A shed is demolished at Buzzard Point, one of the sites where a local construction company failed to win an infrastructure contract. (Photo by Francis Chung)

The sudden and mysterious departure of the head of the Department of General Services now has an explanation, courtesy of WAMU: Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration wasn’t happy with how two high-profile contracts were awarded.

A local construction firm—and major donor to Bowser’s campaigns—lost out on infrastructure projects related to the new soccer stadium at Buzzard Point and Wizards/Mystics facility at St. Elizabeths, WAMU reports, in part because of a change in how DGS evaluated the merits of the bids (essentially giving less weight for being a local company). And the decision to award the contract to a national construction company, whose bid to to redevelop St. Elizabeths East was $10 million lower than the local Fort Myer Construction, apparently triggered much interest from the Bowser administration.

Several sources told WAMU that City Administrator Rashad Young asked DGS Director Christopher Weaver to fire two of the staff members involved, but Weaver declined to do so. The city only cited “personnel reasons” for the move to oust the deputy general counsel and the assistant director for contracting and procurement. “It’s about accountability, democracy, and public trust,” Young told the outlet, rather than favoritism to any specific company.

Still, Fort Myer Construction was at the top of the list of donors with city business to FreshPAC, thepro-Bowser political action committee that took unrestricted donations in non-election years before shutting down last fall.

After Weaver stepped down on August 12, citing personal reasons, the two employees in question were placed on administrative leave within days, WAMU reports. Meanwhile, Weaver’s sudden resignation came in between the departures of D.C. Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson and D.C. Police chief Cathy Lanier. The department is also overseeing several other major projects, including the seven new homeless shelters meant to replace D.C. General.