D.C. Council members refused to call for the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi on Tuesday, even as they expressed growing anger with him and his management team for failing to prevent the largest corruption scandal in city history.
“It might be time to start looking in the direction of change,” Council Member Kwame Brown told The Examiner.
The council voted unanimously to launch its own formal investigation into the alleged theft of more than $20 million from the treasury by two tax office employees and their accomplices. The special committee of the council, with a budget of up to $250,000, will have subpoena power to investigate the failures — and recommend wholesale improvements — within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of Tax and Revenue, which allowed the property tax refund system to be abused for years.
“If ever there was a need to act to restore the public trust, it is now,” said council Chairman Vincent Gray, who co-introduced the emergency resolution with Ward2 Council Member Jack Evans.
Gandhi, who has said he will resign if he loses the backing of Mayor Adrian Fenty and a majority of the council, is receiving little legislative support. Even Gray, whom the CFO has counted as an advocate, was stepping back.
“I’m prepared to say it’s our hope to work with Dr. Gandhi to solve these issues,” Gray said.
Ward 3 Council Member Mary Cheh said that if Gandhi had been the CEO of a major corporation, he would have been gone. But there’s a sense “that we have to be careful that we don’t destabilize the city,” she said, and Gandhi is well-respected on Wall Street and in Congress.
“If you have a steady rudder, you might want to keep it in place,” Cheh said. “We don’t want to be reckless.”
Brown said the District “should not rely on the same people who let the internal controls lapse in the first place” to implement whatever improvements come from the council’s final investigative report.
