Were you wondering if Mayor Vince Gray was offended when his (former?) friends on the D.C. Council said they felt blindsided and ambushed by Gray’s pocket veto of a budget that would delay the implementation of a municipal bond tax?
Well, wonder no more. Hizzoner has penned a tear-stained rebuttal to Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, defending the veto and reaffirming his commitment to socking away funds for a rainy day.
“While I do not want to engage in a back-and-forth of letters,” writes Gray. “I do feel like there were some erroneous statements made in writing that could give District residents an incorrect impression.”
The seven-page note has five “clarifications” the mayor wants to make. They are:
- Gray is all about replenishing the District’s fund balance and has been for a while.
- Brown and Cheh should quit saying they wanted to put more money aside in than Gray did, because they didn’t.
- Gray never said $13 million would crush the District’s bond rating; Brown and Cheh should stop saying he did.
- Gray says he didn’t ambush Brown; in fact, the mayor says he met with the chairman for three hours to talk about the veto.
- Gray says he doesn’t like retroactive bond taxes and never has; how about an income tax hike on rich people instead?
Brown’s already made it clear he’s not going to support an income tax hike. The big question is, will he write the mayor another letter telling him so?
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