WASHINGTON -- The power shift at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs comes after a year-long WUSA 9 investigation into system wide failures in the agency.
Now, it appears the city is cleaning house. Sources tell us that the deputy director, the head of human resources, and the chief information officer have all been escorted from DCRA headquarters.
City council members say the department is not only run poorly but is putting you at risk. We uncovered an agency in turmoil, dangerous elevators that go uninspected and illegal construction.
"When something is wrong, the workers scatter," said former DCRA manager Delaine Englebert.
We heard complaints not only from agency insiders, but several residents, like Glen McFadden.
He said, "My beef is with DCRA. I called them for help!."
And the department wasn't much help to use either. We requested documents for our investigation that show countless violations in city elevators and buildings.
By law, we should have heard back within 15 days through the Freedom of Information Act. But it took us nearly a year to get the records.
Now, the employee who gave us those documents has filed a million dollar lawsuit because she was fired shortly after handing them over.
And when WUSA9 asked Melinda Bolling about that employee's firing, she said, "What I can say is that there is a full fledge investigation. And, I haven't received any notification that it's been finalized. So, I can't speak to that."
The employee fought to get her job back but said in the lawsuit that then DCRA Director Melinda Bolling was "not concerned about strict adherence to the FOIA." She said the director even asked her to make false statements.
The employee's lawyer said before filing the lawsuit, he asked the mayor to step in and address these issues but was told, "the mayor's office would not intervene."
The Mayor's office won't comment on what they call "personnel issues," but the moves come weeks after Mayor Bowser made several changes in leadership at a number of DC agencies.
A spokesperson told us as the mayor begins her second term, she will be streamlining all city departments to make them more efficient.
