When the D.C. Council resumes business in the fall, it will be without Doni Crawford, the interim council member who lost her bid to finish out the rest of her former boss’s council term. During the council’s last legislative meeting before summer recess, a teary-eyed Crawford received her flowers — literally and figuratively — before thanking the members of her team and commenting on what she called the experience of a lifetime. “This has been my favorite job thus far,” Crawford said on the afternoon of July 14. “I’ve enjoyed it as a staffer, and now I’ve had the pleasure of doing it as a member. I don’t want it to stop, but unfortunately it has to end this week, and I thank you all for your words, and I will keep your words close to my heart when I’m reflecting on this time as a member in the District of Columbia representing 700,000 people.” Earlier this year, upon then-At-large D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s resignation, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D) selected Crawford, a McDuffie staffer, to serve a portion of the former council member’s term. Crawford, whose background included a stint as a policy analyst, counted among nearly three dozen applicants. As interim council member, she introduced four bills and weighed in on policy matters during committee and legislative meetings. Most recently, during the budget deliberation cycle, she and Mendelson shaped a Budget Support Act subtitle related to RFK campus. Crawford also counted among those who crafted the District’s response to the so-called teen takeovers. As one of her council colleagues recounted, Crawford’s expertise, and fervor for equity, placed her in front of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) for an exchange of words, and ultimately the passage of an amendment to the permanent legislation. “I asked folks in the