D.C. Code § 26-902
Applications for license to conduct such business must be made in writing to the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and shall contain the full names and addresses of applicants, if natural persons, and in the case of firms and voluntary associations, the full names and addresses of all the members thereof, and in the case of joint-stock companies, incorporated societies, and corporations, the full names and addresses of the officers and directors thereof and under what law or laws organized or incorporated, and the place where such business is to be conducted, and such other information as the said Mayor may require. Every license granted shall date from the 1st of the month in which it is issued and expire on the 31st day of the following October, and such license shall be kept conspicuously displayed in the place of business of the licensee. Every application shall be filed not less than 30 days prior to the granting of such license, and notice of the filing of such application shall be posted in the office of the Director of the Department of Licenses, Investigation and Inspections of the said District and be published twice a week for 3 successive weeks in a daily newspaper published in the District of Columbia. Protest may be made by any person to the issuing of such license, and when such protests are filed with the said Mayor the latter shall give public notice of and hold a public hearing upon such protests before issuing such license. The said Mayor shall have the power to reject any application for license after a hearing upon such protest or for failure on the part of the applicant to observe this chapter, or when such applicant shall have violated its provisions.
D.C. Code § 26-902