Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large)

Today, Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) dramatically announced that an emergency existed in the District with regards to the spate of ethical improprieties that have plagued the city’s government. As a means to address them, Orange proposed that a task force be set up to investigate the problem and propose far-reaching solutions. His colleagues disagreed, rejecting Orange’s proposal with a 12-1 vote.

But Orange may have gained more in losing than he would have had he won the support of the majority of the Council.

During the debate that took place at this morning’s legislative meeting, Orange played to widespread public frustration with the repeated scandals that have plagued the government, saying that “the public has lost faith in our ability to address ethical improprieties.” His proposed task force, he argued, would serve as the “precise ethics enforcement tool” needed.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears, as a number of Councilmembers argued that the task force would merely get in the way of work being done by the Councilmember Muriel Bowser’s (D-Ward 4) Committee on Government Operations, which has scheduled a October 26 hearing to consider nine proposals for everything from stricter campaign finance reporting standards to term limits. (The latter was introduced by Orange two weeks ago.)

Bowser, who circulated a memo yesterday in which she criticized Orange’s proposal, said that for any reform to be effective, it had to be deliberately conceived.

“We must resist the temptation to throw something on the wall and hope it sticks,” she said, echoing similar comments she made on The Kojo Nnamdi Show two weeks ago.

Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) sided with Bowser, pointing out that Orange’s task force would be give a full year to work and would meet behind closed doors. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) also spoke out against the idea of an ethics task force, calling it “counterproductive.” Orange wasn’t about to give up, though, arguing that his colleagues shouldn’t “create excuses” for voting against his proposal.

“Yes, we are afraid to have someone else look at us,” he said.

Orange also said his task force fulfilled a campaign promise to aggressively tackle ethics reform, to which Bowser acidly replied, “It is incumbent upon us to separate ourselves from the campaign trail.” (Both face re-election in 2012; Bowser currently has seven challengers, Orange none.)

The proposal garnered no support, but it surely didn’t quiet any rumors as to Orange’s larger political plans. After all, Orange has been known to quote Andrew Jackson when speaking to crowds, reminding them that “one man with courage makes a majority.”

Orange may not have gotten himself a parliamentary majority, but that likely wasn’t the point.