Newsroom

“The last 18 months have exposed longstanding inequities in our health systems, further placing an unjust burden on Black and Brown residents,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson. “This resolution urges Congress to act. The Affordable Care Act was a strong start, but now it’s time to go further and provide comprehensive access to health care regardless of employment status. It is past time we eliminate discriminatory barriers to health care in the United States.”

“To hear from the city administrator that we had an outsized number of religious exemption requests from one agency caught my attention,” said D.C. Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large). “Across the country we believe in religious freedoms. But I think there is a high skepticism of individuals using religion for religion’s sake, as a shield to avoid something they don’t want to do.”

Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman are all vaccinated, according to spokespeople. Ward 4’s Janeese Lewis George, Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau, Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto, and At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson are all fully vaccinated, as are 100% of their staff members, according to spokespeople in each office.

They say it would also ensure that the winner of a crowded contest actually has a majority of the vote, instead of a mere plurality. And they add that New York City’s experience with ranked-choice voting in this year’s mayoral election proves it can work. Advocates want D.C. lawmakers to follow suit and pass the bill introduced by Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large) over the summer. (Under the bill, ranked-choice voting wouldn’t start until the 2024 election cycle.)

“One thing I won’t be considering in this process is parking,” said Henderson at today’s hearing, chuckling. “In fact, next week I’ll be introducing legislation to delink our residential parking permit program from our ward political boundaries. With that off the table, I think we can have a much more focused conversation … [towards] delivering equal and fair access to representation.” Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen later expressed his support for the proposed action.

“Ranked choice voting is a system that will allow voters to rank up to five candidates in order of their preference. Data shows RCV better supports women, people of color, and first-time candidates when running for office,” said Councilmember Christina Henderson. “With the unofficial results of New York City’s primary election — the largest jurisdiction to use RCV — voters elected the second Black Mayor in the city’s history, the first ever majority female City Council, and an overwhelming number of voters ranked three or more candidates. As DC’s elections become more competitive, it’s time to consider whether a new process for selecting our elected officials is needed.”

Councilwoman Christina Henderson has been pushing for answers to some of the questions asked by parents. Below is one of the responses. “If a student tests positive for COVID-19, siblings who reside in the same household as the positive student are considered close contacts and must quarantine. We are updating the guidance for schools to clarify the treatment of siblings in much greater detail,” said DC Health Department's Director LaQuandra Nesbitt.

Some elected officials have criticized the arrangement to keep city-contracted nurses out of providing care for students with potential COVID symptoms. The arrangement is “inefficient & a mess in waiting,” At-large D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson said on Twitter.

When Christina Henderson, a new at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia, first considered running for office, one of her worries was whether she could raise enough money to be competitive. “I was not independently wealthy. Most of my friends worked in the public sector,” says Henderson, who was previously a staffer on the Council.

That job falls largely to the redistricting subcommittee, which is made up of the Council’s three at-large members: Elissa Silverman (who chairs the committee), Anita Bonds, and Christina Henderson. The redistricting hearing in September will be DC’s first since the Census Bureau released local-level data from the 2020 census. An initial hearing was held in May.

Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large) on Wednesday tweeted a copy of the letter, which was signed by fellow council members Anita Bonds (D-At Large), Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), WJLA-TV (Channel 7) reported. “Today 7 of my colleagues joined me in a letter to @MayorBowser asking her to issue an updated Mayor’s Order to require all public school employees, child care facility employees, & DC gov connected individuals who have regular contact with minors to vaccinate against COVID-19,” Henderson wrote.

Councilmember Christina Henderson shared the letter on her Twitter page Wednesday afternoon. "Today 7 of my colleagues joined me in a letter to @MayorBowser asking her to issue an updated Mayor’s Order to require all public school employees, child care facility employees, & DC gov connected individuals who have regular contact with minors to vaccinate against COVID-19," she tweeted.