Tom Sherwood's Notebook: 02/10/10

Baseball's opening day at Nationals Park is April 5, less than two months away.

There, did that make you feel a little better in all this snow?

We didn't think so.

So, back to immediate reality. As the TV version of ourselves, we've been hearing complaints that this or that neighborhood street or area hasn't seen a plow.

We heard it from frantic and stranded citizens in the rolling hills of Southeast just over the South Capitol Street Bridge in wards 7 and 8.

We heard it from a friend who lives in Ward 1's Mount Pleasant.

We heard it from Ward 2 advisory neighborhood commissioner Bill Starrels, who lives in Georgetown.

The wails of anguish reminded us of the late D.C. Council Chairman David A. Clarke. He wryly observed that people in Ward 8 think Ward 3 gets all the services and people in Ward 3 think that Ward 8 gets all the services when, in fact, nobody's getting city services.

Admittedly, that was a while ago, but the distrust and disconnect exists today.

The fact is that the city was walloped with two-plus feet of snow over the weekend and, as we write this, we're expecting a foot more midweek.

We'll make no excuse for anyone who has been or is slacking off. But the 2010 snowstorms seem to be different from the ones that got Marion Barry in so much trouble (although the snow of 1979 is still legendary).

Will Mayor Adrian Fenty, who many voters already regard as dismissive, be praised or pummeled for the city's performance? It could be an early indication of how the mayor will fare the rest of this year.

• In or Out?

At-large Council member Kwame Brown has rekindled his mayoral hopes, which seemed all but dashed for this election cycle.

Brown said he is now "seriously considering" running against Fenty this year. He made the comment on the Feb. 5 "Politics Hour" show on WAMU-FM with Kojo Nnamdi and your Notebook. Brown said he'll make the decision on whether to run regardless of whether Council Chairman Vincent Gray gets into the race.

The Notebook remains skeptical of any mayoral campaign by Brown or the chairman. We are even more skeptical -- downright disbelieving, even -- that both would mount campaigns against Fenty.

We've written before that some of Brown's closest advisers have strongly suggested to us that he shouldn't run. That has irritated Brown in part because we won't say who those advisers are.

But we stand by our belief that Brown is less, rather than more, likely to run this year, although there's no doubt he would provide a spirited campaign against Fenty. But we'll see if we're proved wrong.

Chairman Gray continues to assess his chances. But unlike Brown, who could run this year and still keep his council job, Gray would have to give up a certain second term as chairman to run against Fenty. In the view of many, that's a hurdle too high for the polite but process-oriented politician.

• Same Ol' Song.

The delightful first lady Michelle Obama is having a few students from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts over this week for a program on "Music That Inspired the Movement."

The White House will be alive with the energy of the civil rights era. It's a workshop for 120 students to learn about the "continuing relevance of music from the Civil Rights Movement to today's generation and its original impact in the 1960s," according to a White House press release.

Once again, the Notebook and others feel it would be a good opportunity for someone to ask politely why President Barack Obama ignores the city's quest for voting representation in Congress.

Will it happen?

Not very likely.

That same night, a host of luminaries will participate in a concert at the White House honoring the songs that helped sustain the movement. Big names include Joan Baez, Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan.

The concert is to be streamed live at whitehouse.gov/live starting at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.

District citizens might as well be figuratively standing outside the White House gates singing, "Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day."

Or, maybe a few bars of "Blowin' in the Wind." You remember that tune, don't you? "How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?"

All together now ... ah one, ah two, ah one two three.

• It Cost Too Much.

We're going back to baseball to wrap up this week's column.

The Washington Business Journal reported this week that the baseball stadium taxes are going to raise $10 million more than expected this year.

The extra money could be used to pay off the stadium bonds early or to cover other city expenses. It could also mean that the special business fees and taxes levied to pay for the stadium could be eliminated sooner than planned -- as many as 10 years early.

Given the city's difficult financial situation now, it may be hard for officials to pull the plug on the special taxes. It's probably the right thing to do, but we kind of doubt it will happen.

The fee is a gross receipt tax on nearly 2,000 city businesses. The Journal points out that the fee is a burden to smaller businesses.

The article quotes Barbara Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, saying that the plan all along was for the tax to end when the bonds were paid.

"My hope would be that if the mayor or [council] wants to do something different," she said, "that they would come back to the business community and have a conversation about it."

Unlike the voting rights folks, if she sings loud enough, Lang and the business community might be heard.