Councilmember Vincent Orange

In the D.C. Council’s first meeting since their August recess, ethics appeared to be the first issue on everyone’s mind. Three councilmembers introduced distinct measures addressing government hiring practices, campaign finance and Constituent Services Funds, while another quickly back-tracked on a controversial pay hike for legislators.

During the morning session, Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) introduced a measure that would strengthen the District’s personnel system to prevent the types of hiring practices and excessive salaries that dogged Mayor Vincent Gray’s early months in office. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) proposed legislation that would prohibit D.C. lobbyists from contributing to political campaigns and Constituent Services Funds, and ban them from offering councilmembers free or discounted legal advice. Meanwhile, Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) pushed strengthened regulations on transition and inaugural committees, and advocated halving the amount that could be raised for Constituent Services Funds to $40,000 per year. (Cheh wants funds cut to $20,000, while Wells’ measure would cut to $10,000.)

In a related move, Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) formally introduced a proposal that would limit elected officials to two four-year terms in office, and moved to mandate that all councilmembers would have to occupy the positions on a full-time basis. (Currently they can hold outside employment.) But in a sudden turnaround, Orange scrapped a proposed pay raise for councilmembers that would see them make $170,000, some $45,000 more than they currently make. Orange’s term limit bill attracted no co-sponsors, while his proposal for full-time employment for councilmembers gained Bowser’s support.

Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who has served on the council since 1991, had little good to say about Orange’s proposed term limits, calling him a “hypocrite” and arguing that he should resign since he’s served two terms himself. (Orange served two terms on the council representing Ward 5; in 2001, he joined Evans in voting to repeal a 1994 initiative that would have imposed term limits.)

“We have term limits. It’s called elections. You don’t like people, you vote them out of office,” said Evans. “The only people who want term limits are the people who want these jobs.”

Bowser, who chairs the Committee on Government Operations that will handle all ethics-related bills, indicated that she would be holding hearings on October 12 and 26 to debate the many proposals floating around. She did hint that good ideas alone wouldn’t be enough, though.

“Ethics reform without meaningful enforcement is meaningless,” she said.