Thursday, October 01, 2009 417 words | Viewed 16473 Times
37 Criminal Charges? You're Hired!
Category: Only in DC!
Posted by: David Gaines
Just as Washington DC's City Council is piecing together a Code of Ethics in light of Mayor for Life Marion Barry's most recent headliners [The City Paper has one of the most, well, memorable front pages of all time which is a MUST SEE], fellow councilmember Jim Graham finds himself indirectly associated with another scandal — this one with actual criminal charges. Allegedly his chief of staff took bribes to help push a bill that essentially is thought by some to limit competition with taxi companies and give financial breaks to those with hybrid vehicles. And coincidence or not, councilmember Jim Graham presented a bill that creates a medallion system [or something like that] which limits the number of taxis that can operate in DC as well as give financial breaks to those with hybrid vehicles [or something like that].
No need to get into that topic, which I understand Jim Graham is pulling the bill until the criminal investigation is completed in which he profusely claims to have no knowledge or involvement in. What caught my attention was what Dorothy Brizill of DC Watch dug up about the person Jim Graham chose to fill-in while his former chief of staff awaits his fate...
Cleaning House
Dorothy Brizill
The City Paper looked into the background of Ted Loza, Councilmember Jim Graham's chief of staff and longtime confidant, this week. Last week, following Loza's arrest on bribery charges, Graham put him on a paid leave of absence. Now Graham has named another longtime aide and his deputy chief of staff, Calvin Woodland, Jr., to fill Loza's position as acting chief of staff.
Woodland first met Graham at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the late 1990's, and Graham subsequently became Woodland's AA sponsor. When Graham ran for the Ward One council seat in 1998, Woodland joined him on the campaign trail, and following Graham's election he hired Woodland to work in his council office as the assistant director of constituent services. An admiring profile of Woodland in the District Weekly section of the Washington Post in January 20, 2000, entitled, “Former Pusher Rises to City Hall,” gives further insight into Woodland's background: “Court records show that Woodland was arrested 16 times between 1980 and 1992. He racked up 37 criminal charges, including possession and distribution of cocaine, PCP, and marijuana, robbery, prison breach, assault with a dangerous weapon, bail violations, and contempt of court.” In addition, the article notes that Woodland “served time in the Lorton Correction Complex before beginning his recovery from drug addition in 1992.”
No need to get into that topic, which I understand Jim Graham is pulling the bill until the criminal investigation is completed in which he profusely claims to have no knowledge or involvement in. What caught my attention was what Dorothy Brizill of DC Watch dug up about the person Jim Graham chose to fill-in while his former chief of staff awaits his fate...
Cleaning House
Dorothy Brizill
The City Paper looked into the background of Ted Loza, Councilmember Jim Graham's chief of staff and longtime confidant, this week. Last week, following Loza's arrest on bribery charges, Graham put him on a paid leave of absence. Now Graham has named another longtime aide and his deputy chief of staff, Calvin Woodland, Jr., to fill Loza's position as acting chief of staff.
Woodland first met Graham at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the late 1990's, and Graham subsequently became Woodland's AA sponsor. When Graham ran for the Ward One council seat in 1998, Woodland joined him on the campaign trail, and following Graham's election he hired Woodland to work in his council office as the assistant director of constituent services. An admiring profile of Woodland in the District Weekly section of the Washington Post in January 20, 2000, entitled, “Former Pusher Rises to City Hall,” gives further insight into Woodland's background: “Court records show that Woodland was arrested 16 times between 1980 and 1992. He racked up 37 criminal charges, including possession and distribution of cocaine, PCP, and marijuana, robbery, prison breach, assault with a dangerous weapon, bail violations, and contempt of court.” In addition, the article notes that Woodland “served time in the Lorton Correction Complex before beginning his recovery from drug addition in 1992.”
© David Gaines
