Photo by andertho.

During yesterday’s mayoral press conference — and at some point between the questioning of his choice to chair the Board of Elections and Ethics and the media uproar over the decision “filtering” of the D.C. Fire and EMS Twitter feed — Vince Gray announced that he would appoint four new members to the D.C. Taxicab Commission, including two cab drivers.

Why is this a big deal?

Well, if you’ll recall, the Mayor — along with the city and the chairman of the Commission, D.C. Taxicab Commission chairman Ron Linton — is currently being sued by two taxicab driver associations. One of the associations’ major complaints: that the Mayor hadn’t yet given three drivers (or, in legal-speak, “proper representatives of the taxi industry”) a place on the Commission, as is required by law. Gray’s announcement, made just one day after the drivers’ complaint was filed, could be an olive branch to the hacks. But did it actually change anything as far as the lawsuit is concerned?

“Mayor Gray’s announcement is encouraging,” said Robert Lian Jr. of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, pro bono counsel for the taxicab driver associations. “We will have to see who these individuals are and what additional steps the Mayor and the Taxicab Commission take to address our client’s concerns.”

So, in short: the suit’s still on. For now, at least.