Takoma Community Center, February 13

"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

Warring between Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the D.C. Council reached its apex on Oct. 6, when legislators voted down Hartsock’s nomination as parks-and-rec director. Fenty and top aides had done little to whip their votes ahead of time, but afterward, the blitz was on. Hartsock wasn’t shy about retroactively playing the race card, emboldened by ugly rhetoric on display at a prior hearing on the nomination—including Barry’s declaration that majority-black Washington needs “someone who understands our culture.” But the jawing of Latino activists wasn’t enough to get Hartsock her job back.

More from LL's Quotes of 2009

"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

Ray was at the center of the year's biggest mystery in local politics—why was one of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's best-liked and most effective agency heads thrown out on his ass as parks director? Was it a personality conflict with Dan Tangherlini, who fired him unexpectedly? Was it his handling of office personnel matters? Did he put up too much resistance to the parks contracting scheme that blew up later in the year? Was it because he was a little too open about his desire to challenge Phil Mendelson in the 2010 at-large council race? Whatever it was, Ray's now got plenty of time to devote to his quixotic run for office. And with more and more city residents wondering about Hizzoner, his firing at the hands of Fenty is turning into more of a credential than a liability.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

More from LL's Quotes of 2009

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!

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 at Emery Rec Center, was awarded in January. The rest—concerning 7th and N park ($800,000), Bald Eagle Rec Center ($5.3M), Barry Farm Rec Center ($15M), Chevy Chase Playground ($1.3M), Fort Stanton Rec Center ($12M), Guy Mason Rec Center ($3M), Justice Park ($12M), Kenilworth Rec Center ($12M), Park View ballfield ($1.2M), Rosedale Rec Center ($16M), and a new park in LeDroit Park ($1.7M)—were awarded last month.

Why are contracts being sent to DCHA?

From the Fenty administration's perspective, going through DCHA allows projects to get off the ground faster. "We build housing, we remodel housing, we have extensive experience in construction management," says DCHA spokesperson Dena Michaelson. "We have in-house skill set to do all this stuff. That's what we bring to the table." DCHA has what's called "independent contracting authority," meaning it's not subject to the usual onerous procurement requirements of the rest of government. But there's also the question of transparency: Today, after this arrangement hit the papers, Attorney General Peter Nickles determined that DCHA was required to send contracts worth more than $1 million to the D.C. Council for approval. But it seems that DCHA was not already in that practice. In any case, the use of DCHA as a city vendor has been on the rise as of late. According to a review of city purchase orders, DCHA had been sent $20.6 million worth of District work in 2006, $29.8 million in 2007, and $22.5 million in 2008. So far this year, DCHA has been handed $57 million from the city, not counting the bulk of the controversial contracts.

What is DCHA's contracting process?

According to Michaelson, the agency's procurement procedures are modeled on the federal government's. The vast majority of DCHA's funding comes through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development; the city money being sent to DCHA is a "drop in the bucket," she says. The DCHA board, which is appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council, reviews all contracts let for more than $250,000. In this particular case, the contract to serve as manager for all 12 parks-and-rec projects was released for bids simultaneously; 13 firms competed, Michaelson says. A joint bid by Banneker Ventures and Regan Associates won. How individual contracts were then let to construction contractors for each project is still unclear.

How are these firms profiting from the city?

In many ways. Since July 2008, Banneker Ventures, run by Fenty frat brother Omar Karim, has been authorized to receive $1.6 million in direct city funding. That was to serve as construction manager on a pair of projects: the reconstruction of Walker-Jones Elementary School and the rebuild of the Deanwood Recreation Center. Banneker is also a developer as well as a construction consultant, having been part fo the team selected in 2007 to rebuild the Sursum Corda/Temple Courts area as "Northwest One." Those two roles have entangled: Earlier this year, Karim was also included on a panel convened by the deputy mayor's office to review submissions for the redevelopment of Stevens Elementary School in Foggy Bottom. Sources close to the process expressed concern at the time to LL about Karim's dual role as a developer and a city-paid consultant. In the latter role, there was concern that Karim would have access to bidders' closely-held financial data—information that could give Karim a leg up in future projects he might bid on. There's also RBK Landscaping & Construction, the company owned by famed Fenty chauffeur Keith Lomax, which has raked in $16.6 million in authorized funds since 2005, most of it through Allen Lew's school construction office—which, like DCHA, has independent contracting authority and is exempt from the usual procurement processes.

What is fishy about all this?

First, the cast of characters. Virtually all of the firms involved (Banneker, RBK, Blue Skye Construction, Capital Construction, Dustin Construction, Forney Enterprise Construction, Forrester Construction, Hamel Construction, Winmar Construction) are major Fenty donors or allies. And Banneker isn't just an ally—it has been associated with some of Fenty's closest associates. Besides Karim, the firm has in the past employed Warren C. Williams Jr., whose involvement in a lottery contract bid drew immense political heat, and Sinclair Skinner, the street activist turned sharp-dressed consultant who seems to be caught up in every mayoral mess.

Second, the timing. The contracts were let in the waning days of Michael Kelly's tenure as DCHA general manager; he left amid rumors that Fenty wanted him out—perhaps to be replaced by Skinner's running buddy David Jannarone, the mayoral director of development. Add to that the parks-and-rec angle: Clark Ray was mysteriously ousted from the head of that agency earlier this year among reports that he clashed with his superiors—was this the reason why?

Third, the secrecy. Even if you buy the implication of Nickles' ruling—that the Fenty administration in no way condoned the letting of big contracts behind the council's back—the contracts went out through the back door. Rather than "reprogram" the funds in a council-reviewed process, it seems to funds were simply granted by the parks department over to the housing agency in a process that wasn't discovered until some council staffers stumbled over the arrangement this week. For a guy who ran for office on accountability and transparency, it's awfully opaque.

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. released a late statement this evening decrying the move: "Once again we are witnessing the flagrant disregard of our City's workforce....These are individuals with families, children, mortgages, and obligations. They are our neighbors and our fellow residents, and include many hardworking childcare service providers."

LL has heard rumblings, unconfirmed, that Hartsock's team at DCPS will be moving with her to Parks and Rec, where they will jointly administer DPR and DCPS programs this summer.

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 the District government. The suit seeks $5 million in damages, in addition to other relief.

You can read a full account of Williams' allegations in this week's LL column.

In a nutshell: In mid-February, Williams says it came to his attention that Fenty's sons, Matthew and Andrew, were playing in the wrong basketball league at Emery Recreation Center. According to their birth date, the two should have been placed in a 10-and-under league, but instead were in the 8-and-under league. When Williams raised the issue with his higher-ups, Williams alleges he was told by Ray to leave them be. The paperwork for the Fenty boys was also found to be out of order; where parental signatures, physicals, and emergency information were required, Emery staffers had written only "Mayor's Son." [PDF 1, PDF 2]

Days after a coach moved the kids to the proper league, Williams says, he was fired by Ray. He also alleges that, in order to explain his sudden firing, city officials spread rumors that he was embezzling public funds.

Williams also aired his grievances in a March 25 budget hearing [WMV, forward to 2:32:00], receiving a brief mention in the next day's Washington Post.