By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 10, 2006; B02
Four days after taking control of the city's Department of Human Services, interim director Vanessa Chappell-Lee stepped down yesterday after a D.C. Council member questioned whether her husband's employment violated the city's anti-nepotism law.
At an oversight hearing of the agency earlier in the day, D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), asked Chappell-Lee why her husband, Martin W. Lee, recently had been rehired by the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration. When he worked for the agency last year, city officials began investigating his employment to determine whether there was a conflict of interest. He was terminated before that investigation was completed.
At issue is whether the agency Lee now works for falls under his wife's supervision. In yesterday's hearing, Chappell-Lee said that the agency was recently moved under the purview of a deputy mayor and that her husband, a program analyst who earns $84,341 a year, did not report to her.
But after the hearing ended, a spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services delivered a statement saying that Chappell-Lee had resigned as interim director and would resume her previous position as deputy director of the department.
"After careful consideration I have accepted Ms. Chappell-Lee's resignation from her position . . . to ensure that the interim leadership of DHS has no hint of any appearance of conflict of interest issues that may compromise the ability to effectively manage the agency," said Brenda Donald Walker, deputy mayor for children, youth, families and elders, in a statement.
Chappell-Lee did not return phone calls for comment.
Her husband referred all questions to the department spokeswoman. It was unclear last night whether he would remain in his position as a program manager with the MRDDA.
Fenty, chairman of the council's committee on human services, said he remained concerned about possible violations of the city personnel rules when he was informed of Chappell-Lee's decision to step down.
"She should have never been appointed the interim director in the first place," Fenty said. "But the same questions still exist in her deputy director's role, i.e., her husband directly reports to her, which is a violation of the city's anti-nepotism law."
Chappell-Lee came to the District government in 2003 as deputy director to then-Department of Human Services head Yvonne Gilchrist. Lee was initially hired by the agency into a position with MRDDA in May 2005. The city's then-interim inspector general, Austin A. Andersen, made inquiries about his hiring.
At yesterday's hearing, Chappell-Lee said she had asked for a ruling from the city and understood that "there did not appear to be a conflict of interest at that time."
According to a memorandum from the agency's ethics officer obtained by The Washington Post, however, there remained concerns about Lee, and further investigation outside the department was recommended. Gilchrist terminated Lee in June 2005, according to city documents. He was rehired by MRDDA last fall.
Fenty said the confusion over Lee was indicative of other problems in the troubled agency. "This is consistent with the unprofessional way this agency has been managed over the past several years, to the detriment of vulnerable residents," he said.