Photo by ohad*

After what seemed like yet another scandal in-the-making for Mayor Vince Gray, the fight over grass-cutting contracts in the District seemed to largely fizzle late last week after a D.C. Council committee grilled city officials and two contractors that had bid to cut grass and clear snow in the city.

After hours of questioning, the committee seemed to determine that the District was within its rights to re-bid the contract that had been given to Lorenz, Inc., a Baltimore-based company charged with grass-cutting and snow removal in six of the District’s eight wards. Moreover, councilmembers engaged in a philosophical debate over whether finding the lowest price or working with local businesses was preferable. CBI, a D.C.-based business that had won a contract to cut grass in two wards, charged more than Lorenz but said that its workforce was overwhelmingly made up of D.C. residents. (Longtime Gray critic and Examiner columnist Jonetta Rose Barras sided with the city this week, saying it was in the District’s interest to keep contracts local.)

On Wednesday, though, the Post reported that a lawyer for Lorenz emailed City Administrator Allen Lew offering, somewhat menacingly, to put the whole mess behind them if the contracts were reinstated:

“Since this matter is about to take on a complete life of its own at which point I will have absolutely no control or input, I urge you and your office to give this matter your immediate attention,” Lorenz’s attorney, Randy Alan Weiss, wrote in the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by The Post. Weiss also offered to “jointly issue a praiseworthy press release” and to “jointly meet with Post editors to explain why the settlement is in the best interest for all.”

He also offered to have Lorenz re-tool his workforce so that one-third of it was made up of District residents.

The offer wasn’t taken kindly by D.C. officials, who didn’t respond directly and instead forwarded it along to D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan. On WTOP yesterday, Gray called the email “completely inappropriate,” and wondered why it would have taken this incident for Lorenz to realize the value of hiring D.C. residents. (During last week’s hearing, the company admitted that none of its workers were local.)

Beyond the wisdom of sending the email, the mention of the Post has attracted some attention. Lorenz noted at the hearing that his attorneys had approached the Post’s editorial board once they heard that their contracts might not be extended; the editorial board followed with four editorials against Gray.

Lorenz’s contract was recently extended through the end of the year, but will be open for re-bidding thereafter. Gray has said that while the city will look into local firms, Lorenz can offer to take up the contract again.

Update, 11 a.m.: The City Paper’s Loose Lips has a response from Nathan to Lorenz’s lawyers, in which the city’s top lawyer basically tells him that “veiled threats” aren’t exactly the way to go. Read it here.