Three dozen agency directors and top brass under outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams were paid a total of nearly $350,000 in bonuses on the same day in October, in many cases only a short time after the same employees received their previous awards.
The most recent checks, totaling $341,770, were cut on Oct. 24 and paid to seven excepted service employees, such as the city administrator and deputy mayors, and 27 executive agency chiefs. Another $497,930 was disbursed between March and September to 76 top city staff, including many of the same people who received October bonuses, according to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
As all executive and excepted service employees also are eligible for up to 12 weeks of separation pay, several top city employees could walk away from their jobs in January having pocketed $50,000 or more in bonuses and severance in a matter of months.
“I don’t think it’s a lot of money individually,” Williams said Friday. “In the aggregate of course it’s going to be a lot of money because you’re talking about a number of people.”
But two bonuses received within months of each other raises eyebrows among government watchdogs.And they question whether the chiefs of some of the District’s most troubled agencies — Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Parks and Recreation, Property Management and Personnel among them — deserve thousands of extra dollars.
“I have always looked poorly upon bonuses for executives of city agencies,” said Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations.
The two awards covered performance in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 and ranged from $1,500 to $15,600 per person. For example, Kenneth Saunders, director of the Office of Human Rights, picked up $4,885 on July 31 and $7,620 on Oct. 24. Anne Witt, director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, was paid $10,337 on July 31 and $11,401 on Oct. 24.
Incentives of up to 10 percent of a person’s salary are authorized under the District’s personnel rules. Williams said performance measurements are “objectively based.”
Interim City Administrator Ed Reiskin, recipient of $19,561 since July 31, said the evaluation process is “rigorous” and consistent with national standards.
But Dorothy Brizill with D.C. Watch said the system should be more transparent.
“What basis are they getting these performance bonuses, that somebody in the mayor’s office likes them?” Brizill asked. “They’re certainly not talking to anyone in the community.”
Bonus examples:
Alfreda Davis, chief of staff: $13,033 on 10/24, $10,658 on 07/31
Robert Bobb, former city administrator: $15,600 on 10/24, $15,600 on 07/28
Carol Mitten, director, Property Mgmt.: $11,401 on 10/24, $10,962 on 07/31
Brenda Donald Walker, deputy mayor: $10,861 on 10/24, $10,150 on 07/31
Herbert TIllery, deputy mayor: $10,861 on 10/24, $10,150 on 07/31
Stan Jackson, deputy mayor: $12,412 on 10/24, $10,150 on 07/31
Barbara Childs-Pair, director, EMA: $10,174 on 10/24, $9,783 on 07/31
Patrick Canavan, director, DCRA: $8,551 on 10/24, $5,481 on 07/31
Lisa Marin, director, Office of Personnel: $11,053 on 10/24, $6,642 on 07/31
Ellen McCarthy, director, Office of Planning: $8,063 on 10/24, $7,753 on 07/31
