“Those of us on this side of the dais are as complicit in [circumventing contracting and procurement regulations] as the executive,” at-large D.C. Councilman David Catania said last week during the second roundtable probing questionable contracts awarded by the D.C. Housing Authority to companies headed by friends of Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Catania spoke an unacknowledged truth. But city executives haven’t been slouches.
As mayor, Marion Barry was the architect of contemporary contracting shenanigans in the District. If Otis Troupe, former city auditor, were still alive he could provide some entertaining tales. He tracked how Barry handed out contracts to political operatives, cronies and cronies of cronies.
One favorite Barry contractor was R. Donahue Peebles, who recently announced he would raise $1 million to help anyone challenging Fenty in next year’s election. In his book the “Peebles Principles,” Peebles said his rise began after raising $100,000 for Barry’s second mayoral run. Then 22 years old, Peebles subsequently was invited to serve on the real estate commission. But he didn’t qualify. Unwilling to wait two years for a slot on the tax appeal board, Peebles called Ivanhoe Donaldson, then deputy mayor for economic development. Peebles got his appointment to the powerful board and the sweetheart deals between he and the Barry administration became legend. Using the money made in the District, Peebles became a big man on the beach in Florida.
Peebles is now back in the District. Audaciously, he has accused Fenty of having favored developers. Meanwhile, Barry is on the council and under investigation for possibly violating procurement rules.
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
Were it not for former Mayor Anthony Williams, the Jair Lynch Companies wouldn’t be the business it is today. Williams was to Lynch, an Olympic gymnast, what Barry was to Peebles.
Now comes Fenty with his band of buddies who, not unlike Peebles, think they deserve a share of the booty because they helped Fenty get elected. Some may be qualified to receive the bennies they seek, but others are not. By helping them gain influence and affluence, Fenty has cast himself as yet another acolyte of the city’s inglorious contracting tradition.
David Gragan, the city’s chief procurement officer, said at the roundtable that complete reform of the system might take another three years. Let’s hope not.
In the interim, the legislature may want to consider rescinding the independent contracting authority of all agencies, including the DCHA. Special needs and circumstances could be dealt with through a waiver system that would require Gragan’s signature of approval. And, to ensure the CPO is not vulnerable to strong-arming by the executive or legislative branch, he could be given by law powers similar to those of the chief financial officer.
Anything short of those minor changes means that residents will be left watching more contracting shenanigans, with a rotating cast of characters, while paying the high cost of a severely dysfunctional system.
Jonetta Rose Barras, hosts of WPFW’s “D.C. Politics with Jonetta,” can be reached at [email protected]
