As LL first broke yesterday, the D.C. Council is embroiled in a dispute with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty over control of Channel 13—the District’s public access channel devoted to airing council proceedings.

The dispute is rooted in last Thursday’s ‘open deposition’ of Peaceoholics co-founder Ronald Moten—an unorthodox proceeding, to be sure. As a deposition, Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson requested that the television recording not be aired on Channel 13.

Long story short, the proceeding has been aired repeatedly since. That led the D.C. Council today to take up emergency legislation saying that it has exclusive control over the content of Channel 13.

In brief comments prior to the vote, both Cheh and Mendelson said that the executive branch had exerted influence on the Office of Cable Television, and its director, Eric Richardson. Mendelson, in fact, said that Richardson “was specifically directed by the highest member of the executive branch to run this tape and run it again.”

Read More “D.C. Council Asserts Control Over Channel 13″ »

The fishy fire truck testimony delivered last Thursday by Peaceoholics co-founder Ronald Moten before the D.C. Council was plenty dramatic, but the drama apparently did not end with the pound of the gavel.

Since then, a classic council-executive scuffle has broken out over broadcasts of the proceeding on city cable, with allegations flying that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty himself has become personally involved.

Because Thursday’s proceeding was considered a “public deposition” rather than a council hearing (it was supposed to be behind closed doors until Moten demanded otherwise), the councilmembers heading up the fire truck investigation—Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson—determined that its contents should not be disseminated. That’s in keeping with the usual council practice on depositions, which are kept under wraps, so other witnesses won’t change their testimony to make their stories consistent (Never mind that LL and other reporters already did plenty of disseminating.)

Read More “D.C. Council Riled Over TV Airing of Fire Truck Testimony” »

The D.C. Council saw one of the livelier proceedings in recent memory this morning, when Peaceoholics co-founder Ronald Moten appeared before councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson in connection with their investigation into the donation of used city emergency equipment to the Dominican Republic.

The proceeding wasn’t hearing, exactly, but an open deposition. Moten had originally been scheduled to give his deposition behind closed doors on Friday, but he declined to testify, citing the council’s political motivations. Council staff agreed to let him say his piece in public today, in what Mendelson called a “very unusual” proceeding.

Moten set the tone early, with a combative opening statement decrying a “political smear campaign” targeting his organization. He accused councilmembers and media of “attacking the mayor at my organization’s expense” and engaging in a “political charade” that has affected his business and his family. “We hold the council directly responsible for creating an atmosphere where such stories could flourish,” he said of media accounts questioning his organization’s role in the shadowy transfer. The questions will remain, he says, until the “thirst for political blood is quenched.”

Read More “Mayoral Official, Friend Implicated at Council Fire Truck Proceeding” »

Wee bit of Friday drama down at the John A. Wilson Building.

Today, three players in the fishy fire truck scandal—Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Gill, Robin Booth of the Office of Property Management Contracting and Procurement, and Peaceoholics chief Ronald Moten—are scheduled to give private testimony in a D.C. Council probe being jointly led by Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson. Leading up to today’s depositions, there had been much posturing in both side over whether the city would allow the witnesses to testify; pro bono counsel from top law firm was found to represent Booth and Gill.

This morning, other lawyers showed up, too—two from the Office of the Attorney General. Cheh and Mendelson were not happy to see them, and an hour-and-a-half long standoff ensued. At one point, the councilmembers threatened to call security to have the city lawyers removed.

Read More “City Lawyers Ejected From Fishy Fire Truck Depositions” »

With a mere 15 months remaining until Primary Day 2010, LL thought he would run down who is thus far committed to electoral runs—committed, in the sense of actually having filed papers with the Office of Campaign Finance.

Mayor

• Incumbent Adrian M. Fenty—Duh. Dude’s got at least $2 million in the bank.
• Sulaimon Brown—D.C. Wire had the scoop on this 38-year-old former Fenty volunteer’s challenge. He established his committee on May 5. His Web site fronts a pic with him and Barack Obama where Barack Obama does not seem to be acknowledging his existence.
• Faith, the exotic dancer turned trumpet-tooting, horse-riding perennial candidate, filed her papers on May 1.

Read More “DCision 2010: It’s Gonna Have Faith! And Anthony Motley!” »

The next local election day might be some 15 months off, but Saturday’s Capital Pride parade still had a political charge—mostly due to the recent heat on gay marriage, but also thanks to a mayoral campaign kicking into full gear and possible council challenger in the mix.

LL was there with camera. Behold!

Read More “LL’s 2009 Capital Pride Reviewing Stand” »

Wednesday evening, LL reported that Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh was proposing to trim a nice chunk out of the mayoral Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs—a proposal since ratified by the D.C. Council’s government operations committee.

And if there’s anything that’s become perfectly clear about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in recent months, it’s that he’s not above petty political payback.

So how else to explain this: Yesterday, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh held a “Ward 3 Education Forum” at Alice Deal Middle School in order to keep her constituents apprised of various ed developments. She invited representatives from the D.C. Public Schools, the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, the school ombudsman’s office, and the State Board of Education to attend in a purely informational role.

About 50 residents showed to the meeting, but three invited guests did not: Tony Robinson and Will Mangum of OPEFM and Jesus Aguirre of DCPS. Cheh explained to the crowd that she learned shortly before the meeting that the mayor had told the three not to attend.

Cheh declined to comment on the allegations; mayoral spokesperson Mafara Hobson said only that any suggestion that the employees were ordered not to attend are “false.” She has yet to furnish any further explanation.

First Vincent Gray went after Victor Reinoso. Now Mary Cheh’s going after his boss.

The Ward 3 councilmember, as chair of the council’s government operations committee, is proposing to reduce the budget of the Executive Office of the Mayor by $287,000 and three employees.

All of that comes from the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs, what is essentially the mayor’s lobbying shop. In past months, especially since the departure of Deputy Chief of Staff and OPLA Director JoAnne Ginsberg, the council’s been grumbling over a lack of communication and information sharing—a dispute which culminated in a contentious March 13 oversight hearing where Cheh clashed with new OPLA head Bridget Davis.

This is what Cheh’s committee report had to say:

When the Fenty administration took office in 2007, OPLA worked to develop a supportive relationship with the Council. Over the past year, this relationship has deteriorated. While OPLA still proffers a desire to cooperate, members of the Council have witnessed a reduction in the willingness to share information and operate in a transparent manner. Efforts to engage the executive branch have been hampered, executive witnesses invited to Council hearings have been purposefully withheld, and agencies’ responsiveness to Council oversight has slowed significantly. The uncooperative behavior of the executive branch, and OPLA in particular, has sometimes bordered on legislative interference.

The Committee notes that while 11 full-time employees may enable increased communication, without the desire to work collaboratively, such an outcome is unlikely. In the past, the staff at OPLA has been smaller. Although the Committee respects the Mayor’s authority to develop and implement his own policy agenda, the function of OPLA has been revealed as primarily a legislative-focused entity, working to coordinate activities between the executive and legislative branches. Despite this focus, the Committee notes repeated efforts to limit the Council’s ability to conduct oversight. As a result, a budget of $1,051,000 is excessive.

The report also said, “The Committee considered a more substantial reduction to the Office, but opted to instead monitor OPLA’s actions over the next year and reconsider the matter during the FY 11 budget cycle.”

Here’s what Attorney General Peter Nickles has to say about the proposed cuts: “My view is that it is objectionable. We did not touch the council’s budget and it’s been a longstanding practice that the council doesn’t touch the mayor’s budget….It’s really uncalled for, and, to me, it seems spiteful, without any foundation in logic and substance.”

LL asked Nickles if he was considering any recourse: “There are matters that the executive can consider when tradition is broken. There are various options. I would hope that the council would reconsider this. You don’t see the Congress cutting the White House budget and the White House cutting the Council Congress’s budget. All you do is generate antagonism and confrontation there’s no need for.”

Nickles went on to address the council’s preliminary vote to dock Reinoso’s funding and other changes: “Looks to me like we’re going backward again….I thought the council said, we’re going to give this five years. What’s the State Board of Education getting more money for? They don’t do anything—my understanding is that the council isn’t giving them more authority….It sends the wrong signals. All around the country…the view is to give the mayor the authority and hang with the mayor, hang with the chancellor, and give the new structure a chance to work.”

On Friday, Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Phil Mendelson sent a letter to CFO Dr. Natwar M. Gandhi seeking an accounting of “every travel expenditure incurred by the Executive Office of the Mayor and every subordinate agency during the months of December 2008, January 2009, and February 2009.”

The reason: the fishy fire truck donation to the Dominican Republic.

The two councilmembers have also requested an “immediate” investigation by the Office of the Inspector General into the fire truck issue including the involvement of Peaceoholics Inc.’s Ron Moten. They note that the donation had been contemplated within dc.gov since June 2008. You can read their letter to the IG’s office here.

The two also note that AG Peter Nickles is said to be investigating the matter. But they say Nickles had to be involved in the issue—i.e. he may have worked with Moten—and is tainted; the two contest that his investigation would at least appear to present a conflict of interest.

Read More “Cheh, Mendo Request Investigation Into Fire Truck Controversy” »

The New Teacher On The Block was really pissed off that Fenty kept the schools open yesterday. Apparently, the mayor didn’t factor in the slippery streets and that kids will use any excuse to play hooky (see the drop-out rate):

“I mean, I was slipping and sliding on 395 this morning, for goodness sakes. Once I got to the neighborhood street next to my school, I slid all the way up the road. NONE of my students showed up today. 1 of Ms. P’s kids came, and we dually hosted 5 kids in her classrom, because almost all the teachers were out as well (read: both pre-k teachers, the kindergarten teacher, both 1st grade teachers, both 2nd grade teachers, both 3rd grade teachers, 1 4th grade teacher, and 1 fifth grade teacher).”

Dee Does the District, another teacher/blogger, agrees that opening the schools yesterday was a stupid move.

Read More “Our Morning Roundup: Teachers Hate Snow Edition” »

Earlier this month, three D.C. Councilmembers—Mendelson, Cheh, and Bowser— introduced legislation that would significantly beef up the oversight powers of the Office of Police Complaints. The bill would expand the authority of the Police Complaints Board to monitor complaints filed with D.C. Police and Housing Authority cops. The bill would remedy the on-going problem of the D.C. cops investigating their own without much if any kind of outside oversight. The OPC was so elated with this bill, the agency wrote a press release.

This is big news. The D.C. Police have always shielded its investigations into misconduct from FOIA laws, claiming these investigations as work product. I addressed the issue years ago in a piece about four Sixth District cops with a stack of citizen complaints. This bill may finally shine some daylight on police-led investigations of excessive force.

The bill states that the board “shall have unfettered access to all information and supporting documentation of the covered law enforcement agencies…”

Read More “D.C. Council Introduces Bill To Expand Office Of Police Complaints Oversight” »

As noted in today’s LL Daily, David Brooks, in his New York Times column this morning, painted Ward 3 with the typically broad brush you might know and love from such armchair sociological works Bobos in Paradise and On Paradise Drive.

A sample: “On any given Saturday, half the people in Ward Three are arranging panel discussions for the other half to participate in. They live in modest homes with recently renovated kitchens and Nordic Track machines crammed into the kids’ play areas downstairs (for some reason, people in Ward Three are only interested in toning the muscles in the lower halves of their bodies).”

So LL called Ward 3’s councilmember, Mary Cheh, to get her reaction. She minced no words:

“I do have something of a reaction. He’s made his living lobbing uninformed insults at various communities. He lives by these broad generalizations, which is somewhat ironic, since the man himself lives at Bethesda, Maryland…a community which suffers even worse stereotypes…He should be ashamed of himself!”

Cheh went on to postulate a cynical motive: “It might be a market strategy, since many of the New York Times readers are in Ward 3.”

The stereotypes, Cheh continued, are “extraordinarily offensive. That’s his stock in trade, to be offensive to communities….They’re not based on fact. They’re not based on first-hand knowledge.” She seemed most concerned about how Brooks’ comments reinforce the old tropes about white vs. black Washington: “It plays into these divisive stereotypes that people throw out about the District. It doesn’t help any community in this city.”

Cheh’s husband, Neil A. Lewis, is a longtime reporter in the Times’ Washington bureau. LL asked Cheh if she might ask him to crack some heads down at the office.

“No,” she said, “I’m leaving him out of it.”

UPDATE, 5:45 P.M.: For the record, Cheh says, she does not have a NordicTrack in her Forest Hills home. “And I haven’t had my kitchen remodeled!”

In fact, Brooks’ no-upper-body-toning rule sure doesn’t apply to Cheh. The councilmember tells LL she does 200 pushups daily.

Los Angeles has ‘em. So does St. Louis, San Francisco, and the whole state of North Carolina.

Is the District next?

LL is talking letter grades here, specifically as applied to the cleanliness of restaurants, markets, taverns, and other establishments slinging comestibles. Anyone who’s been to L.A. has seen a big block “A,” “B,” or even “C” posted prominently outside all food-serving establishments. (You don’t stay open with anything less than that.) The thinking goes that the public scrutiny forces restaurants to aim for a level of sanitation beyond the bare minimum.

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh says she’s introducing a bill at tomorrow’s legislative meeting that would implement an L.A.-style system here. In a press release, Cheh points to a “definitive study” that “13.1 percent decrease in the number of foodborne-disease hospitalizations in Los Angeles County in the year following the implementation of the program.”

So is this a valuable consumer protection measure or creeping nannyism at a time when restaurateurs are facing economic hardship?

Orange County, Calif., recently decided it was the latter, and rejected a letter-grade system. Don’t expect a warm reception from local restaurant owners—LL will update with any official reaction he can muster.

The council just voted to require gun owners to undergo safety training before they can register weapons in the District.

At the last council meeting, Councilmember Mary M. Cheh had proposed the measure as an amendment to the bill governing the regulation of handguns. Since then, the mayor’s office raised concerns about the possibility that such a requirement, shared with very few other jurisdictions, would attract new litigation from the gun-rights crowd. Phil Mendelson, the at-large councilmember who chairs the judiciary and public safety committee and has taken the lead on writing the city’s new gun laws, agreed with that assessment and opposed Cheh’s amendment.

Today, Cheh again introduced her amendment, and a short debate ensued, the highlight of which was Chairman Vincent C. Gray sharing a story from his youth to explain his support for training. As a child, he explained, his father had kept a gun in the house, and one time “my parents went out, and my brother decided he was going to quote-unquote ‘clean his gun’….I had to go to the bathroom, and while i was in the bathroom, this loud noise went off. My brother did not realize that there was a bullet in the chamber. It went right through the furniture and right through where I was standing.”

Said Gray, “God must have decided it wasn’t my day to go….I remember it as vividly today as when it just occurred.”

Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., who co-introduced the training amendment with Cheh, also shared an anecdote about the accidental firing of a firearm around the home. The stories seem to have made an impression: The amendment passed 10-3, with Mendelson, Jack Evans, and Carol Schwartz voting against. The amended bill then passed by acclamation.

Turns out Ward 3 Councilmember Mary M. Cheh won’t be moving emergency legislation tomorrow to put additional restrictions on residential protests after all.

LL reported Friday, and the Examiner reported today, about Cheh’s proposed bill, which aimed to give police the ability to put the kibosh on allegedly hostile protests by a group called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. Labor and civil-rights groups raised immediate questions.

She did not cite those concerns this morning, when, at a council press conference, Cheh told reporters she won’t be pressing the issue at tomorrow’s council meeting. She explained that she has met with police and there’s been an effort to clarify how existing laws can be enforced. “Given that there’s been movement there,” she says, “what I will do is I will not move forward on Tuesday.”

Cheh says she still plans to explore permanent legislation when the new council term begins in January.