In D.C., a Spat Among Spongers

Buy that, and I have a great big white building in the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW to sell you.

Free tickets are to politicians as blood is to vampires. When not being used by the pols themselves, tickets are the means by which they reward, make up to, gain acceptance from and win favor with people they want or need politically. The recipient may be a donor, a voter or a voter's child. No matter. Tickets, suites, parking passes, etc., grease the passage to a target's heart -- or wallet. Sucking up to constituents knows no bounds.

As H.L. Mencken observed, "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner."

Free tickets and city officials don't mix.

But it's not just the politicians who need reining in. Owners who provide goodies ought to abandon the practice, too. They are giving politicians something to which they aren't entitled, and which, by all means, they don't deserve.

If the teams are really concerned, say, about giving access to kids who are unable to get to games on their own, there's a ready answer: The Washington region has many reputable, nonprofit, apolitical groups that are more than willing to distribute tickets fairly.

The last thing that businesses -- sports teams, theaters, restaurants, etc. -- should do is give the mayor and council special treatment and favors.

The practice is unseemly. It has a whiff of "pay to play"; the payer (business) giving something to the public official to get something in return: special access, influence, no bureaucratic hassles.

Elected officials should be about the people's business, and not on the lookout for ways to get wooed.

Goodness knows, the city already has its hands full trying to get its workforce to play by rules of openness and full disclosure.

Take, for example, the simple legal requirement that city officials file financial disclosure statements with the Board of Elections and Ethics' campaign finance office. Failure to file can result in a fine.

This year, the office published a list of D.C. government employees who failed to file statements in 2007. The report covered 22 pages containing more than 600 names, including members of the police department, school board, Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services and the Taxicab Commission. Most escaped fines.

Conflicts of interest? "No conflict with my interest," said one corrupt pol to another.

"The council should have gotten those tickets," said Gray.

Like hell it should.

kingc@washpost.com