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Just how much moula goes flows from the constituent service funds directly to the needy? Not much, according to some number crunching done by the advocacy group D.C. for Democracy. The group combed through 2010 records and added up the total money spent by elected officials’ constituent service funds on “immediate constituent needs” like rental and utility assistance and help with funeral costs. The results:
| Councilmember | Total Constituent Svcs Expenditures | Amount Actually Spent on Constituent Needs | % Actually Spent on Constituent Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yvette Alexander | $49,939 | $1,007 | 2% |
| Marion Barry | $14,463 | $3,607 | 25% |
| Muriel Bowser | $35,713 | $2,336 | 7% |
| Kwame Brown | $7.354 | $816 | 8% |
| Michael Brown | $49,951 | $4,793 | 10% |
| David Catania | $14,932 | $1,855 | 12% |
| Mary Cheh | $34,686 | $476 | 1% |
| Jack Evans | $85,381 | $3,286 | 4% |
| Jim Graham | $48,713 | $11,988 | 25% |
| Vince Gray | $50,508 | $14,235 | 28% |
| Phil Mendelson | $3,751 | $455 | 12% |
| Harry Thomas, Jr | $6,259 | $768 | 12% |
| Tommy Wells | $8,299 | $2,649 | 32% |
Next, the group broke down how much lawmakers spent giving to community groups (including non-profits and political groups) and how much was spent on “other.” That last category includes “office supplies, computer expenses, printing, catering & refreshments and local travel; also for breakfast meetings of councilmembers, for Deer Park water and to pay for season tickets to DC professional sports teams.”
As you can see below, some councilmembers are spending nearly all their money on “other.”
| Councilmember | Total Constituent Svcs Expenditures | % Spent on Constituent Needs | % Spent on Community Events/Orgs | % Spent on Other Kinds of Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yvette Alexander | $49,939 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
| Marion Barry | $14,463 | 25% | 35% | 40% |
| Muriel Bowser | $35,713 | 7% | 14% | 79% |
| Kwame Brown | $7,354 | 11% | 8% | 81% |
| Michael Brown | $49,951 | 10% | 22% | 68% |
| David Catania | $14,932 | 12% | 77% | 11% |
| Mary Cheh | $34,686 | 1% | 18% | 81% |
| Jack Evans | $85,381 | 4% | 21% | 75% |
| Jim Graham | $48,713 | 25% | 20% | 55% |
| Vince Gray | $50,508 | 28% | 42% | 30% |
| Phil Mendelson | $3,751 | 12% | 48% | 40% |
| Harry Thomas, Jr | $6,259 | 12% | 29% | 59% |
| Tommy Wells | $8,299 | 32% | 45% | 23% |
The takeaway, according to D.C. for Democracy, is that these funds need to be eliminated rather than tweeked, as Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser has proposed in her ethics legislation. “The quite limited amounts spent on hardship cases handled by these funds—less than $50,000 for all councilmembers’ CSF’s—suggests that there must be a better way to handle them, perhaps in the executive branch through a central office with the ability to access city-wide public and private resources to service them.”
Tables courtesy of D.C. for Democracy