A pattern of overspending in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s administration has some residents feeling as if they are witnessing reruns of the 1990s, when Sharon Pratt Kelly ran the city.
A repeat of a great performance is pleasurable. I can watch that marvelous Vincent D’Onofrio of “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” all day long. His character, Detective Goren, is good-looking, smart and quirky. That combination slays me.
But a replay of ineffective fiscal management — like that during Kelly’s tenure, which included the creation of a fifth-quarter tax year — brings promises of unnecessary civic sacrifices and heartburn.
City Administrator Dan Tangherlini thinks I’m tripping: “It’s an interesting thesis but the facts don’t bear it out. That’s the farthest extreme of where we are. Our level of control over agencies is unparalleled.”
So, why has there been overspending in the Summer Youth Program, the schools modernization program, special education at the D.C. Public Schools, Child and Family Services, the Healthcare Alliance, the Board of Elections and Ethics, and the Office of the Inspector General? How have agency heads been allowed to exceed their appropriated budgets, broaching violations of the federal Anti-Deficiency Act? And, where was independent Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi through all of this?
CFO officials say they helped identify “spending pressures” in affected agencies. For example, a request that the Department of Employment Services certify each summer worker led to the discovery of gross mismanagement of the program and a multimillion-dollar cost overrun. But, they say, the mayor has to determine from which category funds should be moved to make budget adjustments.
Tangherlini blames overspending on the unexpected and on necessary reforms: Clearing up the backlog of special education hearings that had been at DCPS for years. The city had to provide additional funds to the IG to cover the cost of its investigation into the $50 million theft at the Office of Tax and Revenue.
“And, no one could have predicted what happened with the [Banita] Jacks case,” he says. Despite warnings of neglect by a school social worker, four girls allegedly were murdered by their mother. The public became hypervigilant, filing thousands of reports that had to be investigated.
If I had a nickel for every manager who cited unforeseen problems as the reason for overspending, I’d be on the Forbes 500 list.
Tangherlini insists that reprogramming isn’t unusual. But, he adds, “The level of predictive modeling will have to get better. The government has a long way to go.”
That’s echoed by CFO officials who indicate that even before fiscal 2009 begins on Oct. 1, there already are “spending pressures” in some agencies.
Those may be exacerbated by flat or declining revenues, predicted for next year and 2010. Unless Mayor Fenty improves his administration’s financial management, he’ll probably continue to be painted with that Kelly brush — even if he doesn’t believe it’s deserved.
Jonetta Rose Barras, an author and political analyst, can be reached at [email protected].
