Photo used under a Creative Commons license with Awiseman.

As I type this, the D.C. Council has officially been back to work for about an hour and a half. And already, it appears as if the summer recess didn’t do anything to cool the fiery relationships between many of the members. During the Council’s traditional pre-meeting breakfast this morning, quite the argument broke out between various members over the looming vote to institute an income tax increase on the city’s wealthiest residents.

According to WTOP’s Mark Segraves, who documented the whole brouhaha via his Twitter account, things started going downhill when David Catania (I-At-Large) said that he “wouldn’t mind raising taxes if the people on this body paid them or paid them on time,” an obvious swipe at Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who wasn’t even present in the room. After a few more Councilmembers got to the breakfast, Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) made his case against the income tax increase, invoking the committee process, while Catania told Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) that the city’s financial crisis was a “figment of [his] imagination.” After that, Mendelson, who is introducing the tax increase proposal, told Catania that he thought it was “inappropriate for you to talk about Councilmembers personal issues,” to which Catania reportedly responded, “I don’t give a shit what you think.” Evans then apparently called Mendelson’s proposal “bullshit.” Finally, Evans — who has sat on the body for over two decades — then said that “this is the worst Council I’ve ever served on.”

Welcome back, guys!