The D.C. Council is poised to reject several high-profile initiatives in Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposed 2009 budget legislation, including a much-maligned strategy to slash public comment on the annual school spending plan.
More than 1,000 individuals and organizations had signed a petition as of Thursday urging the council to rid the Budget Support Act of language limiting the public’s opportunity to participate in school budget deliberations. Fenty wants to prepare the schools’ budget like that of “all Cabinet-level agencies,” which critics argue would move an open process behind closed doors.
Existing law mandates separate hearings on public education spending.
In a preliminary marked-up version of the Support Act, the council simply crossed out Fenty’s language, leaving the process as is.
“Among other things, it’s not really germane [to the budget],” Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh said. “It’s a change in the process, but if we’re going to do that, it should go through the legislative process and have a hearing.”
Schools activists were thrilled, though cautious. The council won’t vote on the act until Tuesday.
“They are beginning to understand that the mayor is operating independent of everyone, parents and the council,” activist Jackie Pinckney Hackett said. “I think they realize they’re accountable to their constituents, and their constituents want the information.”
Though certain to change before next week, the draft markup also:
– Eliminates Fenty’s “Economic Development Support Fund,” which directs money derived from lease payments on the old convention center site and the sale of some District-owned property to adult vocational education and training programs.
– Rejects the distribution of $2.23 million from the Community Benefit Fund — dollars derived from the new ballpark — to a variety of community organizations.
– Maintains the E-911 phone fee at 76 cents per line per month.
William Singer, Fenty’s budget chief, suggested in a memo this week that the mayor may have to “find alternatives that do not require legislative changes” in order to raise the E-911 fee from 76 cents to 99 cents. Singer wrote the memo within hours of receiving new revenue estimates from Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi that showed $35 million less for 2009.
Dena Iverson, Fenty’s spokeswoman, declined comment.
