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Metro’s inspector general resigned Tuesday after being told the transit agency’s board planned to replace him, according to a letter he sent to Metro board members and elected leaders.
The move comes one day after Inspector General Rene Febles’s office released an audit critical of the board for not giving him and his staff more autonomy, as required by a law Congress passed last year. Febles is the second Metro inspector general to not have his contract renewed in the past two years.
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Metro has a contentious history with oversight, which has repeatedly created friction with its Office of Inspector General, members of Congress and regional leaders who have called for tighter accountability amid recurring safety problems and slow progress in resolving them. The latest conflict between Metro and the OIG comes as transit officials are trying to close a looming $750 million funding shortfall that will require a major funding increase from regional jurisdictions, significant service cuts or a combination of both.
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Febles’s move comes after his predecessor, Geoffrey Cherrington, was told in March 2022 that Metro’s board would not renew his contract. Cherrington’s exit followed concerns he raised with Metro and members of Congress that his office needed more autonomy to properly serve as a government watchdog.
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As Metro’s financial woes have worsened during the pandemic, elected officials have vowed to help the transit agency but say they don’t plan to give Metro a “blank check,” calling for greater accountability and transparency over Metro’s costs and operations. The OIG report released Monday, which indicated Metro hasn’t followed Congress’s orders, followed by the sudden removal of Febles, was viewed by some leaders as Metro’s latest pushback against oversight.
“The law mandates that Metro maintain an independent inspector general with broad power to ensure public safety and accountability. Metro must comply with the law,” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) said in a statement. “This disappointment is compounded by the Board’s decision to force out the current Inspector General, an essential voice for accountability, the second such incidence in the past two years.”
Metro board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg did not respond to questions about Febles’s dismissal, other than to say in an email: “we do not comment on personnel matters.”
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Febles also did not comment. But in a letter he sent to Metro board members Tuesday obtained by The Washington Post, he said his resignation followed efforts to remove him from his position.
“I was asked by [the] chairman to come see him today for a chat,” Febles wrote in an email that included a resignation letter. “Instead he attempted to fire me. I resigned before he could do so. I am resigning under duress and threat. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”
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An Office of Inspector General is common in government agencies, serving as an internal watchdog to protect taxpayers by rooting out waste, inefficiencies, corruption and other problems hampering public services while also aiming to boost transparency, accountability and public trust.
In the federal government, OIGs have wide latitude and independence to investigate without interference from the agency it is probing. At Metro, the inspector general does not have the same autonomy, but reports to the agency’s board, which has created friction for decades.
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Lax Metrorail safety oversight led the Federal Transit Administration to take over supervision of the rail system in 2015 after smoke from a track fire engulfed a stalled Metro train outside the L’Enfant Plaza station, sickening dozens and killing one passenger. The federal agency then relinquished oversight to the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an oversight agency Congress created in 2017 to monitor Metro more closely.
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The relationship has been rocky since the commission’s inception, usually over Metro’s objection to commission mandates or rulings.
Connolly, who helped to create the safety commission and has ordered Metro to provide Congress with annual briefings, inserted several stipulations in a federal funding reauthorization bill last year that called for improvements and required Metro to grant its OIG more independence.
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Febles’s office released an audit Monday that reviewed Metro’s compliance. It showed the agency had made improvements in capital planning policies, asset management processes, outcome performance measures and integration of new wireless services and emergency networks.
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When it came to OIG reforms, the audit found Metro’s board had adopted several resolutions to give the office more power to hire contractors and staff members, but those resolutions have not translated into more independence, the audit said.
“As of this writing, [Metro] management and staff have not made all the necessary policy or procedural changes for OIG to exercise procurement and HR independence in accordance with the [law], despite OIG’s efforts to that end,” the audit said.
According to a best practices guide from the Association of Inspectors General, a trade group that represents the profession, “interference or undue influence in the selection, appointment, and employment of OIG staff” is a top factor that could compromise independence.
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Febles’s resignation letter indicated his concerns with Metro’s board go beyond hiring and contracting. He claimed Smedberg has questioned why his office is reporting on “independence issues” in public reports while, Febles said, the board pressured him to sign a memo of understanding that keeps his complaints private.
Febles also said Smedberg asked him to “take action” against the OIG’s chief counsel, who Febles said Smedberg blamed for crafting funding requirements that Congress adopted in the funding reauthorization law.
“All of this equates to an environment of retaliation and destructive discharge tactics,” Febles said. “OIG’s independence is threatened, and the Board is facilitating the noncompliance and disregard for the law.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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