Local
Mendelson elected interim Council Chair
Pro-gay Councilman will run in November special election
Phil Mendelson (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Members of the D.C. City Council on Wednesday elected fellow Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) as interim chair of the Council until a special election to fill the chairperson’s seat on a permanent basis is held in November.
Mendelson, who played a lead role in the Council’s 2009 approval of the city’s same-sex marriage law, has said he will run in the special election to become the Council’s permanent chair.
The Council’s selection of Mendelson for the interim post came after Council member Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) resigned as the chairman last week, one day after pleading guilty to felony bank fraud.
At its special meeting Wednesday, the Council also voted to elect Council member Michael Brown (I-At-Large) as interim Council President Pro Tempore, a mostly ceremonial position that places Brown third in line to become mayor in the event that Mayor Vincent Gray should resign.
As interim Council Chair, Mendelson is second in line to become mayor.
Michael Brown, like Mendelson, has been a longtime strong supporter of LGBT rights.
The Council picked Michael Brown over Council member Vincent Orange (D-At-Large), who entered the race for the President Prop Tempore post, by a vote of 8 to 4. Orange initially said he would challenge Mendelson for the interim Council chair position, but on Wednesday he chose to compete for the President Prop Tempore position instead.
Mendelson, meanwhile, will remain as chair of the Council’s Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and which has monitored the police response to anti-LGBT hate crimes. He will also assume the chairmanship of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, which traditionally is headed by the Council chair.
LGBT political activists have joined others in the community in watching with great interest whether an ongoing federal investigation into alleged illegal campaign practices in Gray’s 2010 mayor election campaign will implicate Gray, who has denied any wrong-doing. Two high-level officials in the Gray campaign have pleaded guilty in recent weeks to campaign related violations.
City Hall observers expect other Council member and non-Council members to run in the special election for the Council chair post, most of whom are likely to be supporters of the LGBT community.
Similar to past elections, LGBT advocates may be forced to choose among friends in determining who to endorse in the special election. The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group, and Log Cabin Republicans of D.C., a gay GOP group, are expected to become engaged in the special election.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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