This edition of The Collins Council report covers the council’s Oct. 29 additional Committee of the Whole hearing and legislative meeting.
This meeting, which took place a week before the Nov. 5 general election, covered a bevy of topics, including local rent subsidies, medical cannabis, and training that helps teachers recognize and respond to seizures on school grounds.
D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) tuned in virtually, while Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), the mother of a newborn, didn’t participate in council proceedings.
Days after announcing he would no longer vote on legislation due to a dementia diagnosis, D.C. Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) also didn’t join his council colleagues in deliberations.
Below is an overview of legislation and board nominations the 11 other council members tackled.
NOTE: As readers sift through this report, they should be mindful of a Nov. 14 Committee of the Whole hearing that will most likely put in motion the public-private partnership that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) entered with Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports to keep the District’s professional basketball teams in Gallery Place-Chinatown.
Tranquil Neighborhoods or Infringement on First Amendment Rights?
The D.C. Council approved, by a 9-2 vote, Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s (D) emergency legislation aimed at those who conduct protests in residential areas.
Long before they did so, local activists continued to demand that the D.C. Council reconsiders the bill that hadn’t gone through the conventional legislative process.
“We had a short time to respond to this emergency bill,” said Dante O’Hara of the Claudia Jones School of Political Education. “We were concerned about First Amendment issues.”
O’Hara counted among several protesters on Tuesday morning who congregated outside of the John A. Wilson Building, and later in the council chambers, in opposition to what’s been dubbed the Residential Tranquility Emergency Amendment Act.
Even as he spoke to The Informer, O’Hara stayed in organizer mode, helping his colleagues take a tally of how many council members expressed their support for the emergency legislation.
“This is about forcing five “no” votes and urging council members to host a round table,” O’Hara said. “Real legal experts should be engaged. The guild and other organizations said there wasn’t enough time to review the bill.”
The original 2010 law banned amplified sound in residential areas between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and gave what was then the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs enforcement power.
The Residential Tranquility Emergency Amendment, as originally introduced by Pinto on Oct. 23, would have totally banned the use of amplified sound in the District’s residential zones.
However, the finalized bill that the council approved includes an amendment to prohibit the use of amplification devices, when targeted at a residence, between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. Additionally, protesters would also not be allowed to throw projectiles onto residential property with the intent of intimidating, causing fear, or retaliating against occupants.
The legislation comes on the heels of the Nov. 5 general election, when city officials reportedly expect an uptick in First Amendment activity– the winner of the presidential race notwithstanding. However, Pinto introduced it in response to protests that have gone on in front of Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng’s residence, much to the chagrin of community members.
In recent weeks, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matt Miller and television journalist Dana Bash have also encountered protesters who’ve congregated either on their front steps or while at a public event. D.C. Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At large) also counted among those who, in the days leading up to the council’s vote, reflected on her experiences with protesters.
While there are laws on the books against the use of amplified sound in residential areas, agency heads who’ve testified at hearings for two permanent sound bills — D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau’s Harmonious Living Amendment Act and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s Amplified Sound Mitigation Act — said that they have no enforcement power.
During an administrative meeting on Tuesday that preceded the council’s legislative meeting, Pinto emphasized that law enforcement has attempted to respond to noise complaints using the powers at their disposal.
“Protesters targeted a specific residence late at night, and MPD came out, said they couldn’t be there, and they went home,” Pinto said.
A provision of Pinto’s emergency bill includes a separate offense for repeat violators of the legislation who had been instructed to create their actions.
On Tuesday, D.C. Councilmembers Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) voted “no” on the emergency bill, with Parker calling for more scrutiny on the matter, via the legislative process.
“It doesn’t make sense why we’re rushing to criminalize protesters,” Parker said on the dais. “Expanding the scope of D.C. police power is a step we should…loath to take on an emergency basis. It can change the relationship between protesters and law enforcement.”
Mendelson and Nadeau expressed support for the emergency legislation, saying that it addressed an important issue without infringing on First Amendment rights. Mendelson, who visited the protest at the Chinese ambassador’s residence on Kalorama Road last week, recounted measuring 92 decibels on the outskirts of the protest and 128 decibels directly emanating from a bullhorn.
For Mendelson, the levels, which go beyond the expert-recommended threshold of 85 decibels, make Pinto’s emergency bill a public safety matter.
“It’s dangerous,” Mendelson said about the sound levels. “There were some questions raised about if it’s constitutional. A 1988 Supreme Court case [showed us that] protecting the home is the highest order.”
D.C. Councilmember Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3) said he voted for the emergency bill with Miller’s neighbors in Barnaby Woods in mind as they deal with protesters’ chants of “Killer Miller, baby killer.”
“The reality is that if we don’t do this by emergency, there won’t be relief for a year and it will be unfair,” Frumin said on dais on Tuesday. “This could be the key. Some of the protesters are driving around the neighborhood. It’s not complicated. The people who’ve been subjected to this kind of behavior deserve [the emergency legislation.]”
However, for some people like Rondell Jordan, the Residential Tranquility Emergency Amendment Act prioritizes the discomfort of a few people over the wellbeing of the marginalized populations that protesters are representing when they converge on residences.
“D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto is furthering the ripping apart of democracy, showing her priorities and whose concerns she actually responds to with misnomers of tranquility,” said Jordan, a general election write-in candidate for the Ward 2 D.C. Council seat. “But it’s just tranquil for the people on Kalorama Road and Georgetown.”
Jordan, a civil rights attorney and write-in candidate for the Ward 2 D.C. Council seat counts among those who’ve taken to the streets in the past year in solidarity with Palestinians who’ve been killed and displaced by the Israeli Defense Force.
Since a failed attempt to get on the general election ballot, Jordan has been hitting the pavement in his jurisdiction. These days, he’s engaging voters at early voting stations and local universities about socioeconomic issues affecting Ward 2.
Pinto’s latest emergency bill, he said, reaffirms the contrast between him and the incumbent. “I’m letting voters know there’s another option. I’m making clear my values and principles.”
Circulator Veto Override: The Latest Chapter in a Long Budget Battle
The D.C. Council unanimously approved a motion to override D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto of the D.C. Circulator Transition Emergency Amendment Act. The action on Oct. 29 counted as the latest installment in the post-budget season battle between Bowser and the council.
During the earlier part of the month, the council unanimously passed the D.C. Circulator Transition Emergency Amendment Act, which mandates the transfer of funds from the sale of Circulator assets to a coffer that supports laid-off Circulator employees. Those employees, per the legislation, would also get support from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in securing employment with seniority and pay that reflects their years of Circulator experience.
On the dais, D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) shot back against what he called Bowser’s lack of planning.
“The Circulator is being closed faster than needed, and that means workers have months less time to find their next job,” Allen said in a statement released after the Oct. 29 legislative meeting. “Some who served for close to two decades are getting three weeks of severance. Mind you, these are the same workers we were hailing as heroes during the pandemic when they showed up to work and kept the buses running. Our emergency bill, which was vetoed by the Mayor, is an effort to make sure we do right by these workers in this difficult transition.”
In an Oct. 23 letter explaining her veto, Bowser accused the council of creating a new standard for contractor jobs that the legislative body eliminated through the budget process. She also maintained her viewpoint that D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) did its part in helping the contractors secure new employment.
Another point of contention for Bowser, once again, centered on what she called the council budget office’s inaccurate calculations.
“The council’s fiscal impact statement does not properly account for the cost of redirecting revenue from the Surplus Property Sales Fund, nor does it fully account for the costs of DDOT administering a new unemployment benefits program for individuals it doesn’t even employ — the majority of whom are not District residents,” Bowser said in her letter.
On Tuesday, Jennifer Budoff, council budget director, recounted a process by which she consulted the Office of Revenue Analysis and DDOT, and Allen’s office solidified an arrangement to support laid-off Circulator employees with Circulator asset sales revenue.
That arrangement, Budoff said, wouldn’t have resulted in a revenue loss because the aforementioned process accounted for that possibility.
“Legislation reflects those proceeds for another purpose and doesn’t cause any kind of reduction in the amount of revenue,” Budoff told Mendelson on Tuesday. “When we contacted DDOT, they said they needed money to implement this… It’s another example of getting feedback, reacting to it, and providing them with what they need and moving forward.”
Mendelson didn’t mince words as he– in response to Ward 5 D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker’s question about the tension– explained what he believed to be the root of Bowser’s disdain for the council’s budget season actions.
“The mayor has been critical of the council for being [what she thinks is] fiscally irresponsible,” Mendelson said. “She’s critical of regular legislation subject to appropriation. Raising taxes in the budget. She’s critical of how we calculated various aspects of the budget. To hear the mayor or her executive agencies say we got it wrong, and we don’t know how to calculate the budget is a continuation of finding any way to criticize .. and call us irresponsible.”
Ryan Jones and David Meadows Nominated to a Stronger ABCA Board
The D.C. Council approved D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s nomination of Ryan Jones and David Meadows to the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA), now bringing the number of board members to six.
Jones and Meadows will soon join their colleagues — Teri Janine Quinn, Silas Grant, Jr., James Short, Jr., and ABCA Board Chairperson Donovan Anderson — in enforcing D.C.’s alcohol and medical cannabis laws. They are also responsible for approving applications for new alcohol and medical cannabis licenses, renewals and ownership/location transfers, and substantial changes.
Since June, when the D.C. Council approved the Medical Cannabis Conditional License and Unlicensed Establishment Closure Clarification Emergency Amendment Act, ABCA has been using its newfound inspection powers to identify and shut down at least 10 District-based, illegally operating cannabis businesses.
D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large) told The Informer that Jones and Meadows demonstrated, through their service, expertise and testimony before the council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development, that they can execute their duties on ABCA’s board.
“They will be extremely useful to people before the board,” McDuffie said. “When you think about David Meadows and his significant public service and activism in the District, he has already demonstrated a love and commitment to the city. As a licensed attorney, Ryan Jones will be welcomed as well.”
Meadows, a Ward 8 resident, has nearly 30 years of D.C. government experience, including a stint as chief of staff in D.C. Councilmember Anita Bonds’ office. He currently serves on the D.C. Democratic State Committee as a Ward 8 committeeman.
Meanwhile, Jones, a Ward 5 resident, has more than a decade of legal experience with stints at D.C. Superior Court, D.C. Court of Appeals, and Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment. Last year, he resigned from his role as the District’s associate attorney general for special projects to tackle housing equity, youth welfare and public safety via private practice.
Meadows declined to comment on Tuesday about his nomination. The Informer also unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from Jones.
Though Councilmember Pinto touted Jones and Meadows’ credentials, she cautioned against shaping an ABCA board that doesn’t have any Ward 2 representation. Such a move disadvantages Ward 2, which accounts for 35% of ABCA-licensed establishments in the District.
“This is a blind spot in the board’s knowledge of our unique challenges,” Pinto said. “I urge the executive and colleagues to make sure we advance qualified Ward 2 residents as we move forward with future appointments to ABCA.”