Emotional and Legislative Transitions Highlight End of Council Period 25 • Council of the District of Columbia

Time is a flat circle. By definition, conclusions naturally transition to new beginnings. The biennial end of a two-year Council Period is a familiar such ritual at the Wilson Building. From a technical standpoint, legislation introduced in one Council Period cannot transition and continue on in the next. But similarly, just as the final Legislative Meeting of a Council Period serves as a pivot point between past and future legislation, it serves the same role for the very human Councilmembers who are incoming or outgoing following election results or decisions regarding retirement.

The very real, emotional impact of what would otherwise be just a biennial personnel transition was front and center at the most recent Legislative Meeting. In official records, this meeting will simply be recorded as the 36^th Legislative Meeting in the 25^th two-year Council Period since Home Rule. But to all who were present, it will be remembered first and foremost as Vincent Condol Gray’s final meeting as an elected official after an unparalleled lifetime of public service.

There was a collective intake of breath and even tears as Councilmember Gray entered the Chamber after a long health-induced absence. The Council paused its legislative business for an hour as Gray’s current colleagues, his family members, current Council staff and many former Council and Executive staff paid him emotional homage. Among those bearing witness to the tribute was Gray’s successor, Councilmember-Elect Wendell Felder, who will be sworn into office on January 2, the first day of Council Period 26. And as if the symbolism of life’s critical transitions was not already enough in evidence, Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s newborn son, Pierce James, even made a cameo appearance at the meeting via the Zoom screen.

From the sublime to the routine—after the emotional tribute to Councilmember Gray, the Council returned to its legislative business. Given that permanent Council legislation requires two votes at two different Legislative Meetings, the Council’s action at its prior and penultimate meeting fairly effectively predicted the action at this final meeting.

Among the legislation receiving the second of two necessary votes at the most recent meeting were the following bills. Some passed for the second time in identical form to their first passage, while others received modifications encouraged by the Executive, other Councilmembers, or industry representatives. The bills that passed would:

Increase the accountability, oversight, and pace of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services through required individualized rehabilitation plans in an effort to reduce the ever-present risk of recidivism
Transfer ownership of Capital One Arena from Monumental Sports to the District government, and fund its redevelopment
Strengthen the prohibition of fraudulent, stolen, or obscured temporary or permanent license plates; to allow for immediate towing and impoundment of vehicles with missing, fake, or 60-day expired temporary tags; to prosecute producers of fake tags under District forgery laws, and to prioritize enforcement on all these fronts.
In the interest of safer streets, authorize the Department of For-Hire Vehicles to regulate and enforce traffic laws against third party food and parcel delivery vehicles; to require that drivers register with their delivery employer, to require the wearing of “trade dress” by such drivers, to study potential vehicle insurance requirements for such drivers, and to provide data on deliveries for analysis on their impact
Improve the resources made available by the Department of Corrections to pregnant and postpartum individuals who are in custody. The Department would be required to provide a minimum standard of care, after hearing testimony revealed deeply substandard current practices in corrections facilities.
Change the age of consent for marriage in the District of Columbia to 18 with no exceptions. Current law allows for those age 16 or 17 to marry with parental approval. While the number of marriages by underage individuals have been low, they increased recently, possibly because the states surrounding the District recently banned underage marriage. Through the passage of this bill, the hope is to avoid the District becoming a haven for the practice.
Accelerate the development of popular pedestrianized streets and plazas through the creation of a plaza program in the Department of Transportation, and to create a facilitated and expedited process for government approval of block parties and related event-based temporary street closures.
Create a youth mentorship program for at-risk youth, and to provide for community service leave for District government employees who tutor or mentor students.
Regulate amplified sound in the public space through licensure for amplified sound devices on public space, and clear enforcement authority through the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (and not law enforcement)
Require residential property owners to provide a minimum quantity of solid waste container space per resident, providing flexibility in how the required capacity is met, while maintaining the current minimum of twice-weekly trash pickup.
Limit the fees a landlord can charge a tenant for owning a pet, to ban landlord restrictions on breed/size of pets, and to require homeless shelters to provide access to unhoused individuals with pets.

While virtually every other bill voted on at the most recent Legislative Meeting required two votes, one noteworthy bill that received just one vote was an emergency measure creating an exemption to the District’s upcoming January deadline for the District’s ban on cash-free businesses. This emergency bill had actually passed with the required supermajority at our prior Legislative Meeting, but due to a drafting error, it incorrectly captured the legislative intent. Through reconsidering an amended emergency bill, the bill now carves out an exception for restaurants and bars that serve alcoholic beverages, as well as non-liquor serving restaurants that stay open past 3AM at least two days a week.

As previously indicated, this most recent Legislative Meeting was the final meeting of Council Period 25. Council Period 26 will kick off on January 2 with the swearing-in of new and re-elected Councilmembers, followed by an organizational meeting of the Council. The first Legislative Meeting of Council Period 26 will be held on January 7.