A D.C. city council member intends to unveil new legislation in September which will lessen the authority of the city’s mayor.
Ward 3 city representative Mary M. Cheh’s legislation will reduce the number of political appointees afforded the mayor. The legislation will also call for adequate and proper screening of all mayoral appointees. Lastly, more attention will be given towards the appointees’ specific qualifications.
On Wednesday, Cheh announced her plans before she, David A. Catania and Tommy Wells, approved a report that sharply criticized the administration of D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray. The report states that Mayor Gray’s administration engaged in paying city salaries above legal caps, hiring the children of senior staff officials, and cronyism.
The findings were disturbing to Councilwoman Cheh, because she chairs the Special Committee on Investigation of Executive Personnel Practices. She has said previously that there is a role for political appointees who serve in the “excepted service,” which allows an executive to pick a loyal team and carry out policy.
Returning citizen Marcus Owen agrees.
“There is nothing wrong with hiring people whom you believe will follow your political direction. The problem comes when you begin to avert the law in order to accomplish that goal.”
Cheh is concerned about the 160 positions that are reserved for any mayor to fill.
“That does seem like a very large number to accomplish this task,” Cheh said, as reported by the Washington Times. “And the larger the number, of course, the greater opportunity for mischief.”
Cheh said the people also must be qualified, with a list of their names readily available to the public. Owen said, “The names of the people are often made available to the public, it’s the public who faults at paying attention to this.” He also added that he understood some of these positions aren’t listed.
The Special Committee on Investigation of Executive Personnel Practices’ report on Mayor Gray and his close advisors was based on information given by nineteen (19) witnesses who provided more than twenty-five (25) hours of testimony over the course of four months (March to June). The committee reviewed 20,000 pages of documents, including phone and text messages, bank records, more than 12,000 emails and other records.
Another area of the report mentions there was “strong evidence” that Howard Brooks, a campaign consultant for then mayoral candidate Gray, provided funds and a job to minor mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown. It was alleged that Brown was to stay in the primary race specifically to attack incumbent Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.
And of course there’s the hiring and firing of Brown from a $110,000-a-year job in the Department of Healthcare Finance, which many thought he was not qualified to hold.
The report said two of five children of high-ranking officials hired by the city government acquired their positions through illegal influence, and fourteen (14) mayoral appointees had received salaries that were above the legally mandated cap, the report states.
Among referrals to other city agencies, the committee wants the Office of Campaign Finance to investigate whether Mr. Brown documented funds he is said to have received from Mr. Brooks, and if the Gray team properly documented all of its contributions and expenditures.
Although Mayor Gray is mentioned in the report, his is largely spared with any wrongdoings. The brunt of the report was pointed at the mayor’s staffers. The report says the staffers were responsible for hiring political appointees and then placing them in various D.C. government agencies.
Previously, Gray has admitted that he promised Brown an interview, but says he did not promise him a job, and definitely did not pay him any cash [or promise to pay him with employment].
Cheh’s legislation is looking to doing more than limiting the mayor’s power of political hires. The legislation will also tighten control to avoid nepotism and a closer look at the minimum qualifications and maximum salaries for excepted service appointees.
Councilman Catania, an at-large independent, said to Cheh, “I share with you the view that their transgressions were breathtaking and have done a lot to contribute to a negative view of this government.”
Owen did have a concern over other members of the special committee not present.
“I wonder why both council members Harry Thomas Jr., and Michael A. Brown weren’t there. Well, Thomas I could understand he’s drinking the same Kool-Aid as Gray, but Brown, well, that’s still a mystery.”
The report also asks the U.S. Attorney for the District to look into possible acts of perjury in testimony before the committee by Sulaimon Brown and Judy Banks, who served as the interim director of the D.C. Department of Human Resources during Mr. Gray’s transition.
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