Photo by dbking

Earlier this morning, a special committee comprised of five councilmembers— Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), David Grosso (I-At Large) , Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), and Anita Bonds (D-At Large)—voted unanimously to move forward with a proposal to censure Councilmember and mayor-for-life Marion Barry.

The committee was created in order to punish Barry for accepting gifts from city contractors. According to the Post, Barry “accepted two gifts last year totaling $6,800 from D.C. construction companies with business before the city.” Barry reportedly accepted gifts from Keith Forney, who owns Forney Enterprises, and Freddie Winston, owner of F&L Construction. One of the gifts was reportedly accepted by Barry at a meeting at Stadium Club, a strip club in NE that Forney co-owns.

If the council decides to censure Barry, it will be the second time in three years that he’s been censured for questionable ethics and behavior. Back in 2010, the D.C. Council stripped him of all his committee positions after a lengthy report found him guilty of violating many conflict-of-interest laws. If the council votes to censure Barry again, he’ll lose his committee chairmanship.

At a press briefing before tomorrow’s D.C. Council meeting, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said that he backs the committee’s decision to censure Barry. “This is not the first time Mr. Barry’s conduct has been censured or recommended for censure,” Mendelson told the press. “To me it’s important that the process we have in place is one where essentially peers look at the situation more closely and make a recommendation.” Mendelson said that in addition to backing the committee’s decision to censure Barry, he’ll urge the rest of the city council to back the committee’s recommendation to censure Barry.

The full council will meet tomorrow to vote on Barry’s punishment and decide his fate.