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Henderson said that after hearing community members’ frustrations about the conditions of their recreation facilities, she wanted to create a situation where they would no longer have to depend solely on their council member’s political savvy to secure upgrades to their facilities. “As we move toward the end of the pandemic, more people want to spend time outside, either by themselves or their children,” Henderson said.

In the end, certain hallmarks of the Revised Criminal Code Act remained intact. With the ongoing dearth of District court judges however, some council members, including Henderson, recommended that the D.C. Council adjusts elements of the Revised Criminal Code Act as needed, especially as it relates to expanded jury trials. “It’s going to be important for this body to be nimble,” Henderson said.

Henderson emphasized the District RPP program’s sheer peculiarity in her opening statement. “We have eight residential permit parking zones and those are based on ward boundaries,” Henderson said. “Whereas Philadelphia has 39 RPP zones; San Francisco has 33; Boston has around 40; neighboring Arlington, VA has 23; and Montgomery County has 53. Adjusted for population, the District expects far more people to find parking in zones that are very different sizes from each other [in comparison] to other cities. Here, over 85,000 people must find parking in the 2.5 square miles of Ward One while just under 85,000 people compete for parking in the 10.4 square miles of Ward 3. The District is not the only jurisdiction in the United States or even in the world struggling with prioritizing parking for their residents near their homes, however, not many places are exploring alternatives, and I’d like the District to lead in that respect.”

In a letter to D.C. Public Schools, Council members Christina Henderson and Mary Cheh say it’s not enough to stop using the company that employed the person who drove children while intoxicated: 48-year-old Troy Reynolds of Oxon Hill, Maryland. Henderson and Cheh are requesting answers to their letter and other questions by Wednesday, Nov. 9.

D.C. Public Schools parted ways with the charter bus company, but Henderson and Cheh’s letter says that is not enough. “To simply discontinue use of the transportation company involved is not enough,” Christina Henderson said. “We acknowledge the difficulty that many firms across the country are having right now with recruiting drivers with commercial drivers’ licenses, but that is no excuse to continue to contract with companies with problematic performance records,” the letter said.

Ben Murch Elementary Parents also showed FOX 5 a letter sent from council members Mary Cheh and Christina Henderson asking DCPS to take even more action, including making sure Rome Charters LLC is added to the District’s "Excluded Parties List" to ensure no other city agency contracts with the business.

Henderson agreed that the bill would have to be tweaked, and likely leave the drawing of new boundaries to DDOT after an extensive community engagement process. “Anytime we talk about parking, or cars, it’s always controversial. It could be [speed cameras], it could be towing, it could be bike lanes. Parking will always bring an emotional response because changing that is the thing that changes people’s lifestyles the most,” she said.

Tuesday, for example, Washington council member Christina Henderson is expected to put forward emergency and temporary legislation to delay a law that requires students over 12 to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Speaking to the Washington Post Tuesday, Henderson said the change of course since the initial vote a year ago is due to a shift in how health officials understand the coronavirus, including taking a more relaxed approach to guidance protocols and masking. Henderson cited universities and school districts that have adopted a new approach in not requiring their students to vaccinate, and the overall decline in COVID-related deaths as well.

Lawmakers also approved an emergency bill from Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) that further delays enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for kids 12 and up until the start of the 2023 school year, a year later than was initially planned when the council passed the mandate into law in late 2021. The mandate had already been delayed by five months in late August amidst a city push to get school kids caught up on routine immunizations. Afterwards, an October council hearing exposed problems some schools were having in tracking student immunizations, and also disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates that left some lawmakers concerned that Black and Latino students could disproportionately be removed from school in Jan. 2023 when delayed enforcement was set to begin.

In the meantime, lawmakers will review the requirement, which was passed in December. Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large) indicated last month she would put forth emergency and temporary legislation to delay the plan, saying much has changed about the way health officials understand the virus since she introduced the legislation last year.

Council members reacted favorably to the concept, but some questioned whether the assessment might have unintended consequences. Councilmember Christina Henderson, D-At large, said she feared higher hotel taxes in D.C. could put the District at a competitive disadvantage to its neighboring jurisdictions in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. "I have to say I’m a little skeptical, only because, for years, the hotel association has said that the price of our hotel rooms is out of bounds with the rest of the region. And so, I know you’re calling it an assessment, but you’re asking us to add 1% to the hotel tax," Henderson said. "How will that impact visitors in terms of costs in comparison to the rest of the region?"

D.C. Council member Christina Henderson (D-At Large), the transportation planning board’s vice chair, called transit riders’ unhappiness “a flashing red light” for the region’s attempts to encourage transit usage. “Even though someone may be spending 45 minutes in a car by themselves, they’re still more satisfied than someone on a bus or train,” Henderson said. “That, to me, is a problem that needs to be addressed.”