The Fenty administration is expected to soon give a $400,000 no-bid contract to Peaceoholics, a nonprofit group founded by one of Fenty’s biggest supporters, to work with troubled city youths, The Washington Examiner has learned.
The check is expected to be signed within the week, according to sources with knowledge of Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services funding. If that happens, the controversial nonprofit group will have cornered $900,000 in city and federal funding for the year through DYRS. It would also mean the contractor had secured nearly $5 million in funding from city youth services since 2006.
Peaceoholics founder Ron Moten told The Examiner that DYRS is making up for the $400,000 in work Peaceoholics performed over two months last fall after the council canceled its contracts. That funding was canceled by the D.C. Council in August 2009 after concerns were raised about the contracts’ no-bid nature.
“We should have stopped the work once the contract was stopped,” Moten said. “Lesson learned.”
Fenty spokeswoman Mafara Hobson directed The Examiner’s request for comment to DYRS. Agency spokesman Reggie Sanders did not respond.
Fenty has been searching for a way to get cash to Peaceoholics for several months, according to several sources. But unlike previous years, he had trouble finding justification for a contract, the sources said.
Much of this year’s resistance came from former DYRS chief Marc Schindler, sources said.
“Unlike previous years, the demand from Fenty to contract with Peaceoholics didn’t come as an outright directive,” said one source. “Marc simply did nothing.”
Fenty fired Schindler on July 19 after a series of incidents that left 10 youths in city custody accused of murder and six killed. The mayor replaced him with Robert Hildum, deputy attorney general in charge of the public safety division. Within three weeks, Hildum promoted Linda Harllee-Harper to replace the outgoing David Muhammad as head of commitment.
Harllee-Harper was a member of the Peaceoholics board of directors until 2007, when she stepped down upon being hired by DYRS.
Soon after her promotion, Ron Moten and Peaceoholics’ co-founder Jauhar Abraham met with DYRS officials to discuss the $400,000 contract, sources said. Moten says he has stepped down as Peaceoholics president so he can campaign for Fenty, although he has retained a position on the group’s board.
