In recent days, there has been an ethics stampede at the Wilson Building. Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration indicated it expects to present a proposal to reign in misbehaving public officials. Several D.C. Council members introduced overlapping and duplicative reform bills. Who is the real ethics king?
Chairman Kwame Brown submitted earlier this year a severely flawed plan. Last week, he continued down that track, announcing his intentions to force internal financial disclosures from his colleagues that already are mandated by law.
At-large Councilman Vincent Orange proposed all legislators become full-time employees while increasing their salaries to $170,000 — a proposal he later withdrew. He also introduced a bill to limit the time members could hold office to two consecutive terms.
Ward 4’s Muriel Bowser would reduce from $80,000 to $40,000 the amount of money each council member can collect in his so-called constituent services fund while curtailing fundraising and expenditures for transition, inaugural and legal defense funds; similar actions were proposed by Ward 6’s Tommy Wells this summer.
As the head of the Committee on Government Operations, Bowser will have the responsibility of consolidating the various bills and bringing them for a vote.
Still, Wells may have earned the ethics crown: “I certainly was not running for ethics king,” he told me Monday.
“It is really the least enjoyable part, so far, of being a councilman,” Wells said. “I am more excited about new urban ideas — cleaning up the Anacostia River, transportation — those kinds of things.”
Wells’ journey to the throne began when, as head of the Committee on Transportation, he began an investigation into the chairman’s leasing of two luxury SUVs. The report from that probe blasted Brown and the city’s Department of Public Works. This summer, he also introduced measures that would prohibit procurement of luxury-class vehicles. This week, he went after corporations and lobbyists, limiting the amount of money they can give to campaigns while prohibiting free or discounted legal representation to council members.
But while legislators’ expressed devotion to ethics reform may be sincere, don’t think there aren’t any political motivations. District voters have been disgusted by the questionable behavior of many officials. There is the worry that a throw-the-bums-out philosophy will prevail, leaving some incumbents without jobs.
Bowser has announced her re-election bid and faces several opponents. Orange, who was elected to complete the term left vacant by Brown’s ascension to the chairmanship, must win again in April to have a permanent seat in the legislature.
Wells isn’t running for re-election. That doesn’t mean his motives are completely pure. When I asked him if he has considered a run as an at-large councilman or for the council chairman or mayor, he demurred: “I know I don’t have to make a decision about that for a year and a half.”
Sounds like he intends to run for something beyond Ward 6. Watch out for his stealth campaign.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
