Fenty elections board nominee gets torpedoed by D.C. Council - Examiner.com

Fenty elections board nominee gets torpedoed by D.C. Council - Examiner.com: "Fenty elections board nominee gets torpedoed by D.C. Council" Jan 23, 2008 3:00 AM (15 hrs ago) by Michael Neibauer, The Examiner WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The D.C. Council has rejected Mayor Adrian Fenty’s nominee to serve on the city’s elections board, leaving a vacancy on the key three-person panel just as the presidential and local election seasons heat up. Fenty’s nomination of Hiram K. Brewton never left the government operations committee, chaired by Councilwoman Carol Schwartz. The passive rejection of the candidate, a 40-year D.C. resident whose son is a friend of, and works for, the mayor, leaves a gaping hole on the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics at a critical time. The District’s presidential primary is slated for Feb. 12. Soon after, local candidates will start lining up for five open D.C. Council seats plus the city’s delegate to the U.S. House. The board is responsible for registering voters, certifying petitions, administering elections, maintaining voting systems and adjudicating election law violations. During his late November hearing before the committee, Brewton acknowledged that his voting record was “spotty,” that he hadn’t considered what issues he’d most like to tackle as a member, and that he was unclear of the board’s responsibilities. On Tuesday, however, he said it was his son’s relationship with Fenty that doomed his chances. Brewton’s son was the mayor’s high school friend and now works as the Ward 6 Neighborhood Services Coordinator. “My son works directly for the mayor and they thought it was a conflict,” Brewton said. Schwartz had no comment. A former D.C. police officer and mall security supervisor, Brewton currently serves as director of environmental services for the Downtown Business Improvement District. He does not hold a college degree. His nomination raised “grave” concerns for activist Dorothy Brizill of D.C. Watch, who has fought many battles before the elections board. In the latest edition of the D.C. Watch bi-weekly newsletter, Brizill wrote that the denial was particularly noteworthy given that the council usually “rubber-stamps the appointment of mayoral nominees.” A Fenty spokeswoman said the mayor had not yet chosen a new nominee for the vacant slot. mneibauer@dcexaminer.com