D.C. Mayor Vince Gray’s administration violated federal laws by hiring the adult child of a top mayoral aide and his mayoral campaign passed cash to another candidate, a D.C. Council committee has concluded. In a report released Tuesday, a special council committee headed by Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh concluded that the actions of three of Gray’s closest aides badly damaged the city’s image.
“Hiring relatives of senior members of the Gray administration, engaging in cronyism, violating standard personnel practices, giving money to Mr. [Sulaimon] Brown… caused deep harm to the District government,” the report said. “Although this damage is not irreparable, it will take time for the residents of the District of Columbia to regain trust in their government.”
Former chief of staff Gerri Mason Hall, former human resources director Judy Banks and the chairwoman of the Gray for Mayor campaign, Lorraine Green, comprised a “trio” on whose shoulders the “blame for the many personnel errors committed by the Gray administration falls squarely,” the report said.
Although the report said there’s no evidence Gray was directly involved in misdeeds, he shouldered the blame on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, it’s my administration, and I take responsibility,” Gray said. He added, “I certainly wish these things had not happened in the first place.”
The report said Hall violated federal nepotism laws by getting her son a $55,000-a-year city job. But it concludes there’s not much to be done about it since her son no longer works for the city. The federal statute Hall allegedly violated says that people hired illegally should lose the job.
Former mayoral candidate Brown’s claims of campaign impropriety are already the subject of a federal grand jury probe. The report found evidence in bank records that Gray campaign aide Howard Brooks paid Brown at least $1,160. Brown says he was paid so he could stay in the race and continue his attacks on then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. Brooks could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
The report also recommends that Banks and Brown be investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s office for lying to the council under oath. Neither Brown nor Banks could be reached for comment.
The report says Banks committed perjury when she claimed she played no direct role in the hiring of former Department of Employment Services director Rochelle Webb’s son, when emails between Webb and Banks appear to prove otherwise. The committee also said Brown at first said under oath that he did not provide anything in exchange for his job, but later said under oath that he provided the Gray for Mayor campaign information about Fenty as part of the exchange.
