It’s an early Christmas present for LL!

This evening, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray announced his committee assignments for Council Term 18, which will commence Jan. 2. Gray, as is his style, kept his deliberations very close and announced them in a low-key manner. LL will weigh in with a full list of winners and losers (and evaluate his own predictions) once he gets a better sense of which agencies have moved under which committee’s purview, but here’s a few quick thoughts:

  • Panels belonging to Jack Evans (finance and revenue), David Catania (health), Phil Mendelson (public safety and judiciary), Kwame Brown (economic development), Harry Thomas Jr. (libraries, parks, and rec), and Tommy Wells (human services) seem largely to have been left alone.
  • No full committee for freshman Michael Brown. A bit of a reversal for Vince, but a smart one—-LL sees no sense in diluting chairs’ responsibilites by having 13 committees. Brown still could be given a subcommittee.
  • Mary Cheh is given the crucial government ops committee, a strong vote of confidence in the Ward 3 member’s oversight work.
  • The rest of Carol Schwartz’ old committee was split two ways, with the workforce-development package handed to Marion Barry‘s housing committee and the rest handed to Yvette Alexander.
  • Jim Graham lost Department of the Environment to Cheh, as she had been lobbying for. It’s still unclear whether he held onto the liquor-control bodies.
  • Muriel Bowser got a relatively good assignment, chairing public services and consumer affairs. She also won a valuable slot on economic development.

Full list is after the jump, along with Gray statement.

Washington, DC—D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray today announced committee assignments for the next legislative period. The Chairman met with Councilmembers this afternoon to discuss the assignments, which will be voted on at the organizational meeting for Council Period 18 on January 2, 2009.

“Each of my colleagues, the longtime members and the newcomers, possesses their own unique qualities, legislative skills, and backgrounds that make them suitable for the chairmanships and seats for which they have been tapped,” said Chairman Gray. “In totality, they reflect a Council that is diverse and sensitive to the needs of the residents of the District of Columbia and our government. They are extremely capable of handling the legislative duties for which they were elected, and I look forward to working with them in the next Council period as we tackle the difficult challenges ahead.

The list of Councilmember assignments follows.

Committee of the Whole
Vincent C. Gray, Chairperson

All Members

Aging and Community Affairs
Yvette Alexander, Chairperson
Jim Graham
Mary Cheh
Harry Thomas, Jr.
Michael Brown

Economic Development
Kwame Brown, Chairperson
Jack Evans
Marion Barry
Yvette Alexander
Muriel Bowser

Finance and Revenue
Jack Evans, Chairperson
David Catania
Marion Barry
Kwame Brown
Michael Brown

Government Operations and the Environment
Mary Cheh, Chairperson
David Catania
Kwame Brown
Harry Thomas, Jr.
Tommy Wells

Health
David Catania, Chairperson
Tommy Wells
Marion Barry
Mary Cheh
Yvette Alexander

Housing and Workforce Development
Marion Barry, Chairperson
Phil Mendelson
Jim Graham
Harry Thomas, Jr.
Michael Brown

Human Services
Tommy Wells, Chairperson
Muriel Bowser
Phil Mendelson
Marion Barry
Michael Brown

Libraries, Parks and Recreation
Harry Thomas, Jr., Chairperson
David Catania
Phil Mendelson
Yvette Alexander
Kwame Brown

Public Safety and the Judiciary
Phil Mendelson, Chairperson
Jack Evans
Mary Cheh
Muriel Bowser
Yvette Alexander

Public Services and Consumer Affairs
Muriel Bowser, Chairperson
Mary Cheh
Jim Graham
Harry Thomas, Jr.
Michael Brown

Public Works and Transportation
Jim Graham, Chairperson
Kwame Brown
Muriel Bowser
Phil Mendelson
Tommy Wells