District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance
Authority
Washington, D.C.
March 1, 2000
The Honorable Jack Evans
Chairman, Committee on Finance and Revenue
Council of the District of Columbia
441 Fourth Street N.W., Suite 703
Washington, D.C. 20001
Dear Chairman Evans:
I have received the letter of February 29, 2000, from you and your colleagues.
The Authority takes your concerns seriously and will address them in due course in the
same serious and deliberative spirit in which they were presented to us.
We think that there must be no rush to judgment on the concerns you raise. Furthermore,
it is critically important that nothing be allowed to interfere with, or distract from,
the successful completion of the pending CAFR and the submission of the Mayor's budget to
the Council. The District's standing in the financial markets, the Congress and the public
is intertwined with the completion of the CAFR and the submission of the budget. We
believe that the Chief Financial Officer must be given the support necessary to conclude
the CAFR process and the submission of the budget as promptly as possible. She has our
support in those endeavors. We expect the CAFR to be issued this month and the Mayor's
budget to be submitted shortly.
We will then have the opportunity, in a calm and deliberate atmosphere, to assess the
performance of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and decide on any changes that
need to be made in leadership, staffing, or technology. For example, we plan to study the
operation of the SOAR system and consider improvements in it, as well as other matters
raised in your letter.
Sincerely yours,
Alice M. Rivlin
Chair
One Thomas Circle, N.W. Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 504-3400 |
