District Links
The comprehensive DC politics roundup, by Cuneyt Dil.
Send tips, links, events, things to cuneytdil@thedcline.org.
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TGIF! Independent at-large DC Council member David Grosso has a challenger getting started early.
Anthony Dale, a first-term advisory neighborhood commissioner in Southwest, is filing this morning to run for one of the two at-large seats up in the 2020 general election, he tells DL. He says he'll be participating in the District's new system for public campaign funding, and wants to knock on the doors of 60 percent of DC's registered voters while campaigning.
Grosso, an independent, hasn't said yet whether he'll seek re-election, but Dale says he's focused squarely on unseating Grosso if he does run. (The other at-large seat up in November — currently held by Robert White — is likely to go to the winner of the Democratic primary given the party's dominance in voter registration.)
Dale says Grosso exercises lax oversight over DC schools as chair of the Education Committee. Regarding two pending bills, Dale supports Charles Allen’s legislation to subject charter schools to FOIA requirements and calls Trayon White’s proposal to give teachers more say over their evaluations a “great first step.”
“I think there is more there is we can do so that our teachers aren’t living in fear while they go in for evaluations,” Dale says.
Dale, 36, moved to DC and the Waterfront in 2003, he said, and served in the Marine Corps for 14 years.
He says he experienced homelessness firsthand when he was living in Baltimore in the 1990s. “The body of my experiences has given me a different vantage point than Grosso,” he says.
He says he recently left behind his Democratic Party registration to run against Grosso, who holds one of the two at-large seats set aside for the non-majority party.
“The catalyst for me running is my son,” he says, who is a student in DC Public Schools. He says he already has a number of school teachers supporting his campaign.
On other issues, he is a booster of the Bowser administration’s and the attorney general’s violence interruption programs. He wants more resources devoted to mental health services for victims of violence.
— Dale has previously written op-eds in The DC Line about gun violence and gentrification.
— His campaign has a website. Last night, he switched his Twitter handle from "@anthonydalesw" to "@AnthonyDaleDC" (h/t Keith Ivey)
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TODAY: Court says DC police-stop records need to include race; sexual misconduct detailed in National Cathedral report; Ballou principal goes to Baltimore; weekend reads ...
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NEW - ‘Federal probe of Evans expands — Metro received two subpoenas — Embattled chairman steps down at meeting’ leads the WaPo Metro front. Robert McCartney: “Metro has received two grand jury subpoenas as part of the federal investigation into Jack Evans, officials said Thursday. It was the first confirmation that the probe extends to Evans’s work as Metro board chairman in addition to his activities as a D.C. Council member.
“… A subpoena received within the past seven days asked for materials beyond those sought in the fall, when the U.S. attorney’s office first asked the transit agency for documents about Evans, according to four Metro officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential matter.
“The timing of the new subpoena suggested that it was related to the June 21 FBI search of Evans’s Georgetown home.” [WaPo]
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$1.5M LOAN - Evans sought mortgage loans before paying back ex-wife, reports Jeff Anderson: "Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans mortgaged his Historic Georgetown rowhouse to apply for a $1.5 million revolving line of credit from Capital One in 2014 without telling his then-wife, Michele Evans, according to documents on file with the Recorder of Deeds and D.C. Council emails received by District Dig in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
"It was the third time Evans had applied for a mortgage loan since 2011, when Michele loaned him 'in excess of $600,000' to renovate what the couple’s signed, notarized 'Agreement' identified as 'Jack’s House,' property records show.
"... [N]either [a $800,000] 2012 loan, nor a refinance with a different bank in April 2013, included a recorded agreement between Evans and his wife that authorized him to mortgage his house before paying her first.
"... The whole ordeal came to an end on May 16, 2014, when Evans was able to get the $1.5 million. He repaid his wife on May 21, land records show, along with his mortgage from 2003. Six months later, the couple separated, according to records on file in Family Court. They divorced in March 2016." [District Dig]
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STOP AND FRISK - ‘D.C. is told to track race in its police stops’ is left column of the WaPo Metro front. Peter Hermann and Rachel Weiner: “D.C. police must begin tracking the race of every person officers stop in a vehicle or as a pedestrian within the next 28 days, a court ruled Thursday.
“The order applies to stops whether or not they result in an arrest or search. It has been three years since the D.C. Council mandated the collection of racial data along with some other details of stops and included the requirement in a much broader piece of crime legislation.
“… The D.C. attorney general’s office could try to delay the new policy by asking for an emergency stay from the D.C. Court of Appeals. ‘We are taking a close look at the court’s ruling and considering all of our options,’ a spokeswoman for the office said.” [WaPo]
BUDGET UP 17% - ‘Closed now for a third summer due to construction delays, East Potomac Pool set to finally reopen in 2020.’ By Will Lennon in The DC Line: “Construction of the new East Potomac Pool in Ward 2 is back on track, with the facility set to reopen next summer after a series of lengthy delays transformed an expected one-year timetable into a closure spanning three swim seasons. The project’s price tag, originally set at $12 million in DC’s fiscal 2017 capital budget, has climbed by $2 million, a 17 percent increase.
“… The original pool was beloved by locals as a hidden gem, accessible by car or a moderate walk — about 1.4 miles, much of it along the river — from either the Smithsonian or L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. It was also considered invaluable to swim teams as the only Olympic-sized outdoor pool in the District.” [The DC Line]
‘Past abuse at elite D.C. schools is corroborated — Sexual misconduct by employees detailed in National Cathedral report’ is left column, above the fold on the WaPo front page. Justin Wm. Moyer: “An investigation launched by Washington National Cathedral and three of the most prestigious private schools in the District corroborated allegations of sexual misconduct by 16 former employees involving students decades ago, officials said Thursday.
“A 19-page summary of the investigation released by the cathedral and its affiliated schools — St. Albans, the National Cathedral School and the Beauvoir School — said the investigation had substantiated allegations of misconduct primarily between the 1950s and 1980s, with the most recent corroborated incident dating back 11 years.
“… In a letter to the school community sent Thursday, officials said that no allegations involving current employees had surfaced but that the investigation found ‘incidents from our past that are deeply troubling,’ involving ’16 former adult members of our community.’” [WaPo; also WTOP]
MOVES - Principal of Ballou during graduation scandal tapped to lead Baltimore City school. Former top DCPS official John Davis is also in Baltimore as chief of schools, and he defended the hiring of principal Yetunde Reeves. [Baltimore Sun]
WEEKEND READS …
— Letter to AOC: Sure, DC has a ‘bodega culture.’ [WAMU]
— ‘From Stonewall to White House’: How the New York riot energized the LGBTQ+ movement in DC. [WTOP]
— National Stage: ‘Inside Washington, DC's dockless revolution’ [Smart Cities Dive]
— Coming up later today from The DC Line: Capital Projections, our weekly guide to arthouse and repertory screenings; The DC Lineup, highlighting events this weekend that focus on local history, politics, art, theater, fashion and culture; and a preview of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's celebration of DC music. [The DC Line]
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Sierra Club backs Charles Allen for DC seat on Metro board [Sierra Club]
DCRA didn’t collect $6M in fines from developers [WUSA9]
“This is a 7000 series train” announcements to end after safety fixes [WTOP, DCist]
‘After nearly 4 decades, NBC4’s Barbara Harrison starts next chapter’ [WTOP]
'DC creates civil rights section to fight housing discrimination' [WTOP]
'Inside Ora, the result of the gut renovation of a Kalorama Heights apartment building' [WBJ]
'Could Hill East be the next neighborhood with a triangular home?' [UrbanTurf]
'Smoothie King plants another flag on 14th Street' [WBJ]
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DC Dems watch debate at Busboys and Poets in Anacostia:
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This is not an endorsement ...
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There are statehood ads featuring Dave Chapelle:
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Noon: Press conference about July 4 security prep. JAWB G9.
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