Jonetta Rose Barras, The Examiner
2007-02-08 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

A District government agency failed to collect as much as $40 million it could have received from the federal government for Medicaid services that it provided. Another agency requested $17 million from the feds for undocumented reimbursements, apparently to camouflage its overspending. Yet another agency overspent its approved budget by $18 million, perhaps violating the federal Anti-Deficiency Act. And, problems have persisted in grants management, payroll, procurement and Medicaid at DCPS.

Sloppy, incompetent management and faulty internal fiscal controls cost District taxpayers tens of millions of dollars that could have been used to enhance services to needy populations.

Natwar Gandhi, the city’s chief financial officer, says not to blame him for the problems identified by Budget Director Seidman in the city’s fiscal 2006 audit. He says these are issues for the mayor, D.C. Council and agency managers.

“My responsibility is to balance the budget. I am just a bean counter,” he said in response to my questions last week about his office’s responsibility for issues outlined in the letter known as the “yellow book” that accompanied the audit.

Finance officials reporting to Gandhi are stationed in every District agency. Thus, they are supposed to catch issues and resolve them quickly. That didn’t happen. Now, Gandhi is wiggling. But if the problems aren’t fixed, his personal reputation — not just the city’s — is on the line.

Congress didn’t create a rest home for bean counters when it established an independent Office of the Chief Financial Officer. It invested that office with extraordinary powers, providing resources and access to intrude, intervene and take charge when the mayor, council or an agency director imperils the city’s fiscal health and stability.

Currently the CFO has independent personnel and procurement authority. Only Congress can change its budget. Gandhi has 1,448 people working for him. In fiscal year 2006, his budget was $177 million — up from $116 million in 2005. Untold numbers of private consultants are regularly hired; an agency spokesperson couldn’t say for how much.

The CFO is a near empire.

So, why did Gandhi fail to arrest fiscal mismanagement at agencies identified in the audit? Why did finance officials under his employ permit the problems to fester and escalate, potentially harming the city?

Politics. He steadfastly refuses to enter the domain of elected officials, unless invited. He slathers them with praise-some of it undeserved. (The mayor appoints and the council approves the CFO — though neither can fire him.)

Surpluses and fancy footwork have inoculated the CFO from scrutiny. Even the inspector general hasn’t determined whether Gandhi’s monarchy is fulfilling its mission; what responsibility it bears for affairs at the DCPS and other agencies; and if taxpayers are receiving sufficient bang for the bucks siphoned by the CFO.

An audit of the CFO could provide answers. After more than a decade, it’s long overdue.

Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s “D.C. Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta.”