D.C.’s Office of Public Safety and Justice has been abolished by the new mayor, and its duties will be spread throughout the District government.
In an effort to streamline the District government, new Mayor Adrian Fenty eliminated the Cabinet-level office that oversaw homeland security and other public safety issues such as police, fire, the D.C. jail and the medical examiner’s office. Homeland security will be placed under the D.C. Emergency Management Agency, and the directors of the departments will report directly to Fenty and City Administrator Dan Tangherlini.
The reorganization removes the middleman, spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said. “The director will be accountable and a point of contact to the mayor and city administrator,” Hobson said. The Office of Public Safety and Justice was one of three deputy mayor positions that Fenty eliminated to streamline the government, raise accountability and save the District about $2 million a year.
Dorothy Brizill, executive director of the D.C. government watchdog group D.C. Watch, said she has grave concerns about the new structure and doubts whether the mayor has the time or experience to coordinate every responsibility himself. Homeland security alone needs someone with the expertise and muscle to manage the government in the event of a terrorist attack or disaster, Brizill said. The Office of Public Safety and Justice had about a dozen employees who will likely be absorbed by the city administrator’s office or placed in other departments within the city, Hobson said.
Ed Reiskin, who served as the deputy mayor for public safety and later as the city administrator under former Mayor Anthony Williams, said there are many ways to organize the District leadership, and the work performed under his former office will have to get done one way or another.
