Editorial: The GSA Massacre Should Spell the End for Bowser
by Larry Janezich
Editorial:
Department of General Services Director Admiral Chris Weaver resigned rather than fulfill a request by City Administrator Rasheed Young that he fire two employees involved in the contracting process which failed to award contracts to a major Bowser contributor. That was on August 12. On August 15, the city placed the two employees on administrative leave.
This WAMU story (link below) claims that the resignation/placing-on-leaves at the Department of General Services were directly related to the failure of DGS to award contracts to Bowser’s contributor, Fort Meyer Construction. The story does not surprise those of us who followed the awarding of the contract for the Hine Development. If true, it should spell the end of Muriel Bowser’s political career….or maybe, it’s just “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
When was the last time a DC Government official resigned over a matter of principle? You have to salute Chris Weaver’s Richardson/Ruckleshaus-Watergate-Saturday-Night-Massacre style resignation – and you remember how well that worked out for the chief executive.
Enough is enough.
See the WAMU story here: http://bit.ly/2bOH5Vt
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
You and the WMAU article are jumping to a lot of conclusions here. First off, maybe you should contact your Councilmembers to change the law that requires using local contractors. Secondly, the low bidder did not meet the contract specifications, it’s not unusual for a contractor to low ball a bid to get their feet in the door, and then up their price after getting the job. It seems to happen with every DC job.
I’m no fan of Fort Myers, but this story is much more complex than stated here.
Agreed on prematurely reaching conclusions, but meddling in contracts for any reason is highly questionable. The timing of the forced resignation and disciplining high level staff should raise flags. Yes he quit, but obviously due to an ultimatum. If there were problems with the bidding process Fort Myers should have been addressed through a formal appeals process and not the mayor’s office.
I’ve been gone so much I haven’t been focused on local news like this, so I’m glad you’re staying on top of it, Larry-
Rashad Young, the city admistrator nominally responsible for ethical awarding of city contracts, is correct when he says of the award process “It’s about accountability, democracy and public trust.” Unfortunately, he omitted the phrase, ” supposed to be,” which I am sure he intended to include.
I find it instructive that this is the fall-out when a large development is decided on the merits.
Since the award of large developments is, in effect, a decision of the mayor and the relevant council member, DC should give up any pretense to the contrary. That way, voters can factor these decisions along with others when they go to the voting booth. There are so many “decision” points and delegates right now that it distracts attention from what is really going on.
If our elected officials insist on using the disposition of public lands as a political fundraising mechanism, they should, at the very least, be required to explain their choices to the voters so that they can be held accountable for them.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this story…
But without something more, I don’t see it going anywhere.
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