Not surprisingly, most District residents prefer a lean, cost-effective government. The days when a job was guaranteed anyone who showed up at city hall have long passed. So, the idea of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty pushing to streamline operations using privatization or outsourcing isn’t some bugaboo.
What is riling many, however, is the way the mayor and his chief magician, City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, have decided to implement their plans to reduce the size of the District government. Quietly and seemingly without regard for the law, the duo has been pinching off pieces of the municipal portfolio and feeding them to private sector companies. If the 2010 budget is any indication, Fenty and his team are preparing an even larger meal.
Affected District communities have complained loudly and consistently. Fenty has largely ignored them.
The mayor’s new modus operandi — retreat and ignore — has some people declaring that the “real” Adrian M. Fenty — the uber-responsive legislator who represented Ward 4 — is no longer in the executive suite. A dangerous impostor has taken up residency, they claim.
Fenty and Tangherlini’s failure to respond to legitimate questions prompted D.C. Councilman Harry Thomas to introduce emergency legislation Tuesday to halt the privatization efforts. The Ward 5 legislator said he has been trying since December to get straight answers from the executive.
“[We need to understand] what is the direct benefit to the citizens of the District of Columbia,” Thomas said the day before introducing his legislation. The bill focuses mostly on the mayor’s efforts at the Department of Parks and Recreation, where more than two dozen employees were fired and several day care centers were closed.
Unanimously approved by the council, Thomas’ bill requires the mayor to withdraw immediately the “request for offers” to operate DPR day care programs until a comprehensive analysis has been submitted to the legislature. The mayor also must detail how his efforts comply with existing law.
“It is unclear whether the District has complied with its own rules and regulations governing the privatization process,” Thomas said. “The council is concerned that the city may incur a liability if it continues its current course of action.”
As a lean-mean-municipal-machine fan, I’m not scared by privatization. It is something I have advocated for years. But there are ways to implement it so that everyone benefits: Workers destined to lose their jobs could morph into small-business owners, bidding on contracts to provide services they once offered inside the government. Residents get more of the proverbial bang for their bucks in services and tax savings.
Thomas is right to raise questions and to slow the mayor’s roll until the administration provides answers. Council members aren’t the only ones who need to understand what Fenty is up to in his third-floor bullpen. Residents, particularly those who put him in office, also have a right to know.
The mayor should start talking.
Jonetta Rose Barras, an author and political analyst, can be reached at [email protected].
