Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) As calls for D.C. Councilmember Vincent Orange to resign heat up, Orange now says he will renounce his Chairmanship of the Council’s Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs committee when the Council resumes in the fall.
Orange has been facing mounting criticism following the announcement of his new position as President of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, running concurrently with the final four months of his term on the D.C. Council. Orange lost his re-election bid to Robert White in June.
“At the same time he’s in charge of regulating businesses, he’s also getting paid by them,” Washington City Paper Politics Editor Will Sommer told WMAL. “The Chamber is the leading lobby for businesses that want to influence the Council.”
On Wednesday, Orange told WAMU-FM that he will remove himself as Chairman of the Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs Committee, but maintained he was being singled out from other councilmembers that also maintain side jobs.
Multiple councilmembers have raised concerns about the dual jobs for Orange, both of which pay over $100,000 per year. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, however, said it technically was legal until the Board of Ethics finds a clear violation.
‘It’s going to get incredibly difficult for Orange to participate in some of the most important debates coming up for the Council,” Sommer said. “His argument now essentially is, ‘Well, the Council’s not going to get much done this year anyway.’”
The Council has some significant business-related bills on the table, including a family leave bill and another regulating employee scheduling and hours. Orange is set to leave office in January, but he refused to resign early, citing staffers that could lose jobs. Sommer, though, said the staff of an outgoing councilmember is usually absorbed under another umbrella in the Wilson Building until new councilmembers are sworn in.
“His claim that he’s just this humanitarian is very spurious,” Sommer said. “The best way for his staffers to keep their jobs would be for him not to take this crazy job in the first place.”
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