A report released Nov. 5 by the D.C. City Council Committee on Government Operations says millions of dollars intended for management reform were diverted during fiscal 1998 for uses other than the projects agreed upon by council, the control board and the agencies themselves.

"Almost two thirds of total management reform spending has occurred outside the scope of the Revitalization Act, reflecting a lack of focus and discipline and a diversion of resources," the report stated. "Reform dollars have been used to support agency operating expenses rather than to enhance productivity."

D.C. Public Schools spent $48 million in reform funds to help close its $62 million operating deficit discovered last spring, the report said. The report also noted $8.8 million in reform funds went to the Office of the Corporation Counsel for unspecified use, although "neither DCPS nor the Office of the Corporation Counsel is covered under the Revitalization Act and neither has a management reform plan in place."

The report does not lay blame directly for diversion of management reform funding, but committee members noted they were concerned that agency heads report to Chief Management Officer Camille C. Barnett through her three deputies, rather than directly.

"Although two permanent deputies have now been hired, the positions had been filled by consultants who did not stay long. The lack of stability and the fragmentation of authority among deputy management officers, assistant management officers and agency heads undermines accountability," the report said.

The committee, chaired by Councilwoman Kathleen Patterson, D-Ward 3, reviewed management reform efforts in five areas under its jurisdiction: real estate asset management, information technology, personnel, procurement, and the Department of Employment Services. Council members Harold Brazil, D-At-large; Carol Schwartz, R-At-large; David Catania, R-At-large; and Sharon Ambrose, D-Ward 6, also sit on the committee.

After receiving public testimony from top managers in each area, the committee concluded that the diversion of funds has delayed critical initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of government operations and the quality of service delivery. Progress has been "uneven and erratic," the committee found, and many programs are months or even years behind schedule.

For example, the city is eight months behind schedule in solving the year 2000 computer problem, according to the report. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer remains understaffed and will not have time to make the necessary technology improvements to prevent major computer systems from crashing at the turn of the century, the report said.

Also, an upgrade to the computer system that tracks motor vehicle information was scheduled to be completed two months ago, but D.C. officials are still studying models in other cities, the report said. Four other information technology reform projects slated to be completed by now are also behind schedule. Overall, only $5 million of $64.7 million available for information technology reform was spent in fiscal 1998.

"These deficiencies reflect a lack of strong central sponsorship and oversight in the Office of the Chief Management Officer," the report said.

Management reform efforts at the Office of Property Management and DOES have been "almost nonexistent," the report stated.

Instead, DOES spent $30,000 to improve two bathrooms at 500 C St. NW, a building to be vacated and probably demolished at the end of the current fiscal year, according to the report. The agency also spent $85,000, intended to create a private-sector advisory board, on computer equipment, wiring and furniture.

The Office of Property Management was similarly troubled, the committee found. An overall strategic plan for property management scheduled to be completed by the end of this calendar year was only 10 percent complete as of August. Committee members noted that a comprehensive strategy is the basic foundation for reform and little can be accomplished until it is completed.

The Office of Personnel spent $1.4, intended for reorganizing staff into teams, on relocation and consolidation of offices. The Office of Contracting and Procurement spent $2.3 million on furniture, supplies, equipment and staff salaries, expenditures the committee found "are not management reform projects."

But the news was not all bad. The report found "satisfactory progress" at the D.C. Office of Personnel, "mixed results" in information technology, and some improvement at the Office of Procurement.

Committee members said they hoped new leadership in several agencies would pick up the pace of reform. Kenneth Kimbrough recently took over as director of the Office of Property Management, Greg Irish as director of DOES, and Suzanne Peck is expected to be confirmed soon as chief technology officer.

But the overall tone of the report was one of general dismay that D.C. agencies had not broken with poor management practices of the past.

Money that should have gone for management reform "was used to bail out agencies that had spent themselves into a hole," said Councilwoman Sharon Ambrose, D-Ward 6. "The continuation of these practices is absolutely shocking."

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator