jonetta rose barras: Raindrops keep falling on my head

The DC Public Library, an independent agency, has spent millions of dollars renovating or constructing new facilities. There is little evidence that any of the DC government agencies responsible for investigating how public funds are spent have audited DCPL.

The library system and its board of trustees have drawn praise for bringing neighborhood branches into the 21st century, replete with state-of-the art technology and engaging educational programs. Still, there have been some concerns about the quality of construction and maintenance.

The Friends of Tenley-Friendship Library, a community-based support group, recently called for an audit of the construction of their building. The roof has leaked since the new library opened in 2011.

DCPL has forked over more than $200,000 to address the problem. The initial warranty on the work has expired; the warranty on recent repairs to address the issue is about to end. Still, there has been no permanent fix.

How difficult could it be to fix a leaky roof?

“We have been asking questions for years, and [they] have not been answered,” said Mary Alice Levine, treasurer of the Friends group. The group sent two letters this summer to DC Auditor Kathy Patterson — on July 16 and Aug. 8.

“They make a very good case,” Patterson said when I asked whether her office would conduct the audit. “We’re looking to see whether it’s something we can take on.”

Was that a yes?

“Tenley roof is a saga that would drive anybody batty,” Gregory McCarthy, president of the DCPL board of trustees, told me in a recent interview. “Putting that aside, by and large our construction program has been virtually on time and on budget; our independent authority had a lot to do with that.

“Whatever type of oversight that needs to be done, I would welcome it,” McCarthy continued. “It’s taxpayers’ dollars, and we need to be held accountable like everyone else.”

It’s hard to assess the credibility of McCarthy’s “on time, on budget” assertion. After all, there has been no independent review of the library’s construction program. “There [have been] emergencies, wear and tear and landscaping issues,” acknowledged DCPL executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan in a phone interview with me.

Earlier this summer a patron at the Shepherd Park (Juanita E. Thornton) Neighborhood Library walked around the rainwater leaking from the ceiling at that facility in Ward 4. Reyes-Gavilan said the second phase of a roof replacement has been scheduled. The Bellevue Neighborhood Library in Southwest had HVAC issues.

Reyes-Gavilan, who was not working for the city when the new Tenley-Friendship facility opened, has blamed problems on the age of some of the libraries and the unprecedented rain.

Should a seven-year-old building have problems like those at Tenley?

Many aspects of DC’s capital improvement program have been riddled with mismanagement and costly or poor-quality construction. Earlier this year, the auditor blasted the Department of Housing and Community Development for failing “to produce as many affordable housing units as possible for residents,” despite a total multi-year budget of $1 billion. Patterson has criticized the school modernization program for failing “to comply with DC codes and for a lack of accountability, transparency and basic financial management.” The biggest fiscal fiasco was the renovation of Duke Ellington School of the Arts. The initial construction budget was $71 million; the project exceeded that amount by more than $100 million.

Then, there have been issues with construction firms paying workers less than the wages required by DC law, or hiring an insufficient number of minority subcontractors on projects.

There is reason to believe Tenley-Friendship may have been yet another one of those poorly managed projects. DCPL allowed the initial warranty to expire without the roof problem being resolved. Over time, the agency has installed gutter walls at Tenley-Friendship, increased the maintenance, installed membrane in the gutters and reconstructed the skylight. Earlier this month, a tear was discovered in the green roof membrane.

“We are not going to stop until this thing is fixed,” said Reyes-Gavilan.

“Somebody was paid a lot of money to get that roof right the first time,” said McCarthy, hinting that maybe that didn’t happen.

Interestingly, the prime contractor was Maryland-based Forrester Construction, according to library officials. At the same time it was working on the Tenley-Friendship Library, the construction firm allegedly committed fraud by misrepresenting joint ventures on other projects with a minority company to gain advantage over its competitors. Then-DC Attorney General Irv Nathan threatened to file a lawsuit “under the civil provisions of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and under the District’s False Claims Act.” Forrester subsequently agreed to pay $1 million and not to seek preferences under the city’s Certified Business Enterprise program for two-and-a-half years.

The company has remained in business in DC, however. Were all its sins counted? Who knows.

The library system’s director and its board expect to begin the process of creating a 10-year master facilities plan, hoping to respond to the needs of the new and future DC. That sounds good.

Shouldn’t they slow their roll, however? Shouldn’t they try to determine whether they need to recoup any money from the company that built the Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library and left staff and patrons with water falling around them?

Well, maybe that last bit should be left to the auditor.

This post has been updated to clarify that the DC Public Library has resolved the HVAC issues at the Bellevue Neighborhood Library in Southwest.

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jonetta rose barras is a DC-based author and freelance writer. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.