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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, introduced the D.C. Employee Suitability Act of 2011 on Monday. It will get its first hearing Thursday. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Hill panel looks to reform D.C. hiring

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will consider a bill Thursday that tightens hiring practices in D.C. government, even as the District considers its own reforms after some appointees landed jobs at city hall through nepotism and other fast-track channels.

October 31, 2011
D.C. Council member Michael Brown

Latest D.C. statehood campaign reaches beyond city borders

Officials in the District are taking a new approach to the quest for statehood, handpicking state legislatures that will support their goal through resolutions in their chambers, starting with friendly contacts in New England.

October 30, 2011

Gray charts D.C. ethics priorities

Mayor Vincent C. Gray is touting broader powers for the D.C. attorney general and restrictions on funds that are supposed to assist needy constituents as part of six key points that "must be included" in any ethics reform legislation he would sign.

October 27, 2011
D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser

D.C. Council considers ethics-reform proposals

D.C. Council members on Wednesday took on the awkward task of addressing their own mechanisms for policing themselves and their colleagues in government, engaging in hours of debate on a slew of proposals aiming to overhaul city ethics laws.

October 26, 2011
D.C. GOVERNMENT The New Beginnings Youth Development Center has been described as an "anti-prison."

Ex-New Beginnings official settles suit

The former superintendent of the Laurel facility that houses wards of the D.C. juvenile justice agency has settled a lawsuit in which he claimed he was passed over in his bid to become the permanent boss and terminated for criticizing the selection process.

October 23, 2011
D.C. Council member David A. Catania (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

D.C. council gives up seeking lost $15M

D.C. Council members abandoned efforts Thursday to try to recoup roughly $15 million in uncollected taxes as a result of a city agency quietly changing an obscure tax policy in 2007.

October 20, 2011
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Wednesday that he has not been summoned to appear before a grand jury investigating allegations of corruption in his mayoral campaign. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Inquiry into Gray campaign allegations heating up

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Wednesday that he has not been summoned to appear before a grand jury investigating allegations of corruption in his mayoral campaign, even as reports suggest prosecutors are accelerating their probe and that a Gray campaign consultant is playing a pivotal role.

October 19, 2011

NE warehouses popular as D.C. sites for medicinal pot

Twenty-seven of the 28 applicants hoping to grow medical marijuana in the District want to set up shop in Northeast, particularly in warehouse space near strip clubs and other commercial properties.

October 17, 2011
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (BARBARA L. SALISBURY / THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Gray finds a fitting platform for D.C. rights

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray took advantage of the dedication for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial this weekend to highlight efforts to get voting rights for the city.

October 16, 2011
Rep. Trey Gowdy (right), South Carolina Republican

D.C. gun laws test tea party’s principles

The House Judiciary Committee's decision last week to leave the District's strict gun laws alone — at least for now — appears consistent with the tea party's resistance to federal "tyranny" but at odds with the GOP-backed movement's strict adherence to language in the Constitution.

October 16, 2011

Mayor, demonstrators renew call for D.C. voting rights

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray told hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday he is "sick and tired" of waiting for Congress to give the District full democracy and the time has come for city residents to "take" their rights.

October 15, 2011
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has the support of Ralph Nader in the push to achieve states' rights for the District. (The Washington Times)

Gray trying to refocus push for voting rights at dedication

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray is again using the dedication of the Martin Luther King National Memorial to help draw attention to the city's efforts to achieve voting rights in Congress. But this time he must also rekindle the momentum he generated earlier this year and channel the energy of competing interests.

October 13, 2011

House committee defeats D.C. concealed gun amendment

The House Judiciary Committee easily defeated a proposal Thursday that would have allowed out-of-state residents to bring concealed weapons into the District, an unusual vote in which conservative members put their allegiance to states' rights ahead of their frequent forays into D.C. affairs.

October 13, 2011
David A. Catania

D.C. at crossroads on collecting commercial property taxes

D.C. Council member David A. Catania says the city must "fish or cut bait" regarding how it collects certain taxes on commercial properties in the District — a confusing topic that nonetheless has put millions of dollars at stake during the past decade.

October 12, 2011
D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown likened the new Department of General Services to a multimillion-dolar company with council as its board of directors. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)

D.C. Council pins hopes on new General Services office

A newly formed D.C. agency that consolidates the city's capital projects and maintenance duties under one roof should benefit the District financially, but its team must act quickly to justify the faith of city legislators who stepped "out on a limb" in support of the endeavor, council members said Tuesday.

October 11, 2011