Alexandria Gazette Packet 25 Cents Vol. CCXXVI, No. 44 Serving Alexandria for over 200 years • A Connection Newspaper November 4, 2010 Democrats Defiant Moran heads into second decade castigating the “politics of fear.” By Michael Lee Pope Gazette Packet Photo by Photo Photo by Photo .S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) Uwill lose his position at the head of a key appro- Louise Krafft priations subcommittee oversee- Louise Krafft ing spending at the Interior De- partment when Republicans take power next year. But that doesn’t mean the congressman is about to /Gazette Packet start backing down from fight. /Gazette Packet Moran is already eager to take on the new Republican leadership. His victory speech Tuesday night at the Westin Arlington Gateway repeatedly castigated what he U.S. Rep. Jim Moran is called “the politics of fear” at work embraced by his daugh- The T.C. Williams football team played a home game under “Friday Night Lights” in the Republican Party. He said ter Mary after announc- last week. See game coverage, page 34. Democrats should have no regrets ing victory in the 2010 over what he considers the accom- congressional race. plishments of the last two years. Oh, What a Sight Under the Lights “A majority of the Republicans help us, and now that they are elected tonight are closely aligned elected they will spend their time or the first time in his with the so-called Tea Party,” proving it.” tory, the T.C. Williams Moran said. “They won with the Ffootball team played a contention that government can’t See Moran, Page 8 home game under “Friday Night Lights” Oct. 29 at Parker-Gray Stadium. Former players, including Bittersweet Night members of the 1971 “Remem- ber the Titans” state champion- Area Republicans tives. ship team and 2004 alumni and “There is always a silver lining,” School board member NFL player Dean Muthadi, Murray said to supporters at T.C. class of 2004 alumni Arthur Peabody and Super- savor national joined city officials and fans of Bailey’s Sports Grille in Arlington, and NFL player Dean intendent of Schools Dr. gains. which served as his election night See Historic, Page 18 Muthadi and John Porter. Morton Sherman. headquarters. “Sometimes you lose some battles but win some By Jeanne Theismann wars and if you look at what’s go- Gazette Packet ing on around the country, it’s ter- Photos by Photos rific for the United States of t was a bittersweet night for America and terrific for Republi- INorthern Virginia Republi- cans.” cans as 8th District congres- Jeanne Theism Moran retained his seat with 61 sional candidate Patrick Murray percent of the vote, while Murray lost his bid to replace Democratic won 37 percent and Green Party incumbent Jim Moran while across candidate Ron Fisher 1.4 percent. the nation the party picked up at Alexandria saw a nearly 50 per least 66 seats and regained con- ann trol of the House of Representa- See Bittersweet, Page 9 /Gazette Packet Alexandria, VA 22314 VA Alexandria, To: 1604 King St., King 1604 To: ted Address Service Reques Service Address material. Time-sensitive Postmaster: Attention Jimmy Jones, #61 on the 1971 Titans football team, his Nine-year-old Marin Permit #482 Permit wife Cheryl, Wanda Hopson and her husband Derick, keeps her sister Kate, 2, VA Alexandria, PAID #11 on the ’71 team. warm during the game. Postage U.S. PRSRT STD PRSRT www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ November 4-10, 2010 ❖ 1 2 ❖ Alexandria Gazette Packet ❖ November 4-10, 2010 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Week in Alexandria News Anonymous Whistleblower Alexandria County Day School has a policy that allows whistleblowers to offer anonymous tips about wrongdoing to Triple Spending on Consultants? administrators. One of those tips prompted an executive commit- tee of the school’s board of trustees to ask to see the laptop of headmaster Alexander “Exie” Harvey last week. According Sherman says he’s bringing ideas from best and to David Ayers, president of the board, school officials found that the computer had been used to send or receive pornography. brightest, but are they really just old friends? “It was objectionable,” said Ayers, who declined to character- ize what kind of pornography was found on his school-issue laptop. This is the first in a three-part series about decisions made by Alexandria Public Schools Superintendent Morton Alexandria Superintendent Morton Sherman is at “Once we discovered it, we did not look further. We just handed Sherman during his first two years as superintendent. Two the center of this fiscal and educational controversy. it over to the police.” months, dozens of interviews and 774 pages of documents The year before Sherman took the reins at the Al- On Sunday, school officials summoned the headmaster to a acquired via Freedom of Information requests revealed details exandria City Public Schools, ACPS spent $379,000 meeting and asked for his resignation. Parents received an e-mail about upheaval in the central office and Sherman’s long-time use of outside consultants. on staff development. Spending began to grow after Monday afternoon that Harvey is no longer with the school. Ayers he arrived in 2008, and totaled $940,000 during the said the tightly knit community is disturbed by the events. But he By Paige Winfield Cunningham last school year. Consultants range from individuals added that he was pleased the whistleblower policy allowed ad- Gazette via Old Dominion Watchdog who have known Sherman for decades to larger firms ministrators to handle the situation swiftly. Alexandria Police De- from the northeast. partment spokesman Jody Donaldson confirmed investigators he Alexandria public school district has Ingrid Sanden, parent to a child who recently en- received a complaint nearly tripled the amount of money spent tered an ACPS elementary school, said she’s con- “It could lead to a criminal investigation,” said Donaldson. “But on consultants at a time it faces financial cerned that training could be overkill — especially at this point, no criminal charges have been filed.” T challenges. when it takes teachers away from time with students. But the issue isn’t just dollars and cents. Teachers “I don’t like it when they’re outside the classroom,” Lame Duck Fight say they are spending too much time away from their classrooms being lectured by high-price consultants. See Sherman, Page 30 The House of Representatives is about to change hands, but legislators will return to Capitol Hill for the final days of the 111th Congress for a lame-duck session. One of the items on the agenda for the waning days of the current Congress is the Defense Au- thorization Bill, which was filibustered in September when Demo- crats failed to rally the votes for a cloture motion ending debate. The filibuster received a lot of attention for failing to address the military’s controversial don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy for gays. But it also sidelined legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) that limits parking at a new Army building currently under construction on the West End. Members of Team Some have called the situation “don’t ask, don’t park.” X-T.R.E.M.E. ran Moran introduced the language limiting parking at the Wash- Sunday’s Marine ington Headquarters Service back in May, an effort to force Pen- Corps Marathon in tagon leaders to address traffic concerns created by adding 6,000 honor of Cpl. John new employees to an already clogged part of town. Senators Jim Michael Peck, who Webb (D-Va.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced Moran’s lost both arms and language into the Senate version of the bill, although the fate of legs in a roadside their language remains uncertain. At this point, senators on the bomb attack in Senate Armed Services Committee must agree to adopt the lan- Afghanistan in May. guage introduced by Webb and Warner. “It’s been frustrating to get support,” said Webb Tuesday night at a Democratic victory party in Arlington. “But we are working on it.” Photo by Jeanne Theismann/ A Special Debate Gazette Packet Who should shoulder the burden of the new Metro station at Potomac Yard? That’s a question at the center of a debate now emerging about a special tax district City Council members are considering in Potomac Greens. Marathon Yields Own Inspiration This week, signs began sprouting up in Alexandria bearing the Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon was the third Peck was at the finish line to greet the team, who message “Just Say No To Any Special Taxes.” The signs are the race at that distance for former City Councilman one by one placed their finishers medals around brainchild of a group known as Alexandria’s Citizens for Com- Justin Wilson, who ran the MCM two years ago his neck. mon Cents. Members are critical of a special tax district envi- and the New York Marathon in 2009. “When you see a sacrifice like this, it makes your sioned to pay for the new Metro station. Under the plan, people “I did better than expected,” said Wilson, who own accomplishment seem insignificant,” Wilson who own property closest to the station would pay more for its set a new personal best time of 3:19:48. “I’m in a said. construction. “This is an unfair way to conduct business or fund world of pain today but it was certainly a great Top Alexandria finishers were Kyle Hathaway, projects,” said Mark Anderson, spokesman for the group. “If race for me.” 28, who completed the course in 2:44:41, placing the public is going to use the Metro station, then the public should Wilson, who just missed qualifying for the Bos- him 46th among the 30,000 runners.