D.C. Auditor Releases Report Critical of Mayor: In a 17-page report detailing three instances in which no-bid contracts were awarded to consultants for different city projects, D.C. Auditor Deborah K. Nichols chastised City Administrator Robert Bobb, at right, and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams for “management behaviors that did not conform to the high ethical and professional standards expected of government officials and employees in the performance of their official duties.”

The report, dated June 3 but obtained today, details how consultants, many of which were close associates of Bobb’s from his tenure in the city of Oakland’s government, were granted no-bid contracts for work on Williams’ trade delegation to China and for baseball-related advocacy and labor projects. The audit was requested by Councilman Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5), chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and a mayoral hopeful. Nichols’ scathing report, whose allegations Bobb and others have denied, concluded by noting, “This and other examinations have repeatedely revealed that there have been no discernible improvements in the integrity of the District’s procurement and contracting operations.”

Ambrose Recall Moving Slowly: A movement to recall Councilwoman Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) is progressing slowly, and may fail to meet the required numbers of signatures before the July 19 deadline, reports the Examiner. Ward 6 activists filed a recall petition on Jan. 12, at which point they had 180 days to gather signatures from 10 percent of voters in that ward — 5,300 in total — a number they are half-way toward achieving.

The recall petition claims that Ambrose has failed Ward 6 residents by supporting costly commercial developments and by missing community meetings, accusations Ambrose denies. Ambrose, at left, has served on the Council since 1997. The recall of elected city officials became law in 1979 with the passage of the “Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Procedures Act.” If a recall petition is verified by the Board of Elections and Ethics, a special election must be held within 114 days.