Thomas’ name was quickly removed from the Wilson Building’s office directory.

It didn’t take long for the D.C. Council to scrub the memory of former Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. wherever it could. His office was closed and vacated today, his staff fired and his name removed from the council website. Where his name once stood on the Wilson’s Building first floor office directory, an empty entry instead occupied the space between Councilmembers Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6).

But Thomas’ legacy and the ties that allowed him to steal over $350,000 from District taxpayers since taking office in 2007 likely won’t go as easily. In fact, they may be even harder to exorcise, and they may take others with them as they go.

At a meeting this afternoon with members of the council, D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown delivered copies of Thomas’ resignation letter, informed his colleagues that he was looking into trying to move the Ward 5 special election so that it could coincide with the April 3 primary and expressed his feelings about Thomas’ actions.

“I was absolutely angered by what I heard,” he said, referring to the damning case laid out by U.S. Attorney for the District Ron Machen at a press conference today.

Some members of the council seemed downright shell shocked at what had transpired, while others glumly considered how deep Thomas’ corruption may have gone — and who else could be felled by it. Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) asked his colleagues to consider the “human tragedy” and refrain from commenting further on Thomas for fear of hurting his family; Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large) similarly called this morning’s hearing in federal court a “very devastating process, very painful to just sit there.”

Still, the overriding feeling was that Thomas’ arrest, resignation and guilty plea may well only be the tip of the iceberg. Members discussed the fate of the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, the public-private partnership through which money was funneled to organizations and businesses run by Thomas. Brown said he would like to see it closed down, and Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) noted that it has improperly funneled $400,000 to Thomas. Other members warned against acting in haste — including Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who formerly had oversight over it — and there was disagreement and confusion as to whether a formal audit of the group had been started or not.

The trust may be but a small example of deeply embedded corruption in the District, and various councilmembers admitted that the lack of internal controls that allowed Thomas and others to use it for their pet projects are evident in other city agencies and departments — including in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, from which over $50 million was stolen over two decades and uncovered in 2007. (To get a sense of how deep things may run, at the time Thomas got his money, the trust was run by Millicent West, who was eventually appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty to run the D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She remains in that position today.)

These realizations may complicate Brown’s desire for turning over a new leaf and starting afresh, a point he repeatedly made during media interviews yesterday. In fact, the likely focus on the trust and a johnny-come-lately admission that corruption might be a problem seems to hint that Thomas’ head won’t be the last to roll.