Time to stand up to Fenty
Examiner Editorial
November 19, 2009
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Members of the District of Columbia Council made the right call when they refused to confirm Ximena Hartsock as head of the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. She proved her own incompetence when she appeared before them Monday and tried to make the case that DPR was just a bit player in a contracting scandal involving City Hall. Hartsock called the department she wanted to run a "mediocre agency" caught in a scheme to funnel money to the quasi-independent D.C. Housing Authority.
That was done so that Mayor Adrian Fenty's fraternity brother could get a $4.2 million contract without competitive bidding or council review. As DPR's interim director, it was Hartsock's job to stand up to Fenty and refuse to allow her department to be used to bypass the law. Hartsock also allowed Fenty to mislead city residents by promising to build 18 park projects worth more than $86 million, even though she should have known that there was no money to pay for them.
Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos' claim that "there was no intent to sidestep the council" is ludicrous. And if Fenty didn't think Hartsock was capable of managing his parks projects, why did he nominate her to run the entire department? Because he knew she'd keep her mouth shut?
This is not the first time the mayor has abused his public trust. He caused an uproar in January when he nominated his wife's best friend as chairman of the Public Service Commission even though she had no experience in either utilities law or managing a public budget. The unspoken message is that the criteria for getting a top-level appointment or a lucrative government contract is not who's the best qualified or who can do the highest quality work for the least cost, but who has the closest ties to the Fentys. This kind of cronyism inevitably leads to widespread government corruption. If the mayor's friends are first in line at DPR, there's a good chance the same thing is happening in other departments.
The cure is much more sunlight throughout D.C. government. The council should insist that every city contract be competitively bid, with the results posted on the Internet in an easy-to-find, easy-to-read format. There should also be a requirement of proof that so-called "emergency" procurements are not being used to avoid accountability. If necessary, the council should freeze funding until Fenty gets the message. Any council members who, like Hartsock, don't have the stomach to stand up to City Hall don't deserve another term.
