DC Government

Photo by PoPville flickr user mosley.brian

From a press release:

“The Office of Planning released the District’s report proposing draft recommendations for reasonable Congressional modifications to the federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 (Height Act). The District has partnered with National Capital Planning Commission since fall 2012 on a joint Height Master Plan requested by Congress to determine the extent to which the federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 (The Height Act) continues to serve both the federal and District government interests. The Height Act is a federal law which provides uniform restrictions on the height of all buildings within the District of Columbia boundaries.

The District concludes that it is necessary and in both the federal and local interest to make reasonable modifications to the Height Act to allow increased height in the District of Columbia. The District believes that the federal interests would be protected and that both federal and local interests would be enhanced with its recommendations, which maintain the horizontality of the iconic L’Enfant City skyline, ensure the prominence of federal monuments and landmarks by preserving their views and setting, and minimize negative impacts to nationally significant historic resources—the three core principles of the study.

The District proposes the following recommendations to modify the Height Act (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric Spiegel

From a press release:

“The DC Superior Court is pleased to announce that due to the recent significant increase in marriage license applications and requests for civil marriage ceremonies at the courthouse, the Marriage Bureau has added a dedicated marriage license application center, additional staff, and a second marriage ceremony room. The second ceremony room will open Monday, September 16, potentially doubling the number of courthouse marriage ceremonies each day.

“We recently experienced a significant increase in our workload, it seems as a result of the US Supreme Court’s decision in US v. Windsor. The last two months we have seen a doubling in the usual number of marriage license applications, with more than 100 customers served each day. When we realized that our current staffing and space did not accommodate the recent demand for our services, we added staff and converted space to meet the need,” said Duane Delaney, Clerk of the Superior Court.

DC Superior Court issues marriage licenses to couples who intend to be married within the District of Columbia, regardless of where they reside. The DC Code requires a three-day waiting period from the date an application is received before the Marriage Bureau may issue a license. Couples may elect to have a proxy apply on their behalf. The cost is $35 for the license, plus $10 for the certificate. For additional information, and links to the required forms, see www.dccourts.gov/marriage.”

Rendering for store already under construction at Georgia and Missouri Ave, NW

From a press release:

“Citing the likelihood that it would harm job growth and economic development, Mayor Vincent C. Gray today announced that he had vetoed the Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2013 (LRAA). He also called for a reasonable increase in the District’s minimum wage for all workers.

“I am vetoing this legislation precisely because I believe in providing a living wage to as many District residents as possible – and this bill is not a true living-wage measure,” said Mayor Gray. “While the intentions of its supporters were good, this bill is simply a woefully inadequate and flawed vehicle for achieving the goal we all share.”

In a letter to Chairman Phil Mendelson and other members of the DC Council explaining his veto decision, the Mayor noted that many bill supporters who spoke to him seemed to be relying on misconceptions about what the LRAA contained. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user philliefan99

From a press release:

“Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) Victor L. Hoskins, Department of Employment Services (DOES) Director Lisa Mallory, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Budget Eric Goulet, and Dr. Fitzroy Lee of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer today disclosed the impact of sequestration on the District’s economy and unemployment rate. City leaders also revealed plans to continue growing private-sector employment and mitigate the expected ongoing negative impact of sequestration on District job growth and reductions in federal revenues and grants.

“My administration has worked aggressively to strengthen the District’s economy and bring down the unemployment rate,” said Mayor Gray. “We’ve helped spur the creation of 23,700 new private-sector jobs. But our growth is being hampered by sequestration’s elimination of federal jobs, grants and revenue. We are calling on Congress to end sequestration and balance the budget responsibly.”

The revenue impact to the District of Columbia from federal sequestration and the loss of federal grants and payments is deeply concerning, according to officials. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer predicts that sequestration could take approximately $60 million in revenue from the District’s economy in Fiscal Year 2014.

In addition, the District is currently projected to lose approximately $30 million of federal grants and payments in Fiscal Year 2014. Some of the most significant cuts are $11 million to the D.C. Housing Authority and $6.3 million to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. These cuts may result in the loss of 200-250 housing vouchers for needy families and the reduction in grants to public schools for special education, free and reduced-price lunches, and early-childhood education. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user UStreetV

Thanks to a reader for passing along from NBC Washington:

“The District is adding dozens of new ticket-issuing cameras across the city, expanding its photo enforcement capabilities to include infractions such as stop sign running, blocking the box and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.”

Judge not lest ye be judged…

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

Speaking of Kaya:

The Board of Elections shall consider in a public hearing whether the proposed measure “Decriminalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014” is a proper subject matter for initiative, at the Board’s Meeting on Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 10:30am., One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 280, Washington DC.

The Board requests that written memoranda be submitted for the record no later than 4:00 p.m., Thursday, August 29, 2013 to the Board of Elections, General Counsel’s Office, One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street, N.W., Suite 270, Washington, D.C. 20001.

Each individual or representative of an organization who wishes to present testimony at the public hearing is requested to furnish his or her name, address, telephone number and name of the organization represented (if any) by calling the General Counsel’s office at 727-2194 no later than Friday, August 30, 2013 at 4:00 p.m

Summary

This initiative would make possession of under two ounces of marijuana for personal use, or a person’s cultivation in their home of no more than three cannabis plants, a civil offense rather than a criminal offense; provide for imposition of civil fines; provide mandatory drug awareness education for minors committing the civil offense; and would prohibit any District of Columbia government agency from denying any opportunity or benefit based on such civil violation.

Those caught would receive a $100 fine. I realize we never polled PoPville when this first came up so here goes:

Photo via @ChehPress

More on the recent ambulance problems from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice:

“Aluminum signs that were temporarily installed in some D.C. Fire and Emergency Services (FEMS) ambulances are being removed from the vehicles, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Paul Quander said.

When FEMS ambulances were brought in for service last month because of air conditioning failures caused by the heatwave, aluminum signs were placed in the engine compartments of some of the vehicles to serve temporarily as heat shields. An official from the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 36 informed a FEMS official of this on Monday, Aug. 12. “But the official that it was brought to did not take immediate action,” Deputy Mayor Quander said.

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was asked late Tuesday to investigate two reports of fires in ambulances earlier that day. Police were made aware of the aluminum sign situation, and MPD said late Wednesday that it does not appear that either of the ambulances involved had these signs in their engine compartments.

“One of the reasons we wanted MPD is to get independent eyes and ears involved,” Quander said.

As of late Wednesday, four ambulances had been found to have these alterations, and two of them were already back in service after the alterations were removed and new aluminum safely installed.”