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Harry Jaffe: Fenty puts park projects through spin cycle

By: Harry Jaffe
Examiner Columnist
October 28, 2009

We know that Mayor Adrian Fenty is a man of many talents and abilities. He can run, he can swim, he can bike. Every time Fenty's name pops up in a news article written by an out-of-town reporter, we read once again of his prowess as a triathlete.

He's a protective parent, raising three young kids.

He cuts a fine figure in black tie and tux.

The dude can snip ribbons faster than Edward Scissorhands could sculpt a boxwood.

Who knew he could run a laundry, too?

Like any good laundry, Fenty's operation is based on speed and service. If you want a project done fast, Adrian is your man.

We're not talking shirts and pants here. Fenty puts capital projects through a spin cycle so his government can renovate and build recreation facilities in months rather than years.

I am not suggesting that our mayor circulates money in the criminal sense. It's not as if he is in the business of cleaning cash in the same way mobsters might launder drug profits by investing them in gambling casinos. The mayor is not breaking any laws.

But his practice of passing millions of dollars for parks projects through the D.C. Housing Authority does share one similarity to other forms of cleansing currency: In both cases, the launderers are trying to avoid an independent review of the money trail. Mobsters might be cleaning cash to avoid the FBI; Fenty seems to want to bypass city council review.

News broke last week that Fenty has passed parks and recreation projects worth $82.6 million through the Housing Authority. The authority is not part of the D.C. government; it is a quasi-independent agency. Fenty worships speed, in athletics and in governing. By funneling funds through the Housing Authority, he bypassed the sluggish procurement process and the time-consuming council review.

In Fenty's laundry, it's money in, bricks and mortar out.

Mayors have always complained that the city's procurement rules and city council review have gobbled up construction projects. Rather than fix the system, they tried to go around it.

Fenty first used the reliable Allen Lew, the city's schools modernization boss. Lew gets stuff done -- and well. Fenty asked him to renovate 12 recreation facilities, including the Wilson Pool. He did them, then the council said the projects had to go through the parks department.

Instead, Fenty bypassed parks, sidestepped procurement, faked the council -- and passed them through the Housing Authority.

What's the problem here? Why not allow our fast-moving chief executive to use any means toward his ends of building facilities so our kids can play rather than get into trouble? Haven't we suffered enough under a government that couldn't fix a toilet?

Two reasons come to mind: Other quasi-independent agencies -- such as the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Lew's outfit -- follow the citywide rule and pass projects worth more than $1 million before the city council. And without council review, Fenty might be awarding million-dollar contracts to his buddies. District residents deserve a system that does not permit money laundering in a more classic sense.

E-mail Harry Jaffe at hjaffe@washingtonexaminer.com.


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Reader Comments

All comments on this page are subject to our Terms of Use and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Examiner or its staff. Comment box is limited to 250 words.

Ward 4 Voter

Oct 28, 2009

Harry Jaffe, it seems you have a homosexual crush on King Fenty. In your mind, King Fenty and his subjects are ruling his kingdom fine. This article you have written about King Fenty is confusing. You are a white liberal who has been kissing King Fenty's behind on everything he does. I can tell you this, black voters in Ward 4 and across the city are fed up with King Fenty and his dictatorship style government. When will you white liberals wake up and realize, King Fenty is corrupt and only care about himself? I can't wait for 2010 to come. I will not be voting for King Fenty.

Ward 4 D.C. Voter
Brightwood

 

Oct 28, 2009

If the law states that contracts over $1mil go through the council, then he is breaking the law. Excuse you! Money going directly to his friends with no accountability means we don't how "all" the money is being spent. Laws are in place for accountability. These are tax dollars not private dollars. It's called racketeering plain and simple. You Harry seem to be promoting the continued lawlessness of this administration. He's supposed to be a mayor not John Gotti.

 

Sick Of The Foolishness

Oct 28, 2009

The bottom line is this: Fenty, a lawyer by profession, has violated DC law REPEATEDLY. It is truly a mystery why people continue to make excuses for him, enabling him to do the things he does without regard or respect for the city he works for. Some people have used different mob personalities to describe him. That makes me chuckle because if he was a mob boss he would long ago have been "taken care of" and the problem would exist no more. It is a total disgrace that the mob would operate with more order than the city government of the nation's capitol. For people who live in DC, please make a better decision in 2010 because our nation's capitol cannot continue to look like a laughingstock for lawyers who steal from the elderly gone wild.

 

MattDC

Oct 28, 2009

The only people who hate Fenty are those parasitic unions who are mad that he has kicked them out of government after 30 years of ruining our public schools and forcing every social service agency into receivership. Fenty wants a quick responsive government that works for the people. Is there any suggestion that the city did not get what it paid for? No. And that is the difference. His detractors want to go back to a corrupt mayor that benefited himself and handed out welfare hand over fist. Fenty wants to benefit and develop the city, it's the only future.

 

*******

Oct 28, 2009

You don't hear Fenty saying anything like "Wow!...All 12 contract going to Banneker? We gotta look into that right away and make sure those contracts were bid on."

That didn't happen.

 

Ward 3

Oct 28, 2009

Mr. Jaffe, I hear you when you explain how the Mayor has not respected the law. And I hear the comment of MattDC also. Could anyone tell me what the Mayor has done to improve the city? I will really appreciated it. Remember, this is a serious question, I want to know what is really happening good and bad. Thanks.

 

Sick of the Foolishness

Oct 28, 2009

First of all MattDC, all union members are not parasitic. That is just like saying all Hispanic people have lots of children and that all Black men have been to jail. Every group is diverse.
People who oppose Fenty are not detractors, they are people who see that he is the great detractor. He is supposed to be about accountability but he's not. If he was contracts wouldn't be racketeered to his friends.

Ward 3, I agree. What has Fenty done to improve the city? I'd like to know as well.

 


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