District Links
The comprehensive DC politics roundup, by Cuneyt Dil.
Send tips, links, events, things to cuneytdil@thedcline.org.
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TGIF and happy Flag Day! President Donald Trump owes the District $7 million for his 2017 inauguration, while he plans a new July Fourth bash.
WaPo’s Peter Jamison scoops: “The Trump administration and Congress owe D.C. more than $7 million in expenses from Trump’s inauguration, according to federal and city financial records. The total cost of the four-day celebration, which culminated with a parade and gathering of roughly 600,000 people on the Mall, was $27.3 million.
“As a result, the District has been forced to dip into a special fund that covers annual security costs for protecting the city from terrorist threats and hosting other events such as demonstrations, state funerals and the visits of foreign dignitaries. That fund, which for years was adequately replenished by federal dollars, is now on track to enter the red by this fall, records show.” [WaPo]
— Speaking of Trump, there is a protest to his DC hotel’s liquor license —on the grounds that the prez is not of “good character,” Loose Lips and The Post report. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board allowed the challenge to proceed, in spite of challenges from the hotel’s lawyer. [LL, WaPo]
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TODAY: Bowser on CFO; Colby King says sports betting contract 'reeks of cronyism'; first Rayful Edmond community forum held ...
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🎂🎂🎂 ONE YEAR OLD - The DC Line was launched a year ago tomorrow. You can support The DC Line (and this newsletter, in turn) by donating to our nonprofit at TheDCLine.org/Donate.
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MEDIA BLACKOUT - Wash Mystics’ player demands meeting with mayor, Ward 8’s Trayon White about shootings in SE. City Paper’s Kelyn Soong: “In a series of Instagram stories, [Natasha] Cloud said that she would institute a 'media blackout' on Friday prior to the Mystics game against the defending WNBA champion Seattle Storm if Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White do not respond to her with a solution or schedule a meeting for a solution.” [City Paper; also WaPo, DCist]
— The posts came after bullets hit Hendley Elementary School in Southeast for the second time in two weeks, WJLA reported.
— White responded with a statement to City Paper, saying “Don’t tweet join us!” In a Twitter back-and-forth, Cloud responded to White that “you continue to dismiss me” and “blackoutisago.”
— Herroner responded today, upon questioning from NBC4’s Mark Segraves at a press event: “I don’t really know what it means to have a media blackout. I think the more people talking about crime, the better. … I was in that community just yesterday afternoon. Our police were in the school hosting an event when it happened, and I think more people being outraged about access to guns and the careless use of guns in our city, I think the better.” Would the mayor meet with Cloud? “I meet with people all the time.”
COLUMN - ‘D.C.’s sports betting contract reeks of cronyism,’ writes WaPo’s Colby King after the paper reported this week that politically connected subcontractors are set to benefit from the no-bid $215 million sports gambling contract. King spoke to a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, David Umansky, for his column: “I sought information about what these subcontractors would actually be doing but was told by Umansky in an email this week that ‘the “summary of the subcontracting plan” contains proprietary information such as pricing and costs and that along with other similar sections of the contract cannot be released at this time, but it will be made public if and when the contract is approved and signed.’
“Umansky added, ‘You could file a [Freedom of Information Act] request for a redacted version, but the reply will take at least several days.’
“Ah, but who in the District cares?” [WaPo]
BOWSER ON BUDGET - Bowser backs chief financial officer, saying “I expect him to do his job” and ensure the budget is balanced. At an infrastructure event about under-grounding power lines, DL asked what the mayor thought about the CFO’s admission that $47 million had been sitting in Events DC’s reserves since fiscal 2017, money that should have been sent to the city’s general fund.
With the addition of that $47 million to the city’s general fund, the city has enough cash on hand to operate for 60 days. That threshold allows surplus general funds to automatically go into an infrastructure fund and the affordable housing trust fund, Bowser said. “Now, I could say, if those surpluses had been transferred in those two years, we would have made proposals to the council of exactly how those surpluses should have been spent,” she added. “So, a lot of people may be disappointed in the fact that those surpluses are coming now, and not two years ago, but the fact is our law contemplated how we want surpluses used … for infrastructure … and for housing.”
Vincent Gray says the surplus money will help fund a bill approved in December to incentivize the opening of grocery stores east of the Anacostia River:
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RAYFUL EDMOND FORUM - At community forum, no consensus on whether to reduce life sentence of drug kingpin. DL writes in The DC Line: “[T]hose who came forward to testify included one of Edmond’s cousins and an activist who said his family once felt targeted by the cocaine kingpin.
“Federal prosecutors are seeking to reduce Edmond’s life sentence in view of his cooperation with authorities, and a federal judge has tasked DC Attorney General Karl Racine with soliciting public input.
“… Several residents who testified blamed Edmond’s drug gang for its key role in the crack cocaine and murder epidemic in the late 1980s and 1990s. … A handful of others said Edmond, who has a separate 30-year drug-related sentence in Pennsylvania, deserved release.
“‘If there’s anybody here that was hurt by Mr. Edmond, his family, or any of his associates, I want to personally apologize for him,’ said Dominic Bregenz, who identified himself as a cousin of Edmond.” Residents can weigh in at the second of three forums Saturday. [The DC Line; also NBC4, WAMU]
MEANWHILE - ’Leader of DC barbershop drug-trafficking ring sentenced to 16 years.’ WTOP’s Abigail Constantino: “Anthony Fields, 45, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted of engaging in conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, PCP, fentanyl, suboxone, marijuana and synthetic marijuana. After his prison term, he will be placed on supervised release for eight years.
“During the sentencing, it was found that Fields was selling fentanyl as heroin and that he obstructed the government’s investigation. In June 2017, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives started investigating drug activity in the Next Level Cuts barbershop on the 2400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast.” [WTOP]
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS - ‘New community bookstore expands literacy options in Ward 8.’ By Candace Y.A. Montague in The DC Line: “On the evening of May 27, 2015, Charnice Milton was on the bus, heading to her home in Ward 7’s Benning Heights neighborhood. A journalist working for Capital Community News, … Milton had just left a neighborhood meeting in Eastern Market. As she stepped off the bus at the intersection of Naylor and Good Hope roads SE, gunfire rang out. Milton, a 27-year-old alumna of Ball State and Syracuse universities, was struck by a bullet that police believe was intended for someone else. By morning, she was dead.
“Four years later, on the anniversary of her death, a new community bookstore opened in her honor inside the new Busboys and Poets restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE in historic Anacostia. Welcomed by residents and activists, the Charnice Milton Community Bookstore has arrived just in time for summer. Occupying a cozy corner of the restaurant, the shop specializes in books written by and about black people.” [The DC Line]
ACTION - ‘D.C. schools pledge review of care provider after employee accused of sexual contact with minor.’ WAMU’s Martin Austermuhle: “The deputy chancellor of D.C. Public Schools said Wednesday that the school system would be reviewing its relationship with a company that provides before- and after-school programs at a number of schools, after an employee was accused of sexual misconduct and the company was unable to provide documentation on required background checks.
“The announcement, made in an email to parents on Wednesday afternoon, came in the wake of a WAMU story published Tuesday evening about an incident where a teacher’s aide employed by Springboard Education was accused of kissing and inappropriately touching a 13-year-old student at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan in mid-May.” [WAMU]
NEW COLUMN - Barbara Lang, former president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, has a new column in Washington Business Journal. She writes: “We need strong leaders who push the limits of their political ‘safe zone’ and create the next great idea that moves their community to the forefront of economic development, public safety, transportation and infrastructure.
“We must demand these decisions be based on progressive leadership, creativity, energy and ultimately what improves the lives of people, not conservative action based on fear or pleasing the majority for the next election cycle. Leadership means taking a stand on something that may not be immediately embraced by all but ultimately builds credibility and confidence.
“… Politicians need to be held to the highest standard possible. They need to not only present the idea, but sell it, and show the voters why it is in their best interests.” [WBJ]
WEEKEND READS …
— The DC Lineup, your guide to the weekend: ‘Dudes, diesel and drafts for Father’s Day.’ [The DC Line]
— Capital Projections, The DC Line’s guide to arthouse and repertory screenings: It’s the love and togetherness edition! [The DC Line]
— 14 Lives: 14th Street is undergoing yet another transformation, this time with out-of-town restaurants moving in as rents get jacked up. [Washingtonian, City Paper]
— Suing Sidwell: After a high school senior was rejected by 13 colleges, her family accuses Sidwell Friends School of sabotaging her academics. [CNN]
— Districts of Columbia: This guy loves American places named Columbia so much (he lives in Columbia Heights in D.C.), he went on a four-year road trip to photograph places named Columbia in the U.S. [Roadtrippers]
— Flag Bearer: Tattoo artists talk why people love getting the DC flag on their bodies. [DCist]
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‘D.C. police officer accused of sexually abusing woman during a therapeutic treatment session’ [WaPo]
‘Downtown D.C. streets closed this weekend for TV miniseries shoot’ [WaPo]
Trayon White challenges need for bike lanes in Ward 8 [Curbed]
'Tiny bits of plastic are causing a huge pollution problem in the Anacostia River' [WAMU]
'D.C. Council hears from public on increasing voter participation' [Wash Times]
Paywall: ‘ThinkFoodGroup alum, Anthony Lanier launch new D.C. restaurant group’ [WBJ]
Agriculture Department to shift 500 jobs out from DC to Kansas City [Bisnow]
You can buy Bob Woodward’s Watergate apartment [UrbanTurf]
Deborah Simmons: 'Elected leaders should be held accountable for abuse in D.C. schools' [Wash Times]
'DC government and Greater Washington Community Foundation align to end homelessness' [Street Sense]
‘East of the Anacostia residents discuss how transportation can be more equitable’ [GGW]
'Opioid crisis surges in DC region' [Street Sense]
'Didn’t pay your fine for fare evasion in D.C.? Don’t worry, no one’s checking.' [WaPo Express]
More on the new Made in D.C. pop-up at National Airport [WBJ, Wash Times]
'A white bicyclist is on trial, accused of assaulting a black driver. Jurors will decide if he acted out of hate or in self-defense.' [WaPo]
'Tee time at Nats Park? Topgolf transforming stadium into driving range for a summer weekend.' [WBJ]
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A Flag Day Twitter thread:
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The minimum wage is ready to go up:
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Brianne Nadeau gets honor from advocates for the homeless:
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Raising the importance of statehood on Flag Day:
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