Lame-duck D.C. Council member Vincent Orange will resign more than a week after he ignited controversy for accepting a job as head of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, a group his legislative committee oversees.
Mr. Orange officially will announce his resignation Monday, but he and other sources have told WAMU Radio and The Washington Post that the longtime council member will leave his seat on Aug. 15, when he starts his new job as leader of the lobbying group, which represents 1,400 businesses in the District.
“The law allows me to do this; however, in all the criticism and all the other discussions I’ve been involved in, I believe it would be good to just have a good, clean break on Aug. 15,” Mr. Orange told The Post.
Mr. Orange announced last week that he had taken the job with the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, but said he would stay on the council through the rest of his term. He lost the Democratic primary for his at-large seat in June, and his term will end in December.
At first, Mr. Orange said he wanted to hold on to his council seat because he didn’t want his 14 legislative staffers to lose their jobs. Later he said the council his new job wouldn’t be a source of conflict because the council would have little work to do after it reconvenes from summer recess in September.
Some residents and council members said that would be a significant conflict of interest, considering the Chamber of Commerce’s role as a lobbyist for businesses in the city.
Mr. Orange didn’t address two major bills moving through the council that are strongly opposed by the D.C. Chamber: One would require employers to give work schedules to employees at least three weeks in advance; the other would make businesses pay a 1 percent tax to fund paid family and medical leave for all of the District’s workers.
On WAMU’s “The Kojo Nnamdi Show” last week, Mr. Orange said he would give up his chairmanship of the council’s committee on business, consumer and regulatory affairs, which handles most business-related legislation in the city.
He continued to scoff at critics, saying he would recuse himself from any decisions and asked the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability to help him figure out how to balance the two jobs.
Several news outlets including The Post and the Washington Business Journal continued to call for Mr. Orange’s resignation.
And council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who initially had said Mr. Orange’s new job wasn’t illegal, said late last week that the controversy would be best settled by the council member stepping down.
Under city law, the D.C. Democratic State Committee can appoint an interim council member to finish the rest of Mr. Orange’s term.
City activist Robert White beat Mr. Orange in the Democratic primary, and is virtually assured victory in the November general election. It is widely speculated that Mr. White will be appointed to serve the remainder of Mr. Orange’s term.
In his campaign, Mr. White attacked Mr. Orange for violating ethics, including taking donations from city contractors and meddling with health inspectors who were trying to shut down a produce store infested with rats. The store’s owner had made campaign donations to Mr. Orange.
Mr. Orange was first elected to the council in 1998 to represent Ward 5. In 2006 he unsuccessfully ran for mayor before taking a job as a vice president at energy provider Pepco. In 2011 he again joined the council when he was elected as an at-large member.
• Ryan M. McDermott can be reached at rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com.
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