Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting have been served subpoenas via certified mail requiring they attend a D.C. Council hearing looking into the hiring practices of Mayor Vince Gray’s administration.
Brown and Whiting have been dodging the subpoenas for weeks, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh said, causing her to schedule a fourth hearing on the matter for May 13. Cheh says their dodging cost D.C. taxpayers $2,000.
“The aim of this investigation is to lay out the facts about the Executive’s personnel practices. The people of the District have a right to know if something improper happened, and if it did, we need to correct it,” Cheh said in a statement. “In order to lay out these facts and make a determination, we need to speak with these former hires.”
Brown claims he was hired after Gray promised him a job during last summer’s mayoral campaign so Brown would stay on the campaign trail and continue his attacks on then-Mayor Adrian Fenty. Gray says that’s not true, and federal authorities are investigation. Brown has since been fired.
Whiting campaigned for Gray and was later hired by the parks department. But when she filled out her application, she did not mark that she has a felony conviction. Whiting has since resigned.
