The District of Columbia’s chief financial officer agreed Monday to remain on the job after the mayor and D.C. Council chairman offered him nearly $100,000 more a year, council members said.
Natwar Gandhi, whose presence in the D.C. government is highly valued by both Congress and Wall Street, was being lured by Amtrak to fill its empty CFO slot. But District leaders, including Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray and Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans, put together a salary package to reel him back in.
“He’s staying,” Evans said.
Evans said Gandhi was offered $279,600, or $93,000 more than his current $186,600 salary. The staggering 50 percent pay raise will require an amendment to the Home Rule Charter.
Amtrak reportedly offered Gandhi $250,000 a year, plus a $100,000 signing bonus.
“We don’t want him to go,” Gray said. “He really has an important role to play in how quickly we can get a bond rating upgrade.”
The CFO’s office is an independent agency that supervises all financial functions of the District government, from preparing the annual budget to forecasting revenue.
Gandhi could not be reached for comment.
“Dr. Gandhi has been instrumental in bringing the District from the brink of bankruptcy to fiscal solvency,” Fenty said in a statement. “However, his work for the District is not yet done.”
