Actually, this LL is already at the Wilson Building—joining us Tuesday will be Alan Suderman, who covers District government for the Examiner. He previously covered Montgomery County, where he dug up dirt on a tuition assistance program and possible conflicts of interest in a biotech tax credit. Suderman's also written about the Montana legislature for the Associated Press and about Sarah Palin for the Juneau Empire (back before she quit the Alaska government).

No doubt, he'll introduce himself here shortly after he starts. But those of you in city politics, consider yourself warned: This weekend is your last chance to do anything stupid without LL on the job. (And in fact, he'll be at the Palisades parade on Sunday—so look for him there.)

John A. Wilson Building, April 1

Wilson Building, April 1

The protesters, Larry Bryant and Matthew Kavanaugh, were among about a dozen members of the D.C. Fights Back coalition that entered the John A. Wilson Building after 2 p.m. today as part of an protest tied to World AIDS Day.

"Fenty, Fenty, can't you see? Fund the fight for HIV," they chanted.

They picked a good day to do it. Numerous reporters covering today's D.C. Council votes on gay marriage and other matters were gathered up in the fifth-floor press room. After the chants echoed through the Wilson Building atrium, many rushed down to the hubbub.

Karyn Pomerantz, an D.C. Fights Back organizer, said the demonstration inside the building followed a rally outside that attracted about 200. The object of coming inside the building was to get a meeting with Fenty; it's unclear if he was in the office at the time.

"He's never had a meeting with any of us," says Pomerantz, who criticizes the District's official AIDS-fighting strategy. "There's never any action."

UPDATE, 5:35 P.M.: Will they get their meeting? Possibly, says Fenty spokesperson Mafara Hobson. Their request has been passed to a scheduler.

LL was roaming the John A. Wilson Building this afternoon when noticed this scene behind the building at about 4:30:

That's Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's Smart Fortwo blocking the egress of a delivery truck. The driver told LL he'd been waiting five minutes for Hizzoner to return. LL waited along with him for another five minutes before he had to retreat from the frigid temps. A mayoral aide came out, threw something in the car, then went back inside.

For shame!

Here's what LL had penned on the matter a couple of weeks back:

The council offices are passed out on the seniority system. [Jack Evans], the longest sitting member, says he’s perfectly happy with his first-floor corner digs. Next in line is Catania, who tells LL he hasn’t given the matter much thought, though he says he “couldn’t imagine” vacating his current digs. LL, however, thinks Catania might find it a suitable trophy after helping to oust Schwartz. If not, Mendelson has dibs, then Graham.

There is a caveat for whoever dares take the office: It is where political careers go to die.

The three occupants of the office since the Wilson Building’s renovation—Schwartz, Harold Brazil, and Charlene Drew Jarvis—all suffered humiliating electoral defeats while enjoying the plush confines.

So trophy it is! Now let the speculation begin: Has DAC jinxed himself should he choose to pursue another term?

The mastermind is Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., with the support of council chair Vincent C. Gray and Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.

"Why not use the people's building for a people's purpose?" is how Thomas poses it to LL. "We needed to have some local event for local people to be part of this."

How exactly a ball at the Wilson Building would work, LL has no idea. There's no real large room in 100-year-old edifice suitable for a "ball" in the traditional sense; the center atrium sometimes hosts small receptions, but not much beyond that. The biggest rooms otherwise are the council chamber and Room 412, a council hearing room.

Thomas lays it out: Each of the building's five floors, he says, will become a "suite" for music, food, or other purposes. The first floor, for instance, will host the band—"That will be our whole entertainment suite," he says. (Thomas wants Chuck Brown.) Revelers will be able to break off into various rooms to relax, and councilmembers, virtually all of whom will host receptions in their offices earlier in the day for the inagural parade, will again be permitted to host people in their individual offices.

The 51st State ball won't be the only inaugural shindig with a local focus. LL has learned that the D.C. Democratic State Committee is putting together an event for the night of Jan. 18 to be held at Department of Transportation headquarters on New Jersey Avenue SE. Tickets to that event, sources tell LL, are likely to reach into the hundreds of dollars (still quite a bit less than the four-figure rates at some of the most exclusive balls). DCDSC chair Anita Bonds hasn't returned calls for comment.

LL was present at the creation of the city hall event, but he didn't know it at the time; at a Nov. 18 breakfast meeting prior to a council legislative session, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham proposed to his colleagues holding some sort of "people's event," perhaps at the Wilson Building, but his colleagues initially poo-pooed the idea.

Thomas says he took Graham's idea and ran with it.

Many details, it seems, are yet to be hashed out. A council source tells LL this is "not a done deal." For this to happen, there would have to be a plan to raise funds for the event, and security and cleanup concerns would also have to dealt with. Thomas says all that will be taken care of; he says he plans to seek private donations to cover the difference between the event's cost and the revenues raised by the $51 ticket cost.