D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray may have sent Natwar Gandhi, the District’s chief financial officer, a nasty letter last week, but he praised Gandhi’s job performance in a Wednesday morning appearance.
“I think if you look at Dr. Gandhi’s performance over a period of, I don’t know, 10 or 12 years, I think he really has done an exceptional job as the CFO,” Gray said. “I think you could go to various… situations like you could do with every one of us and point out things you wish were different.”
On Feb. 29, Gandhi announced that he expects the city will take in about $71 million more during this fiscal year and the next than he originally projected.
In a three-page letter, though, Gray lashed out at Gandhi for estimates the mayor thought were too conservative.
“I am concerned that your revenue projections may be unrealistically low,” Gray wrote. “ I am unclear that your modeling accurately incorporates the many positive trends currently underway in the District.”
A Gandhi spokesman said last week that Gray’s letter was unusual.
“This is unprecedented,” David Umansky said. “Since we came out from under the Control Board, we’ve never had this type of response to the revenue estimates.”
Mayor Anthony Williams named Gandhi the District’s top financial official in 2000, and Mayor Adrian Fenty, whom Gray defeated for reelection, reappointed him in 2007.
Still, Gray said he has worked well with the man who wields massive influence on city spending.
“I’ve always had a good working relationship with Dr. Gandhi,” Gray said.
And the two men will be working together a lot in the coming weeks: Gray is set to release his 2013 budget on March 23.
