The very short path to a $100K+ DC government job

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[Post New]03/06/2011 16:33
Anonymous
2005 UDC police officer (while studying for bachelor's degree in Business Admin)
2006-2010 internships with accounting firms
2010 Not gainfully employed while running for mayoral office
2011 Special Assistant with Dept of Health Care Finance, $110,000

Facts reported in today's Post. Would someone with this resume even get an interview for a six-figure job in this economy? Doesn't include the restraining order filed by a 13-year old.

I know there has been deadwood in DC govt for ages, even under Fenty. For nearly 8 years I've been battling DC's tax bureau about money they owe us. I've written more than a dozen letters to OTR, and have NEVER got a response. I finally Fed-Exed my chain of correspondence to CFO Natwar Ghandi and Mayor Fenty asking to be appointed an adjudicator. The CFO e-mailed back something without a greeting that included a cryptic set of numbers, that had I written same I would have gotten fired. (When I responded to the sender, I never got a response.) Fenty immediately wrote back and gave me the name and contact information for his liaison to OTR. His was the only response that was similar to that of a private business. I wrote-in his name in November.

I wish we had someone like Michelle Rhee (or Donald Trump) who would fire them all. This economy has too many qualified and talented people adrift for this crap.
[Post New]03/06/2011 17:38
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
I think I have pretty well established that I am very disappointed with the way things are going with the Gray Administration. But, there is a bit of over-the-top piling on taking place. First of all, the Post's description of Brown's resume -- which you repeat here -- is not accurate. Here is a link to Brown resume:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/debonis/2011/02/read_sulaimon_browns_resume_--.html

You will see that in 2007 - 2008, he held jobs as an auditor, making $80,000 at his last job. That does not make him qualified for the job he got at DHCF, but it's not as bad as today's Post article makes it sound.

And, since everyone wants to evoke Fenty in comparison, let's compare. Had this happened under Fenty, do you think it would be page A1 in the Post. Of course not. When the Post was presented with evidence that Fenty's education plan was plagiarized, they ignored the story until it was reported elsewhere. The so-called "education mayor" had a plagiarized education plan and the Post ignored it! And, think about it, what were Rhee's qualifications when she was selected as Chancellor? She had three years of teaching and then led a non-profit organization (based in NYC while she lived in Denver). What was there to suggest in her resume -- part of which turned out to be unsupported by any evidence and actually appears to be false -- that she could run a major urban school system? The Post, of course, did not vet her resume. It sacrificed the ability to do objective reporting for the right to get a scoop on her selection. The paper then spent 3 1/2 years covering up for her and Fenty.

Today, Gray held a press conference in which he welcomed investigations of the Brown matter. He answered every question from reporters. If this had been Fenty, there would have been no press conference. There might have been a statement from Nickels blowing smoke up everyone's ass. Reporters would have caught Fenty cutting the ribbon at a dog park or something and tried to question him. He would have said "that's been dealt with and we are concentrating on the issues that matter to DC residents".

As for firing people. Yes, Fenty fired people. He fired a recreational director who dared require Fenty's sons to play in the proper basketball league for their age. He fired Clark Ray for reasons nobody can explain. He fired people who did not sufficiently violate the Hatch Act and "volunteer" for his campaign (and then filled those positions with Fenty loyalists despite a hiring freeze). He fired, or reassigned people who stood in the way of contracts to his frat brothers. I am not sure why you think that firing is inherently a good thing.

I applaud the Post and the other media outlets for the scrutiny to which they are subjecting Gray. But, to turn around and say that shows that Fenty -- for whom the Post was nothing but a PR outlet -- was so much better is simply denying reality.

[Post New]03/06/2011 20:18
Anonymous
When the Post was presented with evidence that Fenty's education plan was plagiarized, they ignored the story until it was reported elsewhere. The so-called "education mayor" had a plagiarized education plan and the Post ignored it!


Oh please. The formal document for the DC education plan had passages that were clearly culled from other sources. The idea that this was some sort of "plagiarism" scandal is ridiculous. It's exactly the problem that left us with Gray: a hundred and one non-scandals that could be trotted out, and which the gulllible could then interpret as scandal-plagued.

Plagiarism in a formal document. What's next? Complaints about DC plagiarizing Guam's license plate. A large subset of "good government" middle-class DC voters got worked into a frenzy over a handful of stupid contrived "scandals" like this, and look where we are now.
[Post New]03/06/2011 20:29
Anonymous
I don't think one should be minimizing what is going on with Gray. These are allegations of criminal conduct and there seems to be quite a bit of circumstantial evidence that they are true. I didn't see the press conference today but I assume Gray claimed no knowledge of this. While he may have answered all questions, were the answers he provided plausible and believable? Can we trust him in future? I wonder if this guy will just way what he thinks people want to hear.. I was a Fenty supporter in the election, but after the election, I really wanted to believe that Gray would move the city forward. I really feel like whatever hope I had has been shattered today, but as a long-time dc resident I really wish I am wrong.
[Post New]03/06/2011 20:35
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Anonymous wrote:I don't think one should be minimizing what is going on with Gray. These are allegations of criminal conduct and there seems to be quite a bit of circumstantial evidence that they are true. I didn't see the press conference today but I assume Gray claimed no knowledge of this. While he may have answered all questions, were the answers he provided plausible and believable? Can we trust him in future? I wonder if this guy will just way what he thinks people want to hear.. I was a Fenty supporter in the election, but after the election, I really wanted to believe that Gray would move the city forward. I really feel like whatever hope I had has been shattered today, but as a long-time dc resident I really wish I am wrong.


What allegations of criminal conduct? The only possible charges would be related to campaign finance. That would result in a fine at best. Add all the Gray and Brown scandals together and they are less money then a single Fenty frat-boy contract. That's not to minimize Gray's problems, but to put them in perspective.
[Post New]03/06/2011 20:56
Anonymous
Here is a potential scenario for criminal liability: if Gray repeats his absurd denials under oath in front of an investigative committee, he will perjure himself. For that offense there will be criminal penalties. It would be a misdemeanor but still it would be a criminal offense.
[Post New]03/06/2011 20:57
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Anonymous wrote:
When the Post was presented with evidence that Fenty's education plan was plagiarized, they ignored the story until it was reported elsewhere. The so-called "education mayor" had a plagiarized education plan and the Post ignored it!


Oh please. The formal document for the DC education plan had passages that were clearly culled from other sources. The idea that this was some sort of "plagiarism" scandal is ridiculous. It's exactly the problem that left us with Gray: a hundred and one non-scandals that could be trotted out, and which the gulllible could then interpret as scandal-plagued.

Plagiarism in a formal document. What's next? Complaints about DC plagiarizing Guam's license plate. A large subset of "good government" middle-class DC voters got worked into a frenzy over a handful of stupid contrived "scandals" like this, and look where we are now.


Typical Fenty-bot. "Copying and pasting" large passages is merely "culling." Yes, formal documents can be plagiarized. What kind of distorted understanding of the concept do you have? Fenty-bots are all about situational ethics. Frat-brother contracts that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they should are "contrived scandals." You realize that Sulaimon Brown is more qualified to be an auditor than Sinclair Skinner is to be an engineer on a Parks and Recreation project don't you? And, Skinner was paid more.
[Post New]03/06/2011 21:00
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Anonymous wrote:Here is a potential scenario for criminal liability: if Gray repeats his absurd denials under oath in front of an investigative committee, he will perjure himself. For that offense there will be criminal penalties. It would be a misdemeanor but still it would be a criminal offense.


Of course you are leaving out some important details. For instance, first Gray has to be actually lying about his denials. Then, a prosecutor has to be able to prove that he is lying. Given that the allegation is that envelopes of cash were handed over and immediately spent, trying to prove that -- keeping in mind that it might not even be true -- will be very difficult.
[Post New]03/06/2011 21:01
Anonymous
Wouldn't the allegations if true, violate elections or campaign law? I am not a lawyer so I don't know much on this. On Fenty, I don't defend his actions, but this should not excuse what has happened in this case. My fear on Gray is whether he basically using the government as a system of patronage and cronyism to reward his friends? I guess a lot of us DC residents do harbor fears of going back to the Barry years event if they are not completely rational. I really hope this was an isolated incident. I guess how he reacts will tell us a lot.
[Post New]03/06/2011 21:44
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
When the Post was presented with evidence that Fenty's education plan was plagiarized, they ignored the story until it was reported elsewhere. The so-called "education mayor" had a plagiarized education plan and the Post ignored it!


Oh please. The formal document for the DC education plan had passages that were clearly culled from other sources. The idea that this was some sort of "plagiarism" scandal is ridiculous. It's exactly the problem that left us with Gray: a hundred and one non-scandals that could be trotted out, and which the gulllible could then interpret as scandal-plagued.

Plagiarism in a formal document. What's next? Complaints about DC plagiarizing Guam's license plate. A large subset of "good government" middle-class DC voters got worked into a frenzy over a handful of stupid contrived "scandals" like this, and look where we are now.
On what planet do you live? I'm a professional and I would never just steal another city's education plan which is what Reinoso did. It makes it look like he didn't know what he was doing.
[Post New]03/06/2011 22:10
Anonymous
jsteele wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here is a potential scenario for criminal liability: if Gray repeats his absurd denials under oath in front of an investigative committee, he will perjure himself. For that offense there will be criminal penalties. It would be a misdemeanor but still it would be a criminal offense.


Of course you are leaving out some important details. For instance, first Gray has to be actually lying about his denials. Then, a prosecutor has to be able to prove that he is lying. Given that the allegation is that envelopes of cash were handed over and immediately spent, trying to prove that -- keeping in mind that it might not even be true -- will be very difficult.



Actually, with perjury you do not have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was lying. You merely have to prove that is more likey than not that the person is lying. It's called preponderance of the evidence. It's a very easy standard to meet. And a jury doesn get to decide, a seasoned judge does. So, not difficult at all, really. The Republicans did to Clinton, you'll recall. It happens all the time in civil cases.
[Post New]03/06/2011 22:14
jsteele
Site Admin Offline
Anonymous wrote:
Actually, with perjury you do not have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person was lying. You merely have to prove that is more likey than not that the person is lying. It's called preponderance of the evidence. It's a very easy standard to meet. And a jury doesn get to decide, a seasoned judge does. So, not difficult at all, really. The Republicans did to Clinton, you'll recall. It happens all the time in civil cases.


One assumes that there does have to be evidence. Right now, there is nothing more than the word of someone who has made a number of unbelievable allegations. One example is that he claimed that Gray fabricated the restraining order that was issued against him several years ago.
[Post New]03/06/2011 22:16
Anonymous
The trag
[Post New]03/06/2011 23:17
takoma
Member Offline
Apologies for the 22:16 post. I was going to say something about the tragedy of Fenty's term, but apparently hit send when I went off to think about it. Now it's 23:14 and I no longer think it's worth the effort.
[Post New]03/07/2011 14:43
Anonymous
Is Brown a CPA or not? It doesn't appear so.
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