The D.C. Council kicked off its fall session with swearing over breakfast, mocking each other from the dais, passing a tax increase on high earners and then holding a hastily scheduled meeting behind closed doors guarded by police officers. But after three days marked by animosity and personality clashes, the city’s legislators are hesitant to say they their image has suffered, though political pundits were quick to zero in on that point.
Council Chairman Kwame Brown said the tax increase as the first order of business immediately stepped up tensions. The rise to 8.95 percent, effective in October, will apply to those earning more than $350,000 annually.
“Tax increase — that’s the most debatable topic in the country,” he said. “You can’t expect that to be a quiet debate and hold hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ when its over.”
Brown noted past debates over dicey topics like the moratorium on strip club liquor licenses or on baseball stadium funding have been just as heated, if not more. He believes the recent portrayals of the council have been sensationalized.
“[This] just happened to be on the first day when you get back from recess,” he said. “And of course the media jumped on it to make it seem like things are out of control.”
He and others suggested things would be different if not for a heated discussion during a council breakfast where members swore at one another and reporters were present. Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, one of the councilmen who swore, said that should have been a setting where some informalities are accepted.
When asked what the council could do differently, he said, “What we’re going to do is be very cordial to one another. Hopefully then the sensibilities of the media will not be offended.”
Evans, who after the income tax increase called the body the “worst council” he had ever served on, did add that the closed-door meeting later in the week “helped get some of that out of the way.”
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham noted he would be looking to Brown to set the tone.
“I think the chairmen recognizes that and he’s going to attend to this more vigorously in the future,” Graham said. “That’s certainly part of the answer.”
However, Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser conceded the ethical cloud hanging over the council isn’t helping.
“There’s a lot of scrutiny,” she said Friday on WAMU’s “Politics Hour.” “I think when you have this kind of uncertainty in the system, from the mayor’s office to several members of the council, you’re going to see a lot of jockeying.”
