Tweets From Inside The City Council Closed Session 072709

Susie Cambria, MSW Public Policy Consultant


Tweets from Inside the City Council’s Budget Revision Session, July 27 Tweets by Mike Debonis (Washington City Paper) and Mark Segraves (WTOP)

Start at the bottom and work your way to the top of each list.

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Name mikedebonis Location Washington, D.C., USA Web http://washingtoncitypaper.com Bio Loose Lips columnist for Washington City Paper http://twitter.com/mikedebonis

mikedebonis 1. Done for the day. 'Excruciating detail' promised for tomorrow! 2. Reducing employee benefits is 'not shocking' Cheh says, but could adversely affect fire/police forced to retire by injury. 'A bitter pill' 3. Cheh now talking about reductions in benefits for former employees. Says Fenty staffers were 'quite chagrined' that she is questioning this. 4. OCFO will have 225 Virginia Ave purchase numbers by tomorrow. Evans calculates that $9M rent savings would float a $100M note. 5. Council mulls purchase of 225 Virginia Ave. to save on ridiculous rent. Gray says let's look at the numbers. 6. Lots of handwringing over 225 Virginia Ave. SE and the astronomical lease thereto. 'Outrageous!' say several 7. Bad cell phone etiquette from the mayor for life...talking full volume through Wells explanation of CFSA Medicaid billing 8. Wells and Catania argue over who had oversight FAIL on DDS $6 million spending pressure. 9. Mendelson blames ‘bad management’ for $5.1 million in overspending on fire department overtime. 10. Now looking at spending pressures. Widespread shock at $5.4 million in DPR severance costs. Another $2.5 million in school construction severance too.

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11. Looks like consensus is to keep SYEP to six weeks--in FY 2010. Looks like for FY 2009, as Graham says, the die is already cast. 12. Thomas makes case that kids, rich or poor, are depending on their summer job income. 13. M Brown: 'if TANF is on the table, how is summer jobs not on the table?' 14. Mendelson points out SYEP cuts may be a lost cause--if cut on Friday, mayor would have two weeks to delay. Program ends in two weeks. 15. Even Evans wants to shorten SYEP! 16. Wells at first supported 10 week program, now says he would support shorter having 'seen how poorly run this has been.' 17. CFO rep says cutting off program at 6 weeks would indeed save as much as $23 million. K Brown says let's take a look. 18. Here we go: Members debate funding the full summer jobs program. 19. Catania says all political promises, ballpark and otherwise, have to be put off for two years. 'I agree' say Wells and Barry. Evans doesn't. 20. Excess in ballpark fund supposed to be used to pay down stadium debt. 'Or we could use it for soccer!' says Barry. 21. Evans remembers the famous 'fifth quarter' budget gambit Barry once tried. Barry laughs. 'That didn't work, did it?' 22. Evans makes a point: if you cut $10 million from the schools, might as well cut $100 million --'you catch the same amount of hell no matter how much you cut.’ 23. Barry says he is shocked--shocked!--that ballpark community benefits would be used to close the gap. 24. Graham is shocked, shocked!, that Fenty would raid his parking meter hike--meant for TANF, HPAP--for gap closing: 'They took it all!’ 25. Catania tells colleagues not to come looking for money out of his agencies. Words ensue with Graham. 26. Gray’s plan: forget the rainy day fund. Take $125 million from FY 2010 to fix FY 2009 and cut the hell out of FY 2010. 27. Evans says without cuts, members will be having another problem in a year--'with an election two months off.' Says Barry: ‘I'm not running.’ 28. Barry warns of 'bitter pills' in FY 2011. 'It's going to be a heartbreaker.' Tax increases, he says, are the only way out. 29. Evans says the issue is: Do we maintain our 'cushions' by making 'significant reductions' in expenditures. 30. Catania does not care for this talk of piddling amounts of workers comp money-'change you could find under the couch’ 31. As members talk of how Fenty plans to raid workers comp for $24.6 million, they're enjoying some delicious popcorn. 32. Live tweeting DC Council budget talks! What could be more exciting?

SegravesWTOP

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Name Mark Segraves Web http://www.wtop.com http://twitter.com/SegravesWTOP

1. DC has been paying rent on VA Ave since 2007. Other agencies slated to move there, OCTO and Arts and Humanities 2. City pays $12 million per year in rent. Wells says mayor wants to. Buy building for $85 million plus another $85 million in upgrades. It would house CFSA 3. Talk has turned to 225 Virginia Ave, the old Washington Star building near the SE Freeway. 4. The debate over summer youth funding rages on. Majority want to cut it. 5. Topic now, summer jobs. CMs upset the EOM won't say how much spent so far. Wells says he regrets vote to extend, Evans agrees. 6. One of Fenty proposed diversions of DDOT unified fund would cut school crossing guards according to Graham 7. More baseball tax talk. Catania points out the promise to reduce the baseball tax rate if they collected a surplus. 8. Now on parking tax revenue. Graham says the taxes should be raised. Barry says it hasn’t been raised in years, Evans says “shhhhh” 9. Evans says the choices are "intolerable" but added a political reality, “we can cut $10 million from schools. But we'll catch hell, so we may as well cut $50 million because we will catch just as much hell” 10. Evans is explaining that a commitment was made to business and community about how baseball taxes would be used to pay off stadium. Bonds and the rest of money would fund community programs. Evans says Fenty plan goes back on those. 11. CMs talking about Fenty proposal to divert $13.9 million from community benefits fund which comes from baseball District taxes. 12. Graham is upset that the $4 million in revenue from new parking meters which was meant for TANF and others will go to close budget gap next year 13. The CMs seem to agree with Gray on the Rainy Day Fund. 14. Gray would use the $106 million fund balance for FY 2010 and make cuts then rather than use $125 million from Rainy Day Fund as Fenty wants. 15. Catania says “we can't tax and cut our way out of the Fiscal Year 09” Gray says he wants to take the money from FY 2010. 16. Gray says the previous budget gaps were fixed with stimulus money and that puts off the problem but won't fix. “The problem is a tsunami.” 17. Gray wants to know if the new Federal education dollars could be used to help with budget woe. 18. Evans pointed out that the Council can make tough cuts now or later, “two months before an election.” 19. The issue with the DOES O-type funds is the conversion of workers comp and unemployment fund to public use. Unions have sued other jurisdictions 20. Gray's chief of staff has made fresh popcorn for everyone. The noise from the eating is so loud nobody can hear. 21. Gray says he won't accept some of these proposals. Gray is focusing on use of cash reserves he says he wants to avoid. 22. Graham is asking if the Council plans on blocking any of the Mayor's proposals. “Won't that create a problem for us?” 23. CMs are expressing concerns about Mayor's proposed conversions of O-type funds at DOES being legal.

24. Council budget director is briefing on Mayors proposals. Mendelson is now here. Full house 25. Barry and Bowser now here. Gray is using a power point presentation to detail the agenda for the next few days. 26. Councilmembers here: Gray, Cheh, Wells, Graham, Catania, both Browns, Alexander, Evans and Thomas 27. Gray made it clear, “this is not a decision making meeting.” The litmus test for an open meeting. While gray has allowed press in, the public is locked out. 28. The DC Council is meeting behind closed doors to talk budget. Chairman Gray has allowed press to attend. Wells is asking for no tweets

The tweets of both Mike Debonis and Mark Segraves were used with their permission. I edited some to make the money and CMs’ names consistent. The content, however, was not changed.