Failure to Move Spurs Legal Debate

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) said he would fight any request for a waiver "to the death." He said Nickles had told him he planned to move into the city.

When he accepted the job, Nickles said he intended to move. Top officials typically have 180 days after taking office to establish a D.C. residence, and Nickles did not initially claim any exceptions. For Nickles, who took over at the start of the Fenty administration, the deadline appeared to be the end of June. He said he was granted a 90-day extension, until Sept. 30.

But after further discussions with his wife, Nickles said, he decided not to abandon the home he has lived in since 1963. And he said he does not want to rent an apartment for the sake of setting up a residence in the city.

"I could not in good faith, given the fact that I have for 44 years lived in one place, go through the facade of renting an apartment and pretending that I live in the District," Nickles said. "I wasn't going to be party to the attempt to fake residency."

Nickles said he asked council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), whose committee has oversight over the mayor's office, about getting a waiver.

Schwartz said she turned down the request. "I said, 'Peter, I'm not going to give you a waiver. There's no reason you can't get an apartment in the city and pay your taxes in the city. Being in such a top-level position, it is very important that you set an example,' " Schwartz said.

Soon after, Nickles said, the D.C. attorney general's office informed him of a law pertaining to "excepted-service attorneys" that doesn't require a D.C. address.

Nickles went back to Schwartz, who did not back down. This time, Schwartz said, she told him that he needed to set the right tone by moving to the District. "Just because you can -- because there's some fluke in the law -- doesn't mean you should," Schwartz recalled saying.

"This law has to be clarified, and if there's a loophole, it has to be closed," Schwartz said last week.

In the past, most Cabinet members, including senior advisers and agency heads, have lived in or moved into the city.

Years ago, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi bought a condominium near the University of the District of Columbia while his wife stayed in their family home in Silver Spring. More recently, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier moved from Anne Arundel County to Northeast.

The law was strengthened five years ago after council members accused Maddox, then the inspector general, of spending more time at home with his wife in Prince George's County than at his Logan Circle apartment. Maddox said he spent two nights a week in the District with his adult son in a family-owned condominium.

As a result of Maddox's claims, then-council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) introduced a bill that required excepted and executive-service employees to make the District "their principal place of residence."

The law calls for officials to show certain documents, such as a driver's license and voter registration card. But it does not specify how much time officials must spend there. At the time, many mayoral appointees were maintaining part-time residences in the city and primary homes in the suburbs.