Prometheus 6

Indifference That Can Kill
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, November 17, 2007; A17

"My own view is that it is very unfortunate, but people steal."

-- D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), Nov. 9

And there it is: The quintessential response of the city's politically entrenched to scandal in the D.C. government. Instead of an assumed pride in the commitment and dedication of public servants, there's hopelessness, an absence of outrage, a ready acceptance of the worst.

Thirty million dollars in tax receipts out the window and into someone's pocket? Tsk, tsk. "People steal."

Which helps explain the blind eye that is turned to a steady stream of criminality in the D.C. government. How about:

-- The former D.C. corrections officer who pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to conspiring to accept money in return for the delivery of contraband to D.C. jail inmates.

-- The guilty plea on the same date by a former budget analyst in the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency on charges of filing false claims, first-degree fraud and theft (by stealing checks sent to the agency and depositing them in her personal account).

-- The former D.C. Department of Corrections guard sentenced Sept. 12 for accepting bribes while working at a corrections facility.

-- The two brothers, one of whom worked in the D.C. Health Department's mail room, who pleaded guilty Aug. 21 to conspiracy to steal and deposit D.C. government checks into a personal account.

-- The D.C. school official responsible for charter school oversight who pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to a scheme to defraud D.C. public schools.

-- The former worker in the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs sentenced on June 14 for offering a bribe to a department building inspector.

-- The former D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services corrections officer sentenced on Jan. 9 for fraudulently obtaining money through a time-and-attendance scheme.

Despite these convictions, announced in news releases from the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, no city official makes a big deal about the incidents.

"People steal."

But let a scheme as large in scope and as audacious as the property tax refund scam get emblazoned across the front pages and city leaders get all hot and bothered, as if they really care about rot in the government's foundation.

Their record tells another story.