D.C.’s much-maligned Summer Youth Employment Program kicked off yesterday, and of course, there were issues.

The Post reported on a group of youths who reported for work at the Benning Park Recreation Center as assigned, and then were told they weren’t needed; after showing up at Sherwood Recreation Center in Northeast, the group was told again they weren’t needed before being shuttled off and told to call the program’s office to get another assignment. WTTG’s Karen Gray Houston reports that such issues were hardly isolated. City Desk noted that program employees “seized knives from kids as they walked through metal detectors at RFK.”

It all means more heat for Mayor Adrian Fenty, of course. After all, Fenty has repeatedly stood by the program and fought to ensure its financial security, even during these lean times.

Councilmember Michael Brown (Ind.-At-Large) made an appearance on WTTG/Fox 5 this morning, taking the chance to lash out at the way the Fenty administration is handling the troubled program.

“This particular mayor and this administration has decided to fire all the people with the institutional knowledge,” Brown said. “When you do that, it’s just a recipe for disaster. Plus, I think there is more of an intent to show how many folks they’ve hired, rather than the real intent of the summer job program, which is to give young people substantive stuff to do over the summer.” Brown added that many of the program’s 21,000 participants weren’t even from the District of Columbia.

“It used to work, said Brown. “Obviously, there’s going to have to be something done.”

Somewhere, we imagine Vince Gray is smiling.