NEW: Five Democrats are vying for the open D.C. Council seat to replace Brianne Nadeau. @maustermuhle.bsky.social + @samdelgado.bsky.social interviewed @rashidaforward1.bsky.social, @miguelward1.bsky.social, @aparnafordc.bsky.social, Terry Lynch, + @warriorforward1.bsky.social. What they learned:

I’m traveling with my kids in Guatemala this week, and there’s a transportation option I want to export to D.C.: the tuk tuk. It’s basically a tiny three-wheel cab. It’s amazing for short trips in tight spaces, and some drivers totally deck them out.

As part of her proposed 2027 budget, @mayorbowser.dc.gov wants to make changes to the universal paid family leave program for private-sector workers in D.C. She initially said she wants a pause for medical and family leave claims for a year, and vaguely alluded to other changes.

Interesting: As part of her proposed 2027 budget, @mayorbowser.dc.gov wants changes to the public financing program for candidates for office. She wants to make candidates personally liable for public funds they spent if they drop out, don't qualify for the ballot, or engage in fraud.

Interesting: @chmnmendelson.bsky.social has a new bill that would prohibit government agencies, individuals, and businesses from publicly posting personal information about federal and D.C. judges, including their home address, if they ask that it be kept private. lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/...

Interesting: Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder has introduced a bill that would legalize, regulate, and tax iGaming, "casino-style games such as blackjack, poker, roulette, and slot-style games played on mobile devices or computers." He says it would bring in revenue and add consumer protections.

Just as @mayorbowser.dc.gov is proposing cuts to the Pay Equity Fund that helps increase pay for child care workers, @urbaninstitute.bsky.social has released results from a survey that found that the fund was good for providers and in some prevented increases to the tuition that parents pay.

A group pushing for e-bikes to be regulated in D.C. says it was the the fault of a 10-year-old boy riding an e-bike in a bike lane that he was hit (and injured) by a man riding a dirt bike down 14th Street.

Interesting: Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto is introducing a bill that she says will increase housing construction and homeownership by creating a new lease-to-ownership model, allow homeowners to more easily subdivide lots for more construction, make permitting easier, etc.

Candidates for D.C. mayor want to lower the cost of living — but a slowing market and policy divides could get in the way, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports. More on the specific plans:

One notable absence from @mayorbowser.dc.gov's budget presentation is @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social, who is seeking to succeed her. I'm told she had a personal appointment she could not change, and has been watching remotely. Her staff also says she will ask questions once council review begins.

Starting a separate thread on questions from members of the D.C. Council, which hints at what they may be concerned with and fight.

NEWS: Today @mayorbowser.dc.gov unveils her proposed 2027 budget. It's $12.7 billion, a 3.3% decrease from last year. As expected, there are cuts to a key child care fund, as well as a paid leave program, and affordable housing. Healthcare for low-income residents is spared, though.

Ahead of next week's unveiling of @mayorbowser.dc.gov's final budget, which could take an axe to some child care funding, advocates have released results of polling they did showing support for increasing taxes on wealthy D.C. households to maintain child care funding:

Interesting: D.C. is selling an ATV that was impounded after someone was caught riding it in town, but the city specifies that residents aren't eligible to bid on it. (But a Maryland resident could, and then drive it into town?) www.govdeals.com/en/asset/107...

For you pro-housing folks in D.C., this is going to be a good election cycle: Pretty much every mayoral candidate wants to build way more housing. But whether it actually gets built is a little more complicated. My rundown on where the candidates stand: 51st.news/dc-housing-c...

A tidbit: Tomorrow Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto is holding a committee vote on a bill that would permanently authorize D.C. to declare 8 p.m. youth curfew zones. This is a needed step towards a full D.C. Council vote on April 21. The current emergency bill sunsets on April 15.

Last week @janeese4dc.bsky.social released her housing plan, and now @kenyanmcduffie.bsky.social has his. They agree on a few things: cutting the time it takes to get permits and approvals, changing zoning to allow more density, and incentivizing more family-sized housing.

NEWS: D.C. has released body-camera footage from the incident last October where D.C. resident Phillip Brown was shot by a federal agent during a traffic stop on Benning Road NE. The release comes after the D.C. Council passed an emergency bill requiring the disclosure.

The pro-business group Opportunity D.C. (which has gotten funding from developers, philanthropist Katherine Bradley, and others) says it will spend $1 million on mailers and TV ads backing @kenyanmcduffie.bsky.social's mayoral campaign. The first ad dropped today: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wmA...

Interesting: A new bill from Ward 8 CM Trayon White would allow low-income D.C. residents to perform community service as a means to pay off traffic camera fines. Each hour of service would be equivalent to the minimum wage ($17.95) off of what they owe in fines.

In @ggwash.org op-ed, @janeese4dc.bsky.social outlines her housing plans if elected mayor. She's pledging to build 72,000 housing units in her first term, double what @mayorbowser.dc.gov did; legalize small apartment buildings across D.C.; end parking requirements, etc. ggwash.org/view/102946/...

Hey, you! @51st.news is looking for a new reporter. Are you obsessed with D.C. news, history, culture, sports, events, or quirks and curiosities? Are you excited to tell stories about interesting local people and places? Apply!

Speaking to the National Capital Planning Commission, @chmnmendelson.bsky.social says he opposes the White House East Wing project: "It's too large. If we can get the same program but not as tall, not competing in height with the main structure, and a condensed footprint, we are better for that."

"It seems like the [D.C.] Council is listening to a very narrow interest group and is very influenced by the election calendar and not what we need on the street," said @mayorbowser.dc.gov just now when asked about the council's decision to not vote on extending the youth curfew zones.

Asked about the veto override, @mayorbowser.dc.gov sounds pretty frustrated. "They've overridden my vetoes plenty," she says of the D.C. Council. "That doesn’t make me wrong and them right… [it’s them] ignoring common sense. They were wrong then and they're wrong now."

It's official: Proponents of a ballot initiative that would ban the sale of foie gras in D.C. can now start collecting signatures from voters. They'll need 23,803 signatures from D.C. voters by July 6 to get what's now known as Initiative 86 on the November ballot. 🪿

NEWS: The D.C. Council has unanimously voted to override @mayorbowser.dc.gov's veto of @robertwhitedc.bsky.social's bill requiring MPD officers to document the names of federal agents present at arrest scenes. (The feds don't have to share their names, though.)

NEWS: The D.C. Council has voted to postpone consideration of a bill that would have extended the youth curfew zones bill through September. It currently sunsets on April 15. @chmnmendelson.bsky.social pushed to bump it to the next legislative session, on April 21.

NEWS: The D.C. Council just passed @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social's bill that stops electric service disconnections for people and businesses that owe less than $1,000, for at least the next 90 days. The no votes came from Mendelson, Frumin, Crawford, Henderson, and Felder.

The D.C. Council an hour of its breakfast debating an emergency bill from @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social that would prohibit Pepco from disconnecting electric service due to unpaid bills while the Public Service Commission figures out the mess involving rates that everyone pays.

In a letter to the D.C. Council, @mayorbowser.dc.gov comes out strong against today's vote to override her veto of @robertwhitedc.bsky.social's bill that would require MPD officers to collect names of federal agents at arrest scenes. She says the bill "could hamper law enforcement efforts."

Since Pepco bills are in the news in D.C. these days, a tidbit: Sandra Mattavous-Frye, who for 15 years has served as the executive director of the Office of the People's Counsel, which represents the public before the D.C. Public Service Commission, is retiring this week.

An interesting update here: There may be some issues with one of the big parking decks the Commanders want to build on the RFK site. Recently the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts said the deck to the southeast of the new stadium would interfere with views, and asked that it be moved.

TIL: While it's against D.C. law for anyone to run onto the field at Nationals Park and Audi Field (and was at RFK), the law doesn't apply at Capital One Arena or CareFirst Arena. Tomorrow the D.C. Council will pass an emergency bill to close that loophole.

Of nerdy urbanist interest: Next week the D.C. Council will cast a first vote on @brianneknadeau.bsky.social's bill to allow for new D.C. buildings up to six stories tall to have only a single stairwell in them, instead of the current two. Proponents say it creates more residential space.

The D.C. Council will be voting next Tuesday on whether to override @mayorbowser.dc.gov's veto of @robertwhitedc.bsky.social's bill to require MPD officers to collect names and other information from federal agents at arrest scenes. The initial vote for the bill was unanimous, so override likely.

Down at Metro Center, @wmataGM is handing out 50th anniversary pennants. There’s also a DJ, and some posters showing historical milestones for the system.

Down at Metro Center, Metro GM Randy Clarke is handing out 50th anniversary pennants. There’s also a DJ, and some posters showing historical milestones for the system.

No better way to celebrate Metro 50th birthday than to make the most amateur move ever and get on the train heading in the wrong direction. Metro is working fine, it’s me that’s aging.

🎂 METRO IS 50! To mark the occasion, I went in search of our region's most fervent transit nerds, who not only love Metro, but play a critical role as a decentralized network of historians, transit archeologists, and keepers of the faith: 51st.news/metro-annive...

"It’s either a large coaster or a small trivet.”

NEW: Friday marks 50 years of Metro service in D.C. Since the transit system doesn’t have its own archives or museum, diehards fans have become a decentralized network of historians, transit archeologists, and keepers of the faith, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:

Last year the D.C. Council, led by @chmnmendelson.bsky.social made a temporary change to the city's open-meeting law to allow lawmakers to meet behind closed doors more easily. That temporary bill expires on Sunday, but Mendelson is moving to extend it for up to 90 more days.

In a memo circulated to colleagues today, Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto justifies extending the 8 p.m. youth curfew zone bill through September. She says in recent years the summer months have "seen an increase in youth gathering in large groups that have become violent."

I really appreciate that WMATA is finally owning their amazing graphic design inheritance.

No, you're not crazy in thinking that lots of helicopters fly above D.C. Per a new report from the Government Accountability Office, during a recent five-year period there was an average of 91 flights *per day*, led by military (35% of all flights) and air medical (33%).

For many, Metro is just a tool to get to work. But for a legion of self-proclaimed transit nerds, Metro is an object of fascination. They collect its memorabilia, watch board meetings for fun, and celebrate it as a local icon. For @51st.news: 51st.news/metro-annive...

Just now @robertwhitedc.bsky.social said he has emergency legislation to give refunds to residents and businesses that paid higher bills under this rate increase: "The lawyers are looking at it now. I'm not willing to take no for an answer. It's just too much. Inaction is irresponsible."

Interesting: In a D.C. Council hearing, @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social says that only 20% of eligible D.C. residents are enrolled in utility discount programs. "These are systems that are set up to make lower-income working families prove their poverty over and over again," he says.