D.C. Council Sprints to End-of-Session

Boy howdy, yesterday sure was quite the hootinany over at the D.C. Council, as members scrambled to push their pet bills through before this year's session finally, finally comes to a close. Here's a quick rundown of what went on, gleaned from the WaPo and Examiner:

>> We told you this was in the works before, but the council finally did pass a nice pay raise for themselves and incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty. From the Post: "In an 8 to 3 vote, the council agreed to a $200,000 salary for incoming mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D); $190,000 for the chairman-elect, Vincent C. Gray (D); and $115,000 for council members. Under city law, the bill must pass a final reading, scheduled at a Dec. 19 council session, before it becomes law." Leading the dissenters was Kwame Brown (D-At Large), who felt strongly that the end-of-session timing and rushed nature of the bill had not given the public enough opportunities to weigh in. Council-members currently take in $92,000 and can hold other jobs, though some argued that their salary hasn't kept pace with cost-of-living increases.

>> The council voted to make Washington the first major city to require private developers to adhere to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council — a requirement that would force all commercial development of 50,000 square feet or more to meet the standards by 2012. From the Examiner: "For the most part, the building council's standards don't mandate that a project incorporate specific features. Rather, they award credits in categories such as site selection, energy and water efficiency, and materials. A building must amass a certain number of credits to be certified."

>> The council voted to give initial approval for a new 20-year Comprehensive Plan, which concentrates development around Metro stations and proposes more affordable housing, among other things. DCist Ryan is, of course, working on a 3,000-word response to the plan as we speak. No word as to whether the council will endorse that, though.

>> In a unanimous vote, the council approved the use of $245 million in tobacco-settlement money to pay for cancer prevention, smoking-cessation programs, and primary and urgent-care facilities in underserved neighborhoods. And speaking of smoking, the ban is still on -- less than a month and counting.

>> And as intrepid boy blogger Kriston Capps mentions, outgoing Council-member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) tried a last ditch effort to push through Mayor Anthony Williams' Library Bill through an extraordinary process called a "discharge," but ended up failing seemingly only due to the illness of colleague Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6). And yes, we do think "discharge" is a pretty gross-sounding legislative term.