Phil Mendelson, Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, issues the following statement regarding pending Congressional action that would prevent the District from implementing Initiative 71.  Initiative 71, adopted with just under 70% of the vote, would legalize the possession and use of marijuana by individuals in the District.  While the Congressional rider, attached to a must-pass appropriations bill to fund the entire Continue Reading

DC Concealed Carry Fight Could Provoke Congress, Contempt of Court – There are at least 14 sensitive locations and circumstances where carrying would be banned, and other changes related to the bars and restaurants that serve alcohol could be coming Tuesday, Mendelson said during a Monday briefing. The city wants to keep its restrictive gun culture in place, despite the challenges.  [Roll Call]

DC Council Set to Remove Tax Breaks from Soccer Stadium Deal, Borrow $62 Million – At a news conference Monday to discuss the agenda, Mendelson said he planned to discard a proposed 10-year sales tax abatement worth roughly $7 million while leaving in place the more extensive 20-year property tax abatement worth $43 million.  Mendelson said he was more dismayed by the sales tax break because it was “hard to see how it would have a direct economic effect on the team.  Cutting all of the abatements might be a wonderful idea, but what is before us is the result of negotiations,” he said.  [The Washington Post]

DC Council Approves Soccer Stadium Deal, Paving Way for Games in 2017 – But Mendelson employed an unusual legislative maneuver, financing the stadium by resurrecting a budget bill Gray had submitted in June, which city lawyers and finance officials suggested was improper. The council passed the bill.  “The point is to force the mayor to fund the stadium,” Mendelson said.  [The Washington Post]

DC to Move Primary Election Back to September After Dismal April Turnout – Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who had repeatedly tried to move back the April date last year, saying it would benefit incumbents, called this year’s experience “horrible.” He downplayed concerns about the first Tuesday in September, saying students would be back to school and it would be only a week from the city’s traditional second-Tuesday-in-September primary date.  [The Washington Post]

DC Council Advances Permanent Gun Bill Regulating Concealed Carry – “It permits carrying in ordinary restaurants,” said DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson of the latest version of the bill. “Unless of course the owner says no.”  [The Washington Times]

Citizens and Civic Leaders Turn Out to Remember Former Mayor Marion Barry – Mendelson called it a “sad day” for the District government, of which Barry was a reigning figure for nearly five decades.  “It is fitting that we are here to bring Mr. Barry to city hall one last time,” Mendelson said.  [The Washington Post]

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Tweaked Concealed Carry Bill to be Considered by Full Council – “I don’t like the sign, either,” Mendelson said, but the city needs a “compelling reason” for flipping the presumption, he argued.  Mendelson said the issue was discussed with D.C.’s attorney general before emergency legislation was passed in October. “What this would do is significantly restrict the ability of a person who has received a license to carry a gun from being able to go anywhere,” he said. “In the drafting of this legislation, we have been constantly mindful of the fact that the requirement to carry is a requirement that the courts have interpreted … as a constitutional right.” [DCist]

DC Council to Act on Legislation to Build Soccer Stadium for DC United – Mendelson said he had “a pretty good sense of how to fund this,” but he also said any plan might require Gray to send a supplemental budget request — something the council cannot do itself.  “I have to say I think it’s odd that, as important as the administration says this is, there’s been radio silence about funding since the legislation was sent down in May,” Mendelson said. [The Washington Post]

Mayor for Life — and Then Some – Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who noted that Barry served on the Council for as many years as he was mayor, added, “I would say that each of us learned from Marion Barry.” [Washington City Paper]

Marion Barry to be Memorialized with Citywide Procession, Public Viewing – “His passing is hard on the institution,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said Wednesday. [Roll Call]

The Incredible Shrinking Stadium-Deal Benefits – “If you look at it you realize the only profit center in the entire project is the hotel,” Mendelson told [the author] recently. “That’s not to say we shouldn’t do the stadium. But the executive’s first line is, this is going to bring all this money to the city.” [Washington City Paper]

DC Residents and Businesses Will Face Fines for Not Shoveling Snow – Council Chair Phil Mendelson said, “This is about maintaining public policy that walks should be cleared when there’s a snowstorm.” [WJLA]

Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Passes DC Council – During Tuesday’s hearing, DC Council chairman Phil Mendelson amended the bill to clarify that the legislation would only apply to property sought for forfeiture, not for property that police are holding as evidence. [The Washington Times]

Little Chance DC Council Acts on Marijuana Sales by Year’s End – “The council needs to look very carefully at what the economic factors are,” Mendelson said, also expressing concerns about the “political acceptability of a licensing and taxing scheme.”  Mendelson said he is also in no rush to send the initiative itself for congressional review. There is no sense, he said, in transmitting the bill before the new Congress gavels to order because the 30-legislative-day review period resets when a congressional term ends. [The Washington Post]

Chairman Mendelson’s statement on the Passing of Councilmember Marion S. Barry can be viewed here.

                I speak for all members of the Council in stating our sadness at the passing of Marion Barry, and expressing our condolences to his family.  Mr. Barry was a member of the Council – dating back to the 1970s – as long as he was Mayor.  But his efforts on behalf of District residents lasted much longer.

                Mr. Barry was a voice on the Council for human rights and civil rights.  He championed policies to help Continue Reading