Ed Lazere of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute has scooped the reportorial corps with this revelation: District government agency heads have been asked to reduce their budgets by some $300 million going into the fiscal 2011 budget planning process.

This news comes from a memorandum [PDF] issued by City Administrator Neil O. Albert last month, which cites flat revenue growth, the cessation of stimulus funding, and need to replenish reserve funds spent to cover a gap in fiscal 2009. The bottom line is that every agency is “required to present expense reductions and revenue generating proposals that could sustain up to a 10% local funds budget reduction target.”

Writes Albert: “It is critical that each agency evaluate all spending, and dig deeply into the assumptions that underlie its allocation of resources.” Agencies have until Dec. 2 to come up with ideas.

Lazere notes that the “revenue generating proposals” stand to be interesting, given that Fenty made a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, “which severely limits how the city can create new sources of revenue in these cash-strapped times.”

Another day with no public appearances by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, another day of reporters wondering where the man has jetted off to.

LL learns that Hizzoner is in San Francisco today—first off, to attend the Urban Land Institute’s fall meeting in order to drum up interest in next year’s shindig, to be held here in D.C.

But while there, he will be attending a fundraiser to benefit his re-election campaign, thrown by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, fresh off his decision not to pursue a gubernatorial bid. LL is guessing that of all the Frisco big shots invited, developer and ex-D.C. United owner Victor MacFarlane will not be among them.

Can you feel Mark Segraves‘ blood boiling yet?

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Another D.C. Council Hearing No-Show!“; “The Number Of Homeless Families In Need Jumps“; “Daycare Fight Continues: Union Files New Lawsuit“; tweets galore!

Morning all. Reliable Source with the scoop! D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is engaged to Sacramento mayor/ex-Phoenix Sun Kevin Johnson. ‘Rhee, 39, spoke Wednesday night at a Democrats for Education Reform/DC School Reform Now event downtown, and a pretty sparkly thing on her left hand caught the eye of more than one audience member.’ So transcontinental power couple, rad. But what does that mean for Rhee’s continued tenure here in D.C.—the two Fenty terms she promised to serve? ‘Rhee told us she’s not leaving D.C. They plan on a long engagement — no wedding date set, and none envisioned in the near term — and will keep this a commuter relationship for a while.’ (Also WRC-TV.) Sooo…when LL saw KJ in the JAWB last Friday, was he asking Hizzoner for permission to take his chancellor’s hand in marriage? JK—best LL wishes to the happy couple!

AFTER THE JUMP—Complete rundown of contract hearing antics; another possible Ward 1 candidate pops up; WaPo ed board tsk-tsks over UDC board fighting; Lanier says marriage debate may have prompted GU attacks; father of Bowman daughter sues District for wrongful death; and OCTOgate nears a conclusion

Read More “Michelle Rhee Gets Engaged: Loose Lips Daily” »

The Giro d’Italia—one of the three grand European cycling tours—is considering starting its run in Washington, D.C. “in the coming years,” before jetting all the competitors across the Atlantic to continue the race.

This momentous news comes courtesy of Cycling News, which in turn got the tidbit from a dispatch in Italian sports rag La Gazzetta dello Sport. LL was unable to find the original reportage on that publication’s Web site.

Race director Angelo Zomegnan is quoted saying, “There exists a concrete interest from the city of Washington.” Adds Cycling News, “Mayor Adrian Fenty will help the bid. He is a fan of cycling and competes in triathlons to stay in shape.”

UPDATE, 11/5, 2:45 P.M.: Fenty spokesperson Jack Pfeiffer says there indeed have been discussions about hosting the start of the race, “but nothing is final.”

“The city welcomes discussions with race officials and share their enthusiasm for the District to serve as a host city,” he said in a statement.

File photo by Mike DeBonis

Just in case you thought the Fenty administration might play nice with the D.C. Council’s investigation of the $120 million in parks contracts sent to the D.C. Housing Authority, think again.

Interim parks director Ximena Hartsock and her capital projects director had been asked to come to today’s hearing on the matter, but they did not show.

That prompted Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., chairing the inquiry, to announce at the hearing that he will be issuing subpoenas for the witnesses and related documents.

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Fenty Embraces “Signing Statement” Tactic“; “Pershing Park Case: Read The Document Nickles Didn’t Want You See“; “Giro d’Italia to Start in D.C.?“; tweets galore!

IN LL WEEKLY—Fast Company: Is speed an excuse for Fenty’s crony contracts?

Morning all. The D.C. Council is again convened in the fifth-floor chambers to examine Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s parks contracting scheme. LL will be watching on Chennel 13 and Tweeting away. Expected to testify are procurement chief David Gragan, acting parks director Ximena Hartsock, D.C. Housing Enterprises chief Larry Dwyer, as well as D.C. Housing Authority board members William Slover and Anthony Wash, and …Ron Moten? Not appearing will be DMPED Valerie Santos, who is tending to a serious family illness, and City Administrator Neil Albert, whose father recently died. LL sends his heartfelt condolences.

AFTER THE JUMP—Contracts probe likely to end in courts; the Cheh chem ban explained; Jonetta wants to know when the D.C. gov will get serious about procurement reform; Metro breakdowns traced to 27-year-old power unit; city attorneys try to hide documents because they’re ‘embarrassing’

Read More “More Questions on Fenty Parks Contracts: Loose Lips Daily” »

LL and other local observers have gotten plenty of mileage out of comparing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s executive-power-aggregating habits to those of President George W. Bush.

Let the comparisons continue!

Early in October, the D.C. Council passed the fiscal 2010 city budget, after months of wrangling over how best to deal with a late-breaking drop in city revenue. The process had not exactly been a model of interbranch cooperation, with the council jawing about Fenty’s methods of closing the $660 million budget gap and Hizzoner threatening a veto over school-governance matters.

But even with the final vote, the bickering hasn’t ceased. On Oct. 15, Attorney General Peter J. Nickles dispatched a 13-page memo [PDF] to Fenty, who in turn sent it to Gray. The document lays out no fewer than 16 provisions included in the budget legislation that Nickles and his lawyers found to be objectionable—including six measures, he announced, that the executive branch should ignore completely due to “problems, including separation-of-powers and other Home Rule Act violations, that prevent lawful implementation.”

Read More “Fenty Embraces “Signing Statement” Tactic” »

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Jim Graham Attracts a Potential Challenger“; “Did Investigators Botch The Georgetown Library Case?“; “OAG Calls, Wants Its E-Mails Back“; tweets galore!

Morning all. Yesterday was Election Day in a lot of places, but not the District. Still, a couple of ramifications for local politics here. First off, Maine failed to become the first state to have its populace endorse gay marriage by referendum, with 53 percent voting to overturn the state legislature’s May legalization vote. LL is anticipating a flood of fresh rhetoric from District gay-marriage opponents calling for a similar vote here. (And he still thinks D.C. should think about being first to approve gay marriage by popular vote; and good timing, BTW, to whatever gay-marriage supporters scheduled all the public hearings for before Election Day.) Then there’s the New York mayoral race, where incumbent Michael Bloomberg spent at least $90M of his own cash to win an unanticipated squeaker. What’s the message for other big-city chief execs, particularly those facing charges of regal, out-of-touch behavior, as they face re-election? Money isn’t everything!

AFTER THE JUMP—Another interesting election tidbit; complete legislative meeting wrap-up; local DA could be on the way; DCPS parent makes case for firing teachers; WTU embezzler set to go free; whodunit murder of U Street restaurateur; Metro chaos this morning

Read More “Local Lessons From Other Elections: Loose Lips Daily” »

Is someone finally taking a whack at scandal-softened Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham?

Bryan Weaver, the longtime Adams Morgan activist and advisory neighborhood commissioner, filed exploratory papers with the Office of Campaign Finance on Tuesday.

To explore a run against the sure-to-be-well-financed three-term incumbent, Weaver has thus far raised the princely sum of $2,500.

Exploratory bids have been rare since campaign finance laws changed some years back, but Weaver, 39, says his campaign is indeed merely speculative at the moment. “I have my opinions on what’s important to me and to the ward,” he says. “Maybe it’s a minority opinion, I don’t know.” Hence the de rigueur “listening tour.”

Read More “Jim Graham Attracts a Potential Challenger” »

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Couple Gets Engaged at Gay Marriage Hearing“; “Do You Miss This Man?“; tweets galore

Morning all. The WaPo editorial board harshens its language a bit in examining Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s parks contracting scheme. ‘The more you learn,’ it writes, ‘the more troubling it becomes. It’s critical that these deals be submitted to the council for thorough review and, if warranted, revocation.’ But even that admonition doesn’t come without some chastening for the legislative branch: ‘We would like to suggest to council members that if they truly want to get some answers, they should give government witnesses an opportunity to answer. The tendency of council members — as evidenced in recent public hearings — to interrupt, insult and bully those testifying does not reflect well on them; nor does it serve the public interest. The administration may have plenty to answer for here; let’s hear the answers.’

AFTER THE JUMP—Council to consider emergency measures to halt parks contracting; Thomas calls scheme ‘like Watergate’ (does that make LL Woodward or Bernstein?); Gray calls for DCPS CFO ouster; St. E’s lawsuit settled for a cool mil; council chambers see first marriage proposal (LL guesses); city tax error leads to mortgage nightmare; what is with all the hate crimeage at GU?

Read More “‘Let’s Hear the Answers’: Loose Lips Daily” »

Of all the romantic locales in the world, or in the District of Columbia even, the John A. Wilson Building does not approach the top of LL’s personal list.

But it was good enough today for D.C. residents Andrew Hertzberg and Andy Rollman.

During this morning’s D.C. Council hearing on the same-sex marriage bill, Hertzberg, 49, proposed to Rollman while before the dais at the close of his testimony. Rollman accepted.

Why pick the council chamber? Says Hertzberg: “This is such important legislation and such an important forum.”

Rollman, 47, says the proposal didn’t come as a complete surprise. “He told me he was going to do something as a surprise at the end,” he says. “I was hoping this was it.”

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Why Adrian Fenty’s Parks Contracting Scheme Is an Outrage“; “Pershing Park Case: New Discovery Abuse Shocker“; “Funds Transfers to DCHA Total $120M”

Morning all. It remains to be seen just how deeply last week’s D.C. Council hearings will affect Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s administration, but this much has become increasingly apparent: The man does not play well with others. WRC-TV’s Tom Sherwood, David Lipscomb in Saturday’s WaTimes and Nikita Stewart and Tim Craig on Sunday’s WaPo A1 all cover the degeneration in interbranch relations that in retrospect seems destined from the start. But who could have seen the current nadir, where a 10-minute meeting last week between Fenty and Vincent C. Gray is seen as a hopeful signal of detente? The WaPo piece ends with a word from Tony Williams, who says he’s ‘confident’ that ‘important matters’ will bring the mayor and council together: ‘I certainly wasn’t lovey-dovey with them when I first started, but…I really took the council, no matter what the acrimony, as a coequal branch of government.’ Further evidence of ongoing acrimony below…

AFTER THE JUMP—Complete coverage of the parks contract scandal; lots of postmortem analysis on the Thursday Rhee hearing; at least one person is done with ‘what’s best for the kids’; Fenty does Jamaican triathlon Saturday; UDC board in vacancy crisis; more questionable HIV/AIDS spending revealed by WaPo; Trachtenburg may be gone, but his salary lives in infamy

Read More “Does Not Play Well With Others: Loose Lips Daily” »

Faster, better, cheaper.

That was the rationale offered today by the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty for why at least $120 million in city money has been sent to the D.C. Housing Authority and, in turn, handed to politically connected contractors with the faintest whiff of oversight.

The revelations at the D.C. Council hearing today shocked LL’s conscience. And LL’s conscience, for the record, is not easily shocked. The revelations included:

Read More “Why Adrian Fenty’s Parks Contracting Scheme Is an Outrage” »

The D.C. Council has just gaveled to order a hearing on parks contracts transferred by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in such a way as to evade council oversight.

The issue goes beyond the $82 million in parks spending already identified. According to figures obtained by LL, the Fenty administration has authorized $120.7 million in spending to be sent out to the D.C. Housing Authority. Those funds came from projects budgeted by both the parks department and the deputy mayor for planning and economic development. About $72 million of that has already been sent to DCHA.

The projects built through this method included not only the parks projects already identified, but rebuilds of Walker-Jones Education Center and the Deanwood Recreation Center totaling over $74 million. Both of those projects were managed by a team that included Banneker Ventures, the firm owned by developer Omar Karim, who has close ties to the mayor. And the scope of parks work has expanded to include as many as 26 projects.

LL will be following the hearing from the John A. Wilson Building, and will be Tweeting away!

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Liveblog: D.C. Council Grills Michelle Rhee on Teacher Layoffs“; “District Homeless Shelters Are Already At Capacity“; “Pershing Park Case: OAG Reverts Back To Stonewalling”

Morning all. Yesterday’s D.C. Council inquisition on the D.C. Public School layoffs wasn’t quite the 18-hour marathon that the last hearing was, but let the liveblogging LL say: eight hours was plenty. By the end of the day, a familiar story had emerged: The D.C. Council wanted things to happen one way (cut money from summer school), and the executive branch did things another way (cut money from local school budgets) with the imprimatur of Attorney General Peter Nickles and without transparency or explanation. Perhaps more shocking is that DCPS CFO Noah Wepman would have allowed a fiscal 2010 budget to be approved with a known deficit of $12 million or more without telling his boss, Natwar Gandhi. And, as Bill Turque notes on WaPo A1, ‘even some of Rhee’s most steadfast supporters on the council rebuked her for the bitter state of relations between the school system and elected officials.’ See also WaTimes, Examiner, WTOP, WAMU-FM, NC8, WRC-TV, WTTG-TV, We Love DC.

NB: Don’t expect a repeat of the drama at today’s hearing on the parks contracts sent to the D.C. Housing Authority. Neil Albert, LL is told, will not be attending. [UPDATE, 10:30 A.M.: Another council source says Albert has confirmed he will be there.]

AFTER THE JUMP—Machen moves closer to securing federal prosecutor nod; WBJ reports on city procurement problems, rise in contract appeals; city preps for census; suburbanites plunder D.C. for flu vaccine; and did Holder tell Chavous to lay off the prez?

Read More “DCPS Budget Gets Nickled: Loose Lips Daily” »