DCentric

If I’m not out trying to track down a story, I spend the majority of my time reading. Everything. That’s why I noticed a comment left at the Washington Post– but first, some context. Last week, in this morning roundup, I mentioned that a developer wanted to bring a luxury hotel to the heart of Adams Morgan (and that he might get quite a tax break for doing so). Today, the Post reported:

For the past six years, developer Brian Friedman has been pushing a complex project that he says would reinvent Adams Morgan as a bustling attraction at all times of day, not just in the evenings. He has proposed transforming a historic church, formerly the First Church of Christ, Scientist, into a 174-room luxury hotel. His plan calls for preserving the church building and constructing a 10-story connecting building behind it, where there is now parking.

And he is asking for the city’s help, suggesting that the new hotel not be required to pay property taxes for 15 years after opening.

This article inspired a commenter named MadasH to write (and I really wish WaPo gave us a way to link to individual comments):

Do not give this development any DC tax incentives unless they promise and keep the promise to hire a high percentage of DC residents.We are sick and tired of subsidizing businesses in DC that in return bring all of their out of town friends here to work in jobs that should go to Washingtonians.

…to which tsqnova replied:

The jobs should go to people who are QUALIFIED. Potential employees should be polite, speak properly, be attractive, stylish and professional. This is no Howard Johnson’s — Ian Schrager’s hotels don’t just hire anybody to work there. He brands an IMAGE, one of luxury.

The interesting thing (to me) is that four people have recommended tsqnova’s comment and zero have endorsed MadasH’s. Yes, comment threads are cesspools and are often overrun by trolls and are therefore usually indicative of nothing…I get it. But I think that ignoring them is wasteful, especially when I have often heard sentiments similar to those expressed by tsqnova. The term “speak properly” feels especially-loaded.