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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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D.C. Council votes to amend mayor’s homeless shelter plan

The D.C. Council approved a revised version of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to replace the D.C. General homeless shelter Tuesday. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor.
The D.C. Council approved a revised version of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to replace the D.C. General homeless shelter Tuesday. Dan Rich | Contributing Photo Editor.

Updated: May 18, 2016 at 10:06 a.m.

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to tweak Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to close the D.C. General homeless shelter, which drew criticism from the mayor.

Bowser’s proposed plan to close the much-maligned D.C. General homeless shelter required the city to put up smaller shelters in each of the D.C.’s eight wards. Residents in some wards complained of the shelters’ locations the cost of the overall plan.

The Council’s unanimous revision of the plan stipulates that each of the ward’s new shelters must be on city-owned property, Washington City Paper reported Tuesday. The Council’s plan would save the District $160 million.

Only two of Bowser’s proposed shelters were owned by the city – in Wards 7 and 8. Bowser would have to change the proposed sites, buy the land or use “eminent domain” under the Council’s plan.

Ward 8 Council member LaRuby May proposed another amendment to the plan that would require a minimum of 50 units in each shelter, which was shot down by the Council in a four-to-eight vote.

Earlier in the day, Council chair Phil Mendelson said Bowser’s plan was “hampered by obfuscation and misinformation,” according to Washington City Paper.

“These problems would all have been avoided if there had been more collaboration…[and] there would not be questions about credibility,” Mendelson said.

Bowser cursed at Mendelson about his comments in a hallway in the Wilson building, according to Washington City Paper.

“You’re a fucking liar! You know it can’t close in 2018,” she told Mendelson, according to Washington City Paper.

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