Chicago-Style Politics on the D.C. Council

Even though Robert S. Bennett will be providing his services pro bono, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray shouldn't need such a high-powered lawyer to advise council members on how not to abuse the privileges of their office ["Ex-Clinton Attorney to Lead Investigation in Barry Ethics Case," Metro, July 11]. Mr. Gray should demand that council members immediately provide an accounting of how they are spending tax money.

Council members in the District seem to follow a "scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" approach. They overturned a term-limits initiative, and they revel in their citywide parking privileges, their luxury box at Nationals Park and their constituent slush funds. Council members make more than $100,000 a year; many supplement their government incomes with lucrative outside jobs.

It reminds me of the days of "Bathhouse John" Coughlin and Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna, Chicago aldermen in the early 1900s who used their political power to award municipal contracts to friends and supporters. Former senator Paul H. Douglas (D-Ill.), commenting on Hinky Dink and Bathhouse John in his introduction to the book "Bosses in Lusty Chicago," asked, "Will the prosperous and affluent abstain from taking advantage of the community and devote themselves to its service?" For the D.C. Council, the answer seems to be no.

THERESA CONROY

Washington

The writer was a Republican candidate for the D.C. Council in 2006.