Jonetta Rose Barras: Image repair on hold
By: Jonetta Rose Barras
Examiner Columnist
October 15, 2009
First, a meeting was scheduled. Then, it wasn't.
Truthfully, when I heard D.C. Councilman Jim Graham planned to hold a public roundtable on the taxicab industry, I was incredulous. So, I fired off an e-mail Sunday to his spokesman. Is it true the Ward 1 legislator intends to hold the meeting?
"Yes," he replied, adding the "hearing" has been scheduled for Oct. 26.
Where's the telephone book? Should someone call St. Elizabeths Hospital? The councilman may be certifiable. How else can anyone explain his decision to hold a hearing given the sensitive environment in which he finds himself?
Graham's chief of staff, Ted Loza, recently was arrested and charged with two counts of taking a bribe to influence legislation his boss introduced. If passed, the bill would affect the future of the taxicab industry. Loza has pleaded not guilty.
Still, there is an ongoing federal investigation. Already 39 people have been arrested. The councilman took photographs with some of those individuals; the pictures were posted on his Web site. Two other Graham aides have been called to testify before the grand jury. While neither they nor he has been accused of any wrongdoing, a bunch of residents and elected officials wonder what did the councilman know and when did he know it.
This unpleasantness— as folks down South might call it — arrived as Graham prepares to run for re-election. Could the roundtable be a perverse form of damage assessment: How much stink has landed on him? Has his viability been diminished?
I tried to fathom Graham's motivations. Unsuccessful in this exercise and still disbelieving even his spokesman, I called the office of the council secretary on Tuesday. Has a public meeting been scheduled? Yes, the deputy secretary said, adding that the subject is the "impact of increasing the size of the taxicab Industry on the health of the industry and the quality of service."
Then, I called Graham's office. "What is going on?," I asked his spokesman. That's when I was told there wouldn't be a roundtable; it had been canceled. Of course, I pressed for an explanation. No specifics were provided about what he called a "change of heart."
Had the councilman been instructed by Chairman Vincent C. Gray to cancel the meeting, I wondered. I wrote last month that the taxicab commission should be pulled from the purview of Graham's committee. But Gray refused to take such action.
Was he now waffling on his earlier position?
Speaking through his spokeswoman, Gray said "He and council member Graham are continuing discussions on how to best handle taxicab issues so as to balance what's best for the institution of the council and as well be fair to Mr. Graham, who has not been charged with anything. ..."
Sounds like a waffle to me.
Gray's spokeswoman later confirmed the chairman and Graham talked Tuesday. Apparently Graham canceled his taxicab roundtable after that meeting.
Is a committee restructuring on the way?
Jonetta Rose Barras, host of WPF's "D.C. Politics with Jonetta," can be reached at Rosebook1@aol.com.
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