Deputy Director of DC Dept of Bldgs Resigns after being found working multiple jobs

[Anonymous]

She's a full fledged fraudster. Freddie Mac got rid of her too. She is the poster girl for getting rid of remote work, which is too bad for those of who work productively, and often more productively remotely. The Washington Post article pointed out she was blatantly lying about many of her professional accomplishments.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/13/remote-work-scam-caroline-lian-two-jobs/

It took only a handful of phone calls and emails for me to conclude that a bit of upfront vetting might have saved her various employers some embarrassment. Lian’s campaign website said she served on the board of Next Step Network, a housing nonprofit, for four years ending in 2020. But when I checked with Grant Beck, the group’s vice president, he said, “At no point has Ms. Lian served on Next Step’s Board of Directors nor as a staff member.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

No, if you are a staff member who makes more than $150,000, you are supposed to live in the District. This includes unappointed positions like CAO, etc.

The reason there is no enforcement is because OTR interprets tax information as only disclosable to OTR employees, despite the law being clear that residency information shown on tax forms can be disclosed to ANY District official operating in their official capacity. So, if, for example, the Mayor appointed a Maryland resident to a deputy mayor position and that deputy mayor asserted to Council that they live in DC, the AG or Councilmember should be able to ask OTR for that information and OTR should respond. Because OTR does not interpret the law correctly, that is a major avenue of enforcement foreclosed.

[Anonymous]

Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

For the same reason DC doesn't go after people with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets; for the same reason DC doesn't go after unlicensed and uninspected food trucks that block bus stops; for the same reason Falcicchio was able to harass for who knows how long, years?; for the same reason that we have known slumlords operating unsafe buildings; for the same reason MPD was able to perform a work stoppage until they got the law passed that they wanted; for the same reason OSSE literally loses special needs kids; for the same reason it rains inside Jackson-Reed High School when there is rain outside.

This Mayor does not give a damn about DC residents and Council does not know a damn thing about accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

No, if you are a staff member who makes more than $150,000, you are supposed to live in the District. This includes unappointed positions like CAO, etc.

The reason there is no enforcement is because OTR interprets tax information as only disclosable to OTR employees, despite the law being clear that residency information shown on tax forms can be disclosed to ANY District official operating in their official capacity. So, if, for example, the Mayor appointed a Maryland resident to a deputy mayor position and that deputy mayor asserted to Council that they live in DC, the AG or Councilmember should be able to ask OTR for that information and OTR should respond. Because OTR does not interpret the law correctly, that is a major avenue of enforcement foreclosed.

This is absolutely false. You can choose to be appointed or just apply for the job, which is what I did when I worked for DC. I made more than $150k. You get more points if you live in DC, but you don't have to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

For the same reason DC doesn't go after people with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets; for the same reason DC doesn't go after unlicensed and uninspected food trucks that block bus stops; for the same reason Falcicchio was able to harass for who knows how long, years?; for the same reason that we have known slumlords operating unsafe buildings; for the same reason MPD was able to perform a work stoppage until they got the law passed that they wanted; for the same reason OSSE literally loses special needs kids; for the same reason it rains inside Jackson-Reed High School when there is rain outside.

This Mayor does not give a damn about DC residents and Council does not know a damn thing about accountability.

Accountability is hard to do, in part because our electoral system and our government structure make it difficult.

Would a larger Council mean more oversight? Will ranked choice voting make CMs more accountable to the public such that a failure of oversight could be political suicide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

No, if you are a staff member who makes more than $150,000, you are supposed to live in the District. This includes unappointed positions like CAO, etc.

The reason there is no enforcement is because OTR interprets tax information as only disclosable to OTR employees, despite the law being clear that residency information shown on tax forms can be disclosed to ANY District official operating in their official capacity. So, if, for example, the Mayor appointed a Maryland resident to a deputy mayor position and that deputy mayor asserted to Council that they live in DC, the AG or Councilmember should be able to ask OTR for that information and OTR should respond. Because OTR does not interpret the law correctly, that is a major avenue of enforcement foreclosed.

In a town full of lawyers, it is amazing that so many bad ones end up in DC government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

For the same reason DC doesn't go after people with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets; for the same reason DC doesn't go after unlicensed and uninspected food trucks that block bus stops; for the same reason Falcicchio was able to harass for who knows how long, years?; for the same reason that we have known slumlords operating unsafe buildings; for the same reason MPD was able to perform a work stoppage until they got the law passed that they wanted; for the same reason OSSE literally loses special needs kids; for the same reason it rains inside Jackson-Reed High School when there is rain outside.

This Mayor does not give a damn about DC residents and Council does not know a damn thing about accountability.

Accountability is hard to do, in part because our electoral system and our government structure make it difficult.

Would a larger Council mean more oversight? Will ranked choice voting make CMs more accountable to the public such that a failure of oversight could be political suicide?

DC has a population of roughly 700,000 with 13 council members. Fairfax County has a population of 1 million with 10 board members. I think you can do the math. DC already has more than enough council members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's a full fledged fraudster. Freddie Mac got rid of her too. She is the poster girl for getting rid of remote work, which is too bad for those of who work productively, and often more productively remotely. The Washington Post article pointed out she was blatantly lying about many of her professional accomplishments.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/13/remote-work-scam-caroline-lian-two-jobs/

It took only a handful of phone calls and emails for me to conclude that a bit of upfront vetting might have saved her various employers some embarrassment. Lian’s campaign website said she served on the board of Next Step Network, a housing nonprofit, for four years ending in 2020. But when I checked with Grant Beck, the group’s vice president, he said, “At no point has Ms. Lian served on Next Step’s Board of Directors nor as a staff member.”

She is a total fraud and it’s so depressing to me that the falls church mayor and the local “newspaper” made positive comments about her. You would think the mayor would express outrage at the lies this person told and that the local “press” would have investigated it more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

No, if you are a staff member who makes more than $150,000, you are supposed to live in the District. This includes unappointed positions like CAO, etc.

The reason there is no enforcement is because OTR interprets tax information as only disclosable to OTR employees, despite the law being clear that residency information shown on tax forms can be disclosed to ANY District official operating in their official capacity. So, if, for example, the Mayor appointed a Maryland resident to a deputy mayor position and that deputy mayor asserted to Council that they live in DC, the AG or Councilmember should be able to ask OTR for that information and OTR should respond. Because OTR does not interpret the law correctly, that is a major avenue of enforcement foreclosed.

In a town full of lawyers, it is amazing that so many bad ones end up in DC government.

The really good ones are in Big Law making $$$$$ or in the federal government working for high-prestige agencies (DoJ, State, well-paid FIRREA agencies) or the White House.

Similarly, the Hatch Act prevents very smart and ethical federal employees from running for DC city council.

So DC government gets the leftovers, mainly a group of entitled, mediocre, and provincial "Natives" to the region to whom its more important where you went to high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t she have lived in DC, DC proper with a high salary, I believe $150k which I’m guessing she should have been making.

Lol. There is no enforcement on this.

That's because as a civil servant you don't have to. You only have to live in DC if you are a Director of Agency or appointed to your position.

No, if you are a staff member who makes more than $150,000, you are supposed to live in the District. This includes unappointed positions like CAO, etc.

The reason there is no enforcement is because OTR interprets tax information as only disclosable to OTR employees, despite the law being clear that residency information shown on tax forms can be disclosed to ANY District official operating in their official capacity. So, if, for example, the Mayor appointed a Maryland resident to a deputy mayor position and that deputy mayor asserted to Council that they live in DC, the AG or Councilmember should be able to ask OTR for that information and OTR should respond. Because OTR does not interpret the law correctly, that is a major avenue of enforcement foreclosed.

In a town full of lawyers, it is amazing that so many bad ones end up in DC government.

The really good ones are in Big Law making $$$$$ or in the federal government working for high-prestige agencies (DoJ, State, well-paid FIRREA agencies) or the White House.

Similarly, the Hatch Act prevents very smart and ethical federal employees from running for DC city council.

So DC government gets the leftovers, mainly a group of entitled, mediocre, and provincial "Natives" to the region to whom its more important where you went to high school.

Thank goodness that the US Attorney Office serves as the D.C. local prosecutor for most local crimes. Not only does that save D.C. taxpayers a boatload of money in what is otherwise a boated local budget, but it also enables the recruitment of better credentialed attorneys to prosecute offenders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

For the same reason DC doesn't go after people with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets; for the same reason DC doesn't go after unlicensed and uninspected food trucks that block bus stops; for the same reason Falcicchio was able to harass for who knows how long, years?; for the same reason that we have known slumlords operating unsafe buildings; for the same reason MPD was able to perform a work stoppage until they got the law passed that they wanted; for the same reason OSSE literally loses special needs kids; for the same reason it rains inside Jackson-Reed High School when there is rain outside.

This Mayor does not give a damn about DC residents and Council does not know a damn thing about accountability.

Accountability is hard to do, in part because our electoral system and our government structure make it difficult.

Would a larger Council mean more oversight? Will ranked choice voting make CMs more accountable to the public such that a failure of oversight could be political suicide?

DC has a population of roughly 700,000 with 13 council members. Fairfax County has a population of 1 million with 10 board members. I think you can do the math. DC already has more than enough council members.

Fairfax County also has a large state government providing many services that the County does not (need to) provide. In addition, there are three incorporated towns in Fairfax County. So, your argument that 10 for 1m people is sufficient doesn't really hold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why hasn't DC gone after her for wage theft?

For the same reason DC doesn't go after people with tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid tickets; for the same reason DC doesn't go after unlicensed and uninspected food trucks that block bus stops; for the same reason Falcicchio was able to harass for who knows how long, years?; for the same reason that we have known slumlords operating unsafe buildings; for the same reason MPD was able to perform a work stoppage until they got the law passed that they wanted; for the same reason OSSE literally loses special needs kids; for the same reason it rains inside Jackson-Reed High School when there is rain outside.

This Mayor does not give a damn about DC residents and Council does not know a damn thing about accountability.

Accountability is hard to do, in part because our electoral system and our government structure make it difficult.

Would a larger Council mean more oversight? Will ranked choice voting make CMs more accountable to the public such that a failure of oversight could be political suicide?

DC has a population of roughly 700,000 with 13 council members. Fairfax County has a population of 1 million with 10 board members. I think you can do the math. DC already has more than enough council members.

Fairfax County also has a large state government providing many services that the County does not (need to) provide. In addition, there are three incorporated towns in Fairfax County. So, your argument that 10 for 1m people is sufficient doesn't really hold.

Other than the VDH and VDOT, I can't think of any other state service that Fairfax County uses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the dc government is basically like a version of the mafia?

Maybe we need a Netflix series on this.

She's like the Anna Delvey of municipal government employees.