Tuesday, July 30, 2013


A Green Restorative Business Model

Where Have All The Jobs Gone?

Secretaries, Accounting Staff, File Clerks, All Gone! First, the secretary went out with the word processors, then the green shaded clerks exited when inexpensive accounting systems like Quicken and PeachTree came along.  Excel spreadsheets and complex data base driven ERP's that automate almost every aspect of a company's operation from manufacturing, to customer service are thinning the ranks of the historically employed educated class of America.  From the Sales Force to Middle Management the jobs are going - AND THEY ARE NOT COMING BACK!

And With the Jobs Go Taxes - Many municipalities are struggling with the realities of our NEW, post meltdown economy. The City of Detroit is the newest, most obvious casualty but many others are not far behind.  Reduced expectations, and dwindling revenues from a shrinking tax base are the bane of city governments everywhere.  Today, over 100 million Americans are on the very brink of poverty.    Inner cities are replete with "for sale," and "foreclosures" signs appearing in once prosperous working class neighborhoods. AND ... it's not over yet. This is NOT a result of outsourcing, nor is it the crashed economy either.  It is not a result of a lack of education as new college grads cannot find jobs today!  It is a major trend that is not only increasing it is accelerating as well.  Decent paying jobs in all sectors of the economy are being replaced by increasingly capable tools built not out of steel and metal but from the minds of innovative software designers.   These are not the ubiquitous industrial robots we see in the car commercials.  No indeed, these automated highly productive software programs that decimate the staff of many companies



Saturday, July 13, 2013

New Thinking for New Jobs
The need for new thinking and new priorities are manifest if economic and social justice are ever to emerge in America.  As I'm certain you will agree, at present, there is a serious lack of such thinking.   If we are ever going to build a true just democratic system we MUST have a strong middle class.  Without ownership, without revenue from capital assets, without independence (true independence is financial independence) soon, there will be no middle class.   50 years ago Dr. Mortimer Adler, Philosopher and Economist said, "A man who is dependent for his sustenance on the good will of another man cannot be a good citizen."  True independence of thought and action require dependency be limited, that a man may make a decision not out of fear but from conscience.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Green Ivy City Alliance


New Green Jobs for DC Citizens

 For years we've been saying, "There ARE NO Jobs!"  In DC there are few decent, well paying jobs.  First, you need a Masters Degree.   If you don't have one, then there are no jobs that can provide you with a decent living and support your family.

We started this Blog because we were pissed off that developers and construction company Carpet Baggers were coming into our city, taking our tax dollars, and not hiring DC workers.  We were frustrated by the inadequate jobs training programs offered by most agencies and contractors.   If you are going to train people, you need to train them for specific jobs that EXIST.

When we started, The National Capitol Jobs Coalition, we had two objectives:   Pass an improved, "First Source," legislation (Done) and second to find, or create NEW Green Jobs for DC.  In pursuit of that goal we sought to acquire the Crummel School that now sits at the center of a controversy between Ivy City and Mayor Gray.

What is The Green Ivy City Alliance

The Green Ivy City Alliance! is a joint venture relationship with ProFish, Inc of Ivy City.  Greg Casten, President of ProFish has just purchased an adjacent building (a warehouse) and intends to expand  his present operation to include both freezer space and a smokehouse for fish and game.  Our end of the partnership will entail the establishment of an aquaponic urban farm to the site.   The Douglas Jammal Organization has purchased the old Hecht Building site and has already secured Mom's Organic Markets as a tenant. 

 Eocnomic Development for Ivy City

To me the path is clear!  Jammal and Mom's will be in the Hecht Building.  The Hecht Building is adjacent to the planned development on Okie Street  That is less than one block from there.  Clearly both commercial businesses will support and expand the "destination venue," and attract customers for each other.  The combined site will then serve as an "attractor,' for new allied businesses in both food and retail.  This will be in support of the condos surely to be part of the overall Jammal plan.   The combined structures will be a destination venue!  In anticipation of the developing venue and in support of developing Ivy City we intend to launch a branding effort tied to an overall program to attract new businesses and entrepreneurs to Ivy City.   The intended name of the program will be :   The Green Ivy City Alliance ... and The Brand:  "Green Ivy City"  This is a nascent idea and concept but it is meritorious and we believe it can and should happen in Ivy City.  We have been in communication with the Mayor's office and a meeting is scheduled with Council Member McDuffie on the issue as he is the effected Councilman, Ward Five!

First Source - Ivy City Jobs!

It is our intention to hire from Ivy City first, Ivy City, Veterans, Single Parents in that order.  We will be  publish our plans in this blog over the  next few weeks and months as we move this project forward!

Saturday, December 15, 2012


An Open Letter to Hon. Vincent Gray


Mayor Gray ...
 
I am writing in reference to the present Imbroglio involving The Crummel School and Ivy City.   I am Jerome Peloquin, Executive Director of The National Capital Jobs Coalition and a resident of Washington, DC and Ward 5. (The Jobs Coalition is a program of our non-profit, MicroVenture Support, Inc.)  I realize that thousands of issues pass before your desk and that  you must rely on competent staff to deal with many if not most of them.  I think, however at this point you need to step in and remedy a problem created by your administration and Mr. Hoskins, deputy Mayor for Economic Development.
 
Incidentally,  we have had several meetings with Mr. Vincent Glaude who heads your Office of Community Affairs on issues relevant to jobs development and training.  He is being copied on this email in anticipation of  his conveying it to you.  It is my belief that the issue of the Curmmel School has reached the point where it is a, "no win," situation for our city and your administration in particular.  
 
By the way, I worked for your re election, Mr Mayor ... I canvased and served as a poll-watcher for you. I attended every one of your town hall meetings.   I am not a hostile critic.  In addition, The National Capital Jobs Coalition has been active in the redrafting and crafting of the Workforce Intermediary Act.  We worked with Kilan Schroyer-Boardman in Member M. Brown's office during its journey through committees.  We held public awareness meetings in Ward 5 in support.  I am neither a crank, nor am I uninformed on the Crummel matter as we have participated and attended a number of the meetings at Bethesda Baptist and I have read the Court's recent ruling against the City.
 
Perjury by the defendants - Let me be direct.  Please do not continue with this unjust, unproductive, and dishonest effort.  The findings and facts contained in the Judges granting of the  preliminary injunction provide a tawdry picture of overreaching on the part of both defendants in this matter.  It is clear that the engineer involved perjured himself at the behest of either your administration or the developers, who  were obviously trying to circumvent the environmental regs.  
 
Devaluation of the ANC's - The evasion and the machinations undertaken by the city in a cynical and wrongful circumvention of the ANC (also noted by the judge) is another example of poor judgement and dishonest practice.    It is not a pretty picture.     It is simple.  Step away from the matter.  Move the buses to the former trash site on Benning road.  It is in Ward 7 but it raises no such issues.   it is accessable and with ]]easier access (down H Street) to Union Station. It is also more directly accessible to  I-95.  
 
There is no upside for you, your administration, or The City in pursuing this pograom.  Actively engage with the community in turning The Crummel School into a national example of enlightened urban economic development and engagement.  You have succeeded admirably in bringing the Ivy City neighborhood together.  Now, make lemonade from the lemon, demonstrate political courage and initiative.  Turn the existing site over to the community.   Let us take advantage of that and make it a plus for the Gray administration.  I stand ready to support you in this effort and to volunteer my time and resources to that end.  Please see our suggestion as a sustainable alternative to the present course.  It will turn a political and social liability into a revenue producing asset.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012


The Road to Economic Justice
By Jerome J. Peloquin,

The day before Thanksgiving I sat in an office on the infamous “K” street here in the District.  I sat with Rock Anderson and several others as we formed The Justice Party of The United States of America.  As a founding member, I felt compelled to resign when principles were compromised for the sake of expediency.  I wrote the following speech … it was never given.  I share it now as it is more relevant, even poignant given the events of recent months than when it was written last November.

Sixty odd years ago President Eisenhower predicted the hegemony of the Military/Industrial Complex.  He warned of its power to control and manipulate our government.  He was not the first President to warn us of the power of concentrated capital to subvert our freedom and our democracy.  Let me see how many of you can tell me which President said this …  "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption will follow and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and then the Republic is destroyed."

Answer: President Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins dated November 21, 1864, Reference: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (MacMillan, 1950 NY) 

How close are we to the realization of Lincoln’s prescient observation.  Perilously close, I fear.

Freedom is the foundation; it is the platform, the basis upon which the American dream was built.  Freedom is the right to control your own destiny, Freedom from coercion and intimidation.  The Freedom to pursue your dream

The 1% have Freedom.  Why not? They own more than the bottom 90% combined.  Why would they not be free?. Their children never know want, they go to the best schools and universities and, when their parents pass on, they leave them all of the wealth accumulated over generations.   Yes, the 1% are free.  As Billie Holiday … songstress and noted economist once said, “… god bless the child that has their own.”  The One Percent has their own … How about The Rest of US? 

THE REST OF US will never know THAT level of freedom.  We do not know what it means to be beholden to NO MAN, For the Rest of Us … we are dependent upon The Man for our paycheck!    The 1% do not live from paycheck to paycheck.  In fact they do not get or need paychecks.  They get dividend checks and profits not from labor or work, like The Rest of us,  but from the accumulated capital, the private property they own! In fact, the plain truth is, that we, the 90%, those of us, that is most of us, who get a paycheck are not really free at all.  Let me quote the late Dr. Mortimer Adler economic philosopher, who, in a TV interview back in 1958, said.  “A man cannot be a good citizen who is dependent upon the goodwill of another man, for his sustenance.”

And now let’s talk about … The Money!

It is all about the money!  (repeat and ask the question, again)  So, we’ve tried a number of economic systems over the history of our planet.  Socialism, Communism, and now our present system which we can call, Capitalism.

Tell me, how’s this working out for you anyway … If you’re like most working people you have seen your pensions and investments, Your money, Your property, lose between 30% to 40% in value.   Where did that value, that money go?  … ?  Huh?  That’s how it became 1%

If we’re going to talk about money and property let’s define some terms first.  Money is not just cash, or what you get from a bank.  Under the law, Money is defined as anything we use to satisfy a debt.  Cash, barter, a swap, commodities like gold, stamps, or even pork bellies … anything one person will accept as fair value for a debt.  Property is something that you can own and control ie; Your House, The stuff in your house, The stock or shares in a business, or in company that you own, your stock portfolio if you have one.  There’s other property, of course, intellectual property as represented by patents and copyrights.  Money is also the way we express the value of property. When asked, how much is that worth?  Our answer reflects the value in money of that item or property.  I guess you can see here that Freedom, in America is closely linked to property and money, or, money and property … you call it.

A comprehensive understanding of money is of primary importance to The Rest of Us, the 90%.  Because the 1% uses money and the political power of money to unbalance the playing field, to pass laws favorable to them.  Ultimately to deprive us, the 90% of our fair share of the bounty of this country, to devalue our labor, devalue our citizenship. And shirk the payment of their fair share of taxes.

Baron Rothschild whose family controlled the European banking system for generations once said, “Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.”  That statement alone puts into perspective just who is driving this country’s domestic, economic, and geopolitical policies.  The truth is that money is power and the 1% really don’t care about who makes the laws because, like our Baron Rothschild … the 1% control the money.

Let me stop here and assure you that I am not against employers or business owners, or industries of any kind.  I am a strong believer in free enterprise and profit.  But ... I am making the point, that what we have here in America is NOT Free enterprise It Is monopoly capitalism, when 1% control 90% of the capital,what else can you call it?  Freedom, true freedom means economic freedom and democracy, true democracy means economic democracy.  In the end it is about money and property.  It has always been that way.

We said in the beginning, that Freedom is the right to make our own choices without interference or coercion. It is the right to be free from dependence.  The founders knew the value of private property. They knew that ownership and control of private property is the key to personal independence and freedom.  It is why ownership of private PROPERTY has been enshrined in our constitution and further defined in our laws. 

Our present economic system has been designed to keep private property and Money in the hands of the 1%. Money and property are the tools that the 1% use to secure their Freedom and create the legal and institutional barriers that block us from it.  They are effective and brutally efficient.   The 1% control this system and we are its unwitting victims.  By accepting these conditions, we become conspirators in our own economic servitude.

Unless we are willing to anoint the 1% as the ruling class … that system has to change.  The question is how do we do it without causing class warfare, without violent revolution.  We cannot look to our government to help us here.  Both parties are deep in the pockets of the 1%. Redistributing some of the money using the tax system has obviously failed.  One reason is the 1% have rejiggered the tax laws to favor themselves.  The rich do not pay their fair share of taxes.  In fact they want more tax breaks, a bigger share of the private property and money.  They, the 1%, trade their money for power and the politicians, who come begging for campaign contributions, give the 1% the laws they want.  That’s how they became the !%.

So, what is the solution?  Well, It certainly is not Communism or Socialism, what is it then?  It is NOT the present monopoly by the few.  We believe it is a Third Way … The Just Third Way -  The foundation of the Just Third Way is Economic Justice,  A New Economic Democracy driven by a Declaration of Monetary Justice.

We cannot redistribute the wealth, but we can redistribute the opportunity and that is the fundamental basis of our policy initiative.  Our policy solution is embodied in The Capital Homestead Act, A policy initiative developed by The Center for Economic and Social Justice in Arlington, VA.  This approach represents a holistic and comprehensive solution that will inject billions of dollars in new money into our economy, not at the top, but at the bottom. Unlike the voodoo economics of the past, it will create new capital investment in small growing businesses and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.   The alternative is to continue this accumulation of property and money in the hands of the 1%.  It is a one-way slide to a Soviet style totalitarian system where both money and the coercive power of the government are in the hands of the same people.  That’s when the 1% become the 100% and have all the money and all the power, we The 99% then go to Zero! 

Saturday, July 14, 2012


 Members of The National Capital Jobs Coalition (NCJC) will be attending and, if asked, participate in the meeting Monday at Trinity Baptist Church.  We will also be available to discuss our plan for turning The Abandoned School building into

The Crummel National Center For Urban Micro Enterprise.

 NCJC is a program of Micro Venture Support a Ward 5 based non profit dedicated to training people to run their own businesses  NCJC has two mandates:  
  1. Assure fair employment opportunities for Citizen's of The District of Columbia
  2. To Create New Green Industry and Jobs for The Citizens of The District of Columbia
This city has too many programs ... with too few decent paying jobs created!  We believe in A Sustainable Economic Initiative that will tie job training to guaranteed new jobs, new businesses, and new industry.  It's time for The Citizen's of DC to solve their own problems while the pols fight to stay our of jail!


 Let's take our city. our jobs, and our industry back!
(We welcome and Elected Official to join our effort, BUT ... be prepared for full transparency and disclosure)

Friday, July 13, 2012


Ladies and Gentlemen of the Democratic Party and Citizen's of The District of Columbia

Who the Hell is Jerry Peloquin Anyway? (well, google me)

I am a Democrat.  I am from South Boston.  I remember James Michael Curley whom we, the citizens of Boston elected Mayor from Jail!  I come from the town that spawned Whitey Bulger for some time, the most wanted man in America, a town where the price of being acquitted of murder was $2,500.00 (yes, in 1960)  It was my classmate Ray Flynn, then Mayor of Boston (later ambassador to the Vatican) who finally integrated the Boston School System.   I served proudly as a Untied States Marine for six years.  In 1962-63 I served as a United States Capital Policeman.  I guarded the Rotunda in the Capital while President John F. Kennedy lay in state AND, I worked in the office of The Speaker of the House of Representatives:  The Honorable (late) John W. McCromack (D,MA)  

I am an activist and an advocate for social and economic justice.  I take this position from both a practical and spiritual platform.  Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical on work and labor made the point that there can be no social justice without economic justice.  Accordingly, our non profit seeks to create new micro businesses in the economically depressed parts of the world.  One of our programs, The National Capital Jobs Coalition, agressively served as an advocate and activists (social action, picketing The Bozos at Bozouto)  and along with Councilman Michael Brown's office, helped shape and draft the new First Source Legislation.  We recently demonstrated and spoke at The Wilson Building in defense of DC workers rights.  We have a blog at: http://www.dcjobs@blogspot.com I am a committed and dedicated part of this community.  I make these points not out of some sense of self aggrandizement, but to make it clear that I am NOT a wild eyed liberal idealist ... I have been to this dance before!

For the past five years I have been a citizen of The District of Columbia.  I was a vocal critic of (as many of you will remember) former Councilman Thomas, Jr.   I campaigned for and served as pole watcher for our present mayor Gray.  In addition I published an open indictment of the DC Democratic Party for blatant abuse of power and privilege.  As a result, I have been pilloried by the lobbyists and sycophants, the wannabes and hanger's on who hope for scraps from the tables of power.   If they only knew how cheaply these so called public servants will see themselves and in the process, sell us out!   

I am writing this today in hope that I may ride on the back of Mr. Brannum and The Democratic Party and get someone to actually read what I have to say.  Over the next week I plan to make a series of concrete proposals that address the social and economic disparity that exists in this City and to suggest meaningful and lawful ways to reverse the downward spiral of this city and make it the envy of Silicone Valley and, yes, even Boston. These proposals go directly to the "money," as it is always about the  money.   Not one politician ever went to jail for misappropriation of Jelly Beans... it's the money.  Stay tuned, it's about to get interesting!

Incidentally, at 71 I have no interest in political office of any kind.  As Harry Truman said when a reporter asked him how he felt about not being President ... he said, "... Fine, I've just been promoted to Citizen."  "These folks work for me now!"

Bear with me.  I'll be publishing daily now.  I'll write it both here and on our blog.  

Jerry in Advocacy