D.C. Transparency Watch: D.C. Chancellor Selection in Secret; Court to Order Stop and Frisk Data-collection

Fritz Mulhauser | November 19, 2018 | Last modified: August 12, 2019

UPDATES 12-3-18: 

Schools. Chancellor selection announced today (Monday) — Lewis D. Ferebee, now schools’ chief in Indianapolis. The citizen advisory panel was called back for a meeting Saturday with two finalists and a brief feedback session with the mayor. No resumes provided. Obviously no time for independent vetting such as by contacting civic groups in hometowns or speaking with press who have covered candidates. Nor any meaningful conversation with selecting officials. The Post had previously noted officials’ disappointment at the lack of strong candidates, and on Saturday reported a leak of the two finalists’ names, Ferebee and Amanda Alexander, the interim D.C. chancellor. 

Law enforcement. Still no written opinion and order from Superior Court Judge John M. Campbell spelling out just what MPD must do. He gave an oral decision from the bench in a hearing November 16 partially granting the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction.

 

Schools. To assure some degree of public consultation on the key school appointment—the mayor’s choice for chancellor or head of D.C. Public Schools—the law says the mayor will provide the review panel “the resumes and other pertinent information pertaining to the individuals under consideration.”

But the panel has disbanded, saying they never saw resumes. At his confirmation hearing last week the new deputy mayor for education, Paul Kihn, couldn’t answer Council member Charles Allen’s questions about what was going on.  Washington Post breaks it down.

Law enforcement.  Police action in the street is constant and undocumented. “Stop and frisk” is the discredited tactic of the last few decades, outlawed by the courts in New York when found to be grossly discriminatory (targeting minority and poor people without cause). The DC Council passed a law calling for data on the practice here and a FOIA request for the data brought to light that police had not carried out the law’s requirements. A lawsuit followed and at a hearing Friday (16) a Superior Court judge announced his opinion will be forthcoming likely ordering long-delayed action. Details in Washington City Paper.