Jonetta Rose Barras
Pay to play — with your money
By: Jonetta Rose Barras
Examiner Columnist
December 22, 2008
My grandmother, Rose Dejan, often warned about the incremental erosion of values and morals, which may lead to sin and corruption: “If you lie, you’ll steal; if you steal, you'll kill,” she’d tell my siblings and me. The actions of some D.C. Council members last week suggest they may want to reflect on her words.
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray feigned ignorance when asked for his opinion about Ward 1 Coucilman Jim Graham’s possibly unlawful use of fire department personnel to serve as waitstaff at a holiday bash. Gray refused to publicly admonish his fellow legislator. His silence was comparable to the self-muzzling that Office of Tax and Revenue employees engaged in as Harriette Walters stole the public blind.
Then, eight council members — Phil Mendelson, Harry Thomas Jr., Tommy Wells, Yvette Alexander, Marion Barry, Kwame Brown, Graham and Gray appeared to be flouting city procurement rules. They voted against a recommendation to award a $120 million lottery contract to W2 I — although the District’s contract appeals board, responding to a complaint from the losing bidder, ruled that the process had been fair.
Council members’ shameless dismissal of standard contracting procedures provides another glimpse of the District’s brand of pay to play. Moreover, residents now may be exposed to a potential lawsuit.
What do the reckless eight care? It's only the public’s money.
Even as the chief financial officer was poised to announce a $127 million revenue shortfall for this fiscal year, council members ignored the $5 million additional funds W2I promised annually over those of current vendor Lottery Technology Enterprises. Headed by P. Leonard Manning, LTE has held the lottery contract for more than 20 years. Lately, the company has suffered equipment and personnel problems, resulting in lower revenues for the city. LTE also has been fined more than $1 million for allegedly failing to meet its obligations.
Council members were unfazed. Perhaps it's because Manning passes money around like water during election season. He pays and expects to play.
Nothing hindered those expectations until W2I’s arrival some of whose principals are FOF — Friends of Fenty. That association doesn't sit well with legislators who have mayoral ambitions.
The council’s vote throws the ball back to District’s CFO Natwar Gandhi, who oversees the D.C. Lottery. The CFO will have to request proposals yet again. But Eric Payne, who managed the last procurement, has been reassigned. Sources say political pressure was placed on Gandhi. Not true, CFO spokesman David Umansky said.
“Throughout the process there were no calls from the executive. They have stayed away,” he said. “So has the council.”
Is anything written on my forehead?
Meanwhile, come January, council members will propose cuts to close the fiscal 2009 revenue gap; they'll need another $303.8 million for 2010. Will they remember that, ignoring the need to maintain the city’s economic viability, eight of them carelessly tossed $5 million in the trash?
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray feigned ignorance when asked for his opinion about Ward 1 Coucilman Jim Graham’s possibly unlawful use of fire department personnel to serve as waitstaff at a holiday bash. Gray refused to publicly admonish his fellow legislator. His silence was comparable to the self-muzzling that Office of Tax and Revenue employees engaged in as Harriette Walters stole the public blind.
Then, eight council members — Phil Mendelson, Harry Thomas Jr., Tommy Wells, Yvette Alexander, Marion Barry, Kwame Brown, Graham and Gray appeared to be flouting city procurement rules. They voted against a recommendation to award a $120 million lottery contract to W2 I — although the District’s contract appeals board, responding to a complaint from the losing bidder, ruled that the process had been fair.
Council members’ shameless dismissal of standard contracting procedures provides another glimpse of the District’s brand of pay to play. Moreover, residents now may be exposed to a potential lawsuit.
What do the reckless eight care? It's only the public’s money.
Even as the chief financial officer was poised to announce a $127 million revenue shortfall for this fiscal year, council members ignored the $5 million additional funds W2I promised annually over those of current vendor Lottery Technology Enterprises. Headed by P. Leonard Manning, LTE has held the lottery contract for more than 20 years. Lately, the company has suffered equipment and personnel problems, resulting in lower revenues for the city. LTE also has been fined more than $1 million for allegedly failing to meet its obligations.
Council members were unfazed. Perhaps it's because Manning passes money around like water during election season. He pays and expects to play.
Nothing hindered those expectations until W2I’s arrival some of whose principals are FOF — Friends of Fenty. That association doesn't sit well with legislators who have mayoral ambitions.
The council’s vote throws the ball back to District’s CFO Natwar Gandhi, who oversees the D.C. Lottery. The CFO will have to request proposals yet again. But Eric Payne, who managed the last procurement, has been reassigned. Sources say political pressure was placed on Gandhi. Not true, CFO spokesman David Umansky said.
“Throughout the process there were no calls from the executive. They have stayed away,” he said. “So has the council.”
Is anything written on my forehead?
Meanwhile, come January, council members will propose cuts to close the fiscal 2009 revenue gap; they'll need another $303.8 million for 2010. Will they remember that, ignoring the need to maintain the city’s economic viability, eight of them carelessly tossed $5 million in the trash?
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