Slideshow. 7th and H Street, NW. Jan. 29th.  © 2012 Matt Dunn

Besides providing guarded companionship for the fowl that gets a presidential pardon for Thanksgiving, MPD has escorted  "Santa Claus," and sports teams like the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2003, Justin Timberlake got his own D.C. police ride for an hour in order to get back and forth to the Verizon Center. That same year, Miss America had two officers escort her to the Marriott Wardman Park hotel. (The turkey's ride, by the way, unlike Sheen's, was officially sanctioned.)

At a D.C. Council hearing Thursday, Commander Hilton Burton said it was "standard operating procedure" for celebrities like Sheen to get what one lawyer at the hearing referred to as a "limousine service" provided by MPD.

Speaking to Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who held the hearing in order to investigate Sheen's controversial April transport, a shaved-headed Burton pointed out that his boss, Chief Cathy Lanier, was commander of the police division that handles police escorts for celebrities from 2002-2006.

"She knew or should have known about these escorts," said Burton, who was testifying at the hearing as a private citizen, not a cop. Records show that during that time, stars like Christina Aguilera and Hilary Duff hired patrol cars to chaperone them through the city. In a town attuned to power and status, cops schlepping the rich and famous to their appointments isn't all that surprising, but by the way Burton's accusations dialed up the tension in the room full of reporters, cops, and policy wonks, it was apparent that it still manages to be scandalous.

Burton is the current commander of the escort supplying wing of the department, which is called Special Operations Division, and says that despite Lanier's knowing about the escorts, which got national media attention when Sheen tweeted about his, she blamed two officers who could be considered middle managers for the motorcade, and had them transferred.

Built like a linebacker and dressed in formal blue uniform, Burton said that although the men had been the subject of an internal investigation, he was told by a superior to mislead the press by telling them the transfers weren't related to the scandal. Burton said he didn't "feel comfortable" with that.

Police union chief Kris Baumann testified that the men were patsies, and that "the effect of that is just poisoning the police department. If you do your job, if you follow the department's policies and procedures and those policies and procedures are wrong and embarrassing, the idea that you're going to be the one suffering the consequences, you can't work that way."

Lanier and Baumann are long time foes, and Lanier and Burton have been at odds of late. Burton has filed two discrimination complaints against the chief: He claims Lanier discriminates against officers for being black or male or both.

Lt. Stuart Emerman, one of the transferred officers, testified that he was responsible for Sheen's escort. "Yes, I was the approving authority on it," he said of the Sheen escapade. But he also argued that such escorts were "common practice."

Through the hearing, Lanier listened with a cocked head, sometimes jotting down notes, as if she were at a college lecture. Testifying last, she said Sheen's escort needed to be approved by her or an assistant chief, and said others in the department knew that was the case. Lanier produced MPD emails as evidence. One email showed that, as an SOD commander, she'd denied an escort to icon Dorothy Height, because the chief of police hadn't signed off on it. Lanier also presented an email in which she, as chief, refused a police escort to Fran Drescher. "Clearly there were people in that planning unit and SOD who knew what the policy was," she said.

Lanier said that Internal Affairs investigators recently discovered documentation for at least 17 celebrity escorts since 2002. Some of them weren't officially sanctioned, she said. After the hearing, she noted that Burton was being investigated in connection to some of the convoys, and that she hadn't been responsible for any similar violations when she held his position."You'll find nothing from me approving Hillary Duff," she said.

Mendelson says most of his questions about the escorts were answered at the hearing, but he's still wondering how it is that MPD conducted such "loosey goosey" operations. It's a valid point. Though most scrutiny has focused on whether higher-ups like Lanier knew anything about the escorts, not knowing about them would seem to be just as bad. The escorts provided income for MPD and according to Emerman, daily and monthly reports went out as he did his job.

Screengrab via YouTube

Why are gas prices so high at the infamous Watergate Exxon? The District’s gas king, Joe Mamo, turned out for a D.C. Council hearing Friday toting a slide show aimed at answering that question—or at least deflecting allegations that his company, Capitol Petroleum Group, is to blame.

On June 12, when the Watergate station was peddling its black gold for a pricey $5.09 and $5.29 a gallon, the franchisee who rents the locale from Mamo was pocketing “pure profit” of $1.18 to $1.25 a gallon, compared to a national average of just 16 cents a gallon, according to Mamo’s lawyer, Al Afano.

“Here’s your answer. Take a look at what they’re making,” said Alfano, who also offered CPG’s estimates of the profits being made by five other Northwest gas station operators he characterized as part of “the leadership group” pushing for legislation that, if passed, could force Mamo to sell some of his 45 D.C. stations, which make up nearly half of the city’s total.

There was plenty more, er, fuel poured on the rhetorical bonfire at Friday’s D.C. Council hearing on the legislation. But after six hours of testimony, the only thing that was clear is that gas prices have been rising faster in the Districts than they have both regionally and nationally.

John B. Townsend II of AAA Mid-Atlantic testified that in 2007, when the council repealed the measure it’s now thinking of reinstating, D.C. gas prices were only about 5 cents higher per gallon than the national average. For several months that year, the price split between the District and the greater Washington metropolitan area was as little as 2 cents. Today, however, the average gallon of gas sold in D.C. costs 41 cents more than Virginia’s statewide average, and it’s 27 cents and 28 cents, respectively, more expensive than the Maryland and U.S. national averages, according to AAA’s price tracking data.

What has also changed in that time frame is Mamo’s business. Through a series of acquisitions, he purchased more than 200 ExxonMobils and Shells in Greater Washington and New York City, ending up with a quarter of all stations in the D.C. region and about 42 percent of the District’s gas stations.

For Team Mamo, the June 17 hearing must have had elements of déjà vu-meets-Twilight Zone. Ward 3 councilmember Mary Cheh, who led the charge to repeal the 2004 law four years ago after a lobbying campaign by Mamo, is the author of the new measure Mamo desperately opposes.

Perhaps the single most persuasive piece of evidence presented in 2007, a letter issued by the Federal Trade Commission, came under heavy attack from AAA and antitrust experts last week. The letter had provided independent backing to Mamo’s argument that the so-called “divorcement law” would lead to higher gas prices.

“It’s great to predict, but they were simply wrong,” David Balto, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former F.T.C. anti-trust lawyer, said of the position laid out by the commission four years ago.

Balto testified that the city’s gas industry is not “competitively healthy” today because repealing the earlier law had allowed jobbers to acquire the oil companies’ “market power,” a legal term referring to the extent to which a single firm or a few firms can influence the price of a product.

During a particularly vigorous faceoff with At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange, Townsend declared that not only had the FTC gotten it wrong, but so had The Washington Post in a May 27 editorial Orange quoted repeatedly throughout the hearing, which defended Mamo as a victim of “blatant example of political scapegoating and opportunism.”

Only three councilmembers showed up for the hearing: Cheh, Phil Mendelson (who wrote an earlier version of the legislation) and Orange. Cheh and Mendelson seemed to side with the operators. But Orange, who has received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and other support from the Mamo and his companies, said he hadn’t heard anything to convince him that the District needs a new divorcement law or that Mamo’s company has anything to do with surging gas prices in the District.

Orange and Cheh did clash, though, over race, prompted by letter the Rev. Jesse Jackson sent to D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, other black councilmembers, and Mayor Vince Gray.

In the letter, Jackson praised Mamo as a role model for minority entrepreneurs and accused the council’s white members of seeking “to put in place onerous and inequitable business restrictions.”

When Orange echoed Jackson’s view, Cheh turned toward Orange, raised a finger and said the racism allegation was “deeply offensive, and I reject it.”

Orange, his voice rising, tried to continue, but Cheh cut in: “It is also perfectly clear that my legislation has nothing to do with race.”

Later, when Mamo and his entourage testified, Cheh demanded to know who had “ginned up” Jackson’s letter, in a heated exchange with Mamo’s longtime lobbyist, former councilmember and mayoral candidate John Ray.

“No one,” Ray said, “no one puts words in Mr. Jackson’s month.” Cheh responded: “You, Mr. Ray, or you, Mr. Mamo, ginned up this letter, and I want to know who it was.”

“You are using words you shouldn’t be using. No one ginned up this letter,” retorted Ray, accusing Cheh of disrespecting him.

That got Cheh to back down, saying, “Perhaps ginned up was not the right phraseology.”

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Yes, Actually, It Is Hot Enough For Me: Leave town. Now. That's the only reasonable advice for how to deal with the early heat wave that's suffocating the region today—it is, after all, still only spring. The high temperature at National Airport was 102 degrees, tying a record first set in 1874, and combined with last summer's ridiculous heat, makes this the first back-to-back years with three-digit temperatures in June since 1933-34. We had a joke to make here, but we went outside a few hours ago, and our brains are still recovering. -4

We Don't Need No Water: No matter how well the city trains its firefighters, no matter how quickly they respond to calls, and no matter how well people in a burning building remember their "stop, drop, and roll" elementary school-era instructions, there's one essential component to dealing with any fire: water. This year, unlike in past years, there should be enough of it if it's needed. Fire hydrants and underground pipes like the ones that failed in blazes at the Georgetown Library in 2007 and Peggy Cafritz Cooper's house in 2009 are now in good shape, officials say. The city set a goal of having not more than 1 percent of hydrants out of service at any one time; as of June 1, the total was .41 percent. Which is good news for everyone except the people who live on whatever block the hydrant's busted on. +2

Crimefighters-R-Us: Constituent service is the lifeblood of local politics. Here in the District, Yvette Alexander really means it, apparently. The Ward 7 D.C. Council member helped catch a guy who'd stolen a Kindle near Freedom Plaza Wednesday, then yelled at the unlucky thief as Fox 5's cameras rolled. Phil Mendelson, who chairs the public safety committee, better watch out; Alexander has hands-on experience now. +2

Two If By Sea: Driving during rush hour is bad for blood pressure; taking Metro means unexplained delays and rising fares. How about getting to work by boat? Evidently, that won't work either; American River Taxi, which launched a Southwest waterfront-to-Georgetown route in April, has shut its morning service down. The ride was $8, and took 30 minutes, making it both more expensive and slower than other, non-riparian forms of public transit. Then again, maybe it'd be worth it to be able to respond to emails on the way to work with a simple, "I'm on a boat." -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 57 Today's score: -1 Today's Needle rating: 56

On Friday, the city's chief medical examiner suggested top Metropolitan Police Department officials could have gotten the facts right from the outset if only they'd checked in.

Dr. Marie Pierre-Louis was responding to a question put to her by Councilmember Phil Mendelson during a hearing of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. Mendelson, who chairs the committee, wanted to know about the case because it seemed "unusual." His question:

The police, I think, initially announced that it was a homicide. It was a couple of months before you did the report. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. What can you say about that?

After Mohammed died, MPD Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters she believed five DC9 employees were responsible for beating the 27-year-old to death, after he smashed one of the bar's windows with a brick. "It appears to be vigilante justice. It's ridiculous. It's just ridiculous," Laneir said. But Pierre-Louis contended that one of the detectives working the case should have come by to find out what her office already knew at that point. "Our morning meeting is open to all the detectives," Pierre-Louis said. "Had one of them been at the meeting, they could have reported better information to the chief of police."

And what sort of information would the detective have come away with? Pierre-Lous said "the physician who saw this gentlemen, this young man at the hospital, stated in her statement that there was really no trauma visible to the body."

The examiner said that would have saved authorities (who ended up arresting the five employees but then later dropping all charges against them) from making an incorrect statement: "So they would have already had an idea of the misinformation, misperception that they had. Unfortunately, information got out before we had spoken to anybody, and without our knowledge."

Fraternal Order of Police head Kris Baumann attended the hearing and later had some strong words about the alleged mistake."It is extremely important that the police remain impartial prior to the conclusion of an investigation," he said. "Having said that, unnecessarily aggravating a situation by making comments when you have been given bad information is one thing. It is something else entirely when the police start making accusatory statements without even trying to ascertain the facts."

MPD hasn't responded to a request for comment. The medical examiner ruled Mohammed's death a homicide caused by "excited delirium associated with arrhythmogenic cardiac anomalies, alcohol intoxication and physical exertion with restraint." The ruling seemed to corroborate the story DC9 employees told: That Mohammed was restrained after the window was broken but not beaten. Prosecutors have said  they're still investigating Mohammed's death.

Photo of Ali Ahmed Mohammed courtesy of family

The Metropolitan Police Department brass has to take a tough exam all over again, and it's due on Friday. MPD spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump says that's the deadline for the intelligence-led policing test police leaders are required to complete online.

The test was first issued this fall, but has been reformulated and re-administered because of cheating allegations levied against Assistant Chief Diane Groomes. MPD has now cleared Groomes of any wrongdoing. Some have found that development curious. Groomes seemed to be apologizing for cheating in an earlier statement: "I'm sorry… for my actions and bad judgement," she wrote in an e-mail. The chairman of the D.C. Council's Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, sounded as though he'd learned she'd given out a cheat sheet to help other officers. "She supposedly said: 'Hey, you have to get this done, you are overdue. Here, here's the answers. Just get this in,' "  Mendelson told The Washington Post.

According to Crump, 100 percent of those required to take the test that first go-around passed.

That might seem suspicious, but at the end of an investigation conducted by Internal Affairs, Chief Cathy Lanier announced that a briefly suspended Groomes could go back to her job, citing the fact that the exam was open-book. Police sources have repeated rumors that Groomes divided the test into sections and asked different officers to research each one. Supposedly, when they completed the task, she compiled their work and sent it out via e-mail.

That might or might not be okay, depending on how you interpret "open-book." But then again, the exam was meant to familiarize officers with intelligence gathering techniques, and also, with how to strike the all-important balance between using those techniques and respecting civil rights. That information can't be mastered with an answer sheet.

The FBI found itself in a somewhat similar situation in 2009, points out  Kris Baumann, the D.C. police union chief, and heads rolled."What are we saying? That we're less ethical than the FBI?"

Law enforcement culture might have once taken collective test-taking in stride, but that's definitely out for MPD. Crump claims test scores haven't suffered as a result.  "91 percent have completed the second comprehensive assessment of the material," Crump says of the second intelligence-led policing exam. She claims all have passed.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

If you're not willing to roll the dice on having charges dropped against you for growing pot at home, you might want to smoke fake pot instead.

The substance is legal, if pricey; just 3 grams can set you back $40. But it reportedly has the same effect as cannabis. Synthetic marijuana, which looks a lot like potpourri, is sold as incense. A Cleveland Park listserv post written by D.C. police Detective John Paprcka in October suggested the counterfeit weed had hit District schools.

A provision in At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson's Criminal Code Amendment bill is aimed at banning the stuff. Mendelson says he's attempting "to work up the bill for this week." So the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary may vote on it Thursday.

Mendelson says synthetic marijuana needs to go, both because it's a "loophole" and because "there might be problems with public health." The substance is said to cause high blood pressure, and heart palpitations in some.

If Mendelson's legislation goes through, one avid Spice (a brand of the man-made pot) smoker will be very disappointed. The enthusiast, who asked City Desk not to name him, says he uses synthetic weed daily, and can't say enough good things about it. He says it's different from pot. "It doesn't have as much depth" and doesn't last as long, but still gets the job done.

Another great thing about it:"I don't believe it to be physically addictive." The smoker doesn't want to see the substance banned, but wouldn't mind another kind of government intervention. "I'd like to see it regulated," he says.

Of course, to state the obvious, if authorities would "regulate" marijuana as opposed to prohibiting it, no one would have to toke up on its iffy chemical stand-in.

*Photo by Darrow Montgomery

This Guy Isn't the Michael Brown You Think He Is: Politics is often a game of playing to the lowest common denominator. Voters in a series of D.C. straw polls are attempting to demonstrate exactly how low. Incumbent At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson lost a straw poll last night in Ward 5 to Michael D. Brown, best known for a) not being the Michael D. "Brownie" Brown who presided over the Department of Homeland Security's attempts to pretend Hurricane Katrina hadn't happened and b) being Michael A. Brown, another at-large member of the D.C. Council who isn't even up for re-election this year. Brown, who currently serves as one of D.C.'s two shadow senators, is listed on the ballot without a middle name or initial. Mendelson now faces the challenging task of defeating a popular opponent who isn't actually running against him. Isn't Home Rule great? -4

Call it a Convenience Charge: In these troubled financial times, when local governments are struggling to pay the electricity bill to keep streetlights on and laying off teachers and cops, one particularly vulnerable group needs all the help it can get—corporations with near-monopolies over their industry. Fortunately, Montgomery County is on the case. A lawsuit filed by 9:30 Club owner Seth Hurwitz reveals county taxpayers' tab for building a new concert venue in Silver Spring for Live Nation, which recently merged with TicketMaster to form a veritable evil empire of service charges, has risen from $8 million to $11.2 million. (Meanwhile, Hurwitz says he would have paid for a venue himself.) In fairness to the county, the extra $3.2 million was listed on the contract, but cleverly disguised as "processing charge." -4

F for Fire Safety: A D.C. school bus catches fire on Langston Place SE, requiring the driver, an adult aide, and several children to escape and destroying the vehicle. Fortunately, no one was injured, though presumably the kids were a little late to class. A "mechanical issue" was likely to blame. Time for DCPS to make auto shop classes mandatory? -3

Race is On: DCPS wins a federal "Race to the Top" contest, worth up to $75 million in grants targeted to school districts that are linking teacher evaluations to student performance and improving schools that haven't done well in the past. Maryland wins the prize, as well, getting up to $100 million; Virginia, alas, does not, indicating Department of Education bureaucrats weren't as impressed by the state's new policies requiring all students to carry concealed handguns to class. +4

Yesterday's Needle rating: 48 Today's score: -7 Today's Needle rating: 41

Metro riders aren't the only ones scared by Friday night's incident on the Green and Yellow lines—with elections fast approaching, some politicians are trying to figure out if the brawl carries some risk for themselves, too.

The incident involved as many as 70 teens and young adults underground on Metro. The Associated Press notes that no weapons were found at the scene of the fight, which started at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station and ended at the L'Enfant Plaza station. One witness reported that one person used a "cane-like weapon" to beat someone on the ground. Three teens were charged in the incident.

The Washington Post does a good job detailing how scary the situation was for some of those caught up in the "hysteria" and "pandemonium." At least one person thought it was a terrorist attack! "I turned the other way, and I was trampled," 27-year-old Chris Davis tells the Post.

The violence provided another opportunity for Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells to talk up his proposal for an earlier curfew. Back in June, the D.C. Council voted down Wells' bill that would have mandated an earlier curfew for juveniles. Some councilmembers, including Ward 3's Mary Cheh and Ward 8's Marion Barry, said that there's no empirical evidence that having earlier curfews actually makes a dent in juvenile crime.

At-Large D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson, tells the Post an earlier curfew would not have prevented Friday's fight. So there aren't any magic solution to curb these types of incidents, aside from more police patrols and better communication between Metropolitan Police Department officers on the streets and Metro Transit Police inside the system. (There will be some Green Line patrols by the D.C. Guardian Angels, however.)

Since 2005, Metrorail crime has increased.

One matter that is worth closer observation: Could the group violence on Metro be a version of the "flashmob" brawls police in Philadelphia were dealing with earlier this year? (There is some debate, however, whether Twitter, text messaging and other social networking really sparked the threatening gatherings on Philly's South Street, which drew big national media attention at the time.)

Certainly, though, phone-savvy teens and young adults are able to exchange real-time information while they're out and about, something they would have had difficulty doing just a few years ago. Flashmobs can also do this, and this, which is scary in its own way.

Lest anyone think this is a D.C.-specific concern, it's important to remember that large groups of angry people can turn violent quickly. Two weekends back in Brooklyn, I stumbled upon a grizzly sidewalk murder scene where a "mob" of 20 young men, armed with crowbars and tire irons, killed one and sent another to the hospital with serious stab wounds—in the end, a far more severe incident than Friday's Metro brawl.

Photo by thisisbossi via Flickr under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 license

The Issue: A decade after residents of the McLean Gardens residential community started lobbying for a dog park on Newark Street, construction has finally begun. But can the new dog park and the established, strictly pet-free community garden co-exist in the same place?

The gardeners have had a history of problems with some dog owners who, according to Newark Street Community Garden Association President Linda Blount Berry, have allowed their pooches to poop on the garden's land and have ripped out the signs barring canines from the area. To Berry, the dog park represents "rewarding bad behavior."

After 10 years of fighting Berry for their park, though, the dog park's proponents say she's being a sore loser—and hijaking the Community Garden Association.
Under Construction: Berry says the contractors and their crews have done a good job on the construction, but the nascent dog park is already having an impact on the community garden. The garden plots closest to the dog park are "devastated," Berry says, and when the contractors discovered that they had miscalculated the water supply, they were forced to dig trench through the community garden.

"If they had chosen an appropriate site in the beginning, they wouldn't be going through all these unexpected [problems]," Berry says.

The construction of the dog park has brought a number of other changes to the Newark Street Park, including new fences and a service road—additions that Berry, a landscape designer by trade, feels undermine the open space ethos of the park.

But Kathy Silva, a long time advocate of the dog park, says the fences and service roads are necessary improvements. Silva says the new road will make the park accessible to the disabled, bringing the park into accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (now 20 years old). Furthermore, one of the main areas that will be fenced in thanks to the dog park is the tot lot located at the northwestern corner of the park, which Silva says should have been fenced in long ago.

"I have been horrified at the number of times the little children have been running toward the street," Silva says. "I'm glad there's going to be a fence around the playground, it was an accident waiting to happen."

Sticker Shock: The project's big price tag—about $400,00 under current estimates—has also attracted criticism, with some wondering on local listservs why so much money is being devoted to dog parks in a year when the Council struggled to balance the budget. In addition to the construction costs, the dog park will require daily trash pickup.

Silva says the dog park proponents have paid their fair share through taxes and fundraising. The Newark Street Park K-9 Friends have raised $25,000 for amenities such as benches and a shade cover and have received grants from the local ANC, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh's constituent fund and nearby animal hospitals.

"We are not taking money out of the mouths of anybody," Silva says. "We have a memorandum of agreement with the city, we've raised money, we're not freeloading."

And while the construction costs may sound inordinately high, Silva is quick to point out that much of the money is going to improvements to other areas of the park, such as those fences and that ADA ramp.  "I'm looking forward to the final figures and the breaking down of what cost what. The dog park is substantially less than the total figure," she says.

Discord in Community Garden: While Berry has insisted that there was an "unbelievable" amount of opposition to the dog park among the community gardeners, not everyone agrees with her assessment of public sentiment. ANC Commissioner Trudy Reeves, whose Single Member District includes the Newark Street Park, says that Berry and her husband, Lew Berry, the current president of the Community Garden Association, have stifled pro-dog park voices within the community garden.

"Many people at the garden are in favor [of the the dog park], they just didn't show up because they were afraid of retaliation," Reeves says.  Reeves herself was a member of the Community Garden Association's board of directors until she was "kicked off" in 2003.

"it's more of a dictatorship," Reeves says. "They feel they own the park, but the park is public property."

A Political Park: For all the neighborhood quarrels it has caused, the dog park has been connected to a fair number of city politics headlines, too. The dog park was one of the dozen projects sketchily assigned to Banneker Ventures through the D.C. Housing Authority. After those contracts were put on hold by the Council, the dog park's construction was taken up by Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization.

The dog park also played a key role in securing D.C. Council At-Large candidate Clark Ray one of his most high-profile endorsements. As director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, it was Ray who loosened the regulations for dog parks in 2007, largely at the urging of Newark Street Dog Park proponents like Silva. A few years later, Ray received an enthusiastic endorsement from Madeline Albright, Silva's sister.

Most recently, the dog park has drawn the Council's attention due to the asphalt road built to service the dog park. At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson and Ward 3's Cheh co-sponsered legislation to remove the recently constructed roadway and disallow the future construction of paved roads or pathways in the park. At a July 13th vote, the bill was passed unanimously.

Reeves says the councilmembers' main objections to the service road were aesthetic. "Mendelson and Cheh's only stated reason for wanting the road taken out is that they think it is 'ugly. ... In addition to providing ADA access, the road provides access for the trash trucks to pick up the trash cans," Reeves wrote in an email. "I don't think any of us want overflowing poop cans around the dog park."

Next Step: If construction continues on schedule, the dog park is set to open in August—with or with out the service ramp, though, remains to be seen. At their Monday night meeting, the ANC passed a motion to petition the D.C. Council to allow the service road to remain at the park and not to delay further dog park construction.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• City Paper exclusive on MPD's go-go report.
• Wanted: One mayor for mayoral forum
• Sweeperscam now even more expensive

Good morning sweet readers! Did anyone manage to watch all 27 hours of the D.C. Council session yesterday? If you missed any, LL TiVo-ed it and is having a viewing party this weekend at the parking lot of RFK Stadium. (Just pretend you're at the old 'HFS-tival!) On with the news:

2+2=5?: The foundation of Mayor Adrian Fenty's re-election campaign is the progress made in D.C.'s schools, right? Duh. So yesterday's news that new standardized test scores show a four to five point drop for elementary school students probably wasn't exactly what Hizzoner wanted to hear. Both the Post's Bill Turque, and the Examiner's Leah Fabel said the results come at an "inopportune" time for Fenty (teacher, someone is copying my use of the word inopportune!) Turque: "The elementary-school decline also represents a blow for [Chancellor Michelle] Rhee, who has made test score growth an integral part of the cultural change in schools she has pursued since becoming chancellor in 2007. Handpicked principals have established academic 'war rooms' to chart the progress of each student, tailoring instruction to address weaknesses that emerge on interim tests. Through winter and spring, schools are fully mobilized to prepare for the April tests in grades 3 through 8 and in grade 10. Field trips are canceled, and classes spend more time on test preparation. Selected schools offer 'Saturday academies' to help students. And this year's scores for the first time will determine half of the annual evaluation of some D.C. teachers. Last week, Rhee confirmed that she intended to expand standardized testing to cover all grades." Fabel: "[Fenty] appeared somewhat perplexed when asked by a parent why his office doesn't do more to communicate the school system's results. 'I grew up in D.C. when people, all they did was talk and talk. I like to do,' he said. 'People can look around and see the progress.' Not that it was all bad news, scores for middle and high school students rose, and overall 'officials said the three-year record of double-digit growth in secondary schools' test scores — an average gain of 14 percentage points in the reading pass rate and 17 points in the math rate — surpasses the norm for big urban school districts.'" Freeman Klopott has more on what the "mixed bag" of test results mean for Fenty in the Examiner.

AFTER THE JUMP: Trolley cars and hospitals; Immunity!; Mendelson and Stein...

A Little Ditty, About Two Guys Running For Mayor: WaPo's Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart tag-team the current state of the mayoral race two months out and air some criticism of both campaigns. Here's the low down on Fenty: "But the campaign has at times appeared rudderless, and sources close to the campaign say Fenty has been reluctant to heed advice and slow to grasp that he faces a far different election than he did in 2006 (not a fresh-faced council member known for his constituent service, but an incumbent mayor defending his record). For instance, Fenty overruled campaign advisers who urged him to hold off on the TV ads until a more comprehensive strategy was put together, two sources close to the mayor said. And Fenty's style has hampered his ability to build and nurture an electoral coalition. Despite his business-friendly agenda, Fenty lost the D.C. Chamber of Commerce endorsement to Gray." And on Gray: "The more immediate concern of those who support Gray—known for relishing the details of governing—is that he is too slow to make some campaign decisions. A dozen advisers helped Gray develop the education plan he rolled out two weeks ago, for instance. Before it was released, however, Gray and his staff vetted it before nearly 100 government officials, teachers, school administrators, labor leaders, parents and other stake-holders, campaign sources said. Gray is using a similar formula in developing proposals on crime, economic development and job creation and fiscal responsibility." LL regularly consults with nearly 100 people when deciding what to have for lunch. The consensus today: bacon. Unless the polling comes back and suggests empanadas.

Council Roundup: WaPo's Ann Marimow catches us up with two issues. Trolley Cars: "The D.C. Council made way for the first leg of a 37-mile trolley system Tuesday, passing legislation to allow the use of overhead wires along Benning Road and H Street NE. The debate over the use of the electrical wires for streetcars has centered on whether the lines violate a long-standing ban intended to preserve the appearance of the federal city. The temporary legislation approved unanimously Tuesday specifically prohibits overhead wires around the National Mall and creates a public process for determining whether the wires can be used in other parts of the city." And the hospital: "With some reservations, the council also gave final approval Tuesday to the creation of a nonprofit to run United Medical Center, the city's only hospital east of the Anacostia River."

Loophole!: WAMU's Patrick Madden reports on a big old campaign finance loophole that allows corporations to give lots more than the $2k limit to their candidate. "Some of the names sound generic: Acme Atlantic Leasing Company LLC or Gotham Investors LLC. Others sound a little more specific: Round Hill Investors LLC or FGV Investors LLC. There are 11 companies in all. They all gave the $2,000 maximum to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s campaign and all are listed at the same address: the 8th floor at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard in Rockville, Maryland. That turns out to be the headquarters for Lerner Enterprises, the area's largest real estate developer. Tax records show the resident agent for most of them is a vice president at the company." LL notes that the same practice has been going on for years in Maryland. Possibly involving some of the same companies!

File Under Gross: A MetroAccess driver has been accused of sexually assaulting a disabled rider while transporting her home from adult day care in at least the third sexual assault case involving the agency's paratransit service so far this year, according to the Examiner's resident sex assault expert, Kytja Weir.

Where does he keep his immunity idol?: Clinton LaSuere's lawsuit against Fenty, alleging he stiffed him on $5,000 in unpaid campaign work for Fenty's Ward 4 successor, Muriel Bowser, was denied yesterday, Keith Alexander of the Post reports. "At a hearing Tuesday, Judge Michael J. McCarthy did not rule on the merits of LeSueur's claim. Rather, in dismissing the case, he cited a District law that provides immunity for elected officials." LL would like to point out that he also has immunity. From chicken pox!

Gerty for Mendo: The city's gay activists vote to support At-Large Councilman Phil Mendelson over challenger Clark Ray, Mike DeBonis reports. "Incumbent Phil Mendelson offered a simple pitch: 'I delivered the marriage equality bill,' he said in his opening remarks, a statement that hinted at years of legislative efforts that laid the groundwork for last year's climactic marriage vote. Challenger Clark Ray, the former city parks and recreation director, has had to sell gay activists on a different proposition—I'd be just as good on the issues, and, hey, I'm also gay."

You Kids Driving Me Crazy: Jonetta Rose Barras says in the Examiner that the D.C. Council needs parental control.

"Chat with Ward One School Board Candidate, Patrick Mara" [Examiner]

Prison Guards for Gray [Post]

Pierre L'Enfant, Frederick Douglas Statues to the capitol? [Post]

Mayor's schedule: Ribbon cutting at United Medical Center's New Pediatric ER unit, 10:45

Council hearings: Breathalyzer problems, election reform

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Councilmembers To Nickles: WTF,"Poll Shows Fenty Beating Gray In Ward One," "Thieves Loot Argonaut," "Runaway Horse Dashed Through Cap Hill"

Good morning. D.C. Council Chairman and Mayoral candidate Vincent Gray didn't let the Monday break go to waste. He held a Q & A with prominent local bloggers at Ben's Chili Bowl (points off for cliche setting). Gray took questions from DCist, Borderstan, We Love DC, Greater Greater Washington, and The District Curmudgeon; the bloggers covered everything from the streetcar flip-flop and education reform to small business regulations and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier. The bloggers walked away impressed by Gray's—what else?—penchant for detail and his ability to admit when he screwed up (streetcar flip-flop). But let's just get to the news that warms this substitute LL's heart: IF ELECTED, GRAY HAS PROMISED TO BRING BACK THE WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE.

DCist's Martin Austermuhle reports: "On education, Gray spoke proudly of his ambitious plan to create a comprehensive birth-through-24 system. He pledged to be more transparent and hold weekly press conferences — something Fenty has been strongly criticized for. He agreed that the District's Summer Youth Employment Program — which 'has been about a numbers game' — needed reform, as did the District's Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services. He promised that economic development would be one of the things he tackled in his first year, using regulatory reform to improve the "Byzantine system" currently faced by the District's small businesses. And yes, Gray emphasized that he was in favor of streetcars, though he did worry that not enough planning had been done before tracks were laid down on H Street NE. When asked about the budget kerfuffle which saw funding for streetcars stripped from the city's budget and then restored, Gray admitted that 'it was a misunderstanding.' 'I'm really sorry that it happened,' he added."

More coverage via Borderstan. Greater Greater Washington's Dave Stroup summed up his impression of Gray: "Any skilled candidate will provide thoughtful and compelling answers at a session such as this. The real questions are always in the nitty-gritty. There's no doubt that Vincent Gray loves the District and wants to see things change for the better. This campaign will be won or lost on Gray's ability to convince District voters that he can make these things happen. The wisest thing Gray said on Monday was that this campaign will not come down to who has the most money. Fenty has a large war chest, and a record of results. He also has vulnerabilities. This will be an extremely close race, and it will be interesting to see whether the idealistic campaign plan of Vincent Gray can weather the long, hot DC summer."

AFTER THE JUMP—Fenty friend fails and yet still succeeds, D.C. Council pissed at Peter Nickles (again), Mary J. Blige may be enrolling at Howard University, and much, much more!

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED: The Examiner's Bill Myers breaks some news on the Parks-and-Rec-Fenty-Frat-Bro narrative with today's must read: "A D.C. board issued an engineering license to a co-founder of a company with ties to Mayor Adrian Fenty even though the man has never passed the professional exam, The Washington Examiner has learned. Abdullahi Barrow has emerged as a key figure in the ongoing investigation into millions of dollars' worth of parks contracts awarded to companies owned by the mayor's friends and fraternity brothers. One of them, Sinclair Skinner, has said publicly that he relied on Barrow's expertise to win public parks contracts for Liberty Engineering and Design, a company founded by Skinner and Barrow. But Barrow failed his engineer's exam seven times since 2002, sources said and documents obtained by [The Examiner] show. In 2008, the Fenty-appointed Board of Professional Engineers unanimously granted Barrow the professional license because of his 'eminence' in the field, board spokesman Clive Cooks said. There are three ways to obtain a professional engineer's license in the District: passing the exam, having already obtained a license in another state, or for eminence. The board rarely issues eminence licenses, Cooks said. Since 2005, only four have been given out — including Barrow's, Cooks said. Barrow's lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, said any suggestion that Barrow wasn't qualified as an engineer was 'nonsense.'"

Of course, Fenty may also have his own fence problem. Myers goes on to report: "Barrow was deposed last month. Sources familiar with his testimony said that Barrow, like Skinner, had trouble recalling basic details about his company, including its first client and the last name of a third man, 'Chris,' who initially started the business with Skinner and Barrow. Barrow said, however, that yet another company co-founded by him and his wife was paid by Liberty Engineering, the sources said. The company, Providence Construction, has also been given a contract to build a fence for the city's real estate agency, sources said."

MORE PARKS AND WRECK: WaPo's Mike DeBonis reports that several D.C. Councilmembers are ticked off at Attorney General Peter Nickles, for paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to one Rec Center developer/Fenty pal: "D.C. Council members aren't taking well the news that the city reached a $550,000 settlement last week with Banneker Ventures, the company overseeing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's controversial parks construction. Democrats Mary Cheh (Ward 3), Phil Mendelson (At Large) and Harry Thomas Jr. (Ward 5) have jointly taken exception to the settlement — in particular, the decision by Attorney General Peter Nickles to sign an agreement while the council's investigation of the parks contracts is ongoing. 'Your decision to settle at this particular time appears to be poor judgment and motivated by something other than the best interests of the District of Columbia,' the members wrote in a letter to Nickles delivered today. It goes on to suggest that the agreement was signed 'for no other reason than to bring this matter rapidly to a close.' Cheh was still more explicit about said motivations in an interview this afternoon: 'To make something that's problematic for the mayor go away.' She said the move was of a 'similar nature' to when the Housing Authority cut a check for $2.5 million to Banneker on Christmas Eve — when no one on the D.C. Council, which was already investigating the matter, could have stopped it." Nickles tells DeBonis that everything was above board. Of the councilmembers' complaint: "They really don't know what they're talking about." More coverage via Washington City Paper's new Loose Lips columnist Alan Suderman, and WBJ.

JONETTA ROSE BARRAS: The Examiner columnist thinks Gray's education plan reads too much like Fenty's education plan (which she likes). Still, she argues that the plan "lacks freshness and innovation." Barras concludes: "Undoubtedly, Gray and his campaign have deliberately exploited the reality that most voters aren't intimate with the details of education reform. But those who have closely followed such events won't find any substantial difference between Gray and Fenty's plan — except the council chairman offered his with a warm smile and the promise of tons of town hall meetings. There's one more thing: Fenty has been implementing his plan for the past three years."

POLLING: D.C. Wire's Tim Craig digs into the numbers behind the Graham campaign poll showing Fenty with a slight edge over Gray among Ward One voters: "According to the poll, the incumbent mayor leads Gray in Ward 1 by a margin of 43 percent to 37 percent. Despite that narrow lead, many observers believe Fenty needs a much greater margin in Ward 1 on Election Day to overcome Gray's expected advantage in communities in Northeast and Southeast Washington. Ward 1, the city's most diverse, is home to many of the new District residents that the Fenty campaign has been heavily courting. On July 4, a few hours before the fireworks, Fenty was spotted campaigning door-to-door in Mount Pleasant. In his successful 2006 campaign, Fenty won 61 percent of the vote in Ward 1, his best showing outside of his home base of Ward 4. Still, Graham's poll demonstrates that Gray still faces a challenge in becoming better known. Only three out of four Ward 1 residents recognize Gray's name, compared with the nearly 100 percent who knew Fenty's. And with 18 percent of Ward 1 residents undecided, there is still a path for Fenty to match his 2006 numbers in Ward 1."

HIV-AIDS: Amanda Hess writing over at WCP's The Sexist tries to figure out what Vincent Gray means when he says he won't "over promise" on this issue: "Is Gray suggesting that the District couldn’t deliver on its promises to its last HIV/AIDS director? A recent op-ed in the Washington Blade posits that Hader received 'little support' from the District, and that her 'hands were tied' by a 'local government that lacked the funds and the vision to realize the full potential of a more integrated, multi-agency approach needed to address this public health emergency.' It’s certainly going to be difficult to sugarcoat D.C.’s HIV/AIDS crisis for potential candidates. Without promises of additional resources, will the District be able to snag a director that’s nearly as effective as Hader?"

METRO MESS: The Examiner's Kytja Weir reports that the cheaper SmarTrip Cards will be ready in late August: "The agency is planning to drop the price of the cards from $5 to $2.50 to encourage riders to use the reusable plastic cards. But the change isn't slated to occur until Aug. 29, according to a Metro report. Consider this the latest confusing fare change at Metro. The transit agency boosted fares on June 27 but plans to increase other aspects of fares — including charging 25 cents extra per rail trip for users of paper fare cards — starting Aug. 1. But it won't reduce the cost of the SmarTrip cards until just before Labor Day. Other SmarTrip card changes are expected this fall. So riders may want to do some calculations as to what makes the most sense: buy the plastic fare cards before Aug. 1 if planning to take more than 10 rail trips before the end of the month? Or wait until the price drops? Bus riders already pay a 20-cent differential when they pay cash instead of using a SmarTrip card — and they lose out on the transfer discount when switching from bus to bus or train to bus if they pay cash. So buying a SmarTrip card now makes sense for frequent riders."

CITY POOLS: The District is extending pool and library hours, reports NC8: "District officials say they want to ensure residents have a place to get out of the heat. One of the places they recommend are public libraries. a location on m street was open until 9 Tuesday night and people stayed inside until the doors closed trying to cool off."

MARY J. BLIGE: NC8 reports that the singer may be enrolling at Howard University: A well-known singer could be packing more into her busy schedule to get a college degree from a well-known D.C. university. Mary J. Blige may have eight multi platinum records, nine Grammys and several number one hits. Now she's after her college diploma. 'I got accepted into Howard University for the class of 2014!! Cheers...' said Blige. That candid comment caught on stage for Good Morning America Friday is causing a big buzz on Howard University's campus in Northwest D.C." University officials refused to comment on whether Blige has enrolled. Doesn't this sound like a reality-show premise?

WE HAVE A DEAL: On the convention center hotel.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: Confirmations of funeral boardmembers and public service commission, rent-control roundtable discussion at 11 a.m., hearing on Community Service Block Grants at 2 p.m.

The Post’s Nikita Stewart won the weekend with the big scoop that the District had agreed to pay Banneker, which is owned by Fenty buddy Omar Karim, $550,000 out of an original $2.3 million contract to renovate and build new parks and rec centers. The council canceled the contracts last year, amid an uproar that Fenty had bypassed them to give business to his fraternity brothers.

An outside investigator hired by the council to look into the contracts is set to release his findings shortly.

Attorney General Peter Nickles told the Post the city agreed to the settlement because Banneker “had threatened to sue” the architects and engineer subcontractors over “intellectual property” issues having to do with blueprints and designs.

Naturally, the fact that the outside investigation was imminent had nothing to do with the timing. Nickles tells Loose Lips the settlement was the result of months of work by a "team of experts" to try and get the city out of a legal mess the council had created when it killed the contracts.

But Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Mary Cheh, and Harry Thomas Jr. said the settlement  doesn’t pass the smell test and told Nickles in a letter Tuesday that his actions may be “motivated by something other than the best interests of the District of Columbia.”

“The decision to pay this vendor prior to the conclusion of an investigation, prior to all the facts being known, for contracts that were not properly approved, and for work that may have been overcharged, is contrary to your duty to place the interests of the District of Columbia paramount to all else,” the councilmembers wrote.

Cheh told LL the timing of the settlement was “quite peculiar,” given that she’d introduced legislation last Tuesday that would have prevented any payments while the matter was still under investigation.

Nickles had no time for such suggestions, calling them politically motivated "baloney" or "spanakopita." (It's a Greek spinach pie; don't ask.) And if it makes any difference to the councilmembers, Nickles says he didn't tell Fenty about the settlement either.

At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown had a gigantic truck at the July 4 Palisades parade. (Photo by Michael Grass)

After leaving the post-parade festivities at Palisades Park, complete with free hot dogs and moon bounce, City Desk surveyed the remains of the parade along its MacArthur Boulevard route. Parts of it were quite malodorous. (Who wants to have some dinner on Kemble Tavern's patio?) But it wasn't necessarily trashed like last month’s Capital Pride Parade. And no unclaimed free condoms on the sidewalk, either!

All the candy that Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans and his supporters showered on parade-goers seemed to be snapped up. The children of Ward 3 certainly love their sugary treats! City Desk wonders if Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, fresh off her legislative victory to mandate healthy school lunches, will soon start a push for a Healthy Parades Act. Will someone not think of the children and their dental health?

Cheh, meanwhile, had her supporters pass out miniature copies of the U.S. Constitution, not particularly exciting as a freebie but quite fitting for a George Washington University professor specializing in constitutional law.

Some savvy politicians targeted parade-goers with implements to beat the heat. The campaign of D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, who is challenging Mayor Adrian Fenty in the September Democratic primary, passed out miniature fans. Team Fenty, meanwhile distributed water bottles and green towels, to which DCist’s Martin Austermuhle remarked via Twitter: "Not very soft, like the candidate!" (When City Desk touched a Fenty towel, it was indeed quite abrasive—a mix between sandpaper, chamois and ratty gym towel. Did Hizzoner not test the hand-out on his bald head prior to distribution?)

Fenty and Gray "[b]oth did a good job keeping people cool," said Nate Bennett-Fleming, who is running for D.C. shadow representative and passed out around 1,000 Nate-branded bottles of water.

Campaigning has never been an especially environmentally friendly activity, with all the signs, stickers, Mardi Gras beads, pamphlets and the like that generally have a short life span before being trashed.

One resident of MacArthur Boulevard, hosting a July 4 parade-watching party on her front lawn, told City Desk that she wished Mayor Fenty’s Green Team would’ve been more green with the parade freebies.

"I support him on school reform. But these water bottles—look, they're everywhere!" The woman, who said she would be voting for Fenty, didn’t want to disclose her name. "I know not to criticize the mayor. He rides his bike up here."

The mayor, to his credit, did have his trusty Smart car at the parade, which was dwarfed by the monster truck At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown, who is running for D.C. Council chairman, had at the parade. City Desk was concerned that the gigantic vehicle would not be able to navigate some of the tight turns of the parade route, especially at Edmunds Place and Sherier Place where regular traffic jams developed as the parade snaked its way into Palisades Park.

The campaigns of Gray and former Ward 5 Councilmember Vincent Orange, who is running for D.C. Council chairman, did the best job at preemptively claiming all the good sign space along MacArthur Boulevard. (And on the lot in front of Palisades Park that once was home to the Jesse Baltimore House.) Four years ago, Fenty's mayoral campaign had the best ground game. This time, Gray bested the incumbent and had an excellent post-parade sign-collection operation. Two hours after the parade started, you would have had difficulty knowing that Gray was even at the event. (We pity the sign-collecting Gray campaign supporter that City Desk spotted walking all the way to his car parked out in front of the German Chancery on Reservoir Road, but not as much as the overheated Bolivian dancers who were weighed down by pounds of colorful costumes!)

Perhaps City Desk missed him, but we were hoping that Orange would be cruising MacArthur Boulevard on a Segway passing out candy and beads, just like he did during his ill-fated mayoral run four years ago. There were reports, however, that Orange was busy stumping for votes at an ice cream truck. Orange, known for his larger-than-life personality, seemed to be no match for Brown’s behemoth truck, which was a regular topic of conversation at the parade. (Orange, to his credit, had an aggressive signature-gathering operation.)

"This is the Washington, D.C., parade," said Patrick Mara, the school board candidate from Ward 1 who is better known for knocking off longtime At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz during the 2008 Republican primary, therefore depriving Palisades parade-goers of seeing Schwartz in her eye-popping yellow TransAm convertible. Even if Ward 3 voters—who form the core of the Palisades parade turnout—can't vote in your race, "you need to have a good showing here," said Mara, who had 20 supporters working the parade and post-parade party. "It says something about the strength of someone’s candidacy."

In that case, City Desk nominates the "Millwood Mob" for something, but we aren't sure what. Millwood Lane NW, a short street connecting Loughboro and Glenbrook roads, year after year fields a very organized showing at the parade, complete with its own queen. Imagine if the Millwood Mob would form its own political party! Watch out Mary Cheh!

Because of the hot weather, At-Large candidate Clark Ray, who was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, may have been the wisest person at the parade—though this writer’s recently deceased great aunt, a feisty, opinionated longtime Palisades resident, would have likely scoffed at any politician displaying bare shoulders.

But Team Ray was out in full force and was warmly received by the crowd, along with incumbent Phil Mendelson.

The one person who was missing was Don Peebles, the big-time developer and would-be mayoral candidate who kept political watchers on edge for months as he weighed a challenge to Fenty. (Through artfully crafted language, he decided not to run.) City Desk thinks Peebles should have teamed up with Matthew Lesko and his question-mark mobile—a perfect way to continue to toy with the populous!

In CASE YOU MISSED IT—"LaVar's Crazy Gender Studies," "Fifth Amendment Doesn't Apply To Feces-Flinging Inmate," "Lanier Denies Covering Up Fenty Abuse," "Shooting In Congress Heights," "Vincent Gray's Education Plan Takes Aim At Fenty Ribbon Cuttings"

Good morning. I'm wondering: Is Michelle Rhee dc.gov's Albert Haynesworth? Rhee had been heralded as the savior of DCPS and brought here with unprecedented power and control over the school system. Now, she's saying that if the city gets a new head coach (who may want to tweak the playbook), she may not stick around. Is this the kind of leader we want on our team?

Here's the first graph of Gray's education plan released yesterday: "Vince Gray will make our children’s education the number one priority of his administration. He will be an involved Mayor who takes all stakeholders seriously, who stands by his Schools Chancellor, and who works tirelessly for well-managed, smart reform." Does this sound like a guy who wants to dramatically alter the chancellor's job description? His plan calls for expanding reform to include pre-pre-school, wants that reform to be sustainable (if Rhee leaves what does that say about her reform agenda?), and wants everyone to get along and be transparent (Rhee may have a problem with that last agenda item). Edgy stuff.

Here's what Gray had to say on the chancellor position:

"Vince is committed to having a strong Chancellor who is fully empowered to implement community-driven reform. He will collaborate with the Chancellor to ensure that we keep and build on effective people and programs already in the system.

A Vince Gray administration will put an immediate end to management by ribbon cutting and sound bites, and give the Chancellor the support she needs to fulfill her promise to the students of the District of Columbia. As Mayor, Vince will give the DCPS Chancellor the tools and controls to manage his or her budget. He will continue to support the Chancellor in making hard choices with regard to staffing, hiring, and firing decisions to get bad teachers out of the classroom and keep good teachers in the classroom. He will work closely with the Chancellor and ensure all the resources of District government are brought to bear in supporting kids."

Gray's problem seems to be with Fenty's leadership. But Rhee, this week at least, more than hinted that she's out if residents kick out Jim Zorn, I mean Adrian Fenty. WaPo's Valerie Strauss thinks Rhee has made a mistake by trying to bigfoot her way into the election: "Never mind that she really doesn’t know how Gray will approach their relationship. What political candidates say during a campaign is not always what they do if they win and take office. Considerations change. What is more important, and of more concern, is that Rhee surely knows the importance of consistency in school leadership. She knows she was the seventh person to head the school system in a decade when she arrived in 2007, and that the constant turnover at the top was disastrous for the city’s schools. Rhee states frequently that her concern is only for D.C. schoolchildren. If that is so, it seems odd that she would be so quick to suggest that she might abandon them without giving a new mayor a chance to do what she considers the right thing. Her comments are hardly a great lesson for young people, who need more than ever to learn how to listen to other views and compromise. Would it not be a far better message for Rhee to tell D.C. schoolchildren that she is here to stay and fight to improve their schools?" More coverage on the Gray education plan via The Examiner, WaPo.

AFTER THE JUMP—Fenty vs. rumors day 2, Vince Gray compared to tofu, shake-up at Office of Risk Management, details revealed on Councilmember Phil Mendelson's DYRS bill, and much, much more!

VALENTINE'S DAY: The Examiner's Alan Suderman reports that the head of the troubled Office of Risk Management has resigned: "Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration has placed Kelly Valentine, the director of the District's embattled Office of Risk Management, on administrative leave. The Washington Examiner first reported last month that whistleblowers told the FBI that Valentine gave lucrative contracts to her friends. Contracts ranging from health insurance coverage and private investigations were handed off to companies with ties to Valentine, according to whistleblowers. Last month, Fenty and his attorney general, Peter Nickles, held a news conference where they announced that the District might have to pay $6 million to cover the life insurance premiums the city collected from hundreds of disabled employees over seven years but didn't pass along to the insurance companies. Nickles asked the city's inspector general to conduct an investigation into Risk Management. Besides the FBI and the inspector general, city Auditor Deborah Nichols and the finance office's integrity team have also begun probes. Valentine hasn't responded to repeated requests seeking comment. In addition to the multiple investigations, Risk Management has been besieged by multiple outside contractors demanding payments on outstanding debts."

METRO: WMATA and Virginia make peace. WaPo's Lisa Rein and Anita Kumar report: "Metro's board of directors signed off Thursday on an agreement with Virginia to provide $300 million to match federal funding for safety improvements, ending a month-long battle over the state's push to be represented on the board.The deal will allow the transit agency to sign an $886 million contract Friday for 428 new rail cars, a high-priority purchase that was in danger of falling through. The federal government has agreed to give Metro $1.5 billion for capital needs over 10 years as long as Virginia, Maryland and the District match the money. 'These cars are extremely important to the safety of our customers,' interim General Manager Richard Sarles said after the board drew up a contract with Virginia officials. Of the 428 cars, 128 will help Metro provide service on the Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport, and 300 will replace Metro's oldest rail cars. The administration of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) had threatened to withhold Virginia's share of the money unless the state gets two members on the Metro board. Four seats are held by elected officials from Fairfax and Arlington counties and Alexandria, and McDonnell wants to appoint two of them. Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton said Virginia wants more accountability from Metro in the aftermath of last year's fatal Red Line crash. Including its contribution to the matching funds, the state will contribute more to Metro than the Northern Virginia local governments, Connaughton said. But the state decided last week to pay without an agreement on the seats."

VOTE-BUYING: The District will be doing same-day voter registration this year. This could be a mess. Yesterday, the D.C. Council held a roundtable talk on preventing fraud. The Examiner's Emily Babay reports: "Starting with the Sept. 14 primary, people can register to vote at the polls on election day, which has spurred questions about the potential for bought or fraudulent votes. "Votes from same-day registrants will be cast as provisional ballots and subject to review, said Board of Elections and Ethics chief Rokey Suleman. He was among a group of officials from the agency speaking Thursday at a D.C. Council Government Operations and the Environment Committee public roundtable. Suleman said people must vote in the precinct in which they live, so poll workers should recognize voters who try to register outside their precinct. The BOEE plans to have five lawyers staffing a hot line to respond to fraud allegations. But that might not be enough, said Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who urged the BOEE officials to increase that number. 'Five seems a little thin to me,' Cheh said. Same-day registration is expected to cause some 'administrative difficulties' on election day, Suleman acknowledged."

VINCE GRAY=TOFU: WaPo's Mike DeBonis makes the case that Gray is tofu: "It's [Fenty's] chief rival, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), who is racking up endorsements from unions, business groups, ward organizations and others. He can't get the yard signs out fast enough. He's started raising money at an impressive clip. And pretty much all he's had to do is show up." But that Fenty is acting like King Fenty, oblivious of how badly he's campaigned: "He's now in full bloom of explaining to disaffected voters why they hate him so much and why they should vote for him again in spite of it. The Fenty entreaty goes something like this: 'People see a willingness to make tough decisions that we haven't seen in a long time in D.C.,' he said Wednesday night, talking to a group of gay and lesbian supporters about school reform. 'You could probably do this the safe and secure way, but it would probably take two or three decades. . . . We need it to happen fast.' When you step into the voting booth, he said, 'remember our commitment to taking on the tough issues.' Politics, unfortunately, is more complicated than ascribing mass disaffection to 'tough decisions.'" This is the must read piece of the week.

LANIER REFUTES FENTY RUMORS; WTOP's Mark Segraves asked MPD Chief Cathy Lanier about those pesky rumors concerning the mayor, domestic violence, and her role in covering it all up: "Lanier said she had been hearing the rumors for years. 'Actually, those rumors surfaced – I believe – as soon as he began running for mayor, and they've been around ever since,' Lanier said. 'Periodically, they will pop back up, but I can tell you without any question, nobody in the Metropolitan Police Department would cover that up. Certainly, I wouldn't cover that up as a district commander.'"

METRO MESS: City Fix DC blog has a great accounting of a Metro taskforce meeting in which residents vented their frustrations.

MANHOLE: Explosion in Southwest (NC8).

SHOOTING: Woman shot in Northeast (WUSA9).

DYRS REFORM: Here is a summary of Councilmember Phil Mendelson's DYRS reform bill in full. We'll probably crash Washington City Paper's site with this! Here it is:

"Bill 18-344 concerns the confidentiality of information about juveniles who are in the juvenile justice system. Major changes to the current law include:

1. Amends the DYRS establishment act to permit the MPD to access without court order certain records – such as surveillance tapes – in the possession of DYRS when needed for investigating a crime allegedly involving a youth in the custody of DYRS. This amendment addresses a conflict between Titles 2 & 16 of the D.C. Code – the latter permitting “law enforcement officers [access] when necessary for the discharge of their current official duties.” This conflict came into focus June 20th when MPD responded to a melee at New Beginnings but had to get a court order before being able to view video tapes of the melee.

2. Rewrites D.C. Code §§ 16-2331, 16-2332, and 16-2333 (regarding confidentiality) to improve clarity.

3. Provides that the following information shall be public information: A child’s name, the fact that he/she was arrested, the arrest charges, the charges filed in court, whether the child was found guilty (“involved”) and, if so, the charges for which he/she was found guilty, and the child’s initial disposition (i.e., probation or DYRS commitment).

Such information shall be public information only if the child has been found guilty of a crime of violence or certain dangerous crimes, or found guilty twice of certain other felonies, including UUV, stolen auto, or felony assault; or the individual has been found guilty of any felony or a misdemeanor assault within three years of the conclusion of his juvenile sentence.

The public availability of this information will enable the public to demand accountability of government agencies responsible for prosecuting or rehabilitating juveniles, and will pierce the veil of confidentiality behind which some chronic, violent juvenile offenders seem to thrive.

4. Requires the MPD to publish statistics twice yearly detailing by PSA the number of juveniles arrested, as well as the charge(s) and dates of arrest.

5. Authorizes an official of MPD, Court Social Services, or DYRS to disclose certain information – but not records – about a juvenile delinquent to a school official or mental health professional when, in the professional judgment of the official, disclosure of the information will assist in the protection, welfare, treatment, or rehabilitation of the juvenile.

6. Establishes an Abscondence Review Committee (5 members plus 2 ex officio) to examine what steps could have prevented juvenile abscondence where a homicide, assault with intent to kill, or assault with a deadly weapon (firearm) was committed by or to the juvenile.

7. Preserves the status quo in the current law regarding confidentiality by making explicit that, notwithstanding the public availability of certain information, a juvenile shall not be required to disclose, and shall have the right to refuse disclosure of, his or her juvenile delinquency information in an application for employment, education, or housing."

KOJO: Maryland gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich and D.C. congressional hopeful Doug Sloan.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: No public events.