Astrid Riecken/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST - D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown talks to former Council member Harry Thomas, left, before a meeting last year.
D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown’s driver’s license has been suspended five times over the past eight years because of traffic violations and his failure to pay for the citations, city records show.
Brown (I-At Large) lost his driving privileges for a quarter of the time he’s served on the council, according to a 10-year driving record provided by the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles under a Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post.
Michael A. Brown's missing campaign funds
More news about D.C. politics
The famed abolitionist and District advocate’s carving finds its place after delay and debate.
The approved regulations create special mobile vending zones in the most popular downtown locations.
The D.C. firm disclosed on Friday its former majority owner’s apparent violation of campaign finance law.
The documents further illustrate the troubles Brown has had managing his personal and political affairs, which are becoming central to his reelection campaign. Those troubles include revelations last week that his campaign account is missing $113,950.
Brown, through his spokesman, declined to comment about his driving record or his campaign’s financial troubles.
The records show that, except for about 30 days, he could not drive from June 15, 2009, through March 8, 2010, after he accumulated 10 points or more on his driving record. Brown’s license also was suspended three times between 2005 and 2007 for unpaid traffic citations — before he joined the council.
The son of Ronald H. Brown, the late commerce secretary and Democratic National Committee chairman, Brown would appear to have the ideal pedigree for a career in public office — a politically solid family name and access to a network of deep-pocketed supporters.
Yet, despite those advantages and a charming demeanor, questions about Brown’s judgment are fueling attacks from his political opponents and becoming a key campaign issue.
“I supported Michael, but not this time,” said former D.C. Council member William P. Lightfoot (I-At Large), who has placed a sign for one of Brown’s opponents, attorney David Grosso, in his yard. “I believe Grosso is qualified and honest.”
Brown’s campaign troubles have surfaced just as he is gearing up for reelection to a D.C. Council seat reserved for a non-Democrat.
They are not the first problems Brown has had with campaign finances. After his successful 2008 run, the Office of Campaign Finance found more than $200,000 in discrepancies in his finance report. They included more than $80,000 in bounced checks and $16,000 in checks inappropriately made out to “cash,” records show.
Brown eventually reconciled the account before the matter was referred to OCF’s general counsel for further review, said OCF spokesman Wesley Williams.
Now, Brown’s reelection campaign is being questioned again. He narrowly qualified for the Nov. 6 ballot last week after the D.C. Board of Elections tossed out more than 1,500 of his petition signatures as duplicative, originating from unregistered voters or illegible.
On Monday, Brown amended his campaign report to account for $113,950 in “unexplainable” expenditures from July 2011 through June. Brown said the 34 expenditures were made by campaign treasurer Hakim J. Sutton, whom he dismissed in late June.
Because of the missing money, Brown had only $18,000 in the bank as of Aug. 10, less than a third of Grosso’s campaign fund.
The Post Most: LocalMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
Loading...
Comments