Mayor Adrian Fenty sold District residents a “bill of goods” when he held a series of groundbreakings for parks and recreation projects that are unfunded and may not be done for years, D.C. Council members said Monday.
Council members accused the administration of running a “dog and pony show.” Fenty vowed quick work on 18 projects totaling more than $86 million, they said, but money is short and much of the contracting process might have been illegal. “Neighbors were promised projects,” said Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., chairman of the parks and recreation committee. “Well, guess what neighbors: The money wasn’t in the budget.”
Rather than having the Department of Parks and Recreation do the work itself, Fenty funneled DPR money through the deputy mayor for planning and economic development to the quasi-independent D.C. Housing Authority. DCHA hired a construction manager to oversee all the work — Banneker Ventures LLC — whose owner is Fenty’s friend and fraternity brother.
The $4.2 million Banneker contract was not reviewed by the council as required by law, nor were the memorandums of understanding that allowed the money to flow between agencies. And no “reprogrammings” have been submitted to shift capital dollars from one project to another, as the law also mandates. Money will have to be shifted to complete the projects. The full $12 million needed for the Fort Stanton Recreation Center won’t be available, for example, until fiscal 2013. For the $12 million Kenilworth-Parkside Recreation Center project, only $6.2 million is allotted through 2015. “Communities are being pit against communities,” said at-large Councilman Michael Brown. Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos insisted there was “no intent to sidestep the council.” She also urged that the projects move forward “with a greater spirit of cooperation” and pledged that all future contracts in excess of $1 million will go to the council for review. Any effort to stop payment, Santos warned, will halt work, increase costs and hurt the communities that have waited for these projects.
“People are very concerned that these projects they have waited for many, many years may get caught up and not done,” said Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans.
Interim DPR Director Ximena Hartsock, in her first appearance before the council since her nomination was rejected, said the contracting strategy was strictly between the deputy mayor’s office and the Housing Authority. DPR, she acknowledged, is a “mediocre agency” and was minimally involved.
Still to testify, possibly by subpoena
» David Jannerone, development director
» Jacquelyn Glover, project manager
» Omar Karim, owner of Banneker Ventures
» Clark Ray, former DPR director
