Albert (Male, 6 points)
Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso (Male, 5 points)
State Superintendent of Ed. Deborah A. Gist (Female, ZERO)
Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee (Female, ZERO)
City Administrator Dan Tangherlini (Male, 2 points)
Chief of Staff Carrie Brooks (Female, ZERO)

With 47 out of 55 points, Fenty and company register an impressive 85% manliness—and flush WASA by one point! Stay tuned tomorrow when the fire department takes on the police! It’s just like a grade school career fair over here!

Sewer kitten by Michael Cornelius; Fenty by intothelens4149.