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.
