Mayor Uses Poetic License In Some Of His Hires

Fenty had submitted a resolution to the council to replace Crawford on the board with attorney Earle C. Horton. Friends of Crawford, particularly Gray, didn't appreciate that and found a way to circumvent the mayor's nomination.

Gray simply let the resolution languish without a vote. With no action taken, Crawford has remained on the board.

"I love this city," Crawford said in an interview. "Of course, I will continue to serve."

Even World Politics Is Local

Woe to the District government official who messes with D.C. Council member David A. Catania, a lawyer-turned-politician who has a well-earned reputation as the council's resident bit pull.

Now it's Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's turn to feel Catania's bite.

On Tuesday, the council member (I-At Large) introduced the "Prohibition of the Investment of Public Funds in Certain Companies Doing Business with the Government of Iran Act of 2008." Whew, that's a mouthful.

The bill, according to a news release from Catania's office, "will require the District of Columbia's Retirement Board to remove direct investments, or divest, in companies complicit in supporting the government of Iran."

Catania cited "the risks to the District's pension system and Iran's threat to national security" as his motivation.

Tough stuff. Now Ahmadinejad gets a chance to understand how D.C. fiscal chief Natwar M. Gandhi and former mayor Anthony A. Williams, two of Catania's other favorite targets, feel.