D.C. Council members often criticize Mayor Adrian M. Fenty for ignoring their policy directives or circumventing certain established laws; there may be good reason for some of their complaints. Yet recently, when the administration appeared to be following local ordinances, legislators didn’t praise the executive. They blasted him. It’s clear that Fenty exists in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t world.

Last week, Councilman Jim Graham, chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, took to task the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for using what he called a “totally ambiguous general building code” to issue six tickets — $500 each. The citations were given to businesses that didn’t clear snow from the sidewalks in front of their establishments as required. The Ward 1 legislator pledged from the dais to get the administration to rescind those tickets.