WASHINGTON INSIGHT

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: As retiring Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) serves out his final months in Washington, he has hired a consultant to advise him on the potential pitfalls of returning to civilian life after 22 years in Congress. The job calls for one visit a week to Dymally’s Capitol Hill office, and the pay is dirt cheap--only $100 monthly. But Dymally has found an expert in ex-House Sergeant at Arms Jack Russ, who resigned under fire in March as the House was poised to consider disciplining him for his role in running the scandal-plagued House Bank. . . . Russ, just shy of 25 years of government service, would be eligible to collect a full pension by working in Dymally’s office for a few months. Dymally, who said he hired Russ at the request of a senator he declined to identify, described Russ’ workload as light. “How much can you ask for a hundred bucks?” he told the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. . . . Russ will be paid with taxpayer money, from public funds intended for the operation of Dymally’s office.