Free Republic

Marion Barry has maintained that the investigation is improper and he did not break any laws. (AP) March 2, 2010 - 5:20pm The D.C. Council has unanimously voted to censure Councilmember Marion Barry and send his case to the U.S. Attorney's Office for possible criminal prosecution. The Council also voted 12-0 to refer the matter to the Office of Campaign Finance, remove Barry as chair of the Housing Committee, and remove him from the Finance Committee. In a third vote, the council voted to restrict earmarks in the future. Tuesday's special session marked the first time the D.C. Council took...

After months of speculation about his political future, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg plans to announce on Thursday morning that he will seek a third term as mayor, according to three people who have been told of his plans. ight now, Mr. Bloomberg is barred by law from seeking re-election. But he will propose trying to revise the city’s 15-year-old term limits law, which would otherwise force him and dozens of other elected leaders out of office in 2009, the three people said. In his announcement, Mr. Bloomberg, a former Wall Street trader and founder of a billion-dollar financial data firm,...

WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors want D.C. City Council member Marion Barry to go to jail for missing deadlines to file his federal and District tax returns for 2005. The former four-term mayor is serving three years of probation after pleading guilty last year to not paying local and federal income taxes from 1999 to 2004.

ORANGE COVE — Mayor Victor Lopez doesn't govern in this poor, out-of-the-way Fresno County farm town — he rules. ... That power has enabled Lopez to court business investors and lawmakers with stunning success, winning $63 million in state and federal grants for the city from 2001 to 2005 — with the help of an extraordinary expense account bankrolled by taxpayers. In those five years, Orange Cove, one of the nation's poorest cities, paid Lopez nearly $174,000 to travel the world in the name of official business. That included an extra $300 beyond his expenses for nearly every trip —...

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the entire City Council and a host of other local elected officials likely will remain in office beyond the four-year terms scheduled to end May 1, after Gov. Kathleen Blanco agreed Friday to postpone the city's Feb. 4 municipal elections. Fulfilling a pledge she made weeks ago, Blanco accepted a recommendation to delay the elections handed down earlier in the day by Secretary of State Al Ater, the first time a mayoral election has been deferred in the city's modern history. Ater did not recommend a make-up date but said logistical challenges presented by Hurricane...