Mayor Adrian Fenty’s ambitious summer jobs initiative for city teens has burst through its budget three weeks into the program and the mayor is raiding D.C.’s rainy day fund to dig his way out of the crisis, The Examiner has learned.
In a letter last week to Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi, Fenty said that the program’s “expenses are much higher than was foreseen” and he needs another $20.1 million from D.C.’s contingency cash reserve.
“No legislative amendment can be enacted until the council reconvenes” in September, Fenty wrote. “In the meantime, this allocation … is necessary to ensure that all youth who have worked receive pay on time.”
The 10-week jobs program was initially supposed to cost $14.5 million, according to a high-ranking city hall source. But in its first three weeks, Fenty has given out more than $32 million, the source said.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivities surrounding the program.
Fenty announced his ambitious proposal earlier this summer. It is similar to programs run by former Mayor Marion Barry, who has been a critic of Fenty’s version of the initiative. The idea is to hook teens and young adults up with part-time jobs for the summer so that they stay out of trouble and learn the importance of earning a paycheck.
The paperwork for the program is in disarray, the city hall source said, with hundreds of students going without payment. Hoping to sidestep the controversy, the Fenty administration has ordered that every young person signed up for the program be paid for the maximum 30 hours per week regardless of the amount of time actually worked, according to the source.
Even so, questions abound. There are about 19,000 teens and young adults enrolled in the program, according to figures kept by the finance office. In less than a month, Fenty has spent enough to pay each enrollee more than $14 an hour. Most of the youngsters in the program are supposed to be paid the minimum wage, $5.85 an hour.
Where has the money gone? Fenty administration officials did not respond to numerous requests for comment. And his team hasn’t responded to a formal Freedom of Information Act request to review the summer program.
The inspector general has already started a probe. Some public officials are worried.
“Obviously, we need an accounting of where the money is going,” said Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3.
The budget-busting jobs initiative, which is scheduled to last through September, continues to have young people come through the door looking for work.
Got a tip on the summer jobs program? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or send him an e-mail, [email protected].
