D.C. Councilmember and Georgetown alum David Catania (I-At Large)(SFS ‘90, LAW ‘94) made headlines in 2009 as the man behind the District’s same-sex marriage legalization bill. But Catania, whose third term will end this year, has been keeping mum on whether or not he’ll run for re-election in November, leading some local politics fans to wonder whether the marriage equality victory might be his swan song.

It looks like the speculation can finally come to an end, though: Catania has told “several close supporters” to assume he’ll be running, according to Washington City Paper. City Paper and D.C. Wire also report that Catania will be making an official announcement in mid-January.

In addition to writing and championing the recently-passed same-sex marriage bill, Catania has spent much of his time on the Council working on health care and insurance issues. As of now there is only one challenger for Catania’s seat, Congress Heights minister and civic activist Anthony Motley.

Photo from Flickr user dbking, used under a Creative Commons license.

D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), whose ward includes Georgetown, had Jack Evans bobbleheads made for some reason using campaign money.

WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports that Evans spent $2,000 of his campaign money on 100 bobbleheads. Segraves notes that Little Jack has more hair and fewer wrinkles than his living counterpart.

Since the bobbleheads were bought with campaign funds, Evans’s opponent in the 2008 election Cary Silverman wasn’t pleased:

I’m confused. According to DC law, surplus campaign funds must, within 6 months of an election, be: (1) donated to a political party; (2) used to retire campaign debts; (3) returned to donors; or (4) transferred to an authorized constituent services fund. I missed (5) used to purchase bobbleheads with the Councilmember’s likeness.

Photo by Mark Segraves/WTOP

In 2007, a blaze broke out at the Georgetown Public Library, destroying large portions of the building and leaving the neighborhood without a permanent library for years.  Soon after the fire, the city sued the contractor that had been doing repairs to the library at the time for $13 million, alleging that the heating guns used started the fire.

Unfortunately for D.C., the contractor is contesting that claim, and the lawsuit has revealed that D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services did a less than stellar job investigating the fire.  Washington City Paper’s Jason Cherkis unearthed court documents and e-mails between the FEMS and the Office of the Attorney General that show the full extent of the investigators’ negligence.

Cherkis’s post is a must-read, but here are a few of the major allegations:

• Lt. Craig Duck led the investigation despite having no training in fire investigation.
• Duck thoroughly bungled the investigation, throwing away crucial evidence.  The evidence he did hold on to was not properly secured or catalogued.
• Investigators may have breached national standards by not making and keeping notes while investigating.
• FEMS was extremely uncooperative when OAG asked them for the requisite documentation from the investigation, failing to hand over investigators’ notes and photographs.

Photo from Flickr user randomduck, used under a Creative Commons license.

Bald is beautiful

D.C. Councilmember David Catania (SFS ‘90, LAW ‘94) spoke to students today (as part of the Michael Jurist (SFS ‘07) Distinguished Alumni Roundtable series), and man, is he awesome.

Catania (Ind. – At Large) waxed philosophical on a number of subjects, blending serious information, like the roots of the D.C. HIV/AIDS epidemic, with jokes and anecdotes, like “Raise your hand if you think sex doesn’t happen in jail.” He also talked about whatever happened to the gay marriage rights bill he had planned to introduce in January.

The conversation started focused on how Catania’s SFS education got him started on the path he’s on today. While he was here, Catania was a research assistant for Madeline Albright (jealous?). He became an energy lawyer after he graduated from law school, albeit not a very enthusiastic one, and ran for public office on a whim. Not his own whim, but his neighbor’s. He explained:

“I was first elected to the DC City Council in ‘96 because neighbor of mine had talked me into running. Jean would have been about 86 years old… She took me up on the roof of my building and fed me gin and tonics until I agreed to run. And let me tell you, the best way to run is unopposed” He’s served on the Council ever since.

The gay marriage bill and a Catania-Pat Dowd heart-to-heart after the jump.

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The Washington City Paper’s Loose Lips column this week published a sweet photo of Washington’s former mayor Marion Barry sporting a trademark brimmed hat in what appears to be his own little patch of Ward 8.

Despite Barry’s dapper appearance, the column goes on to note that the seventy-year-old fixture
of Washington politics is quickly fading as a significant force in the city’s Democratic party. As the columnist notes: “His [Barry's] public pat-on-the-back will do little to bring voters out for his chosen candidate. There is no Barry machine to get busloads of senior citizens rolling to the polls for Fenty or Cropp. The once-powerful operator has now been relegated to the role of symbolic political helper.”

It seems that city council Chair Linda Cropp was banking on Barry’s endorsement in the mayor’s race. Her staff is peppered with former Barry appointees and her own husband was once an aide to the crack mayor.

Now, however, Barry is leaning toward the favorite in the race: Ward 4 Councilmember Adrian Fenty. We’ll see what favors Fenty throws in turn toward Ward 8 if he is selected to be the Democratic contender (and hence the de facto mayor in this Democractic city) in the Sept. 12 primary.

Posted by Chris Stanton, News Editor