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:
Micro-Manager, Except For That One Thing? Fenty in Chile
Good morning sweet readers! This article is a joke; friends don’t let friends eat farmed fish. Period. Also, today is bike to work day. So if you’re already at work, drive your car home and come back on your bike. News time:
Silver Lining?: Has l’affaire Sulaimon actually been a good thing for Mayor Vince Gray? Will it free him from having to placate the District’s Old Guard? Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe says it could. “The true value of the scandals and the hearings that they have spawned is that they can free Gray from parts of his past that could hamper his future. Gray trusted old friends such as Lorraine Green, Judy Banks and Gerri Mason Hall. They betrayed his trust, embarrassed him, exposed him to ridicule. To many, they represent the city’s Old Guard that used the government as a place to get a paycheck. Now that they have been exposed by the city council and the media, Gray can throw off their shackles and run the government on merit rather than connections. He can choose to be free—or not.”
AFTER THE JUMP: Another Spending Freeze; Sorry Mom; Baghdad Blues …
Worst Batman Character Of All Time? Mr. Freeze: Gray ordered a spending freeze for much of the government on Wednesday, saying the District was headed towards overspending $70 million. Reports Zaminer: “The freeze will cut down on agencies’ spending on new items like uniforms, office supplies and other purchases that are often made by departments that have extra cash in their budget at the of the year, the source said.” The real reason to read the article is at the bottom: “In a January e-mail to subordinates and command staff obtained by The Examiner, a lieutenant in the police department’s 1st District wrote, ‘I called reproduction this morning to inquire about obtaining toner for the Sergeant’s printer. The gentleman stated that we will be getting no toner in the near future. To make matters worse, there has been none ordered since September 2010.’ The lieutenant goes on to order his staff to use a Xerox machine and not the printer in the lieutenant’s office, which is “making a painful noise and will probably be dying soon as well.’ Police union chief Kris Baumann said the order only adds another layer of bureaucracy to a city that’s defined by red tape. ‘[Gray is] making police officers cut printing reports rather than changing how they do things and changing the culture,’ Baumann said. ‘It’s now clear Mayor Gray’s love for bureaucracy is now having an impact on public safety.'” Daaaayum, those are some harsh words in response to a piddly spending freeze.
Sorry Mom: LL touched on this in his column, and the AP now comes forth with the details. Former chief of staff Gerri Mason Hall said under oath that her son had submitted his résumé through a District website before getting a job, but the AP reports that her son recently said in a private testimony that he just handed his resume directly to his mom “after she suggested that he pursue a political appointment.” Tell you what: If LL’s son grows up to snitch on LL, there will be hell to pay.
In Other News: Gray commiserates with city politicians from Baghdad (speaking of, Postie Tim Craig is on temporary assignment in Iraq). Yes, lotteries are a form of “stupid tax.” Council does not like the military’s plan for Bolling. Your water bill is going to go up to build giant underground tunnels so less poop flows into the Anacostia and Potomac. Wal-Mart flack on unions: who needs ’em. Covenant House fundraiser with the mayor was kind of a big deal. Freeman gets a little snarky with the mayor.
Gray sked: Taking his top staff on a field trip to Homeland Security HQ, wants to be better prepared in case of emergency.
Council sked: Nada. Councilmembers Jack Evans, Harry Thomas Jr., Michael A. Brown and Vincent Orange are likely surfing the web looking for deals on Celine Dion tickets as they get ready to go to a shopping center conference in Vegas.