DC POLITICS

Current State of D.C. Politics

Current State of D.C. Politics

Introduction

The D.C council members tried to extract answers from Sulaimon Brown, as he appeared before the council members. Sulaimon Brown put allegations against Mayor Vincent C. Gray and his administration. According to the allegations, Gray paid Brown money to initiate a campaign against former Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. It remained uncertain after hours of deliberation if Brown's testimony was true or not.

Discussion

According to Brown, Vincent Gray was a crook. Before he appeared for testimony, he refused to come before the council. However, later, he agreed to testify before the council only after appearing before the judge. On the other hand, Mayor Vincent Gray refused to answer about the allegations (Klopott, 2011).

It has been five months since Grays's administration's term. However, it has been their failure to find its footing. Furthermore, Brown's allegations have diverted Vincent's attention from the city's problems, and triggered investigations by the authorities (FBI, the D.C. Council, the U.S. attorney's office and a congressional committee).

Brown worked in the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance from which he was fired. He had a $110,000-a-year. According to him, he was fired due to political reasons.

Furthermore, Brown accused campaign consultants Howard Brooks and Lorraine Green, chairwoman of Gray's campaign and transition teams (Simmons, 2010), of giving him payments. However, all of them have denied the accusations.

Brown's appearance and behavior during the proceeding have been criticized by the media. He had sunglasses throughout the proceeding, offended a number of council members, withheld comment on few questions, avoided others and occasionally went on at length.

The argumentative proceeding had not done much to conclude who was telling the truth and who was lying. Although, Brown did produce and share with the media some money orders he said Gray officials passed to him.

A defiant Brown questioned Mary Cheh's (D-Ward 3) legal knowledge and qualifications to serve as a law professor; called David A. Catania (I-At Large) a "racist," and challenged the impartiality and integrity of the District's elected officials.

Finally, a clearly exasperated Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) told Brown to "shut up." The bizarre nature of the proceedings prompted Barry, 75, to say he'd "never been in a hearing like this before."

The strange turn of events comes against the backdrop of inappropriate behavior, lapses of judgment and perhaps outright theft by city officials. The new D.C. Council Chairman, Kwame R. Brown, 40, is said ...