The D.C. Council Dec. 20 took its final vote on sweeping ethics reform legislation that includes establishment of an Open Government Office to oversee and enforce the Open Meetings and Freedom of Information acts. Council Member Muriel Bowser (Ward 4), chair of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, introduced the bill in late November.
It is unclear when the Open Government Office will begin operation because the bill must be signed by the mayor and sent to Congress for review. The earliest the new law could take effect is late March, but then several events must occur, including appropriation of funding for the new board and appointment of board members.
In December 2010, the Council enacted the new Open Meetings Act, which included creation of an independent Open Government Office with a director appointed by the mayor with approval of the Council. Although the statute took effect in April 2011, the mayor has not yet appointed the director or established the office. Bowser's bill, mainly intended to address several recent ethical lapses by the mayor and Council members, would move the Open Government Office under the administrative supervision of a new three-member Board of Ethics and Accountability. The Board woudd appoint the director to a five-year term, but the Office would be an independent entity, with its own staff.
Bowser, who championed the new open meetings law last year, expressed frustration in October that the mayor did not start up the Open Government Office, because without it there can be no enforcement of the Open Meetings Act.
The initial version of Bill 19-511 would have transferred the Open Government Office's powers to the new ethics board. But the D.C. Professional Chapter and the D.C. Open Government Coalition testified that the Office needs to be independent and have its own staff with expertise in dealing with government transparency issues. When the bill came to the Council floor it had been amended to address those concerns.