‘IMG_4631’
courtesy of ‘dbking’
The Committee on Public Works and Transportation, chaired by Council Member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), has completed the initial investigation into the District’s fleet management practices, launched as a response to the controversy surrounding Council Chair Kwame Brown’s city-provided, “fully loaded” Lincoln Navigator.
In 2002, the District passed a law forbidding the procurement of SUVs or any vehicle rated at less than 22 miles per gallon, unless it’s for emergency, security, rescue, or an armored vehicle. Since that time, the District has obtained 42 such prohibited vehicles, including the two involved in Navigatorgate.
The report, released this morning, also calls for additional investigation into who is driving these vehicles. Under District law, only the Mayor may have an on-staff driver, and any other assignment of District employees to act as chauffeurs must be approved in writing either by the Mayor or by the appropriate agency head, depending on the situation.
I encourage you to read the report for yourself; it’s only a few pages long, and is pretty hair-raising stuff when it gets to the part about how many vehicles remain unaccounted for.
Tiffany Baxendell Bridge is an Internet enthusiast and an incurable smartass. When not heckling the neighborhood political scene on Twitter, she can be found goofing off with her ukulele, Bollywood dancing, or obsessing about cult TV. She is That Woman With the Baby In the Bar.
Tiffany lives in Brookland with her husband Tom, son Charlie, and two high-maintenance cats. Read why Tiffany loves DC.
@Tiffany, per Washington Post the law was passed in Oct. 1st 2004 (not 2002) and only 10 SUVs were purchased after that time (not 42). I’m not sure if it’s the story above or the editors at the Washington Post. You might want to double check.
@Zesty: According to the actual report published by Tommy Wells’ office (linked above), the law was passed October 1, 2002, but went into effect October 1, 2004. In the two year period in between, the report says that 14 SUVs were *purchased*. After October 1, 2004, 10 more SUVs were purchased, and 18 were leased.
Since the law prohibits both the purchasing AND leasing of SUVs, the 42 figure is correct.
I really do encourage everyone to read the actual report; it’s quite eye-opening.
This guy is a crook.
@Tiffany, thanks for the clarification! You’re on the top of your game, kudos!