Government of the District of Columbia
DC Department of Public Works

Testimony of
William O. Howland Jr.
Director

“Public Oversight Roundtable of DC Agencies’ Compliance on Expendable Budget Spending with Certified Small Business Enterprises”

Committee on Small and Local Business Development
Vincent Orange, Chair

John A. Wilson Building
Room 500
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
December 8, 2011

Testimony of William O. Howland Jr.
Director, DC Department of Public Works

“Public Oversight Roundtable of DC Agencies’ Compliance on Expendable Budget Spending with Certified Small Business Enterprises”
Committee on Small and Local Business Development
December 8, 2011/9 am/Room 500

Good morning, Chairman Orange, members of the Committee on Small and Local Business Development and members of the Council.

I am William O. Howland Jr., Director of the Department of Public Works. I will present testimony regarding the Department’s compliance with the requirements for expendable budget spending with certified small business enterprises in both FY 2011 and FY 2012.

I would like to note that the audited numbers for FY 2011 are unavailable until the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for FY 2011 is released next year; therefore, my testimony will address the best available information for FY 2011 spending.

In the interest of time, I formatted my testimony as answers to the questions provided in your November 21, 2011 letter.

Question 1: What was your expendable budget in FY11?

The DPW expendable budget in FY 2011 was $19,962,241.59. Our original allocation letter submitted to DSBLD did not reflect additional exclusions that should have been requested.

Question 2: Are you aware that 50 percent must be spent with SBEs? Did your agency spend at least 50 percent of its FY 2011 expendable budget with SBEs? If not, why not?

Yes, I am aware of this requirement. DPW spent $4,827,176, which is about 50 percent of our SBE target spending of $ 9,981,120.79. An analysis of our spending shows more than $8 million of our expendable budget was spent on parts and equipment repair services that generally are procured through authorized service providers. These authorized service providers currently are not certified as small business enterprises.

Question 3: What is your expendable budget for FY12?

A baseline has been developed based on the approved budget. Exclusions are due to DSLBD on December 16th. At that point we will have a final target number for our CBE spending goal.

Question 4: Do you plan to meet the 50 percent requirement for FY 2012? If not, why? If yes, how?

DPW plans to meet our 50 percent requirement for FY 2012 by placing more contracting opportunities in the sheltered market.

Question 5: Who is your Compliance Officer?

Our Compliance Officer is Gena Johnson, Deputy Administrator, DPW Office of Administrative Services.

Thank you for this opportunity to present testimony. I am available to respond to any additional questions.