Washington, D.C

D.C. Council chairman blames budget delay on mayor’s office

Published

2 years ago

March 18, 2024

D.C. Council chairman blames budget delay on mayor’s office

The chair of the D.C. Council on Monday canceled this week’s planned delivery and presentation of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal — an unusual step that he blamed on the mayor’s administration.

Typically, Bowser (D) presents her annual budget proposal at a morning meeting, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, and then answers more questions about her proposal at a council hearing that was planned for Friday. But in an email to the entire council Monday morning, Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) canceled both of this week’s meetings and said the city’s Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee — who must first certify Bowser’s budget proposal before she transmits it to the council — still had not received it. Natalie Wilson, a spokeswoman for Lee, confirmed Monday afternoon that the budget still had not been transmitted.

A spokesperson for Bowser did not return multiple requests for comment Monday.

The delay threatens to further complicate a budget season that has already sparked discussions about potential cuts and tax increases to fill the financial gaps, as the city grips with modest revenue growth projections, an unstable commercial real estate market and some major upcoming expenses paired with expiring pandemic-era federal aid.

To ensure a timely start to budget deliberations, council members in January voted on fiscal 2025 budget submission requirements that called on Bowser to deliver her proposal no later than Wednesday. Under D.C. law, the council has 70 days after the mayor transmits her budget proposal to adopt a final version, kick-starting its tight annual timeline to hold dozens of agency hearings, make revisions and hold multiple votes.

Further complicating the situation is that Lee this year reiterated his office’s request to have 10 days to certify the mayor’s budget once he received it before it could be presented to the council. Wilson said the CFO has always had a “pencils-down” date set 10 days before the mayor delivers her budget to the council, giving them enough time to ensure the proposal is balanced and that any documents are legally sufficient.

Lee reminded city leaders of that timeline in a Feb. 5 memo to Mendelson, City Administrator Kevin Donahue and the budget directors for both the council and Bowser’s administration, noting he’d need to receive the budget on or before March 10 to stay on schedule. In a March 11 letter to the same group, Lee noted that because the budget proposal had not been sent to his office by March 10, it could not be transferred to the council this Wednesday as planned.

In an interview, Mendelson said the delay was unusual. If the budget delivery is delayed until the end of March, he said, the council’s 70-day window to approve it would bump right up against the District’s June 4 primary election where several members are on the ballot for reelection.

“Campaigning takes full time. Considering a $20 billion budget takes full time. The last several weeks when we are voting — and we vote twice — are all consuming with the budget,” Mendelson said. “You throw in the campaign, and it becomes unthinkable.”

Mendelson said there have also been disagreements between the CFO and legislators in recent weeks about how quickly the city must move to replenish its local reserves. He said while that may have initially slowed things down, Bowser’s administration had identified a plan last week.

“The reserves are not the issue for the delay,” he said.

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Washington, D.C

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Published

8 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Jaemi Theatre Company, a new AAPI-led theater company based in Washington, DC, officially launches this spring with its inaugural project, BAAL, a staged reading at the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival on Friday, March 6, at 7:30 PM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.

Jaemi Theatre Company co-founder and playwright Youri Kim

Founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh, Jaemi Theatre was born out of a recognition that DC, one of the largest theater markets in the United States, had no company dedicated to centering Asian stories or led by Asian artists. The name “Jaemi” comes from a Korean word meaning “fun,” and in its Sino-Korean form, 在美, means both “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.”

“I kept hearing from companies that it was hard to find Asian actors, and I heard it so often that I started to believe it myself,” said Youri Kim. “But through building community with other AAPI theater artists in the area, I realized the talent was always here. What was missing was the infrastructure to connect us. Jaemi is that infrastructure.”

BAAL, an original work written by Youri Kim (not to be confused with Bertolt Brecht’s 1918 play of the same name), is a body horror drama set in a dystopian city where the air is toxic and birth is outlawed. In the city of Baal, citizens are forced into an impossible choice: terminate or sacrifice a family member. The play uses the language of biological mutation and bodily control to examine how systems of power decide who gets to exist and on what terms, questions that resonate deeply within AAPI and immigrant communities navigating structures that seek to define, contain, and assimilate them. The staged reading features a cast of seven and an original sound design.

BAAL plays as a staged reading Friday, March 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM in Lab Theatre II at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). Tickets ($29.75) are available online.

Looking ahead, Jaemi Theatre plans to host a founding party and fundraiser this fall, and will launch an Asian Writer Play Submission program in the second half of 2026. The program will pair playwrights from selected Asian countries with Asian playwrights based in DC for a workshop development process, building a pipeline that connects diasporic voices across borders.

For more information, visit yourikimdirector.com or follow @jaemitheatre on Instagram.

About Jaemi Theatre Company
Jaemi Theatre is a newly formed AAPI-led performance initiative based in Washington, DC, co-founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh. “Jaemi” is Korean for “fun” and, in its Sino-Korean form, means “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.” The company creates interdisciplinary performance rooted in diasporic imagination and radical storytelling. Jaemi is a home for the unfinished and the unassimilated, where performance holds contradiction without needing to resolve it.

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Washington, D.C

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Published

21 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Sunday, March 1, 2026 6:36AM

SF Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The San Francisco Ballet board has voted to cancel its upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center.

The company is scheduled for a four-day run in Washington D.C. in May.

Petition urges SF Ballet to cancel Kennedy Center tour stop as company opens 2026 season

Last year, Pres. Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board, including naming himself the chairman.

That led several artists to cancel scheduled performances.

A statement from SF Ballet says the group “looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”

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Washington, D.C

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

At 97, Veteran Harley Wero wasn’t up for a trip to the nation’s capital, so volunteers from the Western North Dakota honor flight brought the trip to him. Wero, his wife Muriel and their daughter Jennifer got to experience Washington, DC, without ever leaving their home.

Web Editor : Sydney Ross

Posted 2026-02-28T15:57:08-0500 – Updated 2026-02-28T15:59:05-0500

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