Colbert I. King, longtime Washington Post editorial board member and columnist, was given a well-deserved lifetime achievement award last night by the D.C. Appleseed policy nonproft, a distinction he shared with schools expert Mary Levy and former Ward 4 Councilmember and Southeastern University President Charlene Drew Jarvis.

In his remarks accepting the award, King shared heartfelt and stirring words about his work as a journalist, chronicling “people in this city who hurt in ways we can’t even imagine.” He also, of course, paid tribute to the organization that bestowed the award upon him, saying something to the effect that no one else around does more for the city than Appleseed.

Then things took an unexpected turn: “Dorothy Brizill is a close second,” he said, referring to the DCWatch doyenne, civic activist, and involuntary home-improver.

“No,” he then added, “you gotta catch up to Dorothy,” he said to the assembled Appleseed board and staff members and hundreds of others gathered at their annual gala at the National Press Club. Brizill herself was sitting at a corner table.

King concluded his personal tribute with the following: “Dorothy, don’t die!”

That would be Delegate and Republican senatorial candidate Bob Marshall of Prince William County. Today, on WTOP’s Politics Program With Mark Plotkin, Marshall was a guest, and Plotkin asked what he, as the junior senator from Virginia, could do to help Virginia’s notorious transportation problems.

Volunteered Marshall, I’d build I-95 through D.C.

Let’s set aside for a moment that Marshall is proposing building a potentially six-or-more lane freeway through a jurisdiction he would not have been elected to represent. And let’s ignore the billions of dollars it would cost. Maybe even we can forget that such a road would, if not destroy their homes and parkland, disrupt the lives of hundreds of District and Maryland residents for years. And we’ll even forget this would have unproven effects of Virginia traffic. How ’bout the fact the people stopped this more than three decades ago and no credible proposal for an inner-city highway has been proposed in D.C.—or virtually anywhere else in America—since.

The way portrayed it, Marshall said it would simply be a matter of dusting off plans prepared in the early 1970s, and in fact proposed doing so to former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening and former Mayor Marion Barry some years ago. The excellent Web site Roads to the Future describes what those plans entailed:

If I-95 had been completed according to the original plans, it would have continued from the Center Leg to north of New York Avenue, and it would have junctioned the North Leg of the Inner Loop, turned east, and followed the North Leg, which would have paralleled the New York Avenue corridor, about a block to the north of it. At the B&O Railroad corridor (today’s CSX Transportation), I-95 would have turned northward as the North Central Freeway, following the railroad corridor to beyond the Brookland area, being tunneled (cut and cover) for 3/4 mile from south of Rhode Island Avenue to north of Michigan Avenue, then leaving the railroad corridor at Fort Totten Park, heading northeast into Maryland as the Northeast Freeway, passing west of Hyattsville and College Park before junctioning I-495 at the I-95/I-495 interchange that was completed in 1971. I-95 would have had 10 lanes on the North Leg and North Central Freeway, and 8 lanes on the Northeast Freeway.

Plotkin seemed as taken aback at the idea as LL, and he asked Marshall to confirm that he was in fact proposing pushing a freeway through the middle of residential Washington.

Marshall confirmed he was, “along with a corridor for light rail, correct,” he said.

Oh, light rail (along a corridor already served by Metro’s Red and Green lines)—it’s all good, then, Bob.

Jonetta Goes Down the Memory Hole: A minute in to the Politics Hour on WAMU-FM, host Kojo Nnamdi makes no mention whatsoever of the firing of his former co-host, Jonetta Rose Barras. Filling in for her is NewsChannel 8 host Bruce DePuyt, who is currently talking about…team tennis. —Mike DeBonis

Early next week is one of the great annual events in District politcking: the trip to the yearly convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas. There, from Sunday to Tuesday, local politicos, bureaucrats, and developers do their damnedest to land commitments from big-time national retailers.

In past years, Mayor Anthony A. Williams was a frequent attendee, as well as then-council economic development committee chair Vincent Orange and occasionally a couple of other councilmembers. This year, the delegation has grown: eight councilmembers—Chairman Vincent C. Gray, Ward 2’s Jack Evans, Ward 4’s Muriel Bowser, Ward 5’s Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 6’s Tommy Wells, Ward 7’s Yvette Alexander, Ward 8’s Marion Barry, and At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown—and seven council staffers are slated to attend, in addition to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert, and three of his staffers.

And, as with so many instances of intergovernmental relations these days, there are apparently some issues. The council has had a hard time getting a complete schedule of meetings from the executive branch. That’s important, LL’s sources say, because it gives the impression that the mayor is calling the shots as far as who can attend which meeting with which potential retailer.

“We want to be on the same page, so were disappointed the executive is making the sole decisions,” says Alexander. “We don’t want to look like we’re disorganized.”

Gray, a source says, requested a full schedule from a mayoral staffer at a meeting yesterday but has yet to receive one. LL is also told that Brown, current chair of the economic development committee, was none too happy with the snub. Reached by LL, though, Brown declined to feud with Hizzoner. “There’s no problem,” he says.

UPDATE, FRIDAY 1:16 P.M.: Gray’s chief of staff, Dawn Slonneger, calls to say a full schedule was provided by Albert’s office last night. Everyone’s happy again!

Klingle Road Is Dead: The D.C. Council just voted 10-3 to keep language in the city budget that would close Klingle Road and replace it with a hiker/biker trail, perhaps, just maybe bringing a 17-year saga close to its end. LL’s tally of votes held up with one exception: At-Large Councilmember David A. Catania, who voted to open the road in 2003, voted today to close it, citing the federal government’s failure to approve funding for the reconstruction. In his comments on the matter, Catania adopted LL’s point of view: enough of this shit already. “I believe the majority of the citizens of the city wouldn’t be able to find Klingle Road if you put a gun to their head,” he said. “I hope that once and for all we can put this issue to rest.” —Mike DeBonis

Well, looks like Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray’s plege to rein in pork-barrel spending will wait one more year for implementation: The D.C. Council is about to approve about $48.4 million $72.7 million in earmarks for various city groups in fiscal 2009, including the controversial $10 million for Ford’s Theatre contained in the mayor’s budget proposal.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty had proposed about $27 million in earmarks, but in draft budget legislation circulated today, various councilmembers had added more than $20 million $45 million to that, just about matching far exceeding the level from last year’s budget battle. LL still needs to go through the list and see what the mayor got to keep and what he didn’t.

But Gray did follow through on promises for greater accountability for earmark beneficiaries. A section of the budget legislation imposes a list of items such groups need to submit by July 15, including articles of incorporation, a recent financial audit, tax forms, and a “detailed Program Statement” explaining what they plan to do with the taxpayer money. Also new: random audits from the D.C. Auditor.

UPDATE, 6:55 P.M.: LL neglected to include the earmarks falling under David A. Catania’s health committee. $20.15 million is allocated to specific groups and businesses; about another $4 million is set aside for grants to groups to be determined.

Full list of earmarks after jump.

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The list of groups that Phil Pannell has quit in a huff continues to expand: The longtime activist announced in an e-mail sent early this morning that he “in good conscience can no longer participate” with DC Vote, the city’s most prominent voting-rights advocacy group.

The e-mail was addressed to DC Vote’s executive director, Ilir Zherka and copied to several media and political types. It was prompted by the decision of Eugene Dewitt Kinlow, who is DC Vote’s outreach director, to drop out of a shadow senator race he had entered a mere three days before.

Pannell alleges in his letter that two-term incumbent Paul Strauss had used his “clout” to force Kinlow out of the race. “I personally witnessed Paul Strauss at the Obama fundraiser at Union Station last Thursday and at the Board of Elections the next day state to people that Eugene’s candidacy would be problematic for DC VOTE,” Pannell wrote. “Strauss, in my opinion, clearly stated that he had the clout to get him out of the race, which apparently he did. His hubris was nauseating.”

And, in trademark Pannell rhetoric, he also wrote that Kinlow’s withdrawal made him feel “what it must have been like for African American slaves to witness the beating of slave when they stood by helplessly. I will not sit by and let a Black man be trashed this way and consequently have entered the race for Shadow Senator.”

UPDATE, 4:55 P.M.: Strauss calls to deny Pannell’s insinuation that he intervened with Kinlow’s employer, DC Vote, to get him out of the race. “I never called anyone at DC Vote,” he says. “Any implication that I interfered in his employment situation is false.”

Strauss says he’s mystified and hurt by Pannell’s comments. “No one’s ever referred to me in language like that before.”

Full letter after jump.

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The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club’s endorsements are usually noteworthy for no other reason than the fact they happen so damn early in the election cycle. This time though, there was plenty of drama on offer at the club’s meeting tonight at the John A. Wilson Building aside from the timing.

The big scoop: Eugene Dewitt Kinlow took the Stein Club event as an opportunity to drop out of a shadow senator race he’d entered little more than 72 hours prior. That race was shaping up to be a civil war of sorts between Kinlow, outreach director for DC Vote, and Paul Strauss, shadow senator since 1994 and an old friend of Kinlow’s. LL was super-excited about the prospect of another contested race and had hyped it up in a Friday blog post.

Strauss, sources tell LL, raised concerns to folks in the voting-rights crowd about the fact that a paid employee of the District’s best-funded voting-rights advocacy group would run for his unpaid seat. Asked his feelings on the matter, Strauss demurred: “I hope none of us in the movement would do things do divide the movement when we need to unite the movement.” He says he met with Kinlow privately after learning of his run.

Kinlow says he “reevaluated what it is I do seven days a week,” explaining that he didn’t want to drive an unpaid volunteer out of the voting-rights-activism ranks; he insists “it was a personal decision” his employer had nothing to do with.

Even his extremely short run, Kinlow says, had its accomplishments: “Since Friday, there’s been a tremendous amount of interest in this position,” he says. “Even by thinking about running I became a catalyst in recruiting more soldier” to the voting-rights cause.

The next big surprise: Ward 8 civil-rights activist/man-of-all-seasons Phil Pannell stepped into the void after he heard of Kinlow’s decision. Pannell, who is gay and a longtime Stein Club member, had a home-field advantage and forced a runoff vote with Strauss, which he won. But because the vote was so close, 26 votes to 21, no endorsement was made.

Says Strauss: “I was very gratified to win the first ballot, which is the one I think that indicates the true support.”

Kinlow made no endorsement, but his wife, D.C. Public Schools ombudsman Tonya Vidal Kinlow rose before the group in support of Pannell. Says her spouse: “She’s a smart woman. She’s a smarter person than I am.”

Other big drama:

• OK, no huge drama in the Ward 2 endorsements. Incumbent Jack Evans was squarely on home turf. He outflanked challenger Cary Silverman by playing up his record on issues close to the gay community over his four terms. (He held up to the crowed a framed ad run in 1992 by then Whitman-Walker Clinic Director Jim Graham touting Evans as the gay community’s “advocate.” Asked how long he’s been toting that ad to Stein Club endorsement meetings, Evans said, “No comment.”)

  Silverman did score some points with his full-time-councilmember pledge and his response to a question on liquor-license voluntary agreements, but then proceeded to blow it while answering a testy question from Pannell on how the gay community hasn’t been able to get a meeting with the Washington Nationals. Silverman tried to to make a point about a bad stadium deal: “We gave away the store….I don’t know what we can do. I look forward to Councilmember Evans’ answer,” he said.

  Well, Evans promised the Stein Club a meeting with Nats President Stan Kasten, to wild applause. Evans won the endorsement (and a $500 campaign contribution), 54-5, with 3 abstentions.

• One of the last uncommitted superdelegates in the District’s Democratic delegation has made up her mind: Anita Bonds, chair of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, had long said it was her job to remain neutral while her group assembled the delegation. Now, with that job complete, Bonds says she’s “leaning heavily” toward Barack Obama, pending a meeting with the Illinois senator.

  Bonds says she hopes the meeting with Obama will happen soon—”I don’t want to have to go to West Virginia”—and she says she hopes to meet with Clinton, too. Asked if Clinton could say anything to change her mind at this point, Bonds says, “I don’t think so.”

• Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s congressional delegate, won the club’s endorsement by acclamation after one of her trademark rambles. Incumbent shadow rep Mike Panetta also won an endorsement without a vote. Lots of other big names came out for the festivities. Besides the combatants, Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser showed, as did Ward 8’s Marion Barry. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray also made a brief appearance, and At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown was in the house.
• As far as verbal fireworks, the highlight of the evening was certainly Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander’s questioning from Rick Rosendall and Bob Summersgill of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance. Alexander’s speech was pretty darn anodyne, pushing her advocacy for getting rid of discriminatory practices in health insurance during her time as a District insurance examiner and her hard-line stance against sex harassment in a Ward 7 firehouse.

  Summersgill, though, brought up Alexander’s decision during her last election campaign to support civil unions but not marriage for gays and lesbians in the District. After citing her “devout Catholic” beliefs, Alexander said she was “willing to look at those options,” but initially was unwilling to commit to marriage. “That’s still a no!” Summersgill, past president of the GLAA, said repeatedly. Rosendall leapt in Summersgill then added: “In this town, if you don’t support gay marriage, you don’t deserve to be on the council.” Alexander finally said, “I guess I’m in support of it; I’m in support of equal rights.”

  That wasn’t all, though: Rosendall, the GLAA’s VP for political affairs, then went after Alexander for her support of Ward 5 colleague Harry Thomas Jr. on his efforts to keep gay strip clubs displaced by the baseball stadium out of his ward. (Rosendall had earlier, while standing to endorse Evans, announced that he wasn’t speaking on behalf of the GLAA.) Alexander said she tends to defer to the home-ward councilmember in such situations, but Rosendall blew a gasket at that line of reasoning: “She betrayed us on that bill!…You didn’t care about us!” he shouted, while other club members groaned. Said Rosendall, “If you’re more mad at me than at her, then there’s something wrong with you.”

  Alexander won the endorsement by a show of hands, 36-3, with an abstention.

In Saturday’s Post, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray’s office said that the controversial lottery contract wouldn’t be placed on the agenda for tomorrow’s council meeting, drawing criticism from the representatives of the contractors, Intralot and W2Tech, who said the council was short-circuiting a fair process.

Well, looks like they made their point: The lottery contract, “Contract No. CFOPD-7-C-053, On-line Gaming System and Related Services Approval Resolution of 2008″, PR 17-0429,” is back on the agenda posted this afternoon on the council Web site.

Gray spokesperson Doxie McCoy confirms that her boss made the move, but she makes the point that any councilmember could have moved the contract onto the council agenda.

Today is the first day candidates can pick up petitions for the Sept. 9 primary, and the big news is this: Ward 8 resident and longtime statehood activist Eugene Dewitt Kinlow plans to challenge incumbent Paul Strauss for his shadow senator slot.

LL was at the Board of Elections and Ethics’ door bright and early this morning, and the scuttlebutt was soon flying that Kinlow would be filing. LL didn’t see him before leaving around noontime but was able to reach Kinlow at his office at D.C. Vote this afternoon; he says he plans to pick up his ballot petitions before the end of the day.

Kinlow isn’t the only one challenging Strauss; Ward 5 rabble-rouser Robert Vinson Brannum was in shortly after 9 a.m. to pick up his petitions for the Democratic primary. Longtime activist Nelson Rimensnyder also showed to file for the Republican primary.

Kinlow brings a lot more cred to his campaign against the 12-year incumbent than the others; he’s outreach director for the District’s most prominent voting-rights organization, is a member of one of D.C.’s most prominent political families, and has close ties to the local Democratic organization.

“I think that first of all, I’ve got a lot of interest in all things Washington D.C.; I’ve been interested in voting rights and statehood all my life,” Kinlow says explaining his decision to run.

Kinlow says he and Strauss are good friends—a relationship that goes back to their college years—but he says it’s time for a change in the shadow ranks. “He’s had 12 years to do what he can do,” Kinlow says. “I think I can do more. I think can do a better job.”

LL also attended this morning’s memorial service, organized by the local Fraternal Order of Police, for fallen officers from local departments. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty arrived very shortly before the ceremony, pressed the flesh with the assembled brass, and avoided any confrontation, near as LL could see. Fenty handled a tricky situation with a lot of class.

Background: The day prior, the FOP sent a letter to Chief Cathy Lanier saying Fenty’s “presence will not be welcome and will not be by invitation” and that Hizzoner “does not respect the sacrifices made by members of the law enforcement community on a daily basis.”

During the ceremony, the only mention of Fenty’s name came from a member of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police brass, who briefly thanked him in the course of paying tribute to a fallen officer from her force. Fenty sat quietly front row center as bagpipes droned out “Auld Lang Syne.”

After the service, Fenty left the room, met reporters outside, read a statement and refused to take any additional questions (something he rarely does—usually, he takes questions and just repeats the same talking points over and over again).

In the statement, Fenty paid tribute to “the grace, the professionalism, and the dignity of this ceremony” and recognized the “the hard grief that goes to any family member who has lost someone in the line of duty.” To D.C. police and officers from other jurisdictions, Fenty said, “my continued condolences, my support for all of your efforts—you are true heroes.” That was it—short and simple.

Then the press corps headed over to FOP president Marcello Muzzatti, who wasn’t quite so reserved. Asked about Fenty’s decision to appear, he said, “That was his prerogative to come if he wanted to. I think we made our point. I think the message got out.”

LL asked Muzzatti whether it was appropriate to inject politics into such a solemn occasion. “Absolutely not,” Muzzatti retorted. “The issue was injected yesterday. Today is about the memorial service….The membership wanted to make a statement to the mayor and they did yesterday. And that was yesterday.”

That line of reasoning falls pretty damn short, LL thinks, when yesterday’s politics means that today the entire local media corps shows up to cover the feud.

Fenty’s full statement after the jump.

UPDATE, 4:38 P.M.: Kristopher Baumann, head of the FOP’s bargaining unit, calls in to draw a distinction between the “lodge”—headed by Muzzatti—and the “union,” which he heads. LL was imprecise is saying that Fenty had outclassed the “union.”

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In his column this week, LL held forth on the glories of budget earmarks—in particular, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s move to porkify money from ballpark-related development.

LL said of Fenty’s move, “Don’t expect much opposition on the D.C. Council,” and explained how At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown had appropriated dollars for his own favorite groups, “all but ensuring that the budget will continue to be nicely porked with ballpark dollars for years to come.”

Well, seems LL was dead wrong: According to draft budget legislation being passed around the John A. Wilson Building yesterday—a draft that reflected changes made during a six-plus hour closed-door meeting of councilmembers Wednesday—the council plans to cut out the mayor’s “community benefits” maneuver when they take up the budget next Tuesday. No word on exactly what happened, but it looks like Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray’s followed through on his pledges to get a handle on earmarks. Also no word yet on how the $2.23 million projected to flow into the community benefit fund will actually be spent.

Other tidbits from the draft legislation:

What’s out? A provision that would require city agencies to closely track their employment positions….language that would have made DCPS subject to the same budget-hearing procedures as any other agency….several provisions concerning youth services, including one that would establish a central “Office for Youth Mentoring” and another that would required training in child-abuse reporting….the proposed “budget reserve,” which would be used to pay settlements and judgments and other unforeseen city expenses.

What’s in? The watered-down “Healthy DC” plan….the $10 million for Ford’s Theatre….the Klingle Road closing provision.

More to come.

At 6:30, the D.C. Council’s public works and environment committee will convene a public roundtable on Klingle Road, which the committee voted last week to close to traffic (against the will of its chair, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham).

Forget to sign up to testify?

Don’t worry: If you’re reading this at any point before 2 a.m., you can probably make it down to the John A. Wilson Building in time to testify in the council chambers. When LL spied the latest witness list earlier this afternoon, about 80 folks had already signed up to speak.

And if you don’t want to go, rest assured that your viewpoint is likely to be adequately represented by the speakers who are present—or perhaps one of the speakers who spoke at any one of dozens of other public forums over the past 19 years.

No, LL will not be going.

UPDATE, 6:48 P.M.: Make that 2:15 a.m.—things are getting started 15 minutes late and Graham’s going to be talking for a while yet. (OK, so LL is watching, on Channel 13.)

One of the District’s hardiest political addresses is once again occupied: Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans will be locating his campaign headquarters at 1005 7th St. NW, on the highly visible northeast corner of 7th and New York Avenue.

Evans, who is being challenged thus far by Mount Vernon Square lawyer and community activist Cary Silverman, follows in the footsteps of numerous other city politicos—many who had checkered experiences on the premises:

• In 1998, the building housed one of At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz’s failed mayoral runs.
• In 2000, Schwartz ran her successful re-election campaign out of the building—a rare unqualified success for the edifice.
• In 2002, Mayor Anthony A. Williams also ran a re-election campaign out of the building. You know, the one with all the fake ballots and the write-in votes.
• In 2004, incumbent At-Large Councilmember Harold Brazil’s campaign occupied the space. He was overthrown by insurgent Kwame Brown.
• In 2006, mayoral hopeful Michael A. Brown moved his campaign in. He ended up with a mere 650 votes after throwing his support to Linda Cropp less than a week before the Democratic primary.

Red-and-white Evans signs appeared all over the three-story building, owned by developer Doug Jemal, earlier this week; Evans campaign manager Keith Carbone says phone lines still need to be installed and furniture ordered for the storefront. A kickoff event for the office, he says, is scheduled for later this month.

Perhaps Evans will be able to avoid any bad juju on the premises—he is, after all, the first non-citywide candidate to move in (the office is located in Ward 2’s eastern flank—the area Silverman considers his base). Carbone says he’s not worried about any of that. “We’re not going to be superstitious,” he says.

Remember, a few years back, when every politician in town was going nuts over Mayor Anthony A. Williams‘ plan to build a city-financed ballpark? Williams figured out a way to whip the votes to get the stadium deal through: create a “Community Benefit Fund” that would collect certain ballpark-related revenues that would be dished out for various neighborhood needs. Of course, for councilmembers to be allocated a piece of that money meant they had to play ball (har har) with Tony.

Several councilmembers did. Kevin Chavous, then Ward 7 councilmember, got $5 million for projects in his ward. Sharon Ambrose, then Ward 6 councilmember, got the same amount for her bailiwick. Sandy Allen, then Ward 8 councilmember, was promised tens of millions for development projects in her ward. Vincent B. Orange Sr., then Ward 5 councilmember, got $12 million for pet projects of his own, including laptops for kids at McKinley Tech High School. Tens of millions more was set aside for city schools and libraries.

According to estimates published in press accounts at the time, the fund was estimated to eventually bring in as much as $450 million. This year is the first time that the District’s chief financial officer is certifying that there’s any money actually in the fund—but only about $2.23 million. And, under Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s spending plan, not a dollar of that will go toward any of the projects Williams negotiated.

Instead, the money is being used for earmarks, including a half mil each for the Greater Washington Sports Alliance and the Lincoln Theater, plus $398,000 to “explore the feasibility of a D.C. Children’s Museum.” (The Williams allocations aren’t stripped out, but Fenty’s items are simply placed above them in the ballpark authorization law.) LL goes into much greater detail about the earmark game in his column to be published tomorrow.

Fenty’s budget czar, William Singer, says the move was a result of the low revenues seen coming into the fund, which come out of a tax-increment-financing district around the ballpark and other development-related sources. “We’re kind of recognizing that a modest amount of money is coming in,” Singer says. “Rather than wait 20 years to cross off one item…we’re saying, let’s just spend it on the community now.”

Also worthy of note: The community benefit money that wasn’t allocated through Williams’ horse-trading is supposed to be divvied according to a process that includes extended comment periods and “input from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, community groups, the faith community, representatives of the labor community, representatives of the business community, and other community stakeholders.”

But under Fenty’s proposed budget, all those procedures are replaced with the following sentence: “The Mayor, through the annual budget process, may make a request for an appropriation for expenditures from the Community Benefit Fund.”

Fenty, of course, voted against the ballpark deal and owes no fealty to any of the four aforementioned ex-councilmembers. And the Williams horse-trading always had a hint of charade to it—meant, as it was, merely to provide short-term political cover for a deal unpopular in most parts of the city. Or, as Singer puts it, “Those were and always have been totally empty promises.”

Williams is traveling and was not available for comment. LL’s calls to Orange were returned by a spokesperson for his employer, Pepco, saying there would be no comment. Allen and Chavous did not immediately return calls for comment.

Singer says a time may come when the money might be used as Williams & Co. intended. “If a whole bunch of money started coming in to the fund, of course we’d come back to the list.”