The so-called comprehensive ethics reform legislation introduced last month by D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown and Chairman Pro Tempore Mary Cheh, and subsequent proposals by Councilmen Vincent Orange and Tommy Wells, are all problematic in their current form. Passage of any acceptable bill won’t happen until after summer recess. Legislators still can immediately affect the quality of Democracy and the ethics environment in the city: They can demand Mayor Vincent C. Gray make the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics whole.
Currently, the panel that certifies elections and often is the final voice in cases involving campaign finance and other ethics violations doesn’t have the mandatory three members. The seat the Home Rule Charter requires be filled by a member of a minority political party has remained vacant for more than a year. That has meant an absolute rule of the political process by the Democratic Party.
When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty sought last year to appoint Republican Mital Gandhi to the post, Cheh initially backed that nomination. But when the vote came before the full legislature, she and the Vincent C. Gray-led legislature rejected Gandhi. The decision appeared purely partisan.
Now as mayor, Gray still hasn’t nominated anyone for the seat.
“It’s unacceptable not to have a Republican on that board. It’s the second-largest party in D.C.,” said Paul Craney, director of the D.C. Republican Committee.
It isn’t the affront to Republicans or Statehood/Green Party members that makes this situation intolerable. Rather, it’s the fact that ethics and campaign finance cases involving elected officials who are Democrats may soon come before a panel dominated by Democrats. Legitimate questions could be raised about whether decisions and rulings under such circumstances were fair and objective.
“Right now the board is dealing more with ethics than elections,” Craney continued. “If they put a Republican on the board, we will have a balance in D.C. government.”
The Gray administration would have residents believe it can’t find a Republican or Green Party member willing to serve. Ward 7 attorney Bob Richards’ name has been tossed around, as has that of Stephen Danzansky, a Ward 3 resident with impressive credentials, who counts among his supporters Joel Trachtenberg and Gen. Colin Powell. Danzansky would fit nicely with BOEE Chairman Togo West, former secretary of the Army.
Ron Collins, head of the mayor’s board and commissions, said several people “turned down the position for a number of reasons. We do believe we have two additional candidates whom we are looking at and vetting.”
The legislature should push Gray to make a nomination before summer recess. There is no time to lose.
Investigations involving several council members are under way; their cases could come before the BOEE within a few months. Allowing rulings to be made by a panel solely comprised of Democrats — the same party as the subjects of those under investigation — would only further damage the public’s trust in the government and its elected officials.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
