Borrow SOMETHING from FENTY!

Keep it "Livable" on the Way OUT!!

According to a recent report in the  Washington Business Journal (click here), outgoing D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has ordered freezes on new employee hiring, employee pay increases, and reduced departmental expenditures by 10 percent.  Fenty has done this in response to a $175 Million budget shortfall, but also to allow his successor, Vincent Gray some flexibility in hiring and spending to influence his priorities.

This stands in stark contrast to PG County which has an $85 Million structural budget deficit that was closed with one-time budget stunts and budget tricks including transfers from the Maryland National Parks and Planning Commission.  PG County Executive Jack Johnson has proposed a $12 Million pay increase for county employees (click here).  More disturbing, Johnson has accelerated hiring in an attempt to provide cush jobs for his cronies and to bog down County Executive Elect Rushern Baker.  We think Johnson should take a lesson from Fenty -- freeze the hirings, spending and pay increases.