By David A. Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 4 1998; Page C01

District residents would not have seen most improvements made in city government over the past year because the majority of reforms affected behind-the-scenes operations, according to a report sent to Congress yesterday by Chief Management Officer Camille C. Barnett.

In a report that outlined the status of 269 management reform projects, Barnett stated that making progress on low-visibility projects will pay off in the long run for the city. While stating that District residents and businesses are "ready for concrete service improvement," Barnett explained that fixing some of the city's internal operating systems was a necessary first step.

"Most of the projects completed . . . were internal to the government and did not have a visible customer service impact," Barnett wrote. "Project progress and accomplishments have consisted of process improvements, technology upgrades, strategic planning . . . and infrastructure improvements. However, these internal projects have established the backbone necessary to develop and support the processes necessary for superior customer service."

Barnett has been sharply criticized by mayoral candidates and D.C. Council members for failing to achieve more rapid progress on services that affect day-to-day conditions in neighborhoods.

In an interview yesterday, Barnett said her approach makes sense. "Before you can reduce the amount of time it takes to get your license tag, you have to get the new system in," she said.

Barnett's report also cited visible service improvements. Among the higher-profile items: restoring curbside recycling, decreasing the usual vehicle inspection waiting time from one hour to 15 minutes, mailing reminder notices to people renewing driver's licenses, replacing 15,000 old parking meters and opening schools on time.

"My job is to keep the momentum going, and that is what I have done," Barnett said. "We have to create visible improvements along the way at the same time we are making fundamental change. . . . We have a long way to go, but I think we have a good start."

Of the 269 management reform projects, 69 were completed during fiscal 1998, 182 are moving forward, seven projects were not scheduled to start because of funding and 11 were deleted, the report said.

Barnett, who has reported to the D.C. financial control board and run most of the city government on a day-to-day basis since January, soon will begin reporting to the city's new mayor as well, sources said. The control board plans to delegate operational control over nearly the entire city government to the District's new mayor in January.

The control board signaled its intentions yesterday in a separate report submitted to Congress. "Now that the District has reached a turning point, the board must help prepare the city for the return of Home Rule, which means returning governance, operations and oversight to the elected officials," the report said.

Mayor-elect Anthony A. Williams has said he will put heavy emphasis on accelerating progress on visible projects, including cleaning streets and alleys, repairing potholes and improving trash pickup. Under the transfer of power, a city government that has been bifurcated -- with most large agencies reporting to Barnett and a handful of smaller agencies reporting to Mayor Marion Barry -- would be reunited under the new mayor's control.

Yesterday, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) praised the control board's plan to begin transferring power to the new mayor and D.C. Council as a positive step for democracy and service delivery. Norton said putting the major agencies back under the mayor's control would diminish the sense of a chaotic, divided government that has prevailed since Congress stripped Barry of power in the summer of 1997 and left him overseeing only libraries, recreation and other small agencies.

"The multiple reporting authorities in many ways have made the government more unwieldy and unworkable than it was before a control board became necessary," Norton said. "This decision will immediately streamline what has become a bureaucratic morass at the top, leading residents on a wild goose chase looking for who is in charge."

Norton credited the control board, chaired by Alice M. Rivlin, for recognizing the need to work closely with elected officials to produce rapid improvements in services. She also urged the panel, created in 1995, to delegate power over all the major agencies, including the police department, to the new mayor. Control board members will meet today to review the details of their transition plan, and one open question is whether Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey should report to the new mayor or continue to report directly to the board.