“Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime” is a very sweet season, especially if you are a member of the D.C. city council, which is officially in summer recess. The 2012 budget seems to be done. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi found some unanticipated revenues, and the council quickly spent them. There’s not much chance council members will be called back to explain exactly why the government has to fork over an additional $32 million for managed health care providers. It’s still a mystery to some council members.
Near as I can tell, Ward 3 representative Mary Cheh is taking the summer off. Her Committee on Government Operations and the Environment has no hearings scheduled. Queries to her staff about the committee’s plans went unanswered. Perhaps they will be busy turning their hearings on Mayor Vincent Gray’s hiring shenanigans into a report, even legislation. Lord knows Cheh has time on her hands. One of her other two jobs — teaching at George Washington University Law School — should ease up with students on break.
Hard to tell what Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry will do to earn his keep. Barry chairs the Aging and Community Affairs Committee, but his website doesn’t list any hearings or activity; nor does the council’s schedule. One chore Barry might tackle is updating his website, which now lists Carol Schwartz as chair of the workforce development committee (she’s been off the council for years) and Vincent Gray as council chair — he’s currently mayor.
I can’t imagine at-large member David Catania taking the summer off. He still has to keep United Medical Center afloat, but at this point he has no hearings scheduled for the rest of the month.
Phil Mendelson isn’t taking much of a breather in July. The judiciary committee chair has scheduled hearings on hate crimes, police boundaries, Medicaid fraud and — my favorite — an oversight session into fire hydrant inspection, maintenance and repair. In fact, the city has had too many hydrants out of commission.
Yvette Alexander, who represents Ward 7, has scheduled a hearing for her Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs this week, so she will be in action. Plus, she’s starting to run for office in face of mounting displeasure among her constituents, some of whom have called for an investigation into her constituent services fund.
Capitol Hill’s Tommy Wells promises to stay busy rewriting taxicab laws, working on legislation to help new businesses and improving bus service east of the Anacostia. At-large member Michael Brown tells me he will ease through the summer by holding job fairs and youth summits and overseeing the summer jobs program.
U.S. Attorney Ron Machen and his investigators are not taking the summer off. They will be busy examining records to see if Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. broke the law when he used public funds for private purposes, as Attorney General Irvin Nathan has charged.
Plus, Machen works full-time.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
