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A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Good morning sweet readers! Every team LL cheered for this NFL playoff season has lost. News time.
The $600,000 Summit?: The Examiner is reporting that an upcoming citizens’ summit hosted by Mayor Vince Gray is going to cost big bucks. “We are looking at a combination of public and private funding,” says the mayor’s spokeswoman Doxie McCoy.”Citizen summits typically run about $600,000, and we anticipate a similar figure.” Continues McCoy: “There will be a big screen [so] that the entire room will be able to see responses before the end of the summit … The mayor will be there the whole time and is very excited about all this and the opportunity to hear from hundreds of residents about where the city and his administration should be headed to address their needs.” Man, that better be one big screen. LL supposes the Gray administration will wait for a Friday afternoon sometime in 2013 to dump the names of the deep-pocked donors who paid for this shindig.
AFTER THE JUMP: Deputy Ed Mayor Steps In It; Leave Gas Man Alone, Says Post; Council Should Stay Home…
Say What?: Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright sure stepped in it at a community meeting last week. Per the Post: “Wright announced that Coolidge and Roosevelt high schools would have their renovations postponed for a year under the new proposed capital budget. Then, in answering a question from the audience, he said that he wouldn’t send his child or godchild (there are conflicting versions) to either school because of the poor conditions.” Wright’s excuse: He says his comments were taken out of context. Whatever that means.
Stay Home: The Post editorial board isn’t fond of the idea of D.C. lawmakers flying hither and tither to various state capitols making the case for voting rights when the District’s new best friend, Rep. Darrell Issa, is standing at the capitol with arms wide open. In related news: an Arizona lawmaker is seeking place limits on late-term abortions in the District.
Leave Him Alone: The Post editorial board also has a message for Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh: Leave D.C. gasman Joe Mamo alone. The Post says Mamo isn’t to blame for the District’s high gas prices, and Cheh’s divorcement bill would unfairly enrich the independent retailers who favor the bill. Mamo, who owns about half the gas stations in the District, has tried to frame this debate along racial lines and has paid lobbyist John Ray a small fortune to kill Cheh’s bill. So yeah, he probably enjoyed that editorial.
It’s On: So far 13 people have picked up paperwork suggesting a run for the newly vacant Ward 5 seat. Is your favorite on the list?
In Other News:
- Family of man slain by DYRS ward sues group home.
- “Gray has never seen a taxpayer dollar he doesn’t want to spend,” says Jonetta Rose Barras.
- Councilmember Vincent Orange is really into boxing.
- Police Chief Cathy Lanier talks information sharing.
- Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry has minor surgery, survives.
- Gray to United Medical Center board: “move aggressively and with rapidity” to figure out what to do with east of the river’s only hospital.
- Firefighters increasingly upset about uniform changes.
- Step up your game, business elites.
Gray sked: 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Media Interview: The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg; 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 pm.: D.C. War Memorial Legislation Press Conference; 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Sustainable D.C. Green Ribbon Committee Meeting; 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Swearing-In Ceremony for Nancy M. Ware as Director of D.C. Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency.
Council sked: Highly effective teacher act, 10 a.m.