Some news stories from the past week involving Chairman Mendelson:

DC’s Attorney General Seeks Bigger Budget – Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he would like to see the District’s attorney general become a leading advocate for consumer protection, on par with state attorneys general from New York and California. But he said the council may have to find another way to help fund the effort. The council last year earmarked most of the money expected from a potential settlement with Expedia and Priceline to go to future Metro capital costs, he said.  “It’s not completely on him” to find the funding, Mendelson said of Racine. “I hope the mayor will fund it, and I’m sure if she doesn’t, the council will take a look at it.”  [The Washington Post]

Big Challenges in DC Mayor Bowser’s Vow to Activate, Expand Streetcar Line – “Mayor [Vincent C.] Gray said we had essentially killed the program by leaving it with over a half-billion dollars, which did not make any sense to me,” Mendelson said.  Mendelson said he supports extending the line to the Benning Road Metro, and making initial investments over the next year or two on planning the K Street extension to Georgetown. But he said he wants to see how the H Street and Benning Road line works in practice “before we spend significant bucks on extending the system further.”  [The Washington Post]

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Offers $13B Budget with Sales and Parking Tax Increases –  Despite the good intentions for the revenue, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson expressed displeasure with the proposal to increase the sales tax.  “You don’t need to raise taxes when revenues are growing,” said Mr. Mendelson, at-large Democrat.  [The Washington Times]

DC Mayor Seeks to Curtail Power of New Elected Attorney General – Mendelson said Friday that he had not yet reviewed the mayor’s proposal but warned that “it should not be the mayor’s goal to undermine the referendum.”  [The Washington Post]