November 22, 2022

Ward 3 Update: Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Neighbors,

Whether you're celebrating in DC or traveling out of town, spending time
with family or friends, and eating turkey or tofurkey, I want to wish you a
very happy Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to have had the privilege of
representing you on the Council for the past 16 years, and I'm looking
forward to finishing all of the work that I can in the next few weeks.

Regards,

Mary

Upcoming Events
* Monday, November 28th at 12pm: [1]T&E Public Roundtable
* Monday, November 28th at 7pm: [2]ANC 3/4G
* Wednesday, November 30th at 10am: [3]T&E Markup
* Tuesday, December 6th at 12pm: [4]Legislative Meeting
* Wednesday, December 7th at 7pm: [5]ANC 3D
* Thursday, December 8th at 7pm: [6]ANC 3B

Ward 3 Democrats Celebration

I was honored that the Ward 3 Democrats held a party in my honor on
Thursday, November 3rd. It was wonderful to get to see the Ward 3 Dems,
current and former colleagues, friends, and members of the community. Many
thanks to everyone who worked on putting the event together and stopped by.

Snow Readiness Hearing

Every year, the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which I
chair, holds a hearing about the upcoming snow season. We hear from weather
experts about their prediction for the winter, and from DPW about their
preparations to treat roads and remove snow. I want to highlight an
important program:

Become a SKYWARN Spotter

SKYWARN is a national network of volunteer severe weather spotters. The
spotters are trained by local National Weather Service Forecast Offices on
how to spot severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, flooding, snowfall, and
ice accumulation. To become a spotter, you must:
* Be able to observe the weather (no instruments required)
* Have access to a telephone to call in reports or be able to report
information through an Amateur Radio Network
* Be at least be 14 years old

For more information and to sign up for a class, [7]click here.

Beach Drive Closure

As you may have seen, the National Park Service [8]announced that the upper
portion of Beach Drive will remain closed to cars permanently. Since the
pandemic began, that road has been a vital space for people of all ages to
walk, run, ride bikes more freely and without worrying about traffic. I am
so pleased that it will remain open in the months and years to come.

Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban

I’ve heard concerns from several of you about lawn care services continuing
to use gas-powered leaf blowers, in violation of the ban that went into
effect in January. In some cases, there seems to be misinformation going
around, suggesting that the ban has been delayed or suspended. That is not
true. The ban is fully in effect. I’m aware that enforcement has been
lacking, but I hope the new Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection
will be stepping up its enforcement and outreach efforts.

If you do see someone using a gas-powered leaf blower, you can report them
to DLCP through their online complaint form
here: [9][link removed]
Lu.

Tenley Winterfest

From Saturday, November 26th, to Saturday, December 3rd, Tenleytown Main
Street will host their annual Winterfest. Events include:
* Yeti Scavenger Hunt
* Winter Feast Specials
* Winter Market
* Winter Light Displays
* Tours of Historic Tenleytown
* Holiday Tree Sales

For the full schedule, visit the website [10]here.

In The News

Excerpts from the articles appear below. To read the full article, click on
the headline.

Washington Post: [11]D.C. Council passes new criminal code, despite some
objections

Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) said the council should send a
strong message, given the state of crime in the city. “Everybody knows we
are awash in guns and gun violence. We have residents being shot almost
every day, including children,” she said. “We have shootouts in the street.
And this is not a time, I don’t think, to lessen penalties for gun
possession.”

But the amendment did not find broad support. Three members — Pinto, Cheh
and Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) — voted for it. Ten voted against. Charles
Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the council’s public safety committee, said
that the amendment was not based on any data or evidence that it would
improve safety and that only a tiny percentage of defendants sentenced for
carrying a dangerous weapon or unauthorized possession of a firearm get
more than two years.

Washington City Paper: [12]Mary Cheh’s Senior Hunger Bill is Back on Track,
Following a Sudden Reversal from Anita Bonds

A few weeks ago, At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds was adamant: There
was [13]just no way she could advance a bill from Ward 3 Councilmember Mary
Cheh aimed at combating senior hunger before the end of the year. So it
might surprise you to learn that the Council took its first vote on that
legislation Tuesday.

Cheh’s “[14]No Senior Hungry Omnibus Amendment Act” would force more agency
coordination and open up new resources to [15]address D.C.’s disturbing
rate of food insecurity [16]among seniors, and is now set up to pass next
month after it seemed dead in the water as recently as late October. The
development has advocates for seniors pleasantly surprised, if a bit
bemused, that Bonds passed it out of her committee just a few weeks after
Cheh raised a stink about the issue (and made those concerns very public in
an interview with Loose Lips).

Bonds had previously argued that Cheh’s legislation was commendable, yet
too complex, claiming she wasn’t able to get the government agencies
involved to estimate the bill’s potential costs in time to bring it up for
a vote. She instead backed a much more modest bill, the “[17]Senior
Nutrition and Well-Being Equity Amendment Act,” viewing it as a way to
“move the ball forward” in the absence of Cheh’s legislation. Local
activists and Cheh herself dismissed Bonds’ bill as an empty half-measure.

But that was all before people started paying attention. On Oct. 20, the
same day LL’s article on this dustup published, Bonds spokesman Kevin B.
Chavous followed up to say that his boss spoke with Cheh “and they are now
on the same page as far as the two senior hunger bills.” He wrote in an
email that Bonds’ legislation was actually “meant to complement” Cheh’s
bill, and Bonds planned to move both out of her Committee on Housing and
Executive Administration once she received fiscal impact statements on each
one.

As luck would have it, Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee forwarded along
those documents on Nov. 8, despite Bonds’ previous claims that she’d given
up on getting a fiscal analysis on Cheh’s legislation after working to do
so since March. Bonds then passed the two bills out of her committee on
Nov. 9 to set up the full Council vote Tuesday...

...Cheh disputes the idea that this was the result of some grand compromise
between the two. In fact, she says she spoke with Bonds not long after
LL’s last article on the matter published, and that Bonds assured her the
Senior Nutrition bill was always meant to move in tandem with No Senior
Hungry. Cheh says she chided Bonds that such an explanation “strikes me as
having some revisionism here,” but added that “I don’t care” if it means
her legislation moves forward.

“At the end of the day, I’m not going to criticize an outcome that promotes
my bill,” Cheh says.

Winnie Huston, food policy strategist for the nonprofit DC Greens and a
supporter of Cheh’s bill, expects the No Senior Hungry bill would be
“dead” but for Cheh’s advocacy and some press attention. That doesn’t mean,
however, that she sees a clear victory just yet. She’s been pressing
lawmakers for years to take action on this issue, working with Cheh and
others to craft this legislation, and she still fears those fiscal impact
statements could be its undoing.

The FIS for Cheh’s legislation is[18] [19]hefty. Lee’s office estimates
that the bill will cost more than $75 million over the next four years to
implement. A big price tag from the CFO has spooked plenty of lawmakers in
the past (fueling suspicions among councilmembers that these numbers tend
to get inflated for bills agencies don’t support), and Huston worries it
could work to the detriment of Cheh’s legislation...

..The debate is unlikely to end there, even if Cheh’s legislation passes.
Both bills are being moved with the [20]dreaded “subject to
appropriation” language attached, meaning their provisions won’t go into
effect until Mayor Muriel Bowser or the Council itself finds money in the
budget to fund them. Cheh has spent years on this particular fight, but its
ultimate resolution will probably come after she’s [21]returned to private
life.

“There’s no point in passing stuff like this if it’s not going to get
funded,” Cheh says. “Somebody else will have to be the champion on this.”

Washington City Paper: [22]Who Should Write the Post’s D.C. Editorials Now?

If Silverman’s progressive politics are too much for the Post to swallow,
perhaps outgoing Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh is up for the job.
The Post rarely endorsed her, but current Loose Lips Alex Koma notes that
Cheh’s decades of law school teaching experience and familiarity with the
paper’s devoted readers in Ward 3 make her an ideal fit.

Our Office is Open!

Connect with our staff - While Councilmember Cheh's physical office is
closed during the public health emergency, she and her staff are
teleworking and will remain accessible for residents.

You may continue to reach us via [23]email or phone through our main line
at (202) 724-8062 with legislative ideas, budget requests, and constituent
services requests.

[24]Facebook [25]Twitter [26]marycheh.com

FOLLOW MARY

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Mary Cheh
Mary Cheh Ward 3
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NWSuite 108
Washington, DC 20004
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