Bad old days of D.C. government corruption are back

Examiner Local Editorial: Bad old days of D.C. government corruption are back
By: Examiner Editorial

Hard as it is to believe, major scandals involving Mayor Vincent Gray's campaign and transition team are being eclipsed by almost daily revelations of venality and highly questionable judgment by members of the D.C. Council. With six of 13 council members, including the chairman, currently or previously under ethics clouds, D.C.'s hard-won reputation as a professionally managed, modern city has quickly eroded. The ethical lapses are so numerous and so egregious that they immediately bring to mind the bad old days of rampant corruption during the ignominious administration of former Mayor Marion Barry.

The ongoing farce at the Wilson Building includes:

* Chairman Kwame "Fully Loaded" Brown: The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance filed a formal complaint with the Board of Elections and Ethics alleging that Brown's 2008 campaign failed to report more than $300,000, and that some of the unreported cash may have been back-channeled to entities doing business with the city. Yet Brown had the audacity to introduce an ethics bill that would set a ceiling on fines for just such violations.

* Jim "Hollywood" Graham: The Ward 1 council member somehow forgot to alert law enforcement in 2008 that he had been handed an envelope containing $2,600 in cash during a federal undercover sting that caught his former chief of staff taking bribes from taxi companies in return for steering favorable legislation through the council. Graham explained that he scotch-taped the envelope shut and initialed it ("I think I saw that in a movie someplace ... ") before handing it back.

* Michael "Luck Be A Lady" Brown: The Washington Post reported that this at-large member, who successfully shepherded the nation's first online gambling operation through the council with no public hearings, likewise forgot to mention that he had been paid $240,000 by an international law firm representing the online gaming industry.

*Harry "Play Ball" Thomas Jr.: The Ward 5 council member was accused of diverting $300,000 in taxpayer funds from a youth baseball program and then splurging on a $70,000 Audi SUV and golfing trips to Las Vegas and Pebble Beach. In a separate case, a federal judge gave Thomas two weeks to respond to allegations that he skipped out on $15,000 in student loans dating back to the 1980s.

Any still-untarnished council members must get off the sidelines and start demonstrating the principles of good government before it's too late to restore D.C.'s reputation or regain the public's trust.