Martin Austermuhle
Photo by wallyg.The D.C. GOP may not have the best of luck when it comes to getting someone elected to office, but it’s certainly on a roll when it comes to calling out elected officials on their shenanigans.
In a letter sent today to the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, the D.C. GOP demanded an investigation into 10 councilmembers for donating money out of their constituent services funds to local Democratic clubs, committees and organizations — a big no-no, according to D.C. regulations.
According to the Republicans, the guilty parties include councilmembers David Catania (I-At Large), Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), Michael Brown (I-At Large), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), Vincent Orange (D-At Large) and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7); D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown is also called out. Barry led the charge with $1,150 in donations to two organizations (Ward 8 Democrats and D.C. Democratic State Committee), followed up by Michael Brown, with $650 to three organizations (Ward 7 Democrats, Ward 8 Democrats and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club).
Constituent Service Funds, for which councilmembers can raise up to $80,000 to help constituents pay bills and manage emergencies, have recently come under increased scrutiny. According to the Post, Evans used over $135,000 from his fund over the past decade to buy tickets to baseball, basketball and hockey games — more than he directed to charitable organizations. Greater Greater Washington also reported that he used over $3,000 to pay staff parking tickets, money that arguably should be counted as taxable income. Alexander recently walked away with a fine for allegations of inappropriate use of her fund.
Should the GOP’s claims be true, our original count of ethically challenged councilmembers will suddenly jump from six to, well, everyone but Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6). Additionally, given where Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) is these days ($300,000 in the hole and facing a possible federal indictment), any sitting elected official should be worried when the GOP asks for an investigation.
UPDATE (2:30 p.m.): After talking to one person with knowledge of this issue, an interesting point was raised — some of the money given by these councilmembers may have served non-political purposes. For example, in 2006 Catania gave $100 to the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club for an event saluting outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams. Additionally, in 2007 he gave $90 to the Lorraine Whitlock Scholarship Dinner, which benefits a high school senior in Ward 7. Of course, if even 10 cents of those donations remained with either group to cover overhead, for example, there could be a violation of D.C. rules, seeing as both promote partisan candidates. The D.C. GOP stands by its allegations, and says that if elected officials want to give money to good causes, then maybe political committees aren’t the way to go. The devil truly is in the details.
UPDATE (3:10 p.m.): Cheh is the first councilmember to fire back against the GOP’s allegations. Of the two donations she is alleged to have made, one was reimbursed after she realized the “political nature of the event.” The second was apparently made out of a fund held by her predecessor, Kathy Patterson. “My staff has scoured every entry for my Constituent Services Fund since taking office and confirmed that I have never donated any money from that fund to the Ward 3 Democratic Committee,” she wrote in a letter to Cecily E. Collier-Montgomery, director of the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.
