DCDL

Do you have questions about what’s going on in DC’s local government? Voting rights? Same-sex marriage? Homelessness? The relationship between the city council and the mayor?

If so, you’re in luck, because this week in place of our usual get-together we’re joining with our friends from DC for Democracy to host an informal discussion with Vincent Gray, chair of DC’s city council. It’ll be Thursday, May 14, 8:30-10pm, in the Langston Room at Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets NW (U St Metro). NOTE SPECIAL LOCATION AND TIME.

It’s a little later than usual, and at a different place, but I hope you can attend what should be an interesting evening. So that we have an idea of numbers, please RSVP on the Facebook event or e-mail keith@dcdl.org.

Next week, May 21, we’ll be back at Timberlake’s for our final night there, celebrating four years of Drinking Liberally in that spot.

As we enter the period of transition from Timberlake’s to an eventual new location, watch your e-mail even more closely than usual for details of future events. If you’re on Facebook, join our group. Spread the word about Drinking Liberally! If you enjoy our events, tell your friends and get them to subscribe to our announcement list.

Besides the primary for elected officials, the other election happening tomorrow (on the same ballots) is that for most members of the DC Democratic State Committee (DSC, the local branch of the Democratic Party), including DC’s representatives on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) — who will be superdelegates in 2012.

The DCDSC consists of about 80 members, and 48 of them are being elected tomorrow:

• 1 female DNC member
• 1 male DNC member
• 1 female alternate DNC member
• 1 male alternate DNC member
• 6 female at-large DSC members
• 6 male at-large DSC members
• 2 female DSC members from each of the 8 wards
• 2 male DSC members from each of the 8 wards

Since you won’t be voting for the ward-level members for wards other than your own, you’ll only see 20 of the positions on the ballot. Voting for the DNC positions is normal, and for the DSC positions you’ll vote for up to 6 from each at-large list and up to 2 from each ward-level list.

Most DSC and DNC candidates are affiliated with a slate, which is indicated next to their names on the ballot. Confusingly, but not surprisingly, this year every slate name includes the name “Obama”. The largest slate, and the only only that’s running a candidate for every slot, is the bizarrely named Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain. It’s a mix of incumbents and challengers and includes a lot of people I know from grassroots groups. It’s been endorsed by DC for Democracy, DC for Obama, and City Paper’s Loose Lips (though he didn’t endorse the DNC candidates).

The other citywide slates are called Obama for DC (note: not endorsed by DC for Obama) and Obama for Change. There are also ward-specific slates named Ward 3 Dems for Obama & Change and Obama’s Ward One Democrats. DCist has a pretty good writeup.

Hopelessly confused? My advice is just to look for the “4″ and vote Obama4UnityBeatsMcCain. If a critical mass of them gets elected, then maybe there’s some hope of making the local party functional.

Tuesday, September 9, is primary day here DC. If you’re a Democrat, Republican, or State Green Party member who’s been registered to vote in DC for at least 30 days, be sure to get to the polls. See the Board of Elections and Ethics site for information.

If you live in Ward 2, 4, 7, or 8, there’s an election for ward-level council member this year. In other wards, you’ll be voting only for citywide elected officials. I’ve listed the Democratic candidates below (incumbents are marked with asterisks, websites are linked when I could find them):

• Delegate to US House of Representatives
  • Eleanor Holmes Norton*
• At-Large Council Member
  • Kwame R. Brown*
• Ward 2 Council Member
  • Jack Evans*
  • Cary Silverman
• Ward 4 Council Member
  • Muriel Bowser*
  • Baruti Jahi
  • Malik Mendenhall-Johnson
  • Paul E. Montague
• Ward 7 Council Member
  • Yvette Alexander*
  • John Campbell
  • Villareal Johnson
  • Robin Hammond Marlin
• Ward 8 Council Member
  • Marion Barry*
  • Braxton-Jones
  • Howard Brown
  • Sandra “S.S.” Seegars
  • Charles E. Wilson
• US Senator (Shadow)
  • Philip E. Pannell
  • Paul Strauss*
• US Representative (Shadow)
  • Michael J. Panetta*

DC Democrats will also be electing members of the local party organization, the DC Democratic State Committee. I’ll have a separate post about that.

Judging by Google News search results, journalists seeking a name for the February 12 primary in DC, Maryland, and Virginia are breaking in favor of alliteration:

• Potomac primary: 529 articles
• Potomac primaries: 202
• Chesapeake primary: 59
• Chesapeake primaries: 15
• Beltway primary: 15
• Beltway primaries: 10

I prefer “Chesapeake primary” myself, because it covers the widest area. The vast majority of voters in tomorrow’s primary are not in the DC area. Besides, I don’t want my brother’s head to explode.

At least the odious name “Beltway primary” is losing badly.

Regardless of what you call it, if you’re a registered Democrat in DC or Maryland, or a registered voter of any sort in Virginia, make sure you get to the polls tomorrow. It’s not often that those of us outside the early states actually get a say in who our presidential candidate is, so let’s make the most of it. And if you’re having trouble deciding, the correct answer is Barack Obama!

I should have posted this last week, but for local residents not yet registered to vote, time is running out if you want to participate in the presidential primary. In both Virginia and DC, Monday, January 14, is the deadline for registering to vote in the February 12 presidential primary election. For information, see the Virginia State Board of Elections or the DC Board of Elections and Ethics.

Maryland residents have until Tuesday, January 22, to register for their primary, which is also February 12 (see the Maryland State Board of Elections). The Maryland primary covers other races in addition to president. For example, Democrats in the 4th Congressional District will be deciding whether the progressive Donna Edwards will unseat the more conservative Rep. Al Wynn, so if you live in that district make sure you’re registered even if you think the presidential nomination will already have been decided by the time you get a chance to vote.

Support your local Democratic Party and vote for your preferred presidential candidate:

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE (DCDSC)
CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO A HOLIDAY PARTY
&
PRESIDENTIAL FORUM AND STRAW POLL

MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007
7:00 to 11:00 pm

The 18th AMENDMENT RESTAURANT
613 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
(one block from the Eastern Market Metro station)

Karaoke, Buffet, Cash Bar

Admission: contribution of $10 and book for youth up to the age of 12.
Make checks payable to the DCDSC.

At 8 p.m. there will be brief presentations from representatives of the presidential campaigns.

HONORARY CHAIRMAN
A. Scott Bolden

CHAIRPERSON
Philip Pannell

SPONSORS

The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton The Honorable Marion Barry The Honorable Sharon Pratt The Honorable Arrington Dixon The Honorable Jack Evans The Honorable Philip Mendelson The Honorable Kwame Brown The Honorable Harry Thomas The Honorable Tommie Wells The Honorable Yvette Alexander The Honorable Sandy Allen The Honorable Paul Strauss The Honorable Michael D. Brown The Honorable Robert Bobb

James Bubar Marilyn Tyler Brown Anita Bonds Ward 2 Democratic Committee Ward 3 Democratic Committee Ward 4 Democrats Ward 5 Democrats Ward 6 Democrats Wards 7 Democrats Ward Eight Democrats Gertrude Stein Democratic Club DC Federation of Democratic Women DC for Obama Shelley Tomkins

Washington Teachers’ Union The Fellas (Eugene, Juan, Kemry) Fred Allen Jan Eichhorn Phinis Jones Keshini Ladduwahetty Linda Lingle Jeffrey Norman Jeffrey Richardson Juan Thompson Dan Wedderburn Paige Wedderburn

Our friends at the Sierra Club’s DC chapter are having one of their “Sierra Club and Beer” nights on Tuesday, October 23, from 7 to 9pm at Temperance Hall (3634 Georgia Avenue NW, Georgia Avenue–Petworth Metro):

Enjoy free beer. Meet new people. Protect the planet.

Join us for free beer and become part of Sierra Club’s mission to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet. Meet other folks who care about local and national conservation issues, win prizes, and find out how you can help make DC a leader in the fight against global warming.

I just saw this message on the Cleveland Park e-mail list:

It appears that our neighborhood theater will soon be no more. I just received a call from a City Paper reporter asking what I knew about the sale of the Uptown to the McLean Bible Church (nothing until he
called). Here’s a link to the church’s website with information about their planned use: http://www.mcleanbible.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=18091

Off the top of my head, I don’t see much of a “regulatory hook” for this, other than the fact that the church will have to get Historic Preservation Review Board approval for any changes to the exterior. I believe the commercial zoning that applies to this area probably permits this use, whether it’s considered “religious” or not. […]

Bruce Beckner
Commissioner ANC3C05

That’s certainly depressing news, much worse than Yenching Palace’s imminent transformation into a Walgreen’s. It will be interesting to see how the Cleveland Park community reacts.

Update (11:03pm): See the comments. It appears the situation is not as dire as initial reports suggested. Is this the City Paper’s idea of a practical joke?

Sorry for the late notice, but the New Organizing Institute is having a fundraising party tonight, Tuesday, June 12, 5:30–9pm, at MCCXXIII, 1223 Connecticut Ave NW (suggested donation $12, RSVP [not required]):

(more…)

The DC House Voting Rights Bill, S. 1257, gets a little further today as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing, “Ending Taxation without Representation: The Constitutionality of S. 1257″. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) will preside. The hearing will be webcast from the committee’s site live at 1:30pm.

The witness list includes elected officials from DC and Utah, and a panel of constitutional scholars to educate the committee members about how the bill fits into the provisions of the Constitution (or fails to do so). Let’s hope they’re able to convince some Republican senators who aren’t from Utah.

Since my last update, four more senators have signed on as cosponsors:

• Russell Feingold (D-WI)
• Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
• Mark Pryor (D-AR)
• Thomas Carper (D-DE)

That brings the total to 13, not counting Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the main sponsor. It’s good to see support from Democrats from across the ideological spectrum. Now if we can just get enough Republicans to avoid a filibuster. According to local commentator and voting rights advocate Mark Plotkin, former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is lobbying Republican senators along with Jack Kemp.