No role in City Hall soap for Nutter

The lingering, salacious, racially charged mess surrounding City Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. and his chief legislative aide, Latrice Bryant, has become

the

story of city government, and yesterday it even pulled in a reluctant Mayor Nutter.

As Nutter announced his a new ethics task force, reporters peppered him with questions about the relationship between Goode and Bryant and employee supervision in Goode's office.

"I don't believe I can do anything about a staff member in another branch of government," Nutter said, refusing to wade any further into an issue that has already embarrassed Council, diverted attention from the legislative agenda, and obscured the work of Goode, who was first elected to Council in 1999.

Since Council's first meeting of the fall session, on Sept. 18, Goode has had to defend himself and Bryant for their actions and over questions about the propriety of their relationship.

Bryant did not help her boss when she tried to shield herself from Fox29 television cameras in City Council chambers by holding up hand-written messages accusing the station of racism.

Goode's unapologetic defense of his aide, and leaked photos showing a cozy Goode and Bryant on vacation in Jamaica, raised further questions about whether they were more than just boss and employee. Bryant rose from a $36,000 executive-assistant position in 2000 to become Goode's $90,000-a-year legislative aide. Goode denies having an intimate relationship with Bryant now but he won't comment on the past.

The original allegations by Fox29 were that Bryant had signed time sheets placing her on the job when, in fact, she was not. Goode has dismissed the issue as a lapse in record-keeping by a forgetful aide, and has vowed to tighten up his office practice.

Meanwhile, Bryant has worked only two of 11 workdays since she flashed the signs in Council, using a combination of sick days and vacation time before returning to work yesterday. And the tempest has not subsided.

"People are frustrated - it appears that there are documented infractions and it doesn't look like a sufficient government response," city Controller Alan Butkovitz said.

Though District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham has concluded there is no criminal case, there seems to be no government entity empowered or inclined to investigate whether the pair has crossed any ethical boundaries.

Nutter, at his news conference yesterday, said the Board of Ethics had jurisdiction over the matter.

But Ethics Board Executive Director Shane Creamer said that because the city has no prohibition against employee-supervisor relationships, there's no policy for the board to enforce.

"We don't even have a nepotism rule, so we certainly don't have a rule that would address romantic relationships," Creamer said.

Committee of Seventy President Zack Stalberg called on City Council President Anna Verna to convene - for the first time in recent memory - Council's Committee on Ethics.

"This incident is clearly not going to go away and as each day goes by it makes all of City Council look worse and worse," Stalberg said. "This is the kind of incident that really makes people disrespect and lose faith in government."

Verna said she would discuss the matter with Council leadership but was noncommittal.

The Goode-Bryant issue may provide the new ethics task force its first task. The matter of a city employee having a romantic relationship with a subordinate is "a logical extension of the nepotism issue that the ethics commission could examine," said Joan Markman, the city's chief integrity officer.

Some who know Goode are concerned that the controversy will mar an otherwise respectable career.

"Councilman Goode is one of the most thoughtful and effective members of Council," said fellow Councilman Bill Green, who lauded Goode's work on reducing business-privilege taxes and improving minority inclusion in contracting. "I hate to see this overshadow all of that."

Verna, who was also at the news conference, reiterated yesterday that only Goode had the right to hire or fire his staff.

Asked her thoughts about a Council member having a relationship with a staffer, she said only: "Would I do it? Absolutely not."