City Desk » Sharon Wise

Vincent Gray Dropped From Whistleblower’s Lawsuit Against Marion Barry

Rend Smith — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:38:58 +0000

Some good news out of the courts for mayoral candidate (and D.C. Council Chairman) Vincent Gray—he's no longer named in a lawsuit against Councilmember Marion Barry.

Whistleblower Sharon Wise came forward some time ago to expose the shady dealings that took place when Barry secured earmark money and sent it to nonprofit groups he created. Some of that money was steered to Barry's friends and associates, a Washington City Paper investigation revealed. Wise, who acted as program manager for two of Barry's Ward 8 non-profits, "Clean and Sober" and "Youth Leadership Council," sued Barry (and Gray), saying she was cheated out of pay. She was supposed to earn $65,000 per year for running the programs, but then she was told by Barry that $15,000 of that money would be paid out to someone else.

Though Gray's hand wasn't in the till, Wise was suing Gray in his official capacity as council chairman "due to his failure to invesigate Wise's allegations regarding the misuse of of money under the earmark grants awarded to Ward 8," say court records. In other words, Wise claimed she told Gray about Barry's antics, but Gray did nothing to stop them.

But Wise's lawyer, Denise Clark, tells City Desk Gray was dropped from the defendants because Wise is focusing her lawsuit on the wages she's still owed. Through his campaign spokeswoman, Traci Hughes, Gray declined to comment.

Report: Barry Solicited Sexual Favors From Nonprofit Worker

Jason Cherkis — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:36:51 +0000

Sharon Wise's tenure as the project manager for two of Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr.'s fishy nonprofits, Clean and Sober Inc. and the Ward 8 Youth Leadership Council, was at best a rocky one. Wise's contract was terminated after she complained that Barry and his staffer Brenda Richardson were using the earmarked funds improperly. Wise eventually turned into a whistleblower.

According to the Bennett Report, Wise had to put up with more than just financial hanky-panky. She had to put up with Barry's constant advances. She told investigators that Barry "frequently requested sexual favors" from her.

When asked to respond during his deposition, Barry refused to answer questions about his relationship with Wise. "I think that's outside the scope of the inquiry," he stated.

When asked if Barry "had ever requested a sexual favor," Wise stated in her deposition: "He probably suggested it 562 times."

Among the 562 times, Barry asked her to "sit on my lap" and "come over here and give me a hug" and told her she was his "baby."

Wise said her typical response to Barry's advances was: "Have you lost your mind?"

*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

Catania Abruptly Cancels Hearing on Barry Earmarks

Mike DeBonis — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:48:13 +0000

This afternoon, LL and other reporters hoping to follow his Friday scoop showed up to a Wilson Building hearing room to hear testimony on grants earmarked last year by Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.

We were all disappointed.

At-Large Councilmember David A. Catania, who called the hearing to examine the role of "fiscal agents" in administering Department of Health grants, read an opening statement then announced he was recessing the hearing.

In his remarks, Catania explained that he had intended a "hearing of limited scope" about the fiscal agent relationships and "irregularities in the administration" of a particular grant, to Clean and Sober Inc., run by Sharon Wise. Wise, he explained, had contacted him about a contractual dispute, and Catania says he moved to resolve it, but was stymied when Brenda Richardson, Barry's constituent services maven and a key player in the dispute, declined to cooperate via a statement from her lawyer, A. Scott Bolden that cited an ongoing Inspector General investigation.

"Since our inquiry began," Catania said, "new and very serious additional allegations have been made public relating to this and other grants, involving Ms. Richardson in her capacity as constituent services employee to Mr. Barry." Catania went on to mention several of the allegations mentioned in City Paper's story published Friday night.

Said Catania, "If these allegations are true, and in light of the fact that these are public funds, the entities in question are arguably illegitimate....These accusations are extremely serious and should be reviewed. Given the timing of some of the information, the Committee is not prepared to delve into this matter this afternoon. In fact, given the allegations, I believe these matters are better reviewed by the Inspector General in their entirety. At the very least, each of these allegations should be investigated and a full accounting of all receipts and expenditures of the referenced entities should be conducted."

Waiting in the hearing room to testify was S. Patrice Sheppard, co-founder of Lydia's House, the group tasked with overseeing a $75,000 grant to Clean and Sober Inc.—one of the six groups created and operated by aides and associates of Barry that received earmarked funds in fiscal 2009.

She handed LL a prepared statement, saying that Lydia's House had been "asked if we would serve as the fiscal agent on behalf of" Clean and Sober.

LL asked who did the asking. Said Sheppard, "Brenda Richardson."

Stay right here at City Desk for more.