The Collins Council Report (Jan. 9, 2024)

The inaugural edition of the Collins Council Report looks back at the D.C. Council’s Jan. 9 Committee of the Whole and legislative meetings. The following delves into a polarizing D.C. Sentencing Commission nomination, the delay in SNAP litigation and the controversial naming of a Ward 3 school, along with a spirited debate about traffic safety measures. 

Joel Castón Sentencing Commission Nomination in Limbo 

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) decided not to move forward with a resolution to nominate Joel Castón to the D.C. Sentencing Commission — at least not until the council and the commission meet on Jan. 23 to address concerns about the implication of Castón’s appointment. 

In 2021, Castón became D.C. Jail’s first advisory neighborhood commissioner. That feat followed Castón’s launch of the Young Men Emerging program and other advocacy efforts he took on during his nearly 30-year stint in federal prison. 

Since his release, Castón continued his work in the justice policy space. His appointment to the D.C. Sentencing Commission, to some, would be a continuation of that crusade. 

On Monday, the day before Castón’s nomination was scheduled to go before the council’s Committee of the Whole, Mendelson said that a “minority” of sentencing commission members opposed Castón’s nomination. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves expressed similar thoughts in a letter to the council, saying that Castón’s appointment would lead to more lenient sentences handed out in District courts. 

Mendelson, as he had done over the last year, designated the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Metropolitan Police Department, not the council or the D.C. Sentencing Commission, as the true stewards of arrest, prosecution, and ultimately sentencing. During the council breakfast, he pointed to situations in which offenders received less than a decade of prison time, due to plea deals negotiated by their defense attorney and the U.S. attorney’s office. 

The D.C. Sentencing Commission consists of 17 seats, 12 of which have a vote and five that don’t. 

Entities that have representation on the commission include the Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Parole Commission, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Sentencing Project, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, D.C. Public Defender Service, and the D.C. Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. 

Additionally, Mayor Muriel Bowser, the D.C. Council, and D.C. Superior Court Chief Judge Anita M. Josey-Herring can each appoint a commission member. 

Bowser recently nominated Sean Holihan, a Ward 1 advisory neighborhood commissioner and state legislative director for Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence. No council member spoke of hearing any insight from Bowser on Castón’s nomination to the sentencing commission. 

When it came to Mendelson’s decision to delay the resolution, Council members Robert White (D-At Large), Kenyan McDuffie (I-At Large) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) had much to say on the matter. The trio told Mendelson that the council shouldn’t avoid controversy based on assumptions a vocal minority made about someone based on their criminal history. 

Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), chairperson of the council’s Committee on Public Safety and Judiciary and commission member, supported Mendelson’s call for a postponement, telling her colleague that she had doubts about Castón’s expertise on sentencing matters. 

Similarly, Council member Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) embraced the opportunity to get to know Castón more and further mull over this issue. 

Council Defers to Bowser on SNAP Increase, Delays Litigation Resolution 

After the Bowser administration decided after all to allocate excess local revenue to SNAP benefits, there were questions about whether the D.C. Council would move forward with the SNAP Litigation Authorization Act, which allows the Office of the General Counsel to sue the Bowser administration for the excess funds. 

On Tuesday morning, Mendelson said he would delay deliberation on the legislation, at least until February, when the council, with its Committee on Health, could determine if the Bowser administration moved forward with the increase in SNAP benefits. 

If D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) didn’t follow through by early March, Mendelson said, then the council will follow through with the SNAP Litigation Authorization Act. 

One day prior, Mendelson, along with Council members Christina Henderson (I-At-large), health committee chairperson, and Robert White (D-At large) met with Bowser administration leaders, including Wayne Turnage, D.C. deputy mayor of health and human services. 

That meeting, Mendelson said, instilled his confidence in Bowser’s seriousness about following through on SNAP disbursements. 

An Issue of School Renamings  

The D.C. Council unanimously approved, on an emergency basis, the renaming of Tyler Elementary School on Capitol Hill to Shirley Chisholm Elementary School. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), on behalf of his constituents, expressed appreciation for D.C. Public Schools partnering in this endeavor. 

Several minutes earlier, the council similarly approved the official naming of MacArthur High School in Northwest — but not without some discussion.

Six council members — Allen, Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3), Anita Bonds (D-At large), Christina Henderson (I-At large), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) — voted yes. 

Council members Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 2), Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), and Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large) voted no while Council members Robert White (D-At Large) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) voted “present.” 

Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) was absent. 

Earlier this year, MacArthur High School, located on MacArthur Boulevard in Northwest, opened as part of an effort to quell the overcrowding at Jackson-Reed High School. More than 500 community members participated in a poll about the school’s name, with the majority supporting MacArthur High School as the institution’s permanent moniker. 

The council received legislation, the MacArthur High School Designation Act, last spring to facilitate this process, which included a public hearing and committee markup. On Tuesday, a couple hours before the council’s Committee of the Whole was scheduled to consider the legislation, Lewis George and McDuffie expressed their opposition. 

During the legislative meeting, Lewis George reaffirmed her position, saying that the District must do well by Black veterans and community members. 

General Douglas MacArthur, for whom MacArthur Boulevard is named, served as a U.S. military leader during World War 1. As Lewis George noted, MacArthur fought against desegregation of the armed forces and disproportionately court martialed Black soldiers under his command. 

He did so out of his belief in African-American inferiority. 

In light of the naming of Jackson-Reed High School, Ida B. Wells MIddle School, and most recently, Shirley Chisholm Elementary School, Lewis George and McDuffie suggested that there be further exploration of local D.C. figures and people from marginalized communities for the District’s newest high school. 

Mendelson differed, citing the aforementioned namings as one reason for accepting MacArthur High School as an appropriate name. He, along with Frumin, who represents the MacArthur High School community on the council, also requested respect for the process that community members engaged in to officially name their school. 

Later, on the dais, Frumin reminded his council colleagues that the school would be named for the street, not the controversial general. Earlier, during the council breakfast, McDuffie scoffed at that point. 

D.C. Council Member Trayon White Stands Alone against STEER Act 

On its first reading, the council unanimously approved the Stronger Enforcement Tools to Reduce Dangerous Driving in the District, also known as the STEER Act. However, D.C. Council member Trayon White (D- Ward 8) voted “present.” 

The STEER Act enhances booting, towing and impounding of vehicles that repeatedly commit traffic violations within a six-month time window. It also allows the D.C. Office of the Attorney General to bring civil suits against drivers and vehicles while instituting stronger license revocation procedures for repeat DUI offenders. 

Days before this vote, the District ended 2023 with 52 vehicle-related fatalities.  

For months, Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) counted among the sea of voices critical of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Vision Zero program, saying that ticketing reckless drivers hasn’t been effective. 

Allen cited more than 27,000 people owing more than $5,000 in unpaid traffic tickets, four people owing more than $25,000, and a Maryland car accumulating more than $100,000 in unpaid tickets. Less than 10% of citations are issued to cars with District license plates, he added.  

On Tuesday, Allen, chair of the council’s Committee on Transportation, said the STEER Act doesn’t center on collecting revenue, but holding reckless drivers accountable. That morning, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer released a revised fiscal impact statement that reduced the cost of the legislation by more than $50 million. 

Hours before the vote, Allen, Ward 8 Council member White, and At-Large Council member Anita Bonds engaged in robust discussion about tenets of the legislation. 

Bonds expressed apprehension about the legislation penalizing drivers who drive one mile or so above the speed limit. 

Meanwhile, White, an outspoken critic of D.C. Department of Transportation, rebuffed a notion that no consequences existed for drivers who sped through the streets of the District. He alluded to residents who, under the pressure of car notes and tickets, lose their cars to the impound lot. 

He also mentioned how unpaid tickets compel some District residents, like those in his community, to register their vehicles in Maryland and Virginia. 

Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), whose committee oversees the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW), espoused support for the STEER Act and pledged to help DPW actualize the legislation should it pass. 

Shortly before voting in support of the STEER Act, Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who had been mostly quiet throughout Tuesday morning’s discussion, said that increasing consequences for reckless driving was no longer a question about racial equity, but accountability to those in Wards 5, 7 and 8 who’ve been seriously harmed and killed by reckless drivers. 

As the council moved on to other business on Tuesday, Ward 8 Council member White introduced three bills aimed at stopping tickets from doubling, establishing a ticket amnesty program, and making residents with outstanding citations eligible to register vehicles.