Photo by M.V. Jantzen

After what has been a rocky year for Mayor Vince Gray and various members of the D.C. Council, city legislators are sitting down today to start the work of sorting out how to improve the District’s ethics-related laws and enforcement mechanisms.

At 10:30 a.m., Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) will call to order a hearing in which members of the public, D.C. government officials and councilmembers will have an opportunity to comment on 10 pieces of legislation that would do everything from tighten up campaign finance and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms to prohibit outside employment for legislators and forbid registered lobbyist-lawyers from offering free or discounted legal services.

Yesterday, Bowser said that she hoped to have a comprehensive bill before the council by December, and hinted that she was debating separating the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics into two distinct entities: one for elections, the other for ethics.

Bowser also stressed that enforcement was key, a point that was made by a number of city officials, including D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan, during a June hearing on a proposal introduced by D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown and Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3). (That proposal didn’t make it far beyond an initial public discussion.) But any additional enforcement mechanisms will require additional manpower and funding — the latter of which the city isn’t particularly flush with these days.

Some 26 members of the public are slated to testify, including Barbara Lang, President & CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce; notable government watchdog Dorothy Brizill of D.C. Watch; and Bob Kabel, the chairman of the D.C. GOP. Two of Bowser’s challengers in the April 2012 Democratic primary, Max Skolnik and Keith Jarrell, will also be on hand, as will Ward 7 contender Tom Brown, and former At-Large candidates Josh Lopez, Bryan Weaver and Jacque Patterson.

Government witnesses include Cecily E. Collier-Montgomery, Director of the Office of Campaign Finance; William O. Sanford, OCF’s General Counsel; Paul Stenbjorn, BOEE’s outgoing Executive Director; and Charles J. Willoughby from the Office of the Inspector General.

If you want to submit written testimony, the pubic record is kept open for two weeks. Just send a printed copy to Judah Gluckman in Suite 113 of the John Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004).

See also: Examiner, Post