Councilmember Michael Brown is working for D.C.

Even in the ordinary setting of a routine hearing, Councilmember Michael Brown's quiet composure stands out like the eye of a storm. Always firm but never confrontational, his questions probe the surface of a witness's testimony to reveal something deeper.

At the D.C. City Council Committee on Human Services hearing, Brown awaits his turn to question Marc Schindler, interim director of the district's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. Brown is dressed in a gray suit with white pinstripes (with a Washington, D.C., flag lapel pin), a white shirt and pink tie with white dots. He looks completely engaged.

He sits in his chair on the blue dais, his hand on his chin, listening to the exchange between Schindler and committee chairman Tommy Wells, while maintaining a serious facial expression. When it's his turn to speak, Brown speaks in a calm, clear voice and asks Schindler a number of probing questions.

This comes as no surprise, since city youth are among Brown's special interests.

One of his first questions is about communications between DYRS and the police department. He follows this up with questions about how much monitoring youths committed to DYRS receive, how often individuals released from the D.C., juvenile justice system offend again (when compared to those in other jurisdictions) and if DYRS has sponsored trips (to museums, sporting events and tourist sites) for "folks who are incarcerated" to give them different experiences that may be helpful to them later. At one point, Brown said, "The attitude has to be 'we can't give up on any of our young folks.'"

When Schindler answers Brown's questions, the councilmember does not hesitate to interrupt him occasionally. There is nothing combative about his tone when doing so. Brown interrupts with the same calm voice he used during his questioning. The only impression he conveys with his questions and interruptions is that of a man genuinely looking out for his city.

Early life and influences

This sense of duty was instilled in Brown early in life.

He was born March 4, 1965 and graduated from Mackin Catholic High School, Clark University (with a Bachelor of Arts in political science) and Widener University School of Law. To this day, Brown credits his parents for his interest in and dedication to public service.Councilmember Michael Brown of the Washington, D.C., City Council outside his office.
: Photo by Matt Stevens, American Observer

His father, Ronald Brown, became chairman of the Democratic National Committee (the first African-American to head one of the two major parties) in 1989 and served until 1993. In this capacity, he helped Bill Clinton win the 1992 presidential election. Following the election, Clinton appointed Ronald Brown secretary of commerce (he was the first African-American to hold this position as well), a post he served in until his death in a 1996 plane crash.

Brown's mother, Alma, worked for the National Council of Negro Women, which according to its website, "lead(s), develop(s) and advocate(s) for women of African descent as they support their families and communities."

"A lot of people try to follow in the footsteps of their parents. I'm no different," Brown said. "Public service and civic outreach was always part of my parents' life and became part of mine too." 

Brown got to see public service first hand at a young age because his parents exposed him to it. He said this early exposure increased his desire to get involved in public service himself.

Brown got started in the process as a gofer. One of his fellow gofers was U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.).

"Patrick and I grew up together and we used to do everything from making copies to getting water and going to get sandwiches for folks," Brown said. "When you're exposed to that (public service), you get attracted to it and you want to be part of it."

Carlton Terry, constituent services officer in Brown's office, said Brown was greatly influenced by his father.

"He loves his father," said Terry, a retired Foreign Service Officer who served in the administration of former Mayor Anthony Williams. "He was very, very close to his father. Very close. There are people who have fathers and they love them, but he was very close and I think his father was not only his father, but he was his mentor and just guided him."

Linda Wharton-Boyd, Brown's chief of staff and chief communications officer, said she also sees much of the elder Browns' influence on the councilmember.

"His mother was very tenacious. She was a hard worker. So is the councilmember. I think he's picked up a lot of traits from both sides of his family, from his mom and his dad," Wharton-Boyd said. She added that Brown has many of the same political goals as his father. "His dad was very much into serving other people, helping them to gain empowerment in any way that he could. Economically, he helped small businesses. He was in the community and the neighborhood. And so - and he was well-liked and and well-loved - a lot of Councilmember Brown's traits of his dad, you can see in him."

With these early influences driving him, Brown, who is married and the father of twin sons, began his public service. He ran for the 2006 Democratic nomination for mayor. According to a September 2006 Washington Post article by Yolanda Woodlee, Brown dropped out of the race days before the primary due to poor poll numbers. Although he fell short of his goal, this campaign gained Brown a loyal supporter and future staff member. 

"I was very impressed with him," Terry said. "I think I said to him, 'Mike, I didn't support you, but you've got to run for something in the future. You've just got to do it.' "

With Terry in his corner, Brown next set his sights on the council seat for Ward 4 in north Washington, D.C. The seat was vacated by Adrian Fenty, the eventual winner of the 2006 mayoral contest. In a crowded field, Brown came in second in the May 2007 special election, according to The Washington Post.

In 2008, Brown sought an at-large seat on the city council. Since D.C., law only allows three of the five at-large seats to be held by the council's majority party, in this case, the Democratic Party, and the Democrats already had three of the at-large seats, Brown needed to become an independent in order to be eligible for one of the at-large seats. He did so and this time, seeking votes from all over the city (rather than only those from a specific ward), Brown was elected. He took office in January 2009.

Atmosphere of office

Given the importance of his family to Brown's sense of duty, the family-like atmosphere in his office should come as no surprise.

The John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW houses the offices of Brown and his staff. Photo by Wally Gobetz, courtesy of Creative Commons

The suite is small, but not tiny. There is an official-looking waiting area that is painted white and has dark furniture. Magazines and brochures rest on the tables. There are several offices, for Brown and senior members of his staff, as well as smaller work stations. When members of Brown's staff, dressed in business or business casual attire, come to work in the morning, they exchange friendly greetings. 

Later, when they gather around a table in the councilmember's office (with pictures of his father, a framed copy of a newspaper trumpeting Barack Obama's election as the first African-American president and framed jerseys of Washington sports teams adorning the white walls) for a meeting, the staff members look much like a family around the dinner table. When Brown's wife Tami visits at lunchtime, she appears to know many members of the staff.

Loyalty to their boss and a desire to serve the city they love unite staff members, adding to the family-like atmosphere.

"He's (Brown) highly respected among the staffers here," Wharton-Boyd said. "They respect him for his integrity, for his honesty and his fairness and his sense of civility," she added, while stating that her boss believes strongly that people can disagree without being disagreeable.

Wharton-Boyd, who spends approximately 10 hours per day in the office, said she is deeply motivated to work hard because of her love for the city and Brown's desire to make it better.

"We're very committed to our city. We're committed to our neighborhoods and very committed to our people," she stated, while adding that she works for a councilmember "who is very, very much committed to what he's doing" and enjoys helping others.

Terry, who lives in the same neighborhood as Brown and attends the same church is also motivated by a desire to assist Brown in his work for the city.

"He has been extremely wonderful to work for," Terry said. "He is very, very bright. He's very, very smart," he continued, while adding that he is willing to get up at 4 a.m. to do something for Brown, whom he describes as thoughtful and caring.

Work on council

Brown said his own day begins early as he makes sure to watch the news to see what is going on in the world. He said he follows that by taking his sons to school and then going to his council office or his office for his lobbying practice.

Once at work, Brown pursues policies consistent with the sense of civic duty he was raised with. One of his signature issues is making Washington, D.C., a state. In fact, he chairs the council's Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination.

"We pay federal income tax like everyone else. Our sons and daughters and family members go off to fight in wars in foreign places. There's no reason we should not be a state," Brown said, adding that not making the district a state is "unconstitutional." According to a Year in Review office memo, Brown, in 2009, introduced and passed legislation that would lead to the creation of a "51st State Commission" and "secured $150,000 for Council directed Statehood initiatives."

During the course of negotiations for the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, Brown, according to the Year in Review memo, insisted on "revenue increases to ensure critical programs and services would still be funded."

Kilin Boardman-Schroyer, legislative director in Brown's office, said one of the revenue increases advocated by Brown was an increase in the sales tax. 

"Our sales tax was at 5.75 percent. We increased it to 6 percent. That brought in tens of millions of dollars," said Boardman-Schroyer, who has worked on several of Brown's campaigns. He added that "the councilmember was looking to find revenue increases that would not pull otherwise active money out of the economy."

According to Boardman-Schroyer, this method of revenue increase has enabled the continued funding of programs such as the Grandparent Caregiver Subsidy (to benefit low-income grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren) and Neighborhood-Based Activities.

Political future

Then there's the elephant in the room: Brown's mayoral ambitions.

Recently, there has been talk that Brown will mount an independent bid for mayor this year, talk he does not shy away from. Brown said he is considering a bid, but will make a decision about a mayoral run, one way or the other, once Vincent Gray, chairman of the city council, makes his own decision about challenging Fenty in a Democratic primary.

"Out of deference to the chairman, I want to wait for him to decide what he is going to do," Brown said, adding that he has "a lot of respect" for Gray.

Regardless of whether he makes a run for mayor, Brown has some tough words for Fenty.

"There are three things that this mayor has talked about: accountability, transparency, best practices. But he doesn't seem to govern with those principles," he said.

Brown also noted that Fenty has been somewhat difficult to work with. "He doesn't talk to some of the council members," Brown said. "I don't think that's good for anyone. Even President Bush called Nancy Pelosi to try to figure out how to get things done."

Despite this criticism, Brown, ever faithful to his values, said no one should want Fenty to fail. "We want him to succeed," Brown said. "If he succeeds, our city succeeds."