More than $500,000 inperformance bonuses was distributed to fewer than 30 top D.C. employees at the tail end of Mayor Anthony Williams’ administration in direct violation of virtually every regulation tied to incentive awards, a damning new audit finds.
The 28 executive and excepted service employees — agency chiefs, deputy mayors, the city administrator and senior officials in the Executive Office of the Mayor — were paid two bonuses between Aug. 1, 2006, and Feb. 1, 2007, totaling $525,846, according to a report issued Friday by D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols.
Most bonuses exceeded 10 percent of the employees’ salaries — in violation of personnel rules — and most were paid without supporting documentation, prior authorization or the sanction of the chief financial officer, the auditor determined.
“[Former Office of Personnel Director Lisa Marin] used this improper practice in an effort to expedite the incentive award payments to selected employees before the end of the Williams Administration,” Nichols found.
During a D.C. Council committee hearing last week, City Administrator Dan Tangherlini acknowledged the bonus system had “gone too far.” The Department of Human Resources has stopped all fourth quarter awards while the system is revamped, he said.
“Right now we can’t see for the most part any rhyme or reason to each individual agency performance bonus system,” Tangherlini said.
Council Member Carol Schwartz, chair of the government operations committee, said the city must “stop what we’ve seen is a lot of abuse over the years,” including providing bonuses to employees and directors of failing agencies.
In interviews with The Examiner late last year, former interim City Administrator Ed Reiskin — recipient of $19,561 between two checks — claimed the bonus evaluation process was “rigorous” and consistent with national standards. Williams, meanwhile, said the awards “roughly” paralleled employee performance.
“I think it’s money well spent by the city, and I would advise the next mayor to give performance bonuses, too,” Williams said last December.
DCHR now requires that agency heads meet or exceed performance expectations before receiving bonuses, current human resources Director Brender Gregory said in her written response to the audit.
Five Bonus examples
City Administrator Robert Bobb:
$31,200
Chief of Staff Alfreda Davis: $23,691
Police Chief Charles Ramsey:
$24,500
Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti: $22,903
Property Management Director Carol Mitten: $22,363
