WMAL Interview - DC Councilmember ELISSA SILVERMAN - 11-17.16

INTERVIEW – D.C. COUNCILMEMBER ELISSA SILVERMAN – At-Large

Council debates downsizing stand along inaugural parade route. Some members of the D.C. Council are trying to curtail the city’s traditional spending on the presidential inauguration this January, when Republican ­Donald Trump will assume office in a city that voted overwhelmingly against him. A proposal first floated by council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) would eliminate or drastically reduce the District’s funding for a stand built on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW to view the inaugural parade. Silverman said her suggestion to scale back the city’s inauguration spending was at least partially motivated by nonpartisan concern over wasteful spending. In 2013, the glass-enclosed stand was carpeted, heated and included flat-screen televisions. About 2,000 people — including elected officials, their staffs and constituents — used the stand during the course of the day, and it cost about $342,000. But Silverman said she also wanted to trigger a discussion among the District’s elected officials about their stance toward the upset presidential victor who will soon be their neighbor on Pennsylvania Avenue.