June 18, 2007
Morning Roundup: Get Yer Gun Edition

We do hope you had a pleasant, relaxing, not too horribly hot weekend, Washington. Even if you didn't, chances are your Monday morning is shaping up to be less of a hassle than it is for the staff of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb finally admitted over the weekend that he owns the gun that his aide, Phillip Thompson, was arrested for carrying into the Capitol in March. What kept him from clearing up the matter before? Webb says he did not want to prejudice any potential legal charges against Thompson (which were dropped), but that he never gave the gun to Thompson or asked him to do anything with it. The Senator from Virginia still won't explain how Thompson ended up with the gun, or say whether he complies with D.C.'s handgun laws. Yep, that clears things up. Nobody's going to have any more questions about that one. Nosiree.
DCRA Zoning Administrator Ousted: The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs' Zoning Administrator, Bill Crews, has been removed from his job by DCRA Interim Director Linda Argo. It’s still unclear why Crews, whose two and a half year tenure was relatively free of contrversy, will be replaced. Mayor Adrian Fenty recently compared the state of the DCRA to that of D.C. Schools -- in other words, nearly a total shambles.
Bobb Authorized $75,000 Overpayment: The Washington Times rolled up its FOIA sleeves and found that right before he left his job as city administrator last year to run for school board president, Robert Bobb authorized a petition by an employee to keep a $75,000 overpayment. E. Veronica Pace, former director for the city's Office on Aging, was overpaid by $75,000 last year and, as she was allowed to do under a District rule, petitioned to keep it. Bobb's decision to let Pace keep the money, which would have been one of the largest error payments of its kind in recent history, was eventually overturned by the District's personnel office.
Briefly Noted: Alcohol found in car of fatal teen Beltway crash ... Minor fire in Sen. Barack Obama's apartment building ... Tunnel team makes $2.23 billion bid for Dulles rail ... Parking ticket revenue declines for the first time in six years.
This Day in DCist: In 2005 we noted the demise of then-Mayoral candidate Adrian Fenty's plan to ban single-sale beer and malt liquor in the District.
Photo by payal.jhaveri

So the former Office on Aging woman received an extra $75k during an 8-month period, but thought she was entitled to that money b/c of some annuity reduction? Is she frickin' kidding? She didn't notice an extra $4,500 or so in each paycheck? If she's that bloody oblivious, then I'd love to see how she spent money allocated to her former agency.
And this latest revelation is yet another strike against Robert Bobb.
I don't think i've ever had a ``payroll error'' in my career. How hard is it to calculate someone's pay, and why would Bobb let her keep the money? sounds like a scam to me. Accountants in payroll make a so-called ``error'' that amounts to more than third of all waivers since 2002, and then Bobb lets the employee keep the extra money! good riddance
I think Bill Crews was an excellent zoning administrator--this is a bad move on the part of the Fenty administration.
Bill Crews was one of the few good things DCRA had going for it. He was an excellent ZA.