Time to Go
Dear People in Control:
The tsunami of ethical failures that has overwhelmed our government
does not have to overwhelm us. These corrupt events are serious and have
been eating at the heart of our city’s government for years. But they
are not a new crisis. Recent events have come to light all at one time
partly by coincidence, and they have partly been exaggerated by
partisans of Adrian Fenty who are attempting to refight the last
election and bring down Vincent Gray by connecting Gray falsely to them.
(Frederick Butler, the same man who was the communications director of
the Write in Fenty campaign and who works for Fenty crony and partner in
scandal Sinclair Skinner, now runs the Recall Vince Gray campaign, http://www.recallvincegray.com.)
But Kwame Brown’s and Harry Thomas’ and Yvette Alexander’s
fundraising scandals are all independent of each other, and all of them
occurred during Fenty’s mayoralty. We also have to note the fiscal and
earmark corruption of Marion Barry over years and Jack Evans’
long-running practice of representing the same clients in his law firm’s
office and his council office.
Jim Graham’s (and now Harry Thomas’) involvement with promoting
taxicab medallions and Michael Brown’s involvement with promoting
Internet gambling are corrupt, but that is because the industries they
are promoting are corrupt in themselves. Cab medallions have nothing to
do with improving taxicab fleets or taxicab service. Anything the
government wanted to do to improve cab fleets or service it could do
through Taxicab Commission regulations, if the government had a
functioning Taxicab Commission, which it hasn’t had for years.
Medallions are simply a method for the government to create wealth for
large taxicab companies, politicians’ generous donors, by restricting
the number of medallions and therefore artificially raising a barrier
that prevents new drivers from entering the cab industry as independent
cab owners. And as for Internet gambling, does anyone, even anyone who
supports gambling, really believe that the DC government is going to
devote the massive resources and attention it would take to clean up the
gambling industry? There’s no profit in that.
The council has reacted to the mess it is in by considering a new
ethics law, Bill 19-297 (http://www.dcwatch.com/council19/19-297.htm),
proposed by Council Chairman Kwame Brown and Councilmember Mary Cheh.
There will be a public roundtable on the bill tomorrow, but the bill is
already a failure before the council has even discussed it. Not only
does it not improve how the government deals with the ethical lapses of
elected officials, it makes it worse, establishing new bureaucracies
with no power or authority. As The Washington Post editorialized
today, “It not only would fail to bring clarity to the city’s
confusing code of conduct but also would create unnecessary bureaucracy.
An ethics advisory committee would be formed and a new office of
government accountability would be tasked with investigations, although
it would only be able to make recommendations to a vaguely described ‘appropriate
authority.’ Instead of creating dubious layers of government where
investigations can go to die, the council should strengthen the agencies
— the office of campaign finance, the inspector general, and the
attorney general’s office — already in place,” http://tinyurl.com/3tteyku
Mary Cheh has argued that opposing this bill is a case of opposing the
good because it is not perfect. But the bill is neither perfect
nor good, and passing a bad ethics billl now means the council will
consider its job done, and not pass a good bill later.
More importantly, individual councilmembers should grow spines and
straighten out their current postures of going along with each others’
corruption in order to get along with each other. Most politicians
normally maintain cordial relations with their colleagues in order to
reach the compromises necessary to pass legislation, but these are not
normal times. Councilmembers who have given each other free passes in
the past need to learn not to turn their backs on unethical conduct by
their colleagues and on the corrupt deals their colleagues promote,
whether those deals are earmarks, free cars, taxicab medallion bills,
favors for their donors or clients, hiring girlfriends or relatives,
using council staffers as gofers, servants, or campaign aides, or any of
a multitude of other schemes. And as voters we should consider again the
term limits bill that Russell Cramer mentions below. When the voters
passed a term limits bill several years ago, the city council waited
several years, until just before the bill would go into effect, before
Councilmember Jack Evans led the council in repealing it. Councilmembers
don’t believe the people should govern the council; we should pass
term limits again and let them know we’re serious about taking control
back from them. They’ve grown too fat, sassy, and unaccountable in
their positions;
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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I’m going to try to sum up briefly what happened during the
redistricting struggle that has just come to an end. A few weeks ago,
three councilmembers who were in charge of the redistricting told Ward 6
residents that DC law required that each of our eight wards should be
roughly seventy-five thousand each in population. Therefore Ward 6 had
to give up to Ward 7 the eight thousand residents between 17th Street,
SE, and Reservation 13. These council members were Jack Evans, Michael
Brown, and Phil Mendelson.
But when citizens of Ward 6 fought back, the three councilmembers
abandoned the shifting of Ward 6’s eight thousand people and simply
gave Reservation 13 to Ward 7. And Ward 6 ended up receiving the Shaw
neighborhood from Jack Evans’ ward. That is where things stand, now
that the battle is over.
This makes it obvious that following the law concerning equal
population was not really what motivated Evans, Brown, and Mendelson. I’m
interested in what people think their motivation was.
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Wow seems like everybody up in that city council is crooked, we can
sure need a change! Everybody need to go!
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Bring back term limits. Force these “representatives of the people”
to rid themselves of their sycophants, opportunists, and robber barons
who surround them and who make them feel important, invincible, and
entitled. Have them get a taste of the real world every eighth year. In
the meantime the people have four years to find out if the person who
replaced them are better, and if not, to vote them back in again. All
this rubbish about continuity, familiarity, and stability is nothing
else but that — a load of rubbish! We can clean up and also set an
example to Congress, that other den of thieves with unlimited terms. Let’s
get a referendum on term limits going. If it is good for the mayoral
position, it ought to apply to the Council as well.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Hearing Tomorrow on Ethics Reform, June 13
Kwame Brown, tellkwamebrown@gmail.com
I made a promise after being elected Chairman to have an ethics
reform bill for my colleagues to vote on before the end of this
legislative session. I’m proud to say that we’re delivering on that
promise. On May 17, I co-introduced legislation, with Ward 3
Councilmember Mary Cheh, establishing the Comprehensive Ethics Reform
Act of 2011 (CERA). This legislation will create the Office of
Government Accountability (OGA) and, within it, the Ethics Advisory
Committee (EAC).
The Director of the OGA will have the power to investigate any matter
involving lobbying, conflict of interest, financial disclosures, and
other ethical matters and standards of conduct relating to District of
Columbia employees. Accordingly, the Director will be empowered to
subpoena, depose persons, recommend civil penalties, and report
potential criminal violations to the appropriate authorities and
agencies.
The CERA Act will broaden requirements of lobbyist registration,
require disclosure of business relationships between lobbyists and
public officials, and require elected officials to disclose external
fundraising activities. We will hold a public hearing for this ethics
bill tomorrow, Monday, June 13, at noon in Council Chambers, Room 500.
Please attend the hearing or watch it live on our web site.
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National Building Museum Events, June 18, 29
Stacy Adamson, sadamson@nbm.org
June 18, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of
Structural Tile. Free, registration not required. Held at the National
Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium, 10th Street and
Constitution Avenue, NW. John Ochsendorf, engineering professor at MIT
and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, discusses the history of Guastavino
vaults, which employ terra cotta tile and mortar to form self-supporting
arches and domes. Presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian
Institution’s Architectural History and Historic Preservation
Division, the lecture will take place in the National Museum of Natural
History’s Baird Auditorium, a spectacular example of Guastavino
vaulting.
June 19, 1:00-3:00 p.m. Mosaic Mania. $12 per child for members, $17
per child for nonmembers. Prepaid registration required. Learn to tell a
story through art and architecture! Join mural artist and founder of
City Arts, Byron Peck, in this hands-on, art-making adventure for the
whole family. Work with tiles and learn to make your own small mosaic
mural that you can take home and enjoy. Registration fee covers the cost
of materials. This program is presented in conjunction with Walls Speak:
The Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière. Both events at the National
Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square Metro station.
Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
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Voices of a Movement Open Mic, June 19
Jasmine Taylor, One Common Unity, contact@onecommonunity.org
One Common Unity proudly presents the most socially conscious open
mic night in DC: Voices of a Movement: Marriage and the Family. Hosted
by HawaH and Maimouna Youssef on Sunday, June 19, 8:00-10:00 p.m., at
Busboys and Poets (5th and K Streets, NW).
“Voices of a Movement” is your chance to take the stage and share
your story through music, spoken word poetry, and other artistic
mediums. And if performing is not your thing, simply come and listen.
Every month, we highlight a different issue facing our community. But
you’re welcome to bring work about any topic which concerns you to
share. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=184538171586998
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Affordable Condos in Anacostia and Good Hope/Naylor
Parisa Nourizi, parisa@empowerdc.org
There will be an information session on Saturday, June 18, from 10:00
a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Uniontown Bar and Grill, 2200 Martin Luther
King, Jr., Avenue, SE. Find out about affordable new condos in Anacostia
and Good Hope/Naylor. A free brunch will be served and a presentation on
neighborhood history and culture will be given by Anthony Gualtieri from
Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum. Hear about affordable home
ownership and the Buxton Condo in Anacostia and the Belgrove Condo in
Good Hope/Naylor from developer Manna, Inc. Credit counseling and
housing purchase assistance available, and an optional tour of the
property will follow the event. To RSVP or get more information, contact
Parisa at 234-9119, parisa@empowerdc.org
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