Law Is No Obstacle In Renaming Park, Graham Says

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 23, 2009

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) says the city law prohibiting a public space from being named after a living person won't hinder his proposal to rename Girard Park in Columbia Heights Barack Hussein Obama Park.

Graham proposed the name change at last week's council meeting. If the council agrees, the recently renovated park at 14th and Girard streets NW will become the first city facility named after the president.

The city code states: "No public space in the District shall be named in honor of any living person."

After the issue of the code arose, Graham sent an e-mail to his constituents informing them that the council has the authority to override the law without having to amend the code.

"For years, the council has been naming public spaces after living persons," Graham wrote.

He pointed to a 2007 opinion from the council's chief legal counsel that he says clears the way for the council to ignore the law, which dates to 1983. "Although the council adopted a statute, prohibiting a public space from being named in honor of a living person, I am constrained to conclude that because nothing in the Home Rule Act or federal law prohibits the council from amending, repealing or superseding that statute, that the council is not legally bound by that prohibition, so long as the council's approval is in the form of an act," wrote Brian K. Flowers, the general counsel.

Graham said the council renamed roadways last year in honor of radio mogul Cathy Hughes and musician Chuck Brown, both of whom are living. Graham also noted that an alley next to Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street NW is named Ben Ali Way in honor of the restaurant owner, who is also living.

"What I propose will create an exception," Graham said in an interview. "Every legislature passes laws that change earlier laws. But the fact that the city code says anything at all about naming a public space in honor of a living person will surely give ammunition to critics of the proposal."

Enter the city's minority party: the Republicans.

The D.C. Republican Committee, not surprisingly, has come out against Graham's proposal.

Robert Kabel, chairman of the GOP committee, sent Graham a letter this week suggesting that the council instead rename the park in honor of former U.S. senator Edward Brooke, a District native who was the first African American elected to the Senate after Reconstruction.

Brooke, a Republican, represented Massachusetts from 1967 to 1979. Brooke is also still alive; he lives in the Watergate.

But the real focus of Kabel's letter is an attempt to mock Graham for spending time on Girard Park's name.

"The District of Columbia Republican Committee encourages you to find ways to attract jobs to the District," Kabel said. "Now more than ever, District residents need their council members to stay focused on the financial problems that face our city."

Can critics, however, stop a public tribute to a president who received an astounding 93 percent of the vote in the District?

Hints of Tax Increases

Could new and higher taxes be on the way to help the District fill a budget gap over the next two years?

At a D.C. Council hearing this week to hear testimony from Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi and City Administrator Neil O. Albert, council members began to offer clues on their strategies for balancing the budget.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said the revised budget submitted by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) does not do enough to address the District's long-term fiscal challenges. Gray said Fenty is counting more than $100 million as one-time programs, even though those programs are not likely to be eliminated in fiscal 2011 or 2012.

"All of my colleagues agree it is prudent to address the problems now and not push the problems off to some later date," Gray said.

So what tax or fee increases could be on the table?

Graham noted that he has a proposal to raise income taxes on the wealthiest households. Graham's proposal would set an 8.9 percent tax rate on incomes of more than a half-million dollars. The current top rate is 8.5 percent, and by raising it, Graham said, some social programs could be spared deep cuts.

"As we craft a new set of priorities in the light of the serious budget shortfall we are facing, I think we need a special consideration for those who need government's help the most," Graham said.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) also appears ready to explore a tax increase. Wells asked Albert why Fenty hasn't considered an increase in the 20-cent-a-gallon gas tax. Wells noted that Maryland has a tax of 23.5 cents a gallon.

"My concern is we will look at cutting subsidies for grandparents who take care of grandchildren, but at the same time we are not looking at revenue enhancements areas like a gas tax," Wells said.

Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), chairman of the Finance and Revenue Committee, will probably be an obstacle to any effort to raise taxes or fees. Evans said this week that spending cuts are the only way to meet the District's revenue challenges.

"It is incumbent on us to identify not one-time money, not tax increases, but identify expenditures that go out into the out years," Evans said.

Staff writer Nikita Stewart contributed to this report.