A dust-up over two fully loaded Lincoln Navigators leased by the city at D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown’s request has left Brown embattled as other council members take the lead on legislation. The District is in the process of returning the two Navigators collectively leased for about $3,800 a month, but the revelation that Brown rejected one sport utility vehicle because he didn’t like the interior color and then ordered another has banged up his image. Now, other council members are leading the reactive legislative push for change that comes in the wake of every scandal, and their elected leader is left to respond.
“There’s no doubt that Kwame Brown is politically damaged and his leadership ability tarnished,” said political consultant Terry Lynch. “But that said, this is a city of comebacks.”
The first step in a potential Brown comeback starts with his making sure the Navigators are returned and the cost covered by him, Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans said on the “Kojo Nnamdi Show” on Friday. “Anything short of that will keep this issue alive,” Evans said.
“This week has been a very, very bad week for the District of Columbia imagewise,” Evans said, commenting also on Mayor Vince Gray’s paying high salaries to new hires and a debacle surrounding a political appointee who was fired after questions were raised regarding his past. “In my 20 years on the council, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Evans and Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who endorsed Brown and Gray despite her constituents favoring other candidates, are now the ones pushing for image repair. Evans said he’s planning to introduce legislation Tuesday that would require any leases for District-owned vehicles that expire to get approval from the mayor and the council. Cheh sent a note to Brown suggesting he propose a 10 percent spending cut for the council and a 10 percent pay cut for council members. Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells is also in on the action, sending a letter requesting information on a wide-range of city-owned vehicles.
“I haven’t wavered on my priorities for the council: fiscal stability, school reform and jobs creation,” Brown said in a statement to The Washington Examiner. “I agree that there should be thorough review of the contracting procurement process at the Department of Public Works, and for the entire District government. Fiscal restraint should be the norm for any government agency.”
