DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Ready for some links?

UDC President Sessoms has D.C. Mayor-elect Gray’s support in recharging campus “Sessoms preserved the heritage of open access in the new Community College of the District of Columbia, with no entry requirements and flat $3,000 tuition. Four-year and graduate study is now housed in a separate “flagship” institution, with entry standards and higher tuition. The community college is effectively a branch of UDC. The president’s plan sparked protests last year, with students and some elected officials decrying the tuition increases and accusing Sessoms of trying to destroy a tradition of service to low-income African Americans.” (The Washington Post)

Mayor-elect Gray’s absence at police officer’s funeral blamed on staff oversight “Fenty’s behavior is not a surprise,’ Baumann wrote in an e-mail to TBD. “Fenty has made it clear that he has no respect for police officers and their sacrifices. The fact that the Council did not show is disheartening. Today the elected officials of the District made it clear they have little or no regard for those that keep the city safe and risk their lives everyday. There were more police officers and officials from Maryland and Virginia than District officials or politicians. Unfortunately, the message sent today was only the police care about the police.” (tbd.com)

Gray transition: bold innovators or a return to Barry? “Which would you rather have running Mayor-elect Vincent Gray’s transportation transition team? A former City Administrator under Marion Barry, who was running the city during the famous episode where Barry flippantly dismissed snow plowing failures while he was at the Super Bowl? Or a former CEO of Amtrak, head of UMD’s smart growth center, and occasional blogger who wrote excitedly about the return of streetcars, the value of high-speed rail, and the need for a federal transportation reauthorization? What if they’re the same guy?” (Greater Greater Washington)

Another Fenty Campaign Worker Gets City Job Despite Hiring Freeze “The previously mentioned campaign aides/new city employees started the jobs right before the hiring freeze (though not before everyone knew how bad the city’s finances are). But Pamela Whiting, who campaign records show worked on Fenty’s campaign for months, was hired Oct. 26, payroll records show. The hiring freeze went into effect Oct. 4. If you don’t have your calendar handy, that means she was hired three weeks after the freeze.” (Washington City Paper)

The District Curmudgeon: Say nice things about the Current Newspapers! “At last night’s ANC 4C meeting, someone raised the question of why ANC 4C’s monthly newsletter is inserted in the Northwest Current as opposed to other small newspapers. Answer: Other papers have not bothered covering ANC 4C’s meetings on a monthly basis. We asked the Northwest Current to be distributed to all ten, single-member districts. The Current agreed. We asked the Current to consider including the monthly, ANC 4C newsletter in its first, monthly, weekly edition. The Northwest Current agreed. No other small newspaper offered itself as a vehicle for getting our monthly newsletter to all ten, single member district.” (distcurm.blogspot.com)

D.C. gets $3 million to build Sustainable Communities in SE Washington “Although this work will encompass the Congress Heights, Anacostia, and St. Elizabeths areas, an emphasis will be placed on Historic Anacostia, ensuring that neighborhood residents benefit from the 11th Street bridge redevelopment, the proposed streetcar line in Historic Anacostia, and the new federal job center at St. Elizabeths.” (regionforward.org)