The Continuing Trials and Tribulations of Marion Barry

I was listening to the news yesterday and heard that the former mayor of Washington D.C., D.C. Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry (D), is currently under investigation for allegedly receiving kickbacks from his former girlfriend, Donna Watts-Brighthaupt. Not hugely shocking. What I can't figure out, though, is why on earth this guy keeps getting reelected.

In case you all haven't been keeping up with Barry, this is the same guy who, in 1990, was arrested for crack cocaine use and possession. He was charged with three felony counts of perjury, 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine. The criminal trial ended in October 1990 with a conviction for only one possession incident, which had occurred in November 1989, and an acquittal on another. The jury hung on the remaining charges.

After his arrest and through his trial, Barry continued to serve as mayor of D.C., and even ran as an independent for an at-large seat on the Washington, D.C., City Council. He was sentenced to a six-month term in federal prison just before the November 1991 election, which he lost, but after his release from prison in 1992, he successfully bid for the Ward 8 city council seat, running under the slogan "He May Not Be Perfect, But He's Perfect for D.C."

He's held onto that city council seat ever since his election to it in 1992, too, through his failure to file tax returns (he plead guilty in 2005 for failing to pay federal and local taxes), continued drug use (mandatory drug testing for the 2005 hearing showed Barry to be positive for marijuana and cocaine), and in 2009 for when charges were filed against him for failing to file ANOTHER tax return (this time his 2007 return).

Now there's this issue of allegedly receiving kickbacks from his former girlfriend, Watts-Brighthaupt. That's the same girlfriend who claimed Barry was stalking her back in 2009 (all charges related to the stalking incident were dropped in July 2009).

So, will Barry be reelected to his position of Ward 8 councilmember the next time elections roll around? Probably so. Apparently, "He May Not Be Perfect, But He's Perfect for D.C." I feel sorry for D.C. if that's the case.