@MarkLeeDC

Small-Business Director | Formerly @DCNightlifeDCNC ExecDir | @Spotlight4DC Advisory Board | Former @WashBlade Columnist | @wcp Award: 'BestOfDC' Best Columnist

 Washington, DC
washingtonblade.com/author/marklee
Joined October 2012
  • Tweets34.4K
  • Following1.2K
  • Followers1.8K
2KMedia
Mark Lee retweeted
Billy Binion
@billybinion13h
I’m sorry, no. Under this proposal, D.C. taxpayers would cover thousands of $$$ in unpaid rent while landlords would be forced to forgive a third of someone’s debt—because going to court is “stressful”? Life is stressful. You still have to pay your bills.
Councilmember_RobertWhite@CMRobertWhiteDC20h
Every year, thousands of DC residents lose their homes over unpaid rent. Most owe less than $5,000. Going to court is stressful for tenants, expensive for landlords, and slows down the system. We need a better way to resolve rent issues. 🧵⬇️
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Mark Lee retweeted
Hank Thomas
@HankThomasDC14h
A glimpse into just how crazy DC governance is about to get under its increasingly DSA-aligned City Council. The latest idea? Taxpayers cover a third of unpaid rent, but only if landlords agree to eat another third. Apparently, property rights and fiscal responsibility are optional in the socialist utopia.
Councilmember_RobertWhite@CMRobertWhiteDC20h
Every year, thousands of DC residents lose their homes over unpaid rent. Most owe less than $5,000. Going to court is stressful for tenants, expensive for landlords, and slows down the system. We need a better way to resolve rent issues. 🧵⬇️
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Mark Lee retweeted
New York Post
@nypost15h
Paper straws worse for the environment than plastic ones, says study trib.al/TEphuYk
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As DC Early In-Person Voting Begins, the Ridiculous Quackery of a Ballot Initiative Proposing to Ban Foie Gras in the City Gets Even Crazier. > Via @JHWeissmann at @CityCast_DC > LINK: dc.citycast.fm/opinion/d-c-s…
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Mark Lee retweeted
MAW@MikeAWheeler19h
So a LL would have to write off bad debt, stop the clock on the already onerous eviction process, go through arbitration (how are you staffing that)…for $2000 and no certainty any future payments would be made. We are governed by idiots.
Councilmember_RobertWhite@CMRobertWhiteDC20h
Every year, thousands of DC residents lose their homes over unpaid rent. Most owe less than $5,000. Going to court is stressful for tenants, expensive for landlords, and slows down the system. We need a better way to resolve rent issues. 🧵⬇️
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Annals of lawmaking clarity: DC foie gras ban is so imprecisely written that it could wind up banning chopped liver, writes @JHWeissmann dc.citycast.fm/opinion/d-c-s…

D.C.'s Foie Gras Ban Could Actually Ban Chopped Liver, Too · City Cast DC

Activists say it's not their intent. But the law's language is unclear — and highlights a big problem with D.C.'s initiative process.

dc.citycast.fm
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Mark Lee retweeted
Stan Veuger
@stanveugerOct 26
"But the very fact that activists are having to call in lawmakers to clean up potential boo-boos illustrates the preposterousness of D.C.’s current ballot initiative system. The process has made the city a playground for activist groups that are sometimes less than transparent about their causes, and only semi-competent at writing legislation." -- @JHWeissmann dc.citycast.fm/opinion/d-c-s…

D.C.'s Foie Gras Ban Could Actually Ban Chopped Liver, Too · City Cast DC

Activists say it's not their intent. But the law's language is unclear — and highlights a big problem with D.C.'s initiative process.

dc.citycast.fm
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DC Candidate List for 345 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats: MORE THAN *4-in-5* are basically random volunteers. • 82% of seats have *NO CANDIDATE* or *ONLY ONE CANDIDATE* on ballot • 18% of seats have competing candidates on ballot >LIST: dcboe.org/getContentAsset/55…
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Mark Lee retweeted
Stan Veuger
@stanveugerOct 24
The out-of-town nutters pushing Initiative 86 (ban on foie gras and chicken livers) literally want to force us to eat peanut hulls.
Suzi Gerber, PhD@ChefSuziGerberOct 23
I know lots of people who avoid restaurants that serve foie gras and veal for example. DC is a small city. Perhaps if the majority vote for this and that ingredient leaves restaurants would get more rather than less business… no one talks about that idea. 🤔
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Mark Lee retweeted
The Hill
@thehillOct 24
José Andrés joins fight against proposed DC foie gras ban thehill.com/homenews/campaig…

José Andrés joins fight against proposed DC foie gras ban

World renowned chef José Andrés is entering the battle over Washington’s proposed ban on foie gras, a delicacy which animal rights activists have called cruel. Andrés responded to a proponent of th…

thehill.com
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José Andrés joins D.C.'s escalating foie gras fight, while tickets are flying for Butterworth’s foie gras menu next week. Including a full-foie buyout one night 👀 axios.com/local/washington-d…

José Andrés joins D.C.'s escalating foie gras fight

The celebrity chef is speaking out against a proposed foie gras ban, while a Trump-world-connected restaurateur plans an election-week protest dinner — and a potential legal battle.

axios.com
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DC Candidate List for 345 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats: MORE THAN *4-in-5* are basically random volunteers. • 82% of seats have *NO CANDIDATE* or *ONLY ONE CANDIDATE* on ballot • 18% of seats have competing candidates on ballot >LIST: dcboe.org/getContentAsset/55…
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Guys, this foie gras ban is so sloppily written that it would ban Jewish delis from selling chopped chicken liver. Absolutely vote no on this shit.
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Mark Lee retweeted
Jessica Sidman@jsidmanOct 22
Heavy hitter getting into the foie gras ban ballot initiative debate. I would guess a majority of chefs in DC are against a ban, but they don’t want to say so publicly for fear of backlash.
Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳
@chefjoseandresOct 22
Sure but then let’s ban beef and pork and chicken….and also vegetables too because is a study that says that maybe indications of suffering…..we have children hungry in USA and the World….lets end hunger and then we talk….. 😇
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Republicans nationwide have introduced hundreds of messaging bills targeting DC in the time I've lived here. I don't think liberals should be any happier when it's outside progressive groups doing it through ballot measures
Chris Kennedy
@ChrisJKennedyOct 22
I'm also voting against this because I hate that DC's ballot initiative system has become a playground for out-of-state progressive groups seeking national attention for their causes.
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I would sincerely love our Council to take a minute to imagine a person who lives in DC, has a job, is a net fiscal contributor, and doesn't commit crimes. What have you done over the past year to improve the life of someone like that? What will you do next year?
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If there was ever a better reason to become circumspect about the DC *ONLY-ADVISORY* ballot initiative process, it would be this *RIDICULOUS* proposed #Initiative86 measure. >via @axios News Report: axios.com/local/washington-d…

D.C.'s foie gras fight gets messy

Outside money, duck mascots and a chef plotting legal resistance. As voters weigh a foie gras ban, the battle over the luxury liver is heating up — and could continue long after Election Day.

axios.com
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DC Candidate List for 345 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats: MORE THAN *4-in-5* are basically random volunteers. • 82% of seats have *NO CANDIDATE* or *ONLY ONE CANDIDATE* on ballot • 18% of seats have competing candidates on ballot >LIST: dcboe.org/getContentAsset/55…
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The D.C. man suspected of shooting a National Guardsman who tried to break up a fight went to prison for shooting at a D.C. special officer, had two other gun convictions and was on supervised release. trib.al/tovUFTX

DC bar temporarily closed after National Guardsman is shot outside

Suspect Jerrell Jackson was on supervised release and had three prior gun convictions, including for shooting at a D.C. special police officer.

nbcwashington.com
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‘Some Progressives Tried To Abolish the Tipped Minimum Wage. Now They're Backtracking.’ “Policymakers across the country are confronting the unfortunate economic results of prohibiting restaurants paying servers a lower base wage supplemented by tips.” reason.com/2026/10/17/some-p…

Some progressives tried to abolish the tipped minimum wage. Now they're backtracking.

Policymakers across the country are confronting the unfortunate—and predictable—economic results of prohibiting restaurants from paying servers a lower base wage supplemented by tips.

reason.com
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