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A day after the Washington Post put a number as high as $2.46 million on the amount of money that was stolen from the Office of Tax and Revenue in 1999, the last year that current D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi was the head of the office, at least two D.C. Council members are starting to test the waters by suggesting that Gandhi ought to resign. At-large member Kwame Brown and Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham stopped short of officially calling for Gandhi to step down, but both said they think it would make the most sense for Gandhi to go.
Brown told WUSA yesterday that he thinks it's time for Gandhi to step down. The Post also quotes Brown as saying, "Gandhi has got to go" -- though he also said that it is the Mayor's job to ask for Gandhi's resignation, and stopped short of officially asking himself.
Graham's position was even less committal. "Isn't what's good for the goose good for the gander?" he asked according to the Post, referring to the high level managers Gandhi has already fired in the wake of the scandal.
The CFO can only be fired for cause if both the Mayor and two-thirds of the D.C. Council agree. Gandhi has said that if Fenty and the Council asked him to resign, he would.
The D.C. Council approved emergency legislation yesterday to create a special committee to investigate the tax office scandal, in which at least $30 million was embezzled by District employees and their accomplices.
The Examiner also revealed today that the accused leader of the embezzlement scheme, Harriette Walters, was warned by her bosses a few months before her arrest to stop lavishing gifts on her co-workers and superiors.
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In a stunning turn of events CM Graham is once again putting his nose in something. Has that man not met a microphone he won't talk into or a reporter he won't chat with?
In my mind Gandhi is making the right call. As the captain of his ship, keep working on the problem until your boss(es) tell you not to. That is what is expect from his people. They didn't resign until he asked them to. "What's good for the goose good for the gander" means if his boss(es) ask for the same thing, he will give fall in line, just as he asked from thise under him. Unfortunately his bosses on the Council aren't doing a great job.
The Council is being wishy washy, basically saying he should take the responsibility of his boss(es). If Gandhi jumped ship, I would not be surprised to hear Council members saying that he left them holding the bag, and now they have to clean up his mess. The Council (because the Mayor has been clear) needs to decide whose going to clean up the mess, and make clear statements on that so they are no longer sitting on the fence for politcial reasons. It's their job to fire the Captain, so suck up and take some responsibility, instead of deflecting it.
Fenty has shown no compunctions over firing other agency heads with years of strong service -I'm not sure why Gandhi should be held to different standards. I'm glad the Council will be looking into this further.
Isnt Tony "The Tiger" Williams looking for work? Didn't he used to be CFO under Barry?
I'm just sayin.