Six District of Columbia Council members Wednesday accused Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration of "embarrassing" the city by sending a $2.2 million bill to a mental patient who gouged his own eyes out while he was supposed to be monitored by D.C. officials.

The letter, dated Wednesday, is addressed to Peter J. Nickles, Fenty's general counsel. It says that the council members are "both disappointed and alarmed" by the city's treatment of Frank Harris, Jr.

Harris, a schizophrenic, ripped out his own eyes in early 2003, after spending nearly three decades in St. Elizabeth's hospital. After his lifelong friend, Janice Mottley, filed a negligence lawsuit on Harris' behalf, the city sent her a bill for $2.2 million for room and board dating back to the 1980s.

The Fenty administration inherited the case from former mayor Anthony A. Williams, but Nickles has said publicly that the law requires the city to bill Medicaid patients when they come into money. When he was a District Council member, Fenty blasted the Williams administration for similar tactics.

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Now Fenty is on the other side of the question and facing mounting political and legal pressure. District Council Member Phil Mendelson, D-At Large, who has often clashed with the Fenty regime, spoke out first about the Harris case. He has now rallied his colleagues to the cause.

Council Chair Vincent Gray and members Yvette Alexander, D-Ward 7, Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, Harry Thomas, Jr., D-Ward 5, and Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, joined Mendelson to signed Wednesday's letter. It marks the first time in his administration that Fenty has faced an open rebuke from so many members of the council.

The legal battle in the Harris case has escalated, too. Last week, Harris' lawyers filed a federal civil rights suit against the District, claiming that city officials were selectively enforcing the law.

"It goes to show you how out of touch the Fenty administration is," Harris attorney Joseph Cammarata told The Examiner Wednesday. "It says to city agencies, 'It's okay to hurt your fellow citizens because we have a way to fix that if we get sued: We'll just send them a bill.'"

Fenty spokeswoman Carrie Brooks declined comment for this story.

Got a tip on this story? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or send e-mail to bmyers@dcexaminer.com.