Playing Jesus in this scenario, says owner Jody Taylor, would be Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans.

"The Black Rooster will crow again," Taylor says. Asked what happened to prompt the reversal of fortune for what had been slated to become a General Services Administration conference room, "I don't really know to be honest with you. Jack Evans had a lot to do with it....Once I talked to the landlord, he was extremely gracious. Everybody came to terms. It's good all around."

And the reprieve came just in the nick of time. Taylor had put up the bar's assets in an online auction, and today was the last day he could have canceled it. "They had people flying in from Chicago and Atlanta that were interested," Taylor says. "Just came down to the last minute practically."

The final papers aren't signed just set, but Taylor says landlord Richard Cohen gave him the go-ahead to re-open, something that could happen in two or three weeks.

"I am very grateful at this point to a lot of people," Taylor says.

Perhaps he didn't see me, and for a bad reason: He had a cell phone planted in his left ear!

Fine that councilmember, please. After all, he should know damn well that his very employer---the D.C. Council, that is---passed a hands-free driving bill that sought to outlaw just this scenario.

The hypocrisy factor, however, is a bit mitigated by this statement from Evans, issued at the time the hands-free thing passed: "I am not a fan of this law, but it's inevitable with the technological advances we constantly see. I only hope this law will produce a decrease in accidents caused by distractions." Evans did vote for the legislation; its lone dissenter was Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham.

In our running poll of the D.C. Council's Judiciary Committee members regarding AG Peter Nickles' conduct, we finally reached Councilmember Yvette Alexander.

Nickles has come under fire recently for his office's conduct in a Pershing Park civil suit. District evidence has either been destroyed or lost and discovery continues to be a problem in that case. The discovery process has dragged on for years. The U.S. District Court judge in the case slammed the OAG, ordered Nickles to submit a sworn statement explaining his office's actions, and called on the D.C. Council to investigate the OAG's handling of the case. The issues before Nickles include one very false affidavit.

So far Councilmember Mary Cheh has called for Nickles to resign. Yesterday, Councilmember Phil Mendelson joined Cheh in pushing for Nickles to rejoin the private sector.  Councilmember Jack Evans still fully supports Nickles.

Alexander says she is reserving judgment on Nickles for the time being. She would like to see the council take up the matter. "I wouldn't have a problem with requesting an investigation," she tells City Desk. "You are innocent until proven guilty. I would want to know what happened with the evidence."

If there was purposeful or criminal mishandling of evidence, Alexander says, then Nickles should be ousted.

Alexander says that Nickles still hasn't accepted his role as the attorney general. "I have not seen the distinction in his role as the general counsel and attorney general," she explains. "It troubles me. That was one of my concerns during the confirmation."

*photo courtesy of Alexander's awesome website.

Evans also thinks the U.S. District Court judge's strong recommendation that the D.C. Council should investigate the OAG is misplaced. "I would think that the more appropriate agency would be the inspector general," Evans tells City Desk. "Certainly, someone would have to determine if there was wrongdoing. That's not the city council's job that's the inspector general's job."

Evans is sure that Nickles did not commit any of the alleged wrongdoing. For one thing, Nickles was not in office during the bulk of the Pershing Park case's activity. That fishy affidavit? Well, that's come up under his watch.

Should Nickles resign? "Oh God no," Evans says. "I think Peter Nickles does a great job for the District. This is the first time we got an attorney general that actually defends the city."

Desi Deschaine, 29, a fixture in local politicking over the last decade and recently a staff member for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, has died after drowning in Baltimore.

Jeff Coudriet, a top Evans deputy, says that Deschaine had gone on a Chesapeake Bay boat trip Sunday with a man he'd been dating. The boat had returned to Baltimore's Inner Harbor Sunday night when Deschaine left the boat at about 10:30 p.m. He was not seen or heard from again. "In the morning Monday is when we found he was missing. He obviously didn't turn up at work," Coudriet says.

Baltimore police recovered a body from the harbor this morning, a department spokesperson says, and Coudriet says a positive identification has been made. Deschaine's parents arrived in Baltimore late last night.

In a Facebook message posted Sunday, Deschaine wrote that he was "getting ready for an amazing day boating in Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay...and hope our friends join for what will be an awesome and amazing afternoon on the water!!"

"We're just obviously stunned," Coudriet says. "We're grief-stricken."

Evans, about to head into today's council legislative meeting, was not able to comment, but did say he'd been in touch with Baltimore Mayor Sharon Sheila Dixon about the incident.

On a personal note, LL's known him since 2004, when Deschaine was a neighborhood services staffer for Mayor Anthony A. Williams and LL was a City Paper intern covering community meetings. For all the years LL has known him, he's never once seen him without a smile on his face---one of the genuinely friendliest and kindest people in the small world of District politics.

A graduate of Catholic University, Deschaine was active in the Democratic State Committee, the Gertrude Stein Democrats, the Logan Circle Community Association, and numerous other groups. After leaving the Williams administration, Deschaine worked for the Washington National Opera before returning to the Wilson Building last year to handle press and outreach for Evans.

Please put your memories of Desi in the comments.

UPDATE, 12:05 P.M.: Evans has released a statement: "Desi Deschaine was a bright, bubbly, enthusiastic, and wonderful person who you just could not help but love. I had the great pleasure of knowing and working with him not just on my staff, but on my campaigns, and over the years with Mayor Williams’ staff, the Opera and numerous other capacities and roles. He brought his passion, energy and good spirits to everything and everyone he touched over the years. My staff and I share the grief of and extend our condolences to Desi’s family and friends, and deeply mourn his untimely loss."

UPDATE, 1:55 P.M.: A statement from Stein Club president Jeff Richardson: "Desi Deschaine was a bright and shining star in the DC Democratic Party and in the DC activist community. Desi involved himself in every sector of DC society and loved to build bridges and facilitate connections across communities. Desi will be missed, but through the joy he shared with us and his deep commitment to the District his spirit will live on."

UPDATE, 5:20 P.M.: Friend Phil Attey has organized an impromptu vigil for Desi this evening at 7:30 in Logan Circle.

Photo from Facebook

A compromise of sorts was in the works today: Councilmembers Jim Graham, Jack Evans, and Muriel Bowser, all supporters of the gang injunctions, proposed allowing the measures for six months in their own wards---1, 2, and 4, respectively.

That proposal didn't get very far with their colleagues.

"We cannot have a tale of two cities," said Harry Thomas Jr., who alluded to 'Jim Crow laws' in his comments on the debate.

At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson called it "a very convoluted approach to crime-fighting."

Ward 6's Tommy Wells reversed his earlier vote against gang injunctions to vote for them here (though he didn't endorse them to the point that he added Ward 6 to the compromise amendment): "There's a lot of ideology, there's a lot hyperbole...but I think it's a rational act for the council to do this and I think it's in the best interest of children."

In any case, the council voted the ward-only approach down, 5 to 8.

On the final, permanent crime bill, it passed 10 to 3---without the support of hardliner Jack Evans. "Unfortunately the bill before us is not the bill I had hoped," he said, recounting that a cop he had spoken to had described the final bill as "the criminal protection act." Bowser and David Catania joined him in a protest vote.

At last: Let the grandstanding end!

The bottom line: The mayor and council have to find at least $190 million to balance this year's budget, which runs until Sept. 30. (That number may rise; the CFO has identified $87 million in overspending, too, but that can be offset by underspending and other cuts yet to be identified.) Finding the money, actually, isn't hard: The city's budget reserve can cover it, but at least half would have to be paid back in the next year's budget.

And for that budget, passed by the council last month, they'll have to find another $150 million in cuts even without having to refill the reserve. Add that in, and it's at least $245 million.

Council finance guru Jack Evans says tapping the budget reserve, with only three months left in the fiscal year, "probably makes sense." But he counsels that all of it should be paid back in 2010 to avoid exacerbating other budgetary issues lingering in the 2011 budget.

The shortfalls, according to Gandhi, can be attributed to declines in each of the three major taxation areas: Income tax receipts are down, with declining income and investment losses leading to larger refunds. Property tax collections are underwhelming, too, due to vacant properties being given exemptions from high rates and from a spate of refunds that had been held back pending investigation into the OTR scandal. And sales and use taxes---particularly tourism-related taxes---are precipitously falling.

"The uncertainties surrounding the nation and District economic outlooks remain very worrisome and require careful monitoring," Gandhi writes.

If the council were to decide, as Evans suggests, to borrow from the reserve for this year and pay it all back in 2010, it would have three weeks to find $340 million in cuts before sending the 2010 budget to Congress before its summer recess.

"We'll do it," Evans says. "We've done it before."

Today, the various crime bills are being debated as I write this item. You can read the complete and competing bills here. The Post has gathered up the pro and con surrounding the controversial proposal to take gangs or gang members to civil court. The Post writes:

The provision -- drafted by the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) -- would allow authorities to target alleged gang members in civil proceedings. A prosecutor could obtain an injunction barring an alleged gang member from engaging in a range of activities, including such nuisance offenses as harassing passersby on the street.

Loose Lips is liveblogging the big crime bill debate. This afternoon, I talked to a veteran D.C. Police official who has vast experience with drug and gang cases. I wanted to know their thoughts on the crime bills and the civil-court provisions.

They basically thought the crime bill(s) were a waste of time.

Here are their thoughts:

"We got plenty of laws in place. Drug laws and gun laws. But it's a rotating door down at the courthouse. The youth system sucks in the city. You look at the history of these criminals, come on.

You need laws that the courts are going to pay attention to. Go down and sit in arraignment court and copy down names of people that walk out the same day and run their records.

The problem is not the mayor or anyone else. It's the court system. It's the judges in the courts. Sometimes you got to keep a criminal behind bars. If you got someone who sells drugs to a police officer---he should be in jail. He should be locked up.

[We] experience this on a daily basis. Especially our street tasforces.

Why do we need new civil charges? For harrassing people on the street, cops could charge criminals with disorderly conduct."

But not quite enough: Debate is about to begin in the D.C. Council on a competing pair of anti-crime bills. One, introduced by Councilmember Jack Evans and supported by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, takes a hard-line approach, notably toward "civil gang injunctions," which makes it easier for police to keep alleged gang members out of specific neighborhoods. LL calls this the "jackboot reactionary" version. The other, introduced by Phil Mendelson, addresses most of the same issues, but amended to address civil rights concerns raised by the ACLU, NAACP, and other organizations---such as, How do you determine someone's a gang member? and What defines a neighborhood? LL calls this the "liberal weenie" version.

Both need nine votes to pass. Neither Evans nor Mendelson claimed earlier today to have the requisite number of votes in pocket.

Live from the John A. Wilson Building: Let the grandstanding commence!

12:47 P.M.: Evans, no surprise, says he's voting against the Mendo bill (the emergency declaration, to be precise). "I thought we spent a lot of time negotiating and were prepared to go forward," he says, then says that Mendo pulled key portions of compromise legislation. But he does strike a conciliar note, nothing the "hard work" put in by all parties.

12:50 P.M.: Marion Barry: "For the last 25, 30 years, we've had a public safety problem. During my administration, we have a crack cocaine epidemic...I was very naive about how to handle it." Calls the Fenty/Evans bill a "Band-Aid approach, a shotgun approach." Says he's supporting the Mendo version. "I don't condone criminal activity," he notes. You can't make this stuff up.

12:52 P.M.: Barry stresses the need for offender re-entry programs: "These people needs a lot of supportive services...that the government should pay for."

12:55 P.M.: Says Harry Thomas Jr., civil libertarian, "This is a very sensitive subject for many of us...Every young person here understands the impact of possibly being labeled a gang member by law, which will never be removed." Cites L.A. experiences with civil gang injunctions. Also cites need to "address the root causes that need to be addressed." He's with Mendo!

12:58 P.M.: Thomas pulls the fatherhood card: "I am a parent first!" And don't you dare label him! "I am not soft on crime; I am tough on crime!"

12:59 P.M.: Kids these days, Thomas says, "all wear the same clothes," leading to possible law enforcement confusion. "Your child could be labeled a gang member for life!" he warns.

1:00 P.M.: Thomas gets chamber applause! Vince Gray issues stern admonishment to crowd!

1:04 P.M.: Catania is with Evans. The Mendo bill, he says "does not deal with the issue of gang violence." Goes on to cite facts and such. Calls Thomas' same-clothes scenario "the worst mischaracterization of what the mayor and Mr. Evans' bill attempts to accomplish."

1:06 P.M.: "Is this a bill a perfect bill? No. I'm sure not one of us here is excited about locking up more of our young people." But: "The underlying bill is weak as tea and will produce no tangible results this summer."

1:07 P.M.: Kwame Brown is with Mendo. "People are tired. The fear of crime is out of control."

1:09 P.M.: Now Kwame seems to be engaged in a soliloquy directed at Barry, to no particular end. "Some of these kids, and some of these young folks...they're asking me, why are they still on the street?"

1:14 P.M.: Yvette Alexander is with Mendo, against civil injunctions. "Let me just say that a gang is just defined as being involved in criminal activity. We have laws in place to address criminal activity!...I personally don't believe that everyone hanging out on a corner is a criminal."

1:17 P.M.: Yvette: "Let's address the crime; let's not issue a quick fix....I also don't want to jeopardize anyone's constitutional rights, and I don't want racial profiling....We have some overly aggressive officers who may make assumption based on someone's appearance...[Racial profiling] is real and it exists."

1:19 P.M.: Muriel Bowser says the Mendo bill "sounds decisive and sounds good, but really doesn't do anything about the problems at hand." She backs Jack! (And the mayor, natch.)

1:20 P.M.: Bowser on civil injunctions: "It's not willy-nilly. It's very comprehensive!" Also: "This is not an issue of whether you support civil liberties or not...but also think that the people of my ward have the right to go in and out of their houses without being shot....what about them? They're being affected by the lawlessness on out streets as well!"

1:22 P.M.: Bowser: "I hope we will consider the measure offered by Mr. Evans, because it does do something about gangs."

1:24 P.M.: Michael Brown is with Mendo. "I grew up in a city where senior citizens would walk down the streets with groceries and we'd just help them!...We need to turn the clock back a little bit." These kids need to learn respect!

1:26 P.M.: Catania again, points out gun loophole in Mendo bill.

1:27 P.M.: Evans: "We have an emergency before us today, because I brought an emergency to the council."..."To me, the fundamental purpose of this legislation today is the gang legislation." Cites the violence in Shaw. "Are we going to go into the summer with the status quo. The status quo isn't working. People in Gibson Plaza are scared to cross 7th Street to go to the Giant!"

1:29 P.M. Jack's using his angry voice! "I am asking you, please, consider my bill! This is what the entire law enforcement community is Washington is asking for."

1:32 P.M.: Barry says 75 percent of people in Ward 8 will say they feel less safe this year then they did last year. Thus "what we did last year was ineffective." Thus "we ought to this once stop this Band-Aid approach."

1:33 P.M.: Barry: "If you really want to those what to do with the games, ask the Peaceoholics....I'm urging that you don't profile these young people. The National Park Service profiles you." Yikes. That would be a reference to the police shooting of Trey Joyner in Trinidad last week.

1:35 P.M.: Don't call Barry soft on violence, he says: "I've had a gun stuck in my face. Cold steel, right between my eyes." Also mentions his 1977 shooting at the hands of Hanafi Muslims in this building.

1:38 P.M.: After comments from Gray---"It seems each of you have decided that there is an emergency"---only Evans, Bowser, and Catania vote against emergency declaration resolution. On to the meat of the bill.

1:40 P.M.: Mendo is now going through each section of his bill. It's a lot.

1:49 P.M.: Jim Graham has an amendment to the Mendo bill. He's taking forever to get to explaining it. Guessing it has something to do with civil gang injunctions.

1:53 P.M.: OK, the amendment is to add two relatively uncontroversial recommendations made by a $125,000 gang and youth violence study released last week. Mendo accepts the amendment as friendly.

2:00 P.M.: Evans, realizing this is the only legislation that will pass today, offers amendment adding stricter pretrial detention guidelines. Mendo says no: "It's not clear how real that revolving door is." Could be a bad arrest. Could be a nonviolent crime. Could be because of prosecutor's decision.

2:02 P.M.: Mendo has visual aids! A handout on standards of proof from someone's second-year law school class on criminal procedure! Possibly one taught by Mary Cheh!

2:05 P.M.: Mendo refers to "government's poop." He corrects to "proof."

2:07 P.M.: Madam professor! Cheh begins lecture on pretrial detention procedures. "When we actually look at what's happening here, it's funny....I think it changes it somewhat...I think it's needed because there are...some set of case where there is someone who needs to be detained because they are a threat to the safety of the community." Also notes that federal law provides the same danger as the Evans amendment. Very persuasive!

2:09 P.M.: First Evans amendment, on pretrial detention standards, passes by acclamation. Now to civil gang injunctions. Jack pulls out his ACLU card! He is a card-carrying member! He agrees big picture stuff is necessary. Buuut..."I'm worried about tonight. I'm worried about tonight at Kennedy playground."

2:13 P.M.: "All I'm asking for is 90 days!" Then see if it works. BTW: Could gang injunctions become a poison pill? If Jack gets 7 votes, passing the amendment, that could mean losing votes toward the nine needed to pass the Mendo emergency. But point is moot: Doesn't look like there's seven votes on the amendment.

2:18 P.M.: Jim Graham is for civil game injunctions. The people I represent are looking for strong action...They're saying, 'Councilmember, you've got to come up with something more than the status quo.'" Concedes the injunctions measure likely doesn't have the votes, but it makes it into a permanent bill. "This bill is wanting."

2:20 P.M.: Cheh is against the gang injunction measure. "I've concluded that thhis scheme is fatally flawed." That's because injunctions are civil proceedings, and are thus not entitled to counsel. Most injunctions in California, she notes, go unchallenged. "These injunctions will lead to racial profiling and increase mistrust between police and the communities they'll be policing." Says there's little evidence in California that these things work.

2:22 P.M.: Cheh: "We have to accept that we can't arrest and jail our way out of this gang problem."

2:25 P.M.: Barry plugs increased funding for Peaceoholics, Alliance of Concerned Men, Roots Inc., and Cease Fire Don't Smoke the Brothers. "Stop the beefs...and give them jobs. That's my challenge to the mayor and this council."

2:31 P.M.: Catania calls the suggestion that people will be arrested willy-nilly for the clothes they wear "a lie that is perpetrated to confuse what this bill actually does." Judge! Clear and convincing evidence! "I happen to think this is an innovative solution and one that deserves consideration."

2:34 P.M.: Mendo: The civil gang injunction effort "sounds good...but we need to look beyond that." When the Fenty administration first proposed it, "I thought it was new and different," but after study he decided, "It lends itself to abuse."

Mendo has a letter from a congressman! After noting that he doesn't wish to leave the impression that a member of Congress is having any control on him, he reads note from Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), from the judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, saying that gang injunctions are "stunningly expensive and simply don't work."

2:39 P.M.: Barry seems to doubt that Kwame Brown is a black man. Kwame goes on to share his racial profiling experience---trying to enter the John A. Wilson Building after hours! More on this to come! Meanwhile, on CGIs, he says, "I don't think it's going to stop one gang from doing anything."

2:46 P.M.: Yvette still against civil injunctions. But she has a question about prostitution for Mendo. Mendo looks exasperated.

2:47 P.M. Muriel Bowser now reading out of gang report. Why did you have to bring those, Jim Graham?

2:51 P.M.: Muriel says she's voting for amendment, against overall bill.

2:54 P.M.: Catania tends toward the apocalyptic: "Who will govern and control that police the streets of the city? Will it be the police...or will we cede these streets?...This is no rocket docket toward jail."

2:56 P.M.: Gray lays down his marker: He's against civil gang injunctions. "There's no evidence that it works." Not in St. Louis, not it Dallas, not in Detroit.

2:58 P.M.: Vince reaches back to his DHS director days, his Covenant House days and pulls out programs that were tried and quickly discarded. He wants to follow the "Blueprint for Action"!

3:00 P.M.: Gray says CGIs would "create a larger breach between law enforcement and communities." Has rejoinder to Jack's never-heard-: "I've never had one young person say to me...'You need to lock more of us up.'"

3:02 P.M.: The Evans CGI amendment goes down, hard. Vote is 4-9, with Evans, Graham, Bowser, and Catania in favor.

3:04 P.M.: Tommy Wells rears his head: He wants to attach his curfew proposal for 15 and under---10 p.m. weeknight, 11 p.m. weekdays---to the bill. Mary Cheh is against. So is Barry.

3:06 P.M.: Marion Barry rails against the MIDNIGHT BASKETBALL GAP! How does PG County have it and we don't??? (BTW---Is it suddenly 1994 again?)

3:09 P.M.: Jim Graham hearts curfews.

3:11 P.M.: Harry Thomas, per usual, is concerned about sports practices. To wit, the chance that his 14-year-old, 6-foot-tall, 180-pound, mustache-sporting son might leave his practice, which ends at 9 p.m., not get a ride from his dad, miss the bus, and get picked up by the cops while walking home. So he's voting against it.

3:14 P.M.: Mendo's agin' it! Wells talks about all the kids he sees on the street. Vote is taken: It fails, 4-9, with Wells, Graham, Alexander, and Kwame Brown in favor. While voting no, Michael Brown says to Thomas, "My sons are bigger than yours."

3:19 P.M.: Wow! Weird Channel 13 angle on Catania! Great view of his bald spot. DAC is hammering Mendo on some excruciating detail.

3:23 P.M.: Catania found some loophole in the gun-offender registry...bla bla bla. Mendo responds...bla bla bla. VOTE ALREADY!

3:26 P.M.: Finally: The Mendo bill has passed, with Graham's amendment, 10-3. Evans, Bowser, and Catania against.

3:27 P.M.: Evans agrees to withdraw his version of the bill (duh). "I would hope in the next two weeks that we focus on the gang issue...that we work together, that we try to do something." Holds out hope for new CGI emergency legislation on June 30.

3:30 P.M.: The wrap-up: Call it a win for Mendo; a loss for Jack. Evans will rightly claim credit for the fact that crime legislation came to an emergency vote before the bulk of the summer. But the fact is that civil gang injunctions were the centerpiece of what he wanted, and the piece that Mendelson most objected to. Evans simply wasn't able to bring his colleagues along on the legislation most important to him.

LL was there with camera. Behold!

Adrian Fenty, Mr. Smart Car, opted for something a bit larger than his signature everyday conveyance for parade purposes: a white Hummer. Not a mini-Hummer, either---the big one. Gotta support American automakers these days, right? (What's that? Hummer's been sold to the Chinese? Whatever.)

Before the march, Bill Rice and John Falcicchio engage in high jinks:

No one tosses beads like Hizzoner:

After the parade, Fenty and his 30-some marchers (including sons Matthew and Andrew) gathered for pictures:

Vincent Gray's wheels were even less fuel-efficient. But his giant truck at least carried a couple of dozen staffers supporters:

Gray again handed out custom beads with a "One City" pendant:

Jack Evans and family (that's companion Michelle Seiver) hanging out pre-parade:

Evans had 25-plus in his retinue:

Eleanor Holmes Norton showed off her signature parade pose:

Phil Mendelson showed LL his campaign-ready tough-guy look:

Mendo alone among politicos opted for leis over beads. Gal pal Carol Mitten helped hand 'em out:

Mendo couldn't ask for a better advertisement than this homemade banner, which led his entourage:

And just so you know Mendo means business, his retinue was followed by a black Cadillac driven by his "muscle" (aka staffer Mike Battle):

Mendelson's likely challenger, former DPR chief Clark Ray, was also marching, but near the back, with local Gay Games promoters:

A smattering of "DC NEEDS CLARK RAY" stickers (in Fenty green-and-white) were spotted in the crowd:

David Catania printed up custom marriage equality signs---one of the most popular items along the parade route:

Once again, Catania had a special guest rider: Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, aka the Queen of Green. LL asked Catania if he was king of anything: "The King of Queens, honey!"

Kwame Brown, however, was the king of bling, riding in a Porsche 911 Carrera:

Staffer Enrique Fernandez Roberts captured the hipster demo however, with his Kwamefied scooter:

Kwame brought a bubble machine, but LL did not see it in use:

Fenty wasn't the only politico to somewhat de-green. Tommy Wells traded in the Zipcar Mini Cooper he had last year for a Toyota Tacoma pickup:

For the second year running, couple Michael Ulrich and Paul Cooper, whom Wells joined in marriage, participated:

After missing the Pride parade for the first time in decades last year, Jim Graham was back in the saddle this year:

In one of the more eardrum-unfriendly developments, Graham marchers sported whistles:

Muriel Bowser brought a strong crowd:

Gay rights legend Frank Kameny, among the festival honorees:

D.C. For Marriage:

Gertrude Stein Democratic Club:

D.C. Democratic State Committee:

Ward 7 Democrats (Juan Thompson, right):

Ward 8 Democrats (Phil Pannell and Charles Wilson):

UPDATE, 4:20 P.M.: A couple of addenda:

Doxie McCoy, spokesperson for Gray, writes in to point out that "more than staffers were riding with the Chairman. We had people from GLOV/Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, DC for Marriage, Metro TeenAIDS, and Gertrude Democratic Stein Club, in addition to reps from DC Vote, Pre-K for All DC, State Board, etc."

And Charles Allen, Wells' top aide, notes, "Just for the record, Tommy had rented a Mini-Cooper again. Zipcar notified him on Friday that they were cancelling his reservation because the car had to be taken into the shop for repairs. The Tacoma was the only open top (-ish) vehicle left in the Zipcar fleet on such short notice."

OK, green cred's intact!

Not too often these days that you see overt displays of executive-legislative interbranch friendship. Yet, this was one of those days, with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Attorney General Peter J. Nickles, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, and two members of the MPD brass joining legislators Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, and Jim Graham on a Ward 1 street corner this afternoon.

The ostensible purpose was to urge passing of a sprawling anti-crime bill before the start of the traditional summer crime season. The clear subtext, however, was that the parties were taking a shot across the bow of At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who as chair of the public safety and judiciary committee holds the legislative fate of the bill in his hands.

Each of the parties urged that the 56-page bill, encompassing a number of crimefighting proposals, be passed on an emergency basis (meaning the bill goes into effect immediately for 90 days upon mayoral signature, bypassing congressional review) at the Council's June 2 legislative meeting. Mendelson has committed to getting an emergency bill through by the council's summer recess, which kicks off in early July.

"We need the new tools in this legislation," said Graham, citing recent shooting on the 1400 block of W Street NW (full disclosure: also LL's home block). "We need the tougher approach."

Evans was even more strident: "If we do not act...this bill going through the regular process next March. Next March!...That is unacceptable!" Later he added, in a swipe at Mendelson's meticulous ways, "What's process? It's the enemy of progress!" and "I want this thing moved pronto!"

OK, "pronto." Question is, where was Mendo?

If everyone's so committed to making this happen, wouldn't you want to have the chair of the relevant committee in attendance?

LL asked why he wasn't invited. Fenty said "everyone's been invited." Evans said that he had called Mendelson. Mendelson says he got a phone call this morning from Evans, but he didn't leave a message.

Furthermore, Nickles acknowledged that he and his staff have been meeting regularly with Mendelson and his staff to produce a workable bill. Is that, LL pointed out, what the legislative process is all about? Not calling a press conference and throwing a fit?

"The legislative process is not working," Nickles said.

Replies Mendelson, reached after the presser, "Of course, we know that Peter Nickles doesn't seem to believe in the legislative process."

Mendelson reiterated his pledge to have the bill ready for the mayor's pen by the council recess, and added that he's happy to pass an emergency bill at that time---it could happen even earlier, he says, if parties come to an agreement by the time the bill comes out of committee in June. As for Evans' "next March" statement, he says, "he needs to do his math."

Crime, Mendelson says, "lends itself to grandstanding....It just seems that there's this desire to grandstand and score points over this," he says. "I would rather do it correctly."

LL asked those in attendance if they thought they had the nine votes necessary to pass an early emergency bill---a tough sled for Fenty when his relations with eight of 13 councilmembers are strained at best, nonexistent at worst.

"You have my vote," Nickles said.

To be fair, councilmember did not start the trend. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's budget proposal, LL was first to report, divvied up the NIF money into places seemingly not in keeping with the fund's original purpose of stimulating development in 12 target areas. Rather, Fenty wanted to money to go for capital improvements at a pair of Ward 2 nonprofits and a passel of arts grants---not to mention a hefty subsidy for the DCUSA parking garage.

Brown proposed dropping most of those directives and putting $10 million of the fund toward competitively bid grants in keeping with the NIF's original intent. But his colleagues had other ideas: Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans started by proposing to restore much of the mayor's proposed earmarks (most of which benefited Ward 2, unsurprisingly). So did Ward 4's Muriel Bowser. Then Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry got in on the action. And Ward 7's Yvette Alexander. Brown was the lone vote against each addition.

Barry tells LL: "I believe in earmarks...as long as there's accountability and transparency."

LL has gotten his hands on the list. He's still plowing his way through the earmarks contained in Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham's committee budget report. Will update with that soon. But this should be enough to get you started.

From mayoral proposal (totaling $2.9 million, via Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans):

• Rachael’s Women’s Center: $350,000
• D.C. Center: $500,000
• Bread for the City: $250,000
• D.C. Central Kitchen: $250,000
• CityDance: $250,000
• D.C. Jewish Community Center: $250,000
• Duke Ellington Jazz Festival: $250,000
• Kennedy Center: $250,000
• Washington National Opera: $250,000
• Washington Performing Arts Society: $250,000
• Dakshina Dance Company: $75,000

From Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser:

• Riggs Road reconstruction project: $2.1 million

From Councilmember Marion Barry (totaling $2.695 million):

• UNIFEST: $100,000
• Sasha Bruce Youthwork Inc.: $300,000
• Woodland Tigers Youth Sports: $100,000
• Jobs Coalition: $50,000
• Institute for the Prevention & Eradication of Violence: $50,000
• C.H.O.I.C.E. Inc., $100,000
• Concerned Citizens on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Inc.: $100,000
• Calvin Woodland Sr. Foundation: $100,000
• Behavior Environmental Academic Program (BEAP): $75,000
• Alliance of Concerned Men: $100,000
• ROOT Inc.: $100,000. Melvin Deal: $250,000
• the Parklands Community Center: $100,000
• Cultural Tourism D.C.: $100,000 ("for expanding the Anacostia Initiative, which will focus on education and leadership for Wards 7 and 8 youth, and build upon the African American Heritage Trail")
• Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce: $100,000
• Greater Washington Urban League: $100,000
• Ward 8 Clean and Sober Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Clean & Green Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Youth Leadership Council Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Business Council: $100,000
• DC VOICE: $100,000
• Byte Back: $50,000
• Turning the Page: $100,000
• Cabel Foundation Inc: $45,000
• Byte Back: $50,000
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington: $300,000 ("for programming at Anacostia High School")

From Councilmember Yvette M. Alexander (totaling $1.8 million):

• East River Family Strengthening Collaborative: $100,000
• National Kidney Foundation: $100,000
• Marshall Heights Community Development Corporation: $100,000
• Ward 7 Arts Collaborative: $100,000
• Lifepieces to Masterpieces: $100,000
• Northeast Performing Arts Group: $50,000
• Ward 7 Business and Professional Association: $100,000 ("on the condition that a new Executive Director and Board of Directors are appointed")
• GreenSpace: $200,000
• Groundwork Anacostia DC: $50,000
• Fort Dupont Kids on Ice: $250,000
• East of the River Boys & Girls Steel Band: $50,000
• Washington East Foundation: $50,000
• Ward 7 Education Initiative: $50,000
• Lifting As We Climb Foundation Inc.: $50,000
• African American Music Association: $100,000
• Keeley's Boxing: $100,000
• Set Point, Inc.: $50,000
• Champs: $50,000
• Fiesta DC: $50,000 ("through the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities")
• Latino Economic Development Corporation: $150,000
• Educational Organization for United Latin Americans: $50,000

The Georgetown Metropolitan wonders: Does Jack Evans Abuse Parking Laws? There are incriminating photos of Evans' car clearly parked illegally---that is if he were just an average citizen. It is an open question whether he actually deserved a ticket.

Borderstan notes that construction has begun at the 17th-S-and-New Hampshire dog park. Post includes photos! Still, the project might be behind. The writer wonders: "I have not heard anything new on the opening date other than 'spring.' Anyone know anything more about a specific date?"

Bureaucrat310 chronicles a rough commute: "On this particular morning I was running late. Just as I descended into the columbia heights metro station I noticed that the next train would be arriving in 2 minutes. I hustle, run to the turnstile, swipe my card and get the dreaded 'go see a customer service agent' warning..."

Life in Mount Vernon Square posts the agenda for ANC6C's zoning and planning issues slated for its April 1 meeting.

River East Idealist talks about the proposed bag tax: "Nobody likes paying taxes. We pay income taxes, sales tax, property tax, capital gains tax, and even death tax! While no one enjoys giving money to the government, most of us will agree that each tax strategically contributes to the the social benefits of living in Washington DC. If Council Member Tommy Wells has his way, we will pay a 5 cent tax on each plastic and paper bag we consume via the Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Act of 2009..."

Pop Cesspool confesses: "I do harbor a certain cockiness..."

Something important may be happening to WCP at 2 p.m.

Then we heard: "Senator Cochran, aye."

Thad Cochran? Republican of Mississippi? Gentleman Southerner? Certainly not a fellow anyone thought would stick his neck out for the District.

Plotkin immediately though he knew what was up: "That was Jack Evans! It worked!"

So he goes into the story: Two years ago, Evans with Plotkin at West End steakhouse The Prime Rib, where the radio man was celebrating his birthday. Plotkin---a walking, talking Capitol Hill facebook---spotted Cochran seated with another distinguished-looking gentleman at a nearby table. As is his wont, Plotkin told his buddy to introduce himself to Cochran and put a word in for voting rights.

Evans did so. But Plotkin neglected to tell Evans which of the two was the actual senator.

"I introduced myself to the bodyguard," Evans remembers. "He looked like a senator---gray hair, very distinguished looking."

Once that was straightened out, the Ward 2 councilmember asked him to consider a vote for District voting rights. "He said something to the effect of, 'Oh yeah, I'll think about that. Thanks for mentioning it.'" He followed up with a note and didn't think much more of it.

As it happens, Evans was one of the few members not on the scene yesterday---he was tending to council business back at the Wilson Building---but Plotkin was convinced he'd done his part years before.

"And it worked," Plotkin beamed. "It worked! [Cochran]'s smarter than I thought!"

If it's a work day at the D.C. Council, then you can bet that residents across the District will be asking their councilmembers for some sort of favor. Carolyn Long mans the front desk for Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans and also handles liaison with folks that live in the many Ward 2 senior residences. Recently she's been dealing with a resident of the James Apartments in Logan Circle. This individual somehow managed to crack the porcelain top of her commode. For this act of destruction, the person was billed $87 by the apartment building's management outfit. Says Long, "She almost had a stroke."

So Long kicked into action, calling the building's management as well as an official with the D.C. Housing Authority. which has jurisdiction over the building. She also called the president of the building's resident council. "She said she didn't see how [the resident] would have to pay $87," says Long, who is still working the phones.

When asked if she thought she had a solution, Long replied, "Not yet."

--By Mike DeBonis