Behind the groups created and funded by the Ward 8 councilmember
By Mike DeBonis and Jason Cherkis

Jul. 23 - 29, 2009 (Vol. 29, #30)

In 2007, Darryl Colbert started up a volunteer gig as head of the Ward 8 Drug Prevention Council. The group was one of a network of 15 all-volunteer councils organized by that ward’s councilmember, Marion Barry. Colbert describes the council’s work as “trying to help gather groups to form a true continuum of care.” They’d hold meetings, do some seminars and training sessions—things like that.

Late last year, however, his volunteering ended. Brenda Richardson, a close Barry aide, asked if he’d be interested in getting paid for his work, and Colbert said sure—why not? Who wouldn’t welcome $1,200 to $1,500 per month in this economy?

What didn’t change was the work he was doing. “That’s why I accepted it. I just simply continued to do the same thing as a paid consultant,” says Colbert.

What had happened is that Barry had appropriated $75,000 in city funding earlier in the year to turn the Drug Prevention Council into Clean and Sober Inc.—one of six nonprofit corporations created to absorb nearly a half-million dollars in earmarks. The other organizations—Clean and Green Inc., plus the Ward 8 Education, Health, Workforce Development, and Youth Leadership councils—all got the same amount.

Colbert says he had no doubt who was the prime mover behind his new paycheck. Richardson, he says, “made it clear that it was with the councilmember’s approval.”

Barry and Colbert share an intimate bond: Colbert has been Barry’s addiction sponsor for nearly 20 years. “The relationship that the councilmember and I have has always been strictly a personal one, not anything to do with politics or business,” he says. “I’ve been helping him as much as I can to keep his head on straight.”

In an interview, Barry says Colbert was chosen as an incorporator by Richardson “because of his experience and his 20 years of working in his community. We wanted him to be involved.”

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