Dear Friends:

I am pleased to announce that for the seventh year the Department of Public Works, the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, and Words, Beats, and Life are partnering to identify potential wall spaces for MuralsDC.  Check out the link here http://www.muralsdcproject.com/ to see the many different murals that now decorate neighborhoods throughout the District.

from Caroline Mehta, attorney for Jim Graham

February 21, 2013

The Board of Ethics and Government Accountability had no basis to issue findings and pronounce judgment against our client without granting him a chance to be heard, allowing him to review and challenge the evidence to which we were denied access, and conducting a full adversary hearing.  The Board violated the law and its own rules.  That is not the ethics process that the Council sought to put into place, nor is it one whose decisions are worthy of respect or weight.  Today we filed for relief and are confident that the court will agree that the Board acted lawlessly and denied Councilmember Graham basic fairness and due process.

Chairman of the Committee on Human Services Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) will reconvene a public roundtable on the definition of “egregious first-time [alcohol] sale to minor.”  The roundtable affords an opportunity for testimony related to the committee’s consideration of an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) rulemaking that will impact enforcement of alcohol sale to minors.

“The rulemaking would require and provide legal consequences for the failure of bars to check IDs of people who come in,” Graham said.

I am not resigning.

There have been no allegations or suggestions that a crime has been committed, or that there was an illegal financial interest, or that laws have been broken.

I categorically deny any connection between any campaign donation and my actions on these matters.

I am now in discussions with my lawyer as to next legal steps.

Any additional questions please contact William Taylor, Esq. 202.778.1810

###