Results tagged “philmendelson”

As the 2010 election season gets underway, DCist will endeavor to interview as many of the candidates for city office as we can. This week, we speak with At-large D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D), who is currently running for re-election.

The story of Pepin Tuma, the local lawyer who back in July was arrested by a D.C. police officer after singing the words "I hate the police" while walking down U Street, has made its way in front of the D.C. Council, leading to serious talk about revising the District's disorderly conduct laws. The Legal Times blog and Huffington Post both covered Friday's hearing, during which Tuma testified about his experience while flanked by pro bono counsel from his former firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. And it looks like Tuma's message got through to Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary chairman Phil Mendelson. From the BLT: 'During the hearing, Mendelson made it clear he thought it was time for changes in the law, pointing out that parts of it were more than a century old, and that it had been criticized by Gerald Ford’s President’s Commission On Crime in the District of Columbia.' Unsurprisingly, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles have expressed their opposition to changing the law, which currently allows officers latitude in making arrests for what they deem to be disorderly conduct. The officer in this case, however, is being investigated by both the police department's Internal Affairs Bureau and the independent Office of Police Complaints, according to Huffington Post.

If you've got a whole lot of free time on Monday, think about heading down to the John A. Wilson Building. On that day, the D.C. Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety is holding a hearing to record public testimony on legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in the District. The hearing is shaping up to be one of those marathon sessions where Council members struggle to stay awake as they participate in a ritual of representative democracy: letting everyone have their say.

At-Large D.C. Council member David Catania (I) will introduce legislation to extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

At-large D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson today sent a letter to acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips urging him to "please reconsider and proceed to trial" with Robert Hannah, the man accused in the beating death of Tony Hunter. Hannah has reportedly been in talks to reach a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

We all know that democracy is about competition and participation, but D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) must be wondering why he keeps getting challengers for his seat.

This morning we reported on comments made by Mayor Adrian Fenty in which he argued that city residents may just have to deal with the gun law-gutting amendment if they want a voting seat in the House. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was quick to register her displeasure with Fenty's comments; Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has now followed with a statement of his own. The chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee argues that the amendment would allow violent offenders to obtain guns, result in the proliferation of assault-style weapons, limit the police department's ability to arrest chronic gun offenders and make it difficult for police to trace guns used in crimes. “Residents of the District of Columbia should not have to choose between representation and public safety," he says. “Now more than ever, we must stand united for a vote in Congress, and against this reckless assault on our safety. The Council and the region have called for a clean bill. There must be no gun amendment.”

After a first vote in late December, on Tuesday the D.C. Council gave final approval to a measure that doubles parking meter rates downtown from $1 to $2 an hour, reports WTOP's Mark Segraves. The rate hikes will also hit other parts of town, though less so -- expect to pay a quarter more an hour. District officials expect the hike to raise an additional $2 to $7 million a year, which will be directed to affordable housing programs and restoring the O Street Market.

One relatively early vote from yesterday's marathon final D.C. Council legislative session of the year was the approval of a number of changes to the District's ever-evolving gun laws. (Quick aside: Must the Council always pull out these last-minute legislate-a-thons? They often make for bad laws, not to mention force local scribes to try to fit far too many votes into far too few words. And now back to our regularly scheduled post.)

Hoping to head off an effort by Congress that would gut the District's new gun regulations completely, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced yesterday that he was proposing a number of changes to mollify pro-gun activists unhappy with the current restrictions.

The battle between Congress and the District over the city's gun laws continues today.

Well that was quick. We just got word that the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform apparently has scheduled a markup tomorrow on legislation that would gut the District's current gun regulations. As you can read earlier, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) have tried to preempt Congress, but the committee doesn't seem too impressed. We don't yet have a time for the markup, but the folks at DC Vote have asked that concerned residents pack the hearing room. You can check their website for updates on when the markup will go down.

As we mentioned this morning, today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing to discuss legislation that would do away with the District's newly-issued regulations on gun ownership. According to the pro-gun crowd, the city's regulations are still restrictive enough to violate the Supreme Court's June decision holding the District's handgun ban to be unconstitutional.

The questions surrounding the sudden resignation of Dr. Michael Williams, Medical Director for the District's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, continue. As we mentioned in today's Morning Roundup, no one seems to know why he resigned, even though Williams intimated there was a specific reason when asked by the Washington Post.

Mayor Adrian Fenty this morning formally nominated Peter Nickles to be the District's permanent Attorney General. The move was widely expected; Fenty had been visibly lobbying D.C. Council members on behalf of Nickles, who has been serving as interim AG for almost six months, and the Post called it official on Tuesday.

The Examiner reports on a new bill before the D.C. Council that would levy a $25 per month tax on all private employee parking spaces. The legislation is the brainchild of Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and At-large member Phil Mendelson, and is designed to discourage employees from driving in to work even though they have access to a parking space at their office.

Good morning, Washington. Supporters of Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Barack Obama are riding high off their caucus victories in Iowa last night, but locally, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty continues to suffer some bumps in the road after one year in office. Just weeks after the resignation of Attorney General Linda Singer, Fenty's former deputy chief of staff, Neil Richardson, has also resigned. Richardson, who was a key Fenty aide during his mayoral campaign, had been moved out of Fenty's "bullpen" in October and placed in an office called Serve DC, where he was tasked with creating a volunteer program to help the school system. Yesterday Richardson decided that the demotion, which came, according to the Post, after Richardson complained to the mayor that he was not listening enough to the public on key decisions, wasn't worth sticking around for, and tendered his resignation. WTOP has excerpts from Richardson's resignation letter, which reiterates complaints heard from others about Fenty's dictatorial governing style.

The D.C. Council voted 10 to 3 today to give Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee the power to fire nonunion central office employees.

Big news from the Washington Post: D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer has resigned after less than a year on the job.

>> D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin is reportedly fine after he was involved in what the department is calling a very minor traffic accident in Adams Morgan. [NBC4] >> Members of Shiloh Baptist Church in Shaw officially filed suit in their effort to oust current pastor Rev. Wallace Charles Smith, who they claim has mismanaged the church's assets. [FreeRide] >> Asylum Skate Shop to be replaced by unnamed fresh casual food establishment. [Penn Quarter...

Good morning, D.C. There's no denying it's hot enough to cause real discomfort, but is it too hot to reasonably believe that two young girls willingly got inside the closed trunk of their father's car to play? That is one of the questions before a Massachusetts judge in the case of a D.C. man who pleaded not guilty yesterday to reckless endangerment and assault charges after police responded to a neighbor who spotted the two...

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...

The WaPo's Marc Fisher has the latest update on the saga of D.C. administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson and his $65 million lawsuit against local dry cleaners Custom Cleaners for misplacing his favorite pair of pants. We first told you about this story back in early April, and it has since gained worldwide attention from people who like to read about stories detailing acts of unbelievable arrogance and stupidity. Like us. Fisher brings word...

Several hundred citizens turned out on Monday evening in support of the effort to quickly rebuild Eastern Market, and to share their feelings on a temporary location for the displaced vendors. Mayor Adrian Fenty, At-large council members David Catania and Phil Mendelson, Ward 6 council member Tommy Wells, city administrator Dan Tangherlini, and District 3 School Board member Lisa Raymond turned out to show their support too, as well as to canvass the opinions of...

Today Mayor Adrian Fenty takes his school takeover plan back to the D.C. Council, where it's expected to get final approval. Earlier this month, the council voted 9-2 to give Fenty control of Washington schools, with wide berth to appoint a school superintendent who would report directly to the mayor and an elected school board serving only in an advisory capacity. Under the proposal, the council would maintain line-item budget control, be able to set...

Mayor Adrian Fenty's plan to take personal control of D.C. Public Schools took one important step forward today, and may yet take another. In a 9-2 vote that took the proposal out of committee, the Washington Post reports the Council gave the takeover its first official blessing, paving the way for a first reading vote that could still happen in an extended session today. The committee vote took place after Lisa Comfort Bradford, a candidate...

It may be cold and rainy, but there's still plenty of reasons to smile on this fine Friday morning. Maryland and Georgetown won, VCU triumphed over Duke in one of those only-in-March exciting final two minutes, and ... oooh, right. Sorry about that GWU. Ouch. How are your brackets doing this morning, Washington? More of course will be coming later from our crack team of sportsologists. Voting Rights That Much Closer: DCist already reported on...

Is D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson attempting to change his image with a need for speed? Will Virginia EVER do anything about transportation? Can Metro finally convince Maryland to set aside dedicated funding? The answers to these question and more in this week's edition of Transit on Thursday Friday. Photo by ccperkdog...

Wednesday, when a genial Police Chief Cathy Lanier met with the public, she addressed many sundry concerns about getting officers more time for crime prevention and increased face time with residents and business owners. Of course, with these lofty goals come a familiar set of barriers, among them paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Apparently carrying a gun doesn't exempt you from the tiny-cut-giving task of shuffling paper after just about any arrest or incident....

UPDATE: Sam in the comments points out that the WMATA web site has no current service alerts posted, so it appears the Mt. Vernon Square station is now open. Anyone been over there this morning? A few more details are available from the Post this morning about yesterday's Green Line derailment, though it's still not known when the Mt. Vernon Square stop will re-open. In all 20 people were injured, all of them minor except...