IN OTHER WORDS: D.C. police, fire departments get passable grades

The District's police and fire departments may not be at gold-star status, but both received passable grades during their first month of public approval ratings through the Grade D.C. program.

By collecting data from both online surveys and select social-media platforms — such as Facebook, Twitter and area blogs — the Grade.DC.gov program is used to assign a score and letter grade to government agencies in order to rank their customer service. The Metropolitan Police Department received a B- grade for October — not bad. The Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department fared better, with a solid B.

Ten different agencies are now ranked through Grade D.C., and the District plans to use the information gleaned from the feedback to improve customer service — though it might be difficult, given the somewhat mixed messages solicited thus far.

Feedback from 112 reviews indicate that people saw police officers as professional but unhelpful, while METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT staff was seen as courteous but unprofessional. There was a far smaller pool of feedback to pull from for data on the fire department — with only 22 reviews — but overall the staff were considered friendly, and firefighters were considered hard workers.

At least there are still a few weeks to work on getting those grades up before the end of the semester.

Unopposed, unappreciated

If you win re-election to the D.C. Council — but no one opposes you — does a former congressman from Virginia still notice?

Former Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican and a “friend of the District,” appeared before council members on Friday to support a charter referendum that would expand the city’s ability to spend its own funds without waiting for a spending plan from Congress.

But first, Mr. Davis congratulated council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a Democrat, and Vincent B. Orange, at-large Democrat, for their wins at the ballot box on Tuesday.

Nothing strange about that, but Muriel Bowser, Ward 4 Democrat, was also on the dais. She cruised to victory as the sole candidate in her race, solidifying her position on the council as she gains traction as a popular lawmaker on the shortlist for mayoral candidates in 2014.

Mr. Mendelson noted Mr. Davis‘ snub, prompting a humorous retort from the witness, who knew that no one tried to make it a race.

“That’s a walk,” Mr. Davis replied, before extending his congratulations.

Friendly reminders

Help Save Maryland is a grass-roots organization dedicated to railing against illegal immigration, but that doesn’t mean that its members are opposed to providing the occasional friendly, non-threatening civics lesson to illegal immigrants.

The group passed out fliers at polling places on Election Day, reminding prospective voters that casting a ballot as a non-citizen is a crime punishable by fine, imprisonment or even deportation.

Story Continues →

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.