-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38054-2002Mar29.html
D.C.'s Auto-Tag Elite Corps In March, the Lowly and the Mighty Must Renew Prestige By Steve Twomey Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 30, 2002; Page B01 On the street, heads double-take. A low auto tag? That's the mark of the District's politically wired. Who might you be? Must be A Somebody. Bernard Demczuk, who joined the club at 310 as a labor adviser to Mayor Marion Barry, plunged to 770 under Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, roared back to 125 when Barry returned and has held position under Mayor Anthony A. Williams, said that a neighbor once eyed his low plate and asked if he was CIA. "I said, 'Sir, I cannot confirm or deny.' To this day, he has spread the rumor I'm with the CIA." If he is Agent Demczuk, he drives a '97 Geo Prism. "I just love the low tags," said Demczuk, now an assistant vice president of George Washington University. "The reason I love them is because they are petty political drama." For 38 years, the District has sponsored an auto-tag elite, a corps of the famous and obscure blessed by guardian politicians, who have bequeathed a plate number no higher than 1250. No letter-and-numeral soup in this fraternity, no cute vanity thing. Its members drive with just four or three or two digits or -- the Promised Land -- a single one, enviable simplicity floating in white space. Legally, there are no privileges. The tags cost the same as any other, $55 a year. There might even be liabilities. A. Scott Bolden, otherwise known as 150, said that he returned to his car once and found a ticket. In the space for the tag number, the meter tender had scrawled 150 in huge, check-this-out digits and drawn a smiley face. Gotcha, big shot. "I was being discriminated against," said Bolden, a lawyer and former president of the Chamber of Commerce whose plate of privilege started with Kelly and who spoke quite tongue-in-cheek. He might form a support group of the similarly abused, he said, maybe "Low-Tag-Number Holders for a Better District of Columbia." "She knows who she is! She knows who she is!" Bolden said of his ticketer. "Hopefully, she'll read this article and turn herself in." Numerical profiling aside, there is one certain burden of membership, and it comes at this time of year. Before March closes, the low-tagged must unscrew the booty (or have the help do it) and report downtown. They must bring the letter, too, the one from the mayor or a D.C. Council member that declares they may stay low for another year. They have not, in other words, riled their patrons by consorting with primary or general election foes. They may renew. But not by mail or via Internet, as common folk can. Instead, they must visit the belly of the beast -- the Department of Motor Vehicles -- and produce the confirming letter. But the DMV doesn't make them queue with the masses. On back-to-back Saturdays in March -- the 23rd was the first this year, today is the second -- the DMV opens its doors at 301 C St. NW to serve the low, and only the low. And so, as five pleasant DMV workers manned the counter last week and helped 851 (Lillian Dean), 895 (James Johnson) and 299 (Renee Schwager), there stood 354. That's Katie Hodge. She earned a prestige plate the way many do, it seems. William P. Lightfoot, a lawyer and former D.C. Council member, said he couldn't recall ever giving a plum of a tag "to somebody who just called up out of the blue." There must be a quo for a quid. "The low tag number is a reward for assisting the elected official." "I'm sure the decisions have something to do with politics," council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) said. "It's something I enjoy giving to friends and supporters." Margery A. Franchese, an assistant to council member Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6), said, "You're not just going to open the telephone book and pick somebody and ask if they want a low tag." In 1998, Hodge, 28, was a campaign volunteer for candidate Williams. She didn't think she did much and wasn't even aware of the low-tag perk, she said, but next thing she knew, Williams was mayor and she had a three-digit appreciation. "It's like your thank-you gift from NPR," Hodge said. She was holding her new 354. The tag's design differed from the old 354. That's why low-holders must turn in plates annually. A new design helps the police spot poseurs, because anyone driving with an old design has obviously lost a low-number privilege but could not face relinquishment. This mania baffles Hodge, who has considered dropping out of the fraternity. "I'm, like, it's just a low number." But, others said, so easy to remember! The District cannot release the names of the low-tagged because a 1994 federal law mandates the privacy of motor vehicle records. Let it be noted, though, that the late Katharine Graham, former president and chairman of The Washington Post Co. and former publisher of The Washington Post, had a low number. And let it be said that the tag holders mentioned in this article consented to be here. What purpose the program serves was not noted in the 1964 city order that stipulated "1 to 1250 to be assigned by the commissioners," who were the unelected board that ran the city then. With the advent of home rule, the city's mayors have assumed the power to award the 1,250, and in turn have given 523 of the numbers to the 13 council members to bequeath. Some council members hold more numbers than others because there has been bartering. A member might trade two four-digit tags, say, for one three-digit one, so a worthy constituent can be properly honored. Maryland has no such program, said Cheron Wicker, spokeswoman for the Motor Vehicle Administration. Anyone has a chance at a jealousy-inducing number -- 100, 500, 1000 -- should one come up because the holder died or moved. "It's a completely random distribution," Wicker said. Virginia, on the other hand, reserves its first 5,000 numbers, and the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles can award one at his discretion. "He always considers any request," a spokesman said. Illinois has a low program, too, although an official there got in trouble for giving coveted tags in return for campaign cash. Massachusetts had a program but went to a low-plate lottery in 1987 after the registrar of motor vehicles dished too many to friends and family. When she took office seven years ago, D.C. Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) wondered whether the city's program ought to continue "because at first blush, it struck me as maybe something that wasn't a good use of people's time and energy." DMV Director Sherryl Hobbs Newman said the cost is "very minimal." The low numbers would still be pressed by the federally incarcerated, no matter who they were for. Council members, too, said their staffs spend little time on the program. Then again, decisions have to be made about who's in and who's out. Records must be kept. Letters must be sent. Patterson said that, in time, she came to see how much her constituents enjoyed getting a low number. Indeed, both those who give and those who receive applaud the notion of government honoring citizens in a small way. A low tag is a moving statement of someone's contribution. And little politics is played once a plate is awarded, they said. About 98 percent of those who have a low number one year keep it the next, said Newman, although the Rev. Willie F. Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church lost No. 16 last year in a dust-up with Williams. Wilson didn't lose out completely, though, landing at 42, thanks to council member Sandy Allen (D-Ward 8). Several council members said they did not even yank plates awarded by a predecessor, even one they defeated, preferring to try to win hearts and minds by letting the low keep low. Nor, they said, is the program undemocratic. There are still numbers available, and open to all. "The average citizen can get a low-number tag," Lightfoot said. Just do something deserving, he said, like get somebody elected. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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