Photo by Kyle Gustafson / photokyle.comThe District’s ethics board censured and fined D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry for accepting gifts from two construction firms. Barry will accept a censure and pay a fine of $13,600, the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability ordered today.
The investigation into Barry began two months ago when he turned in financial disclosure forms that listed two gifts from city contractors far in excess of the $20 limit on gifts that members of the D.C. Council can accept. Barry reported that he received $2,800 from Forney Enterprises Inc. and $4,800 from F&L Construction. Both firms have worked on a wide variety of city projects that Barry, as a member of the Council, has voted on, including schools, parks, and Nationals Park.
At the time the gifts were first revealed, Keith Forney told The Washington Post that he believed the money his company gave Barry was used to pay some of the mayor-for-life’s personal expenses.
During yesterday’s marathon Council session, Barry cited the ethics investigation in recusing himself from voting on two contracts that F&L Construction currently has with the city.
The Post reports that Barry has agreed to pay back half the fine within two weeks and the rest in quarterly installments beginning in October, as well as attend ethics training sessions. Barry was previously censured and reprimanded by his Council peers in 2010 following an exhaustive report charging him with violating D.C.’s conflict-of-interest laws.
