At-large D.C. Councilman Vincent Orange has argued the city doesn’t need the new independent ethics and open-government accountability board proposed by Muriel Bowser and advocated by several of her colleagues. He believes that the recent nomination by Mayor Vincent C. Gray of former City Auditor Deborah Nichols as chairwoman of the Board of Elections and Ethics has eliminated the need for any new structure. I’m not so sure Nichols should lead the BOEE. And I am even less sanguine about the role she might play creating a new ethics regime and culture in the District.
As city auditor from 1983 to 2011, Nichols was part of the council structure. She was nominated by the chairman and approved by the legislature; it determined her budget — not the mayor.
