May 22, 2008
Morning Roundup: The Sun Will Come Out Edition
Good morning, D.C. Can we officially call shenanigans on this chilly spring weather? Call us weak little whiners, but we really do think there's something wrong with needing to wear a coat to a Nationals game this late in May. So we checked in with the Capital Weather Gang, only to be confronted with word that this morning's sunshine is likely to lead to some showers later today, and that overnight lows will still be in the upper 40s. The 40s! Grrrrrrrr! The good news: "Saturday and Sunday should be spectacular, with sunny skies and light winds. Highs in the low to mid 70s on Saturday, and mid to upper 70s on Sunday." Would you guys be willing to pinky swear on that?
Audits, Audits Everywhere: The Post reports on findings from Auditor Deborah Nichols about the Office of Tax and Revenue which continue to paint a dreary picture of an out of control financial stream with little accountability. Millions of unnecessary dollars were found to have been spent because the office failed to properly oversee consultant Accenture's work for the tax office. There's a bullet halfway down the story, too, that we hadn't heard before: CFO Natwar Gandhi's son worked at Accenture, although not on this project, for much of the time of the firm's contract with the city. And if that's not enough audity goodness, check out this report on the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s $160 million building program. The program has been found to have expose residents to safety risks and wasted taxpayer dollars by the millions!
Holiday Weekend Road Travel Outlook: Good?: At least according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. Fewer travelers are expected to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend due to record high gasoline prices, so if you're planning to head to the beach anyway, you might just get lucky and not want to pull your hair out by the time you get there. This is the first time travel over the holiday is predicted to drop since Sept. 11, 2001.
Briefly Noted: Mayor Fenty has replaced the chairman of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ... Two teens shot overnight in Southeast ... Foxhall Rd. improvements almost complete ... Md. Gov. O'Malley won't sign measure classifying malt beverages as beer.
This Day in DCist: In 2007 Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) was placing and then removing a hold on Mayor Fenty's school takeover legislation, and in 2006 we interviewed Pete Bauer of The Walkmen.
Photo by Samer Farha
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That Travel Outlook drop? Yes, but technically it's 1%.
"AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts that 12 percent of Washington area residents will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend, about 1 percent fewer than last year. "
Does anyone know more about the stabbing at 18th St. Lounge last night?
I read that as a 1% drop from 13% to 12% of the residents of Washington. But that is over 8% fewer people on the roads. Not huge, but probably noticeable.
Percentages should just be banned, as no one knows how to use them correctly.
Man, gotta love Accenture. Is it any surprise that they used to be Arthur Andersen Consulting? Good to know that when you go bankrupt from rampant fraud and mismanagement, you can still get a multimillion dollar contract with the DC Government. In another 20 years, I'm looking forward to that juicy financial consulting gig that I'm going to scam off DC via my Cayman Islands offshore holding company, Monk e-Rotic Solutions, Inc. (a joint venture of Matsumura Fishworks and Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern).
"For lucky best wash, use Monk eRotic Solutions!"
I have to know what Natwar Gandhi has on Fenty that is keeping him from getting fired. Monkey, any ideas?
Forget Ghandi for a minute, the Tax Office scandal started under Tony Williams' watch back when he was CFO under Barry. Why isn't anyone taking him to task?
As for why Ghandi hasn't been fired, clearly he has taken posession of the One Ring of Power, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron in the fires of Mount Doom. He need only return to his fortress of Barad Ur and the District will be covered in a Second Darkness. The Fellowship has failed. Only Isildur's heir, Marion Barry, can wield the broken shards of Narsil, ascend the throne of Gondor, and prevent this new evil from rising in the East.
About that audit of the D.C. Parks and Recreation building program -- Wasn't Parks and Recreation run by Neil O. Albert when these projects were built? He's now Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and in charge of all DC government construction projects in town. Isn't that a comforting thought.
Great Simpsons reference there, monkey!
Mike,
Neil Albert was just one of a string of DPR Directors who spent their tenures bending over backwards to build, build, and build some more. None of them acted with much forethought or fiscal responsibility.
Also, the focus of the audit was on two contracts forced on the District during the control board era. These two contractors were responsible for most project management until last year. As is usual in such a short story, they don't begin to get at the structural lunacy that led to all of this.
What a brave corporate logo! I must submit!