PRESS RELEASE

Council of the District of Columbia

Office of Chairman Vincent C. Gray
The John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

For Immediate Release Contact: Doxie A. McCoy, 202-724-8032, 202-664-9862

March 2, 2010 dmccoy@dccouncil.us

Council Approves Barry Censure, 1st Ever Disciplinary Policy for Members &
New Earmark Controls Introduced by Chairman Gray in Difficult but Necessary
Proceedings

Washington, DC -- The Council of the District of Columbia today unanimously approved three
resolutions sponsored by Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray based on recommendations of Special
Counsel Robert S. Bennett and his investigation of Council contracts and grants, including a resolution
to censure Councilmember Marion Barry. Barry recused himself from the votes.

Chairman Gray called today’s action “a really tough experience,” given Barry’s long history of service
and vigorous advocacy for the disenfranchised. However, he said, the Council took “appropriate action
in doing what it was elected to do” in the face of Mr. Barry’s improper conduct.

“Councilmember Barry is a person who has dedicated 40 years of his life to public service, including
more than 10 years as a member of the Council, 16 years as Mayor, and service on the Board of
Education. Thus, this action is taken very seriously,” Gray said in his statement of introduction. “The
censure resolution is necessary to ensure the self-preservation and institutional integrity of the Council
and its proceedings.”

The Chairman added that this was not just about Barry because the Council now has approved its first
official policy for punishing one of its own should they be found to have engaged in unethical behavior.

The Council also voted to remove Barry as the Chairman of the Committee on Housing and Workforce
Development; removed him from the Committee on Finance and Revenue; and transmitted the
conclusions of the Bennett Report that Barry violated District of Columbia laws and regulations to the
Office of Campaign Finance and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Chairman Gray has appointed Councilmember Michael Brown to assume Barry’s Housing and
Workforce Development Committee chairmanship and Councilmember Harry Thomas is named as a
member of the Finance and Revenue Committee. Councilmember Barry will move to Thomas’s seat on
the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs.

In July, Chairman Gray named Special Counsel Bennett, a former prosecutor with expertise in the ethics
of public officials, to investigate reports of improprieties involving Councilmember Barry’s awarding of
personal services contracts and earmark grants. Last month, Bennett concluded that Barry arranged for
a contract to be awarded to Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, with whom he had a sexual and close personal
relationship; that he received a portion of the contract monies as repayment for funds he claimed to have
loaned her; that Barry created nonprofit organizations that he controlled for the purposes of awarding
questionable earmark grants; and that the Councilmember attempted to impede the investigation by
refusing to answer investigators’ questions and by advising a witness to withhold information requested
by the Special Counsel. Barry responded to the Bennett Report but the Special Counsel did not find
reason to change any of his recommendations.

In the absence of a formal policy on disciplining members, the Council censured Barry using Roberts
Rules of Order as its procedural authority. However, the Council today approved Gray’s resolution that
sets up a disciplinary policy for censuring and reprimanding any Councilmember who violates federal or
District laws and rules, including the Council’s Official Code of Conduct. Among other provisions, once
a member asks for another to be censured, the Chairman is authorized to appoint a 5-member ad hoc
committee of members or an outside party to investigate alleged violations. A censure requires a two-
thirds vote of the entire Council. A reprimand is a lesser punishment that leads to a formal statement of
the Council officially disapproving the conduct of one of its members and only requires a simple
majority vote.

Consistent with the recommendations in the Bennett Report, Chairman Gray also won unanimous
passage of new requirements for nonprofit organizations seeking earmarks. For example, grant
recipients can no longer be represented by a fiscal agent and must have their own 501(c)(3) IRS
designation; must be incorporated for at least three years; be compliant with District of Columbia taxes;
and must provide a grant budget and a plan for the scope of work.

Partly due to the District’s budget problems, the Council voted to remove all earmarks from the current
fiscal year 2010 budget. Gray is recommending that there be no earmarks in fiscal year 2011 that begins
in October.

The Chairman said, “Many earmark recipients are hard-working people in excellent organizations that
provide needed services. But we must come up with a competitive process to try to avert troublesome
practices too often associated with these kinds of awards.”

Gray began an overhaul of designated grants with Council approval of preliminary rules in July of 2008,
amended rules in January of 2009, and now even more stringent requirements are institutionalized
should earmarks return in the coming years.

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