Corruption scandals deal District of Columbia a blow after years of success

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

The District of Columbia after more than a decade of revival and shedding its reputation as one of the county’s most deadly and financially mismanaged cities is amid arguably its worst spate of corruption in modern history.

Last week, a campaign consultant to Mayor Vincent C. Gray admitted in federal court the Democratic mayor was elected in 2010 with the help of roughly $650,000 in illicit funds from a city businessman.

The plea follows City Council Chairman Kwame Brown, Democrat, resigning last month after pleading guilty to federal charges of falsifying mortgage documents. And Council member Harry Thomas Jr. is serving a three-year prison term for stealing $353,000 in taxpayer money earmarked for youth programs. He pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges in January.

The City Hall corruption comes amid years of prosperity in which the nation’s capital became known as a nearly recession-proof city and a preferred market for such celebrity chefs and restaurateurs as Mike Issabella.

The changes mark a long road of success since the 1990s -- when the city, in part because of the crack epidemic, became known as “the murder capital.” Today the murder rate is at a roughly 40-year low.

The most recent scandals also threaten to overshadow the city’s most infamous political scandal -- in January 1990 when then-Mayor Marion Barry was caught smoking crack with a prostitute in a hotel room.

The mismanagement of the city budget by Barry and successor Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, Democrats, led Congress in 1995 to create a financial control board to oversee District finances. The five-member board has since suspended oversight activities, as the city continues to improve.

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They're just following in Barry's footsteps...