COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20004

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                      Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council

               

FROM:               Phil Mendelson, Chairman

                                                               

DATE:                December 30, 2024

 

RE:                       Agendize Measures for the January 2, 2025 Organizational Meeting

 

The following measures are agendized for the January 2, 2025 Organizational Meeting:

 

§  Rules of Organization and Procedure for the Council of the District of Columbia, Council Period 26, Resolution of 2025

§  Council Period 26 Appointment of Chairperson Pro Tempore, Committee Chairpersons, and Committee Membership Resolution of 2025

§  General Counsel to the Council of the District of Columbia Nicole Streeter Reappointment Resolution of 2025

§  Budget Director to the Council of the District of Columbia Jennifer Budoff Reappointment Resolution of 2025

§  Secretary to the Council of the District of Columbia Nyasha Howard Reappointment Resolution of 2025

 

Attached are the drafts of the rules (including the Code of Conduct and Sexual Harassment Policy) and resolutions making committee assignments and appointing the Council officers that I will file for consideration at this week’s organizational meeting. 

 

Except for changes to the Committees (presented December 19th), the changes to the proposed rules for Council Period 26 are mostly technical, clarifying, or reflecting practice.  There are exceptions.  For instance:

§  Requires a Tax Abatement Financial Analysis at the time of markup.  I intend to repeal the current statutory requirement on timing (due before a hearing) since it can be addressed through our rules.

§  Clarifies that a pending sanction resolution can be carried into a new Council Period.

§  Allows contract approval resolutions introduced by the Executive to be considered without prior publication in the DC Register.  Multiyear contracts submitted to the Council by the Executive are deemed disapproved in 45 days.  However, the accompanying multiyear approval resolution is currently subject to 15 days’ prior notice in the DC Register which is an impediment to Council’s ability to timely approve such contracts.  Moreover, prior notice is not required for other contracts.

 

I understand that there are changes necessary to the Racial Equity Impact Assessment process to balance the workload of the Council Office on Racial Equity and ensure that committees are receiving assessments that are most useful in their consideration of measures.  I intend to work with CORE and interested colleagues to refine this rule in the coming months.  In addition, the Secretary will be working to integrate the process for the filing of hearing notices between LIMS and the Hearing Management System.