"I was mistreated. Not only me, but my entire heritage....If Marion Barry was a white person and I was a black person, there would be riots in the streets right now."
—Ximena Hartsock, parks and recreation director, Oct. 10

"When you get called to the Wilson Building at 7 p.m. on a Sunday, you don't expect a fruit basket."
—Clark Ray, ex-parks-and-rec director, April 21

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 [...]

You have questions about the $82 million dollars in parks-and-rec spending that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is sending to the D.C. Housing Authority? LL has (some) answers!
What are these projects?
According to data furnished by the D.C. Council, they are 12 projects to renovate 12 parks or recreation facilities. One, to build a $1.3 million ballpark [...]

Today at least 10 managers at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation were fired, less than a week after Mayor Adrian M. Fenty relieved DPR Director Clark E. Ray and replaced him with DCPS administrator Ximena Hartsock.
Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. released a late statement this evening decrying the move: "Once again [...]

A former senior Parks and Recreation employee says that he was fired in February for raising questions about the participation of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's twin sons in a youth basketball league.
Michael Williams, 60, made his allegations in a lawsuit being filed today [PDF] in D.C. Superior Court against Fenty, DPR Director Clark Ray, and [...]