Voting rights advocates called on the D.C. Council Thursday to install LED signs on two prominent buildings that would display the amount of federal tax dollars paid by disenfranchised District residents. Legislation introduced by Council Member Kwame Brown would require signs on the John A. Wilson Building and the new Washington Nationals ballpark.
Council members backed the idea. Chairman Vincent Gray said the signs would go a long way toward “educating and reminding individuals that District residents are denied a fundamental right.”
The council manages the Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. But Gregory O’Dell, chief executive officer of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, said the Nationals control all signage on the stadium. The commission’s outside counsel explained in a letter that the proposed sign “would likely run afoul” of the lease.
