Photo by andertho

Mayor Vince Gray’s office passed along a press release this afternoon announcing that the D.C. Taxicab Commission would be moving its monthly meetings to the Old Council Chambers located in the One Judiciary Square Building at 441 4th Street, NW.

OK, so?

Well, in the grand scheme of things, this is kinda of a big deal. Should your memory fail, back in June the Taxicab Commission, then under the control of Interim Chairwoman Dena Reed, made national news when it arrested two journalists for doing little more than recording the proceedings of an open meeting. (No charges were filed, though.)

The arrests highlighted two problems with the commission — it wasn’t particularly friendly to media scrutiny, and the practice of holding meetings at a federal facility (that month the commission was meeting in the auditorium of the U.S. Park Police headquarters in Anacostia) left law enforcement duties to police officers that may not have been particularly sensitive to local laws.

But with the appointment of Ron Linton as the commission’s new chairman, things seem to be changing. Not only are meetings being moved to a city-owned buildings packed with other government offices, but the commission has explicitly stated that recordings of its proceedings can be taken.

The commission’s first meeting in the new location will take place on September 21 at 9:30 a.m. Feel free to record to your heart’s content.