Photo by Eric Gilliland.

Thanks to one intrepid tweeting Councilmember, we know now who the chairs will be for committees under Kwame Brown’s Chairmanship of the Council come 2011. Previously, Brown — who had the final say on the assignments — had said that he would keep the Committee on Education under his purview in the Committee of the Whole, much like his predecessor, Vince Gray. The rest of the assignments? Drumroll, please.

Some initial reactions? Well, first of all: Marion Barry is back! Kwame Brown played it safe by handing him what was considered the least glamorous assignment available, but it means that the penalty time for Barry’s censure is over. Harry Thomas, Jr. gets a huge bump, moving from Libraries, Parks and Recreation to chair Kwame Brown’s prior assignment on Economic Development — if Thomas wants to prove his meddle for a future mayoral run, he won’t have any better chance than this, especially considering Walmart and other big box stores’ impending arrival in the District. Tommy Wells moving from Human Services to Public Works and Transportation will be considered a boon by transit advocates who love the man for pushing streetcars and multi-modal options; Wells will also take over for Jim Graham on the WMATA board of directors. Meanwhile, Graham certainly will have his work cut out for him in Human Services, with severe budget cuts to many services on the horizon.

Evans, Cheh, Catania, Mendelson and Michael Brown all held on to the assignments they had under Gray’s leadership.

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