Ward 8 Councilmember steers social services contracts to another girlfriend.

By Jason Cherkis and Mike DeBonis

Posted: August 6, 2009

Marion Barry likes his girlfriends to work on reducing poverty.

The Ward 8 councilmember was arrested on July 4 for allegedly stalking his estranged girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt. Public documents later revealed that Barry had arranged for a $5,000-per-month contract for Watts-Brighthaupt to work on an anti-poverty project.

A similar pattern played out with a Barry girlfriend who preceded Watts-Brighthaupt.
Sharon L. Bowen of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, also saw her personal ties with Barry blur into a professional relationship in 2007, with tens of thousands of dollars in public money at stake.
Like Watts-Brighthaupt, Bowen was tasked to work in the area of poverty research. According to her personal-services contract with the District, Bowen was paid to “conceptualize, design, plan and execute” a poverty summit for the council’s housing and urban affairs committee, which Barry chairs.

Bowen was paid $5,000 per month for her services. Records indicate she was paid $50,000 total between June 2007 and April 2008. Watts-Brighthaupt made $15,000.

According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, Bowen was also Barry’s girlfriend at the time.

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