It’s that time of year again—-city legislators are handing out trinkets to their colleagues. Here’s what LL’s got on this year’s haul…
Jim Graham, Ward 1: individualized gifts. Some got old-fashioned Christmas tree ornaments.
Jack Evans, Ward 2: his bobbleheads, signed and numbered
Mary Cheh, Ward 3: custom 18-month calendars featuring pictures of all the councilmembers
Muriel Bowser, Ward 4: boxes of Griesson Café Musica cookies
Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5: copies of The Beat: Go-Go Music From Washington, D.C. by Kip Lornell and Charles C. Stephenson Jr.
Tommy Wells, Ward 6: hardbound albums of council inauguration pictures
Yvette Alexander, Ward 7: individualized gifts; Wells says he got a beer stein
Marion Barry, Ward 8: TBD
Michael Brown, at-large: copies of The Life and Times of Ron Brown: A Memoir by Tracey L. Brown, introduction by President Bill Clinton
Kwame Brown, at-large: Starbucks mugs with personalized pictures of each councilmember inside
Phil Mendelson, at-large: TBD
David A. Catania, at-large: his usual Godiva chocolates
Chairman Vincent C. Gray: illustrated books featuring the Aesop’s fable “The Wind and the Sun.” To quote: “the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on.” (Says Gray’s chief of staff, Dawn Slonneger, “It’s a metaphor for how you deal with people.”)