The botched nomination of Robert Mallett to the three-member Board of Elections and Ethics shouldn’t be confused with the series of scandalous personnel problems that have plagued Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration since January. For one thing, Mallett would not have received one of those exorbitant salaries the mayor has passed around like water. The former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce would have been an unpaid chairman of the BOEE. Not unlike others before him, Mallett’s reward would have been long hours, tons of criticism and meager accolades.
His nomination was derailed, however, after government watchdog Dorothy Brizill disclosed he had not lived in the city three consecutive years as required by law. Mallett confirmed he had been a District resident for 17 years prior to moving in 2001 to take a job in New York City. He returned in 2010, purchasing a home in Ward 3.
The three-year residency rule is an unnecessarily high bar. Consider, for example, that anyone wishing to vote in the city’s election need only have been a resident for 30 days before casting a ballot, according to BOEE spokeswoman Alysoun McLaughlin. And to run for mayor or council chairman, a candidate would have had to live in the city only one year before launching a campaign.
Gray initially considered seeking a waiver to permit Mallett’s service. But before he could make the case to the D.C. Council, Muriel Bowser, chairwoman of the Committee on Government Operations that oversees BOEE, publicly expressed reluctance to lift the residency requirement.
“Mr. Mallett had a solid track record of service to the city,” mayoral spokeswoman Doxie McCoy told me earlier this week. “He would have been a good leader of the BOEE.”
I covered Mallett when he was city administrator working with then-Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly. While I disagreed with him and his boss on numerous occasions, I found him to be a person of high integrity.
Bowser defended her anti-waiver posture while noting Gray had yet to send any nominations to the council. Stephen Danzansky, a Republican, and Devarieste Curry also were named to the BOEE. The board has been operating with only two members; Charles Lowery’s term expired in 2010 and Togo West, the chairman, told Gray he wants to be relieved of duty.
“[A waiver] would have put the council in the position of making a special waiver for someone who may stand in judgment of members on ethical and other issues,” said Bowser.
Good point.
Interestingly, the residency requirement has been on the books since the 1950s, said McLaughlin. Bowser said the council reaffirmed that mandate last year when it approved its omnibus election reform legislation.
Still, legislators may want to reconsider that requirement, particularly if it prevents well-qualified residents like Mallett from lending their talents to the government and the city.
“I think it may be worth a second look,” said Bowser.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
