May 2, 2006

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday, the Mayor sent down an amendment to Title II-D, the Library Omnibus Financing and Development Act of 2006 of Bill 16-679, the “Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Support Act of 2006. Placed in the midst of this document is a sixteen page supplement that would give the Mayor the authority to lease the MLK building (created by Mies van der Rohe) for ninety-nine years.

The Mayor’s clear intention has long focused on disposing of this building to developers for some other (as yet unstated and unknown) use, claiming that income from the sale or lease of this building is necessary to fund the building of a new Central Library at the Old Convention Center site.

The DC Library Renaissance Project is flatly opposed both to the sale or lease of the Mies building, as well as to the Mayor’s plan to build a new Central Library from the ashes of MLK, but aside from our position on the issue, we believe that it is essential to debate the future of the Mies van der Rohe building as a separate item from the general budget for the Library.

Opportunity for e-mail action

Committee Chair Kathy Patterson, responding to the many witnesses opposing this section of the Bill, has recommended that the subtitle of the 2007 Budget Support Act pertaining to the financing and construction of the Central Library (granting the Mayor authority to lease MLK for ninety-nine years) be removed from that Act and considered separately.

On May 9, City Council Committee of the Whole will vote on Mrs Patterson’s recommendation.

There is no formal forum for discussing this recommendation, but people should make their views known through letters, phone calls or e-mails.

Go to www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us for Council member contact information.

The following Council members have already indicated they will support Mrs Patterson’s recommendation on May 9:

Sharon Ambrose

Kwame Brown

Jack Evans

Carol Schwartz