Washington, D.C

DC Councilman undermines CFO and Bowser with budget preview that reverses their cuts – Washington Examiner

Published

2 years ago

April 20, 2024

DC Councilman undermines CFO and Bowser with budget preview that reverses their cuts – Washington Examiner

Washington D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) announced that he will undo Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) most contentious budget cuts.

The city’s budget has become a major area of contention, following Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee’s demand to divert funds to the city’s emergency fund, forcing Bowser to undertake budget cuts unpopular with progressives. Mendelson explicitly rejected the budget cuts, setting up a political fight between the three.

Ted Leonsis, right, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA basketball team and Washington Capitals NHL hockey team, speaks during a news conference with Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, and DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, center, at Capitol One Arena in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

“The budget I will present will restore most if not all of the Pay Equity Fund, and do so by rejecting the Chief Financial Officer’s insistence that $217 million needs to be added to the District’s already-robust reserve funds,” he wrote. “The CFO exceeded his authority when he told the Mayor and me that the reserves need to be topped-off now — because the law provides otherwise.”

In the Friday newsletter, Mendelson threw all the blame onto Lee while offering support for Bowser.

“This was a policy choice he forced on the Mayor,” he said, “and I’ve made clear to him that I will not comply.”

Bowser protested Lee’s request, but insisted her hands were tied. In her final outline, which balanced the budget, Bowser proposed $500 million in budget cuts to city programs, including the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which cost the city $70 million annually.

The program was set up using COVID-19 emergency funds, leaving the city unable to pay for it following the cessation of payments. Progressives and teacher advocates demanded Bowser keep the program, but the mayor was opposed to raising taxes.

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The preferred method of activists in Washington would be to raise the capital gains tax, which would mostly hit upper-income earners. The far-left Fair Budget Coalition urged Bowser to raise capital income taxes up to 14%. The letter from the group said the purpose was to distribute wealth from mostly white people to black people and other minority groups.

“DC should tax wealth more to reduce DC’s racial wealth gap,” the letter said. “The supermajority of wealth in DC and the nation is held in the hands of the few, with Black residents holding very little wealth compared to white residents. The concentration of white wealth stems from centuries of racist policies and practices that have stripped Black people of wealth they produced while allowing white people to amass extreme wealth and grow it across generations.”

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Washington, D.C

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Published

2 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

14 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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