Fenty Lies Low in High-Profile Tax Probe

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 11, 2007

Four hours after D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty got the news about the biggest alleged theft by government employees in the city's history, he held a news conference -- about retrofitting police cruisers with laptops.

Fenty (D), known for immediately getting out front on the city's most controversial issues and biggest crises, has been virtually silent about the suspected $20 million scam by employees of the Tax and Revenue Office.

Last week, Fenty stood by the side of Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi just once.

That's the same Mayor Fenty who has rushed to fires and shootings to support his fire and police chiefs and reassure the public.

In the latest crisis, the swift-footed go-to guy seems to be gone.

The mayor's public schedule showed no events yesterday, today or tomorrow. He did appear at a ribbon-cutting at a senior citizens building in Ward 6 yesterday.

Even though Fenty has reassured Gandhi that he has his support, the fact is he does not have authority over Gandhi's office, which was created by Congress.

"This was a serious breach of the public trust, and Dr. Gandhi deserves credit for taking responsibility for what has happened," the mayor said in a statement yesterday in response to inquiries about his low-key behavior. "I appreciate his swift action to hold people accountable in his agency and correct these abuses."

Gandhi forced four top managers to resign and placed two other employees on administrative leave last week after two other tax workers were arrested in the fraud case. The case includes titillating details, such as one worker spending $1.4 million at Neiman Marcus.

Ron Lester, a pollster and political consultant, said Fenty appears to have stepped aside because of Gandhi's independence and the fact that the suspected wrongdoing began before he took office in January. Federal authorities say the fraud could have started as early as 2000.

The mayor also was not privy to the investigation, which Gandhi and authorities said had to be kept confidential until the arrests Wednesday morning. Gandhi called the mayor about the arrests just after 6 a.m. that day.

Officials who were informed of the theft that morning, including D.C. Council members, were told not to disclose any information until the U.S. attorney's office had a news conference at 3:45 p.m. that day.

Fenty kept to his schedule, holding a news conference about the police department's plans to install laptops in police cruisers.

"By definition, he was frozen out of the process," Lester said. "I don't think you put this at the mayor's doorstep. It preceded him, and there was really nothing he could have done to prevent it."

But Lester said he could see the mayor giving input into reforms that will probably be made.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said the city's monitoring of Gandhi's office has lacked definition because the office was created by Congress during the city's financial crisis in the mid-1990s. Gandhi's office has remained independent.

Gandhi says he knows independence doesn't exist in a vacuum, noting in a staff meeting last week how the office's work affects the city. "I often say that what you do here makes it possible for the mayor and the council" to pursue their programs, he said.

The council is holding an oversight hearing of the office Thursday, but last week city officials appeared mostly to be hands-off.

Hours after he stood with Gandhi, the mayor attended a cocktail party at Mazza Gallerie in Northwest Washington. It was a celebration in which he proclaimed it "Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie Day."

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.