DC Faces Statehood, Marijuana Challenges with Republican Congress – When Congress gave us Home Rule they kind of walked away from the District, but they didn’t give everything to us, as we know, so it’s always a challenge how we can get their attention, get them to work with us because they haven’t delegated everything,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who was easily re-elected for another four-year term. With a new Congress, the challenge is building new relationships, he said. [Roll Call]

Will new financial estimates be enough for D.C. Council to approve a soccer stadium deal? – The cost-benefit analysis commissioned for council raised plenty of questions from Mendelson and other members of council, including how the District will pay for its portion of the costs, whether the District’s roughly $150 million cap for site acquisition and prep work have been set high enough to avoid unexpected overruns, and if the city is getting a good enough value for swapping 2000 14th St. NW in exchange for part of the land it needs to build the new stadium. [Washington Business Journal]

DC Council Chairman Urges Bowser, Gray to Set Aside Differences During Transition – “I think so, and they’d better,” Mendelson said. “I mean, this is important. This is about government, and government should not stall or suffer because of a transition between one mayor and the next mayor.  “But (in) my conversations with the mayor recently, he wants to work with her and work with the transition.” [WJLA]

DC Council Looks to Streamline Statehood Efforts – Each one has no members, according to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.  [Not] one of the four have been functioning for years, “if ever,” he said Monday at a briefing previewing the council’s Tuesday legislative agenda. [Roll Call]

Safeway’s Palisades Plans at Issue in DC Council Vote – The council passed the emergency bill [Tuesday] afternoon, 12-0. Before the vote, Mendelson said Baer’s letter made him more inclined to support the covenant ban, not less. [The Washington Post]

Kathy Patterson Could Return to the DC Council – as Its Auditor – Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) nominated Patterson on Tuesday to become the next D.C. Auditor — the District government watchdog that reports directly to the legislative branch, a local analog to the federal Government Accountability Office. [The Washington Post]

DC Council Votes, Reluctantly, to Allow Public to Carry Concealed Weapons – [Chairman] Mendelson said the new carry legislation is among the strictest in the nation, with the city preparing to join the likes of Maryland, New Jersey and New York in establishing a highly restrictive regime that requires applicants to state good reason to carry a weapon. [The Washington Post]

Are D.C. railways secure? The Council asked and EMS answered.– Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who hosted the hearing and led the questioning on rail security, asked if the city’s emergency agencies know how often CSX conducts security drills. [The Washington Post]

DC Statehood Hearing Will Feature Mix of Officials And Experts – A witness list released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee includes two panels, one consisting of nonvoting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Democrats all. [The Washington Post]

DC Anti-Truancy Program is Getting More Kids to School – Phil Mendelson (D), chairman of the D.C. Council, said that the city is shifting its approach to addressing truancy. “In the past, we’ve treated it as something wrong, to be punished,” he said, noting that it instead should be something that “tells us that something is going on.” [The Washington Post]

An Interview with Phil Mendelson, Chairman, DC City Council – “I see my role as the chair of the legislative branch, the co-equal branch of government.”  [The Georgetown Dish]