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Attorney General Peter Nickles has promised to look into allegations of overtime fraud and abuse in the Department of Public Works, which came to light in a preliminary report released last week.  Auditors reported multiple instances of overtime being improperly paid to city workers, with little oversight in the process to control such occurrences.  Nickles has said that he's waiting for the final report to be issued before taking action.  The Examiner

An audit has found that that the D.C. Department of Public Works suffered from blown overtime budgets last fiscal year due to rampant fraud and lack of effective oversight.  The audit uncovered examples of low-level employees with final authority over time sheets who changed hours to favor friends and family.  Certain employees worked no regular hours during a given pay period but received overtime.  The Examiner

The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute offers praise for legislation proposed by the D.C. Read more »

As Bill Turque reports in his new blog (D.C. Schools Insider), despite much lip service to transparency the District's public school enrollment projections are not being released to the public until the Mayor submits his budget to the D.C. Council, in March.  Principals received the enrollment projections for the 2010-11 school year on January 4th and had two days to appeal, so the numbers are now final. However, Chancellor Michelle Rhee's office has said they are still preliminary and being used by schools in developing their budgets.  Turque also comments generally on the city's FOIA process, noting that two requests he sent in September have yet to receive a response.  D.C. Read more »

Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced legislation yesterday that would impose a number of new requirements on the District's procurement office.  As reported in the Washington Business Journal, the bill would require all contracts for over $100,000 to undergo review for their environmental impact, would require the posting of sole-source contracts on the office's website at least two weeks before they are awarded, and would require posting emergency contracts within at least one week of approval.  The legislation also would establish an ombudsman position to oversee contracts and a website where all contracting opportunities would be posted.  Washington Business Journal (s Read more »

A new report from D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols has found that the D.C. Read more »

Susie Cambria reports that the D.C. Schools budget process for the fiscal year 2011 budget cycle has been retooled to allow for more input from school community members.  In addition, the schools' budget webpage (here) provides enhanced information about the timeline and participation in the budget process.  Susie's Budget and Policy Corner

In a similar arrangement to an earlier settlement, the District of Columbia has reached an agreement with plaintiffs in one of two remaining cases claiming civil rights violations in mass arrests at Pershing Park in 2002.  The District will pay $8.25 million to the plaintiffs, resulting in a per-plaintiff payment of about $18,000.  In addition, the city must implement a host of new evidence tracking measures in an effort to avoid a repeat of the mishandling, even destruction of records and delays in production of records that occurred during the case.  As reported in the City Paper, these include: 

*The D.C. Police Department and the Office of the Attorney General centrally log and index all materials connected in future mass demonstration cases. Read more »

Councilmember Jim Graham has introduced legislation that would establish a board to oversee the DC Circulator and streetcar systems in the District of Columbia, in an effort to increase transparency in the route- and fare-setting for those transit systems.  Under Graham's bill, the Mayor and D.C. Council would each appoint members, and two would be elected at large.  The board would work with the District Department of Transportation and the Mayor's office.  Greater Greater Washington

Despite a concerted effort to funnel money and resources to fight HIV/AIDS and support those living with the disease in Wards 7 and 8, many of the organizations that received those funds are either not local, have problems with their credentials or licensing, or are having trouble providing services in those areas.  The Washington Post used city records to review the flow of money since the inception of the East of the River (now Effi Barry) Initiative. The Washington Post