For just the second time in 38 years, the D.C. Council is planning to reprimand one of its own next Monday. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham will likely be subject to the rare form of discipline after D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced a measure that will admonish him over his actions in relation to the District’s lottery contract and the development of land owned by WMATA. Mendelson is also proposing that Graham’s committee responsibilities be reduced, including his oversight of the city’s alcoholic beverage regulations. The “Council Reprimand of Councilmember Jim Graham of 2013” is the result of three investigations into Graham’s actions in connection to the lottery and the WMATA land deal, city officials say. An ethics investigation concluded that Graham violated at least three provisions in the D.C. Code of Conduct. In the report, city officials concluded that the way Graham handled to the two contracts led to the “adverse effects” on public confidence in the integrity of government. Officials say that Graham publicly came out against awarding the city’s lottery contract to a company named W2I because of their relationship with WMATA. A local partner of W2I had also entered into a contract with WMATA, and Graham believed that the city “couldn’t give the local partner everything.”
