Does Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells have his eye on higher office? It’s tough not to think so, reading his latest news release touting two new pieces of legislation he’s going to introduce tomorrow that seem aimed at casting Wells as the chief protagonist in the struggle to clean up the D.C. government’s dirty ways.

In the first bill, Wells wants, among other things, to outlaw the District from buying or leasing “luxury-class vehicles.” In the second, Wells wants stricter reporting requirements for transition and inauguration funds, as well as banning campaign “bundling,” which is when developers or other businesses can use multiple LLCs to exceed donation caps.

(If you don’t know, Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown has had plenty of problems with luxury Lincoln Navigators, and Mayor Vince Gray still hasn’t been able to turn over a complete accounting of his transition and inauguration fundraising and spending.)

Fortunately, Wells had enough subtlety to scrap his third idea: A bill specifically banning earmarking funds for youth baseball then spending that money on your own Audi SUV. (LL is just kidding!)

“I’ve worked on these measures for the last several months to address several ongoing concerns,” Wells said in a statement, which sounds like code for: “I’m going to exploit the ethical lapses of my colleagues to my own gain.”

Wells couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, but LL will update if he calls back.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery