According to the reports, Skinner
and Jannarone decided to transfer the aging firetruck after a vacation together
in the Dominican Republic to attend a friend's bachelor party. Officials are
alarmed that Skinner, a fraternity brother of Mayor Fenty, seems to have made
city procurement decisions and had control over taxpayer resources.
"What
makes the transaction so incredible is the fact that so much effort -- at the
highest levels of District government -- was expended to facilitate a transfer
of surplus property without even a hint of potential benefit for the District
government," said a report by the Committee on Government Operations and
the Environment. "Rather, the entire affair was merely the pet project --
even if well intentioned -- of a senior District official and a well-connected
non-government individual."
The government operations committee
also accused Skinner of taking $11,000 from the mayor of the Dominican Republic
town for transporation, only depositing some of the money and spending the rest.
Skinner failed to show up before a
city council hearing for the second time in a row on Wednesday.
This incident is only the most
recent in many controversies surrounding the DC Fire Department. GAP is currently
representing two department whistleblowers, former Captain Vanessa Coleman and
former General Counsel Teresa Cusick.
Vanessa Coleman, former Captain with
the Fire Department and a 19-year veteran of the force, was recently fired from
her position as a result of blowing the whistle on wrongful actions taken
against her by Department officials. She had been steadily retaliated against
since March 2008, stemming from the fallout of the Mt. Pleasant apartment fire
in Washington, D.C. Despite a history beginning as a fire cadet in 1990, with
subsequent promotions to Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain, and annual
performance reviews greater than “satisfactory,” Coleman has been singled out
by department officials and made to bear the blame for the problems stemming
from the fire. During the fire, Coleman was directed away from the basement of
the apartment building to the third floor. This diversion was later found to be
of great importance, as fire officials now believe
the fire originated in the basement. Despite an audio recording proving
that a Battalion chief John Lee ordered
Coleman and her crew to the third floor, Coleman was
continually retaliated against.
Theresa Cusick was forced out of her
position as General Counsel for the Fire Department by Fire Chief Dennis Rubin
after speaking out about an Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation of
another D.C. fire official. Despite nine years with the D.C. Fire Department,
Cusick was transferred by Chief Rubin only two months into his administration,
forced to take a pay cut and move into a non-legal position.
GAP recently produced a video about the flagrant retaliation against Theresa Cusick in the DC Fire Department. Here’s the video.
Other scandals facing
Chief Rubin recently include a fire safety demonstration at Gallaudet University
that went wrong when a plexiglass curtain melted and fell on firefighters,
sending one firefighter to the hospital with burns on his hands and face.
Rubin’s comments after the event infuriated the union that represents local
firefighters, who stated publicly that Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council
should reprimand Rubin for failing to follow multiple safety procedures while
personally organizing the event.
Rubin also faced
criticism earlier this year after the house of a well-known community leader
and arts patron burned down when firefighters could not get an adequate amount
of water from hydrants. Later, the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary
concluded the water problem was due to a lack of preparation on the part of the
Fire Department.
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