Ward 4 candidate Janeese Lewis George’s campaign signs were taken down by the Department of Public Works last week.

That’s roughly a third of the city’s budget for the program, which is currently in its first election year.

“In every election since Councilmember Todd has joined the Council, including one in which he was not on the ballot, he has violated the city’s election laws,” the open letter reads.

Advocates say that two bills passed by the D.C. Council this year will dramatically curtail the influence of wealthy donors and well-connected businesses in the city’s elections and political process.

Our campaign staff made a mistake, we’re responsible for it,” says Bill Lightfoot, Bowser’s campaign chairman.

Prosecutors asked for house arrest, but a judge said that was too light a punishment.

It comes on the heels of a WAMU report that shows Exelon hired the former head of FreshPAC to lobby that administration.

Meanwhile, activists opposed to the Pepco-Exelon deal are calling for increased scrutiny of the “role of pay-to-play politics in her administration.”

The candidates seeking to be the next mayor of the District of Columbia filed their first major fundraising reports yesterday, with Bowser getting off to an early lead with a $465,272 haul.

Concrete and asphalt companies in and around D.C. have been big givers to two candidates for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council.