The administration whose ethic missteps kept D.C. chattering will now be getting ethics training.
Council Chairman Kwame Brown, whose request for a fully-loaded Lincoln Navigator SUV kicked off a string of mini-scandals that have buffeted Mayor Vincent Gray's first months in office, announced the new training on Monday.
"These first few months at City Hall have been difficult and I've learned some tough lessons," Brown said. "Renewing public trust is of paramount importance and we need to be certain that everyone here understands what is required to conduct our work in a manner that is beyond reproach."
The ethics training seminars will be mandated for Brown's personal staff, city officers, and the legislative body's operating divisions. Council members have been invited to the sessions as well.
The new training starts on the same day that Council member Mary Cheh held a hearing investigating Mayor Gray's hiring practices. Several children of Gray appointees have been hired to city government.
Sulaimon Brown, the former city auditor who has claimed that Gray paid him off to slander Adrian Fenty in the mayoral election, made a surprise appearance at the hearing. Brown told reporters at the meeting that he thought Cheh's investigation was not getting to the truth.
