UDC President Allen Sessoms is in the proverbial hot seat. Students are calling for his ouster, news reports say he spends exorbitant sums on his travels, and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown is demanding straight answers on spending questions.
Within hours of D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray's saying he takes full responsibility for any administration missteps, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown said Sunday night that he is referring allegations of Gray campaign improprieties to the D.C. Office of the Inspector General.
A D.C. Council member who represents some of the city's poorest households has spent less than 5 percent of the money she has raised since 2007 to help constituents with urgent needs, such as funeral expenses, rent and utilities, a review of campaign finance records shows.
Neither D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray nor City Administrator Allen Y. Lew appears to have lost confidence in the District's public works chief despite a new report that calls "illegal" the leasing or purchase of several dozen SUVs, including one for Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown.
City officials broke the law by providing D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown a fully loaded Lincoln Navigator SUV, according to a review by D.C. Council member Tommy Wells that was released Monday.
Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman and Susan Collins warned D.C. leaders Wednesday that funding for public schools could be jeopardized if legislation to restore and expand a voucher program for low-income families is rejected.
As D.C. leaders prepare to defend the city's strong credit ratings on Wall Street on Thursday, council Chairman Kwame R. Brown said he wants to bring on a financial adviser to aid lawmakers as they begin work with new Mayor Vincent C. Gray on the city's budget.
Kwame R. Brown doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a liberal or conservative, although at times he sounds more like House Republicans John A. Boehner and Darrell Issa than House Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Eleanor Holmes Norton.
D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown last year reported earning $45,000 in outside income on top of his six-figure government salary for 2009, but who paid him and why is anybody's guess. City ethics rules don't require Mr. Brown to say.
