Telling truth to power? Bureaucrats aren't big on rocking the boat.

From "Not my problem, says District chief financial officer," Jonetta Rose Barras' weekly column in the Examiner:

Sloppy, incompetent management and faulty internal fiscal controls cost District taxpayers tens of millions of dollars that could have been used to enhance services to needy populations. Natwar Gandhi, the city’s chief financial officer, says not to blame him for the problems identified by Budget Director Seidman in the city’s fiscal 2006 audit. He says these are issues for the mayor, D.C. Council and agency managers.

“My responsibility is to balance the budget. I am just a bean counter,” he said in response to my questions last week about his office’s responsibility for issues outlined in the letter known as the “yellow book” that accompanied the audit.

Finance officials reporting to Gandhi are stationed in every District agency. Thus, they are supposed to catch issues and resolve them quickly. That didn’t happen. Now, Gandhi is wiggling. But if the problems aren’t fixed, his personal reputation — not just the city’s — is on the line. ...

So, why did Gandhi fail to arrest fiscal mismanagement at agencies identified in the audit? Why did finance officials under his employ permit the problems to fester and escalate, potentially harming the city?

Politics. He steadfastly refuses to enter the domain of elected officials, unless invited. He slathers them with praise-some of it undeserved. (The mayor appoints and the council approves the CFO — though neither can fire him.)

Surpluses and fancy footwork have inoculated the CFO from scrutiny. Even the inspector general hasn’t determined whether Gandhi’s monarchy is fulfilling its mission; what responsibility it bears for affairs at the DCPS and other agencies; and if taxpayers are receiving sufficient bang for the bucks siphoned by the CFO.
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Typically, budget departments are also concerned about efficient management and budgetary controls.

And proposed actions such as City Council taking over budget authority for the schools, or dissolving the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation should make residents very afraid about government financial controls and propriety in the future. The latter entitities are pretty independent, and historically such quasi-public corporations could run fast and loose, but it's not like City Council is known for not being above side deals when it comes to contracting and big projects.