ABCDE METRO wednesday, december 8, 2010 28, 9 a.m. 34, noon 35, 5 p.m. 31, 9 p.m.


Obituaries Hugues Cuenod, a Swiss-born tenor, enjoyed six decades of success and made his Met debut at age 84. B7


The Crime Scene


We cover your safety: Get news and insights about what’s happening at police departments and courthouses in our region.


MARYLAND How to save $300 million


The Montgomery County Council reviews a report that suggests ways to close the budget gap, including deep cuts in staffing and employee benefits. B6


Remembering sacrifices of Pearl Harbor


council panels SHE CAN JOIN IN BODY’S VOTES


Some wonder if her district is being slighted


BY MIRANDA S. SPIVACK ANDMATT ZAPOTOSKY


Aunited PrinceGeorge’s Coun-


ty Council took the rare step Tuesday of barring Leslie John- son from sitting on any of the council’s committees, where doz- ens of key decisions are made each legislative session. However, as part of a deal


struck during a closed-door ses- sion, Johnson (D-Mitchellville) will be allowed to attend commit- tee meetings and vote on bills that come before the full nine- member body. Council members said the


PHOTOS BY JONATHAN ERNST FOR THE WASHINGTON POST HonoreesKennethWalser, from left, RoyWalser, Daniel StanWalser and RobertWells stand for the colors. Below, veteran Jay Groff.


was held at the National WorldWar IIMemorial in Washington at 1:53 p.m., the hour of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. Special recognition was paid to those who served at Pearl Harbor 69 years ago, and veterans who survived the attack were on hand to participate in the ceremony.


A ‘Straight arrow’ considers health-care suit


Conservative judge will rule on Va.’s bid to overturn reform bill


BY ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN Michael Vick, currently enjoy-


ing a dazzling comeback season as quarterback of the Philadel- phia Eagles, has a perhaps unusu- al fan: The man who sentenced himto almost twoyears in federal prison for running a dog-fighting operation in Virginia. “He’s an example of how the


system can work,” said U.S. Dis- trict Court Judge Henry E. Hud-


son, an aggressive former prose- cutor who surprised no one who knew him when he sentenced Vick to a 23-month term in 2007. “He’s having a terrific season,”


Hudson said in an interview. “I’m very happy for him. I wish him the best of success.” The Vick case brought a level of


publicity that Hudson, 63, had encountered on occasion over a long career as commonwealth at- torney of Arlington County, aU.S. attorney for Virginia and director of theU.S.Marshals Service. But in the long run, the Vick


trial may pale in comparison to the caseHudson isnowweighing. Sometime thismonth,hewill rule in a case filed by Virginia Attor-


ney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) challenging the constitutionality of the nation’s sweeping health- care overhaul. Two other federal judges have


ruled that the law passes consti- tutional muster. No judge has ruled the law unconstitutional. Many observers think Hudson will be the first. That prediction is built partly


on Hudson’s roots in Republican politics. He was elected Arling- ton’s commonwealth attorney as a Republican, briefly ran against U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.) in 1991 and has received all of his appointments — as U.S. attorney, as a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge in 1998 and to the federal


D.C. Council rejects tax hike, backswelfare cuts to close gap


Budget session offers glimpse of how Gray might govern as mayor


BY TIM CRAIG The D.C. Council approved a


city spending plan Tuesday that avoids higher taxes but includes far-reaching efforts to control spending on welfare programs, including a controversialmove to start cutting off direct assistance after five years. On a day that saw public pro-


tests at the John A.Wilson Build- ing and sparring among council


members over the city’s obliga- tion to care for its neediest resi- dents, the council passed a series of amendments to close a $188 million shortfall in the current fiscal year’s budget. The vote is viewed as a warm-


up to negotiations in the spring over the fiscal 2012 budget, when council members and Mayor- elect Vincent C.Gray (D)will face a projected $440 million short- fall. And although the council refrained fromraising taxesTues- day,mostmembers agree that the debate to come will not be about whether to raise taxes but on whom and by how much to raise them. “The District of Columbia is in


desperate straits.. . . The Grim Reaper is at the door,” said Gray, the council chairman. “There is hard work that needs to be done at this stage to make this city fiscally solvent.” The District has fared better


thanmany other cities during the economic downturn, but city leaders say the slowpace of recov- ery has caught upwith the city as sales and income tax proceeds decline. As the council refined cuts pro-


posed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) in late November, Tuesday’s budget session offered a glimpse into how Gray would govern as


budget continued on B6


bench in 2002 — from Republi- cans.


Observers also notedHudson’s


skeptical courtroom questioning of lawyers defending the law on behalf of President Obama this summer and fall and his written opinion in July rejecting a motion to dismiss the suit out of hand. “I think he will do something


quite similar to [his ruling on] the motionto dismiss,” said CarlTobi- as, a professor at theUniversity of Richmond School of Lawwhohas been following the case and has hosted Hudson for lectures nu- merous times. “He’ll tailor it and focus it more and refine it. But I


hudson continued on B10


commemorative event honoring Pearl Harbor survivors


county charter does not allow them to deny the newly elected Johnson all voting rights while


B EZ SU


JOHNKELLY’SWASHINGTON Free of pain and worry


Doctors at Children’s Hospital remove a cyst from a Virginia girl in time for her to recuperate and rejoin her teammates for an Irish step-dancing competition. B2


Johnson barred fromPr. George’s


she is under federal investigation, but they said the arrangement would ensure extra scrutiny over development proposals in her district and inoculate the council from any concerns that her ten- ure would cast doubt on their work. This is “an abundance of cau-


tion,” new council Chairman In- grid Turner (D-Bowie) said at a news conference that Johnson did not attend. Johnson, who represents mid-


county District 6, was arrested 10 days after her Nov. 2 election along with her husband, then- County Executive Jack B. John- son (D), after they were over- heard on a federal wiretap plot- ting to destroy a $100,000 check from a developer and hide $79,600 in Leslie Johnson’s bra. Since then, five council members have asked Johnson to forgo the oath of office, but she refused. She was sworn inMonday, along with eight others, a new school board and new County Executive Rush- ern L. Baker III (D).


council continued on B5


For Leslie Johnson, image at oddswith arrest


New council member in Pr. George’s was known for ‘moral code’


BY AVIS THOMAS-LESTER AND PAUL SCHWARTZMAN


Leslie E. Johnson’s colleagues wandered into the audience in Upper Marlboro on Tuesday to greet supporters and accept con- gratulations for starting a new political era in Prince George’s County. But the newly elected County


Council member from District 6 — and wife of the exiting county executive, Jack B. Johnson — re- mained in her seat, prim in a blue suit and gold earrings, bearing enough political baggage to fill a moving van. When the clerk called Mrs.


Johnson’s name, she said only “present,” then returned to gazing


impassively at the crowd. When the session ended, even as her colleagues greeted well-wishers at a reception and attended a news conference, Mrs. Johnson did not linger or glad-hand. She ignored reporters’ questions and disappeared behind a door. For two decades,Mrs. Johnson


has been the silent partner in the political career of her husband, a life that unraveled when both were arrested Nov. 12. Although he was a perpetual campaigner, always out and about, she nur- tured her own identity, working as an administrative law judge and returning home to make sure their kids did their homework. Yet with six words she spoke to


her husband in a frantic tele- phone call — words recorded by the FBI as agents were poised to visit their home — Mrs. Johnson traded a lifetime of anonymity for one moment of indelible notori-


johnson continued on B5


CourtlandMilloy is away.His column will resume when he returns. COURTLAND MILLOY


Gray’s dismantled fence may rise again BY ANN E.MARIMOW The blackaluminumfence that


once surrounded Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray’s Southeast Washington home may soon rise again when the D.C. Council chairman becomes the city’s chief executive in January. After months of wrangling


with the city bureaucracy — in- cluding an obscure committee whose decision pushed Gray to teardownaportion of the fenceat his Hillcrest home — the mayor- elect most likely will have the last laugh — and at taxpayers’ ex- pense. As it stands, the police depart-


ment has asked the same panel, the Public Space Committee, to approve the installation of a secu- rity fence and guard booth at Gray’s Branch Avenue property,


according to city officials. And although the cost of the security measures was not immediately available Tuesday, the expense will be covered by the city, Assis-


“You have to have perimeter security to slow someone from gaining access.”


—Assistant Chief Alfred Durham, explaining the need for a fence around the incoming mayor’s house.


tant Chief Alfred Durham said. “You have to have perimeter


security to slow someone from gaining access to his property,” said Durham, who oversees the


executive protection unit.He said the unit is responsible for ensur- ing that the “best protection is in place for the mayor and his fami- ly.”


Gray referred questions about


the fence to police, declining to comment on what he has de- scribed as a frustrating seven- month saga. “I really don’t want to get into


this,” Gray said with a smile, suggesting an appreciation for the irony of the situation. For months, Gray went back


and forth with city regulators about his $12,600 fence, which emerged as an issue in hismayor- al primary contest with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who techni- cally oversees the Public Space Committee. In the spring, the District De-


fence continued on B6


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