The D.C. City Council has scheduled a public hearing in its latest fight to gain representation in Congress — adding the phrase “no taxation without representation” to the city flag.

[IMGCAP(1)]The Council will present its two proposed redesigns at 2 p.m. Friday in its chamber at the Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. One version features the phrase centered; the other shows it justified left.

Councilman Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who is leading the effort, hopes the Council will vote on the legislation at its November meeting.

If approved, the new flags will be on display in time for D.C.’s Jan. 13, 2004, Democratic presidential primary.

Porter Aide Headed to Iraq. Traci Scott, press secretary to Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.), is headed to Baghdad in the coming weeks to serve as a press officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

The former communications director to fellow Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R) and one-time news reporter at KLAS-TV Channel 8 in Las Vegas said she would miss “the calm and serenity” of the Hill but couldn’t pass up “the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Scott, 38, said her assignment will last at least six months, maybe longer.

Adam Mayberry, spokesman for the Airport Authority of Washoe County, will take over as Porter’s press secretary Oct. 13.

— John McArdle and Bree Hocking