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Morning Roundup: After the Snowfall Edition
Yesterday's legislative action in the D.C. Council, typical of end-of-session days, was jam-packed with votes. Here's a few more you may have missed:
>> The Council moved ahead on a bill that restricts interest rates levied by the so-called payday loan industry, an issue we've looked at before. The bill passed on an initial reading, and if implemented would place a 24 percent annual percentage rate cap on interest charged by lenders. The Examiner notes that Council members were pretty miffed that CFO Natwar Gandhi took it upon himself to draft a report warning that such a bill would reduce tax income for the city -- the bill's sponsor, Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) quipped: "What the CFO has focused on is whether we’re spending more than we’re bringing in. If this is his new front in financial supervision, well, then he might as well put himself in charge of the entire District government."
>> By a 9 to 2 vote, the Council gave final approval to the proposal to implement a 3-year moratorium on single sales of alcohol H Street NE. The ABC Board will give the affected businesses a 30-day grace period before beginning enforcement, which includes a ban on the sale of single containers of beer and liquor sold in half-pint volume.
>> The Council adopted legislation that permits the Sentencing Commission to continue monitoring and amending the voluntary sentencing guidelines for use by criminal justice practitioners. The emergency legislation, sponsored by Phil Mendelson, (D-At Large) allows the Commission to make changes in light of new information and changing circumstances.
>> $140 million in bonds were approved to finance development projects at the Southwest Waterfront, Southeast Federal Center, Hill East Waterfront- Reservation 13, Poplar Point, Kingman and Heritage Islands.
>> The Council also passed a bill that authorizes Mayor Fenty to seek an independent receiver to operate the beleaguered Greater Southeast Community Hospital in the event of an emergency. The move also gives the Council's health committee power to subpoena the financial records of the company that owns the hospital and compel testimony of its officers.
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"What the CFO has focused on is whether we’re spending more than we’re bringing in. If this is his new front in financial supervision, well, then he might as well put himself in charge of the entire District government."
I second the motion. Ghandi seems to be someone who actually does his job efficiently, without grandstanding, and has been accountable for his actions. I can see why Mary sees this as a threat to the DC Government in general and the Council in particular.
[screeches and throws feces at Ward 3 chair]
It seems that Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3)is threatened by CFO Natwar Gandhi's competence, more than anything else. DC would be about one-thousand times better if the rest of it's public servants displayed even a tiny fraction of the initiative of Gandhi and some other workers. Best wishes to him and Fenty.
To celebrate the H Street singles moratorium, dcists are cordially invited to join Hillman, hillrat, and monkeyrotica for the First Annual Bladder Blowout 2007 behind Hillman's place. Guests are invited to sample complimentary fried gizzards and livers (courtesy Cluck-U) as well as the finest Carlo Rossi White Grenache and Vin Rose from our cellar of 3-liter jugs. Meet Mistress of Ceremonies, socialite gadfly, celebutard, and parttime urinal Kim Kardashian for the back gate paint "powerstripping" contest! Find out which dcist gets to boast Biggest Bladder on the Block!
I too am glad Ghandi spoke up, it is his job. He has done more to help this city than ANY of the council members.
The mayor and council are always posturing for the next election. The financial impact of any legislation should be made available before a vote. The council then has the responsibility to decide if the benefits outweigh the costs.
Mary Cheh is new to council and I’m sure she wants the exposure. Jin Graham can’t have it all :-)
-Ghandi is Great
Hey monkey, are you coming to Unbuckled?
Ryan - DC9 banned me because I kept pooping in the sink. That, and the whole peeing-on-the-rim thing.
Bring on the new development in Southwest!!
Besides the DC9 ban, monkey's wee monk-tots need him home tonight for poo-target practice. [much shrieking!]
Pick us up an H-Street half-pint or 2 on the way before that moratorium gets enforced, K?
Now, Monkey, we all know it ain't the size of the bladder that counts, it's how and where you use it.... or so some of us with various unusually petite body parts like to tell ourselves....
I wonder which 2 losers voted against the singles ban. And if they ever gave a reason, other than the obvious - that they have their heads buried up the butt of the liquor lobby.
Ban singles citywide. This block by block approach is getting old.
I think they tried a citywide ban. A combination of the liquor lobby and race/class/fearmongering/pandering killed that. It would have been so much easier to just do it citywide. But, then, this is DC. We never do easy.
The Council is peeved at the CFO because he:
1. Reported that the proposed bill would cost the city $123,000 next year, an insignificant amount in DC budget terms (and nothing compared to the suffering payday loan sharks inflict on victims), and
2. Nobody asked him. Mr. Gandhi needs to save his comments to the legislative branch for fiscally meaningful issues.
Re: Ghandi- What, no one is still pissed at Ghandi for fudging the stadium cost figures?
Re: H Street- Deposit+Return= less trash, more recycling, and a living wage for the homeless!
mlb - DC will get statehood before it gets a bottle bill. Statehood Green Party and the Sierra Club are no match for the beverage lobby, the bottling manufacturers lobby, the usual suspects. Great idea, gets shot down every council session since the early 1970s.
Yeah, I hear you Monkey. But I'd like to keep it in the publics' mind.
And there is a glimmer of hope. A certain DC area's monopoly on used oil removal is being challenged by a biodiesel company that actually *pays* restaurants for their used oil, and takes it away for free.
Re: Ghandi- What, no one is still pissed at Ghandi for fudging the stadium cost figures?
Good point mlb, but the fact is that the stadium deal was going down with or without Ghandi's cooperation. Did Ghandi fuck that up or at the very least give in to political pressure to sign off on the deal? Sure.
But I think if you look at his record since he hit town, Ghandi has gotten many more things right than wrong.
Vice Presidential candidate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has been getting more and more negative responses from the mainstream media. Palin made a late-night entertainment debut on NBC’s long-running pop culture mainstay, Saturday Night Live. Instead of getting the positive response she’d expected for being a good sport, she was severely criticized for her appearance by the press. For several weeks, hits and blows have been thrown out at Palin, condemning everything she does and questioning her performance, not only as the Governor of Alaska, but as a possible VP for the United States of America. They have even enlarged the story of her seventeen-year old daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock to use as another weapon against the Vice Presidential candidate. Some in the media, including many liberal experts, are insinuating that our country will crumble if Palin was forced to take over the office if anything should happen to Presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain. In contrast to the across-country belief, a large number of people have distinguished all of the low-blowing character attacks and lies relayed about Palin, appreciating the good work she has done and continues to do for the children and people of special needs, and her support of the disabled demographic in general. Many more are in favor of the Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, considering her support for personal responsibility and financial freedom. This includes her contest against the obliteration of cash advances, a legitimate resource that many responsible, hard-working citizens have relied on to avoid the cycle of debt many of us are facing because of the lack of financial support during unforeseen events.
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professional blogging team? jesus christ, you're posting on a story that's over a year old? way to be up-to-date there!