The city might as well put a tombstone on the idea of a commuter tax. But instead of the usual weeping and whining that goes on here every time home rule is undercut, D.C. should use this latest rebuff in the correct way: as a lever to get more money out of Congress.

Death came harshly to the latest effort to get the city’s more than 300,000 commuters to pay something for using our streets, police and fire services, parking, etc., etc. via the U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 4.

The three-man tribunal included new U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who had heard the case before his appointment to the Supreme Court. But the judges wimped out on the principle, choosing to pass the buck to Congress, insisting, “Congress is the District’s government.”

The decision stated once again that it is the Constitution, and nothing else, that prevents the city from achieving full representation in Congress. That document also says that Congress shall have jurisdiction over the federal enclave in all matters. The ruling squarely avoided the issue home-rule advocates cherish — that the Constitution is simply unfair to the District.

Thus activists must now persuade Congress that a commuter tax is the right thing, a consummation unlikely to occur. No member from outside the tri-state area has a reason to favor such a tax, and of course the Maryland and Virginia delegations will vote and vociferously lobby in their constituents’ self-interest.

Far easier is the task of persuading congressional appropriators that the city ought to be compensated for the loss of revenue received by many other cities in similar situations (more than 40 have imposed commuter taxes). This is a point repeatedly made by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), though Del. Norton backs any and all calls for greater city autonomy.

How much? An average commuter tax would net the city $1.4 billion, an enormous boost. Del. Norton speaks of $800 million, the figure in a bill now before Congress.

Oddly enough, the finality of the appeals court’s ruling and the dubiousness of a further appeal to a Roberts Supreme Court may play to the city’s advantage later. Odd too is the fact that the neighboring jurisdictions are, according to Del. Norton, all in favor of the increased federal payment. The final oddity in the equation is that, in spite of the wails and cries from Maryland and Virginia, any commuter tax imposed by the city would be a direct deduction on commuters’ federal tax returns.

The relation is Annapolis City Market, a historic structure at the scenic inner harbor of the little city on the bay. Site Realty, the same company run by Stuart Smith and Bruce Cook that, under the name Eastern Market Venture, runs the Hill’s Eastern Market, is working out the details on a deal to run the Annapolis market.

Smith and Cook as managers have been roundly criticized by Eastern Market vendors and customers, as well as members of the oversight entity, Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC), yet reportedly were offered the Annapolis job on the strength of skills shown here on Capitol Hill.

Eastern Market critics of the two managers say little real improvement has been made to the building, no long-term lease has been signed, promotional efforts are minimal, and day-to-day problems are ignored or downplayed. “It is management by cell phone,” according to Jose Canales, one of the leading Eastern Market merchants, and others there echo his opinion.

Smith “hasn’t been seen,” said Ellen Opper-Weiner, former EMCAC chairwoman. “I’m very discouraged. We had so little management; now we have even less — less than nothing.”

Smith and Cook say that budget constraints and indecisive leadership from the city agency, the Office of Property Management, that serves as the market’s landlord have hampered their plans. Cook told The Hill that the lease situation is a continuing source of frustration to him. He added that the Annapolis expansion would make “absolutely no difference” to the management of the Hill’s market.

The two markets have some similarities but many differences; Eastern Market has been open since the 1870s and is the last of the city’s purpose-built food-distribution centers from the Civil War era. Annapolis City Market, on the other hand, was opened in its present building in 1858 at the site of a slave market and has had an uneven history. It has no great architectural heritage and was nearly torn down for a parking lot in 1969 (the same fate faced Eastern Market in 1963). Annapolis Market closed down almost a year ago for a renovation, at which time it housed a hodgepodge of small businesses.

Political scandal erupted this fall in Annapolis when the upscale grocery firm Dean & DeLuca pulled out of negotiations to take over the market, either with or without a partner, Annapolis Seafood Products. Outrage swept the Annapolis City Council when it was revealed that Dean & DeLuca had cooled on the deal many months before and never intended to take over the market, while the city administration continued to promote the deal.

With the departure of city planning czar Andrew Altman and the exit of the mayor from the city’s political scene, important projects, such as the Anacostia Waterfront initiative, the 100-acre Poplar Point development and even the increasingly complex baseball stadium plan — all lose momentum.  

Add to that the fact that the leading mayoral candidates, Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Linda Cropp (D), have shown so far that they will campaign on the usual platter of promises about better schools and safer neighborhoods and not on development.

And now Congress, in part of a wide-ranging budget bill, is proposing to sell at market value, not transfer to the city, the vital parcels of land on which the Williams proposals were to be built. The author and champion of the land-sale provision is House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), who argues that the sale is needed to generate revenue.

Those favoring the transfer plan, pushed by Virginia Rep. Tom Davis (R), include President Bush and top District officials who realize that if the city is forced to buy the land it will be a fatal blow to most if not all of the long-range development plans.

Congressional friends of the city are hoping the land-sale language will be removed as the budget legislation moves to conference and toward a final vote.

• Rare showing of that strange film gem “My Dinner with Andre,” the unforgettable Louis Malle movie that records Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn discoursing. It’s akin to Philip Glass’s music in its hypnotic charm. Nov. 26 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art. …

• Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is warring (with several other minority members) against a Library of Congress/Congressional Research Service (CRS) plan to cut 59 jobs (a majority of them minorities). Norton has reminded the library and CRS execs that 10 years ago many of the same employees took a class action against the agencies — and won. ...

• Scott Cernich, chairman of the Hill’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B, led the group to a unanimous negative vote on the issue of the proposed National Medical Center for the D.C. General site. The highly regarded advisory body concluded the $400 million hospital proposal would destroy struggling Greater Southeast Hospital, would not serve the needs of Anacostia residents and was too large for the site, near Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. ...

• Near Northeast residents are choosing sides over a new charter school — Apple Tree School in the unit block of 12th Street N.E. At question is the right of public schools to ignore local zoning laws. Residents have hired a lawyer to fight the school’s “incursion” into a residential street. School backers have hired a lawyer too. ...

• D.C.’s Department of Parks and Recreation is moving at a glacial pace in establishing so-called “dog parks” where, under legislation passed in September, residents will be allowed to free their pets. A long process, numerous community meetings, and ANC involvement is in the works.