The District is potentially on the hook for more than $33,000 to cover the cost of two Lincoln Navigators leased at the request of D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, who drove one of them for month before both were returned. The biggest chunk of change comes from an illegal $17,600 prepayment on the first Navigator leased at Brown’s request the day after the general election in November, Department of Public Works Director William Howland testified Thursday during a D.C. Council hearing called by Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells to investigate the city’s vehicle procurement system. That illegal prepayment was the second in five years made for a council chairman’s ride, Howland said. In 2006, the city leased a Chevrolet Tahoe at then-council Chairman Vincent Gray’s request and illegally prepaid all four years of the chairman’s lease. As mayor, Gray now rides in a fully-loaded Navigator requested by the police department.
| Large tab |
| The potential payout on Kwame Brown’s Lincoln Navigators: |
| $17,600 ?– prepayment on first Navigator |
| $12,000 — lawsuit filed for breaking the lease on second Navigator |
| $1,600 — for expediting delivery of second Navigator |
| $1,963 — for Brown’s use of second Navigator in January |
| Total: $33,163 |
Howland said that both Gray’s Tahoe and Brown’s Navigator were leased from the same company, Standard Leasing.
“Unfortunately, an error was made in the payment to Standard Leasing,” said Howland, referring only to Brown’s lease. Howland has headed DPW for eight years. “Standard Leasing invoiced DPW for the remaining months of the fiscal year and DPW processed the payment. DPW should have noted the incorrect billing and paid for only one month at a time.”
The attorney general’s office is trying to get some of the prepayment back on Brown’s lease. The prepayment, Howland said, was made on Feb. 7, more than two months after Brown asked that the city return the SUV because he didn’t like the interior color. Brown then demanded another Navigator be ordered and delivered by his Jan. 2 inauguration. Jefferson Leasing is now suing the city for $12,000 to win back a portion of what it would have been paid on the second Navigator, Howland said.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, whose committee has oversight over the procurement office, sent a letter Thursday to interim chief procurement officer Nancy Hapeman asking for information on all prepayments made on city leases.
“I find this highly troubling and very questionable,” Cheh wrote.
Wells hammered City Administrator Allen Lew and Howland for hours Thursday on a wide range of procurement policies, including dozens of Chevrolet Suburbans leased by the city despite a 2004 law making that illegal.
Lew said he has been investigating procurement issues at the mayor’s request for the past two weeks.
“We will continue to look at all the policies and procedures in order to make recommendations on clarifications and improvements to ensure compliance with the law, sound management and public accountability,” Lew said.
