This week, Ward 8 D.C. Councilman Marion Barry finally submitted his 2007 tax return. Responding to reporters’ questions earlier this month about the delayed filing, he declared the matter “personal,” but added that he had been distracted, focused more on a kidney transplant that he needs.
But Barry also didn’t file returns for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, until the U.S. attorney for the District brought charges against him. And even after that, Barry failed to file the returns as promised. In 2006, instead of being sent straight to jail, he was placed on probation. He offered yet another excuse for why he hadn’t mailed in his form 1040.
Barry is a font of excuses. We’ve heard them all before: Someone else set him up. He is addicted to drugs and sex. He was waiting for a constituent in a parked car in a deserted lot. He’s being targeted by the police. Rarely does he take responsibility for his actions.
His violation of federal tax laws and probation are very public matters. Barry picked up more than $90,000 of the public’s money in 2007. Each month, he continues to shove taxpayers’ dollars in his wallet. Yet, he doesn’t understand that as an elected official, he helps set the standard in this community. Strutting around, without shame or remorse, enables other scofflaws.
This latest Barry episode should instigate council action. Flagrant flouting of the law, or even the perception that council members are breaking laws, erodes the integrity and ethics of the legislature.
Many state legislatures have ethics committees that investigate members’ questionable behavior. It’s time the council creates such a body. It also should give itself the authority to oust or decline to seat a member for failing to uphold the body’s standards, rules and regulations. Short of those actions, legislators could decide to pass a “sense of the council” resolution, chastising Barry while establishing the legislature’s ethical boundary.
Dealing with the unethical — and perhaps illegal behavior — of council members should be in the province of the legislature, and not just the Office of Campaign Finance.
Interestingly, the council is beginning to discuss how to spend federal stimulus dollars — dollars that come from taxpayers. It also is grappling with closing a $455 million shortfall in projected revenues for fiscal 2010. Barry will be seated on the dais during these deliberations, challenging proposals submitted by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and others.
It seems the height of hypocrisy and arrogance for a man who can’t even file his tax returns to be engaged in decisions about how public dollars should be spent. If you agree, you may want to share your opinion with council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, while demanding that the legislature sanction Barry for violating tax laws.
