The position of Chief Management
Officer was created by the DC Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority
(the Control Board) following the passage of the "National Capital Revitalization and
Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997" by Congress in August 1997. The position was
not provided for by the Home Rule Charter, District law, the Revitalization Bill
itself, or by any other federal law. Many believe that the position of Chief Management
Officer may eventually become a legally created and permanent city manager position.
The purpose of the position was to assist the Control Board in carrying
out the "Management Reform Plan" specified in Subtitle B of the Revitalization
bill. According to the recruitment profile for the position: "The CMO will work on
behalf of the Authority to bring about management reform to the following Departments:
Administrative Services, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Corrections, Employment
Services, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Housing and Community Development, Human
Services, Public Works, and Public Health. The same effort is to be undertaken for the
following four cross-cutting areas of the government of the District of Columbia: Asset
Management, Information Resources Management, Personnel, and Procurement."
Ms. Barnett came to the position of Chief Management Officer after serving
as the City Manager of Austin, Texas, from 1989 to 1994. There, she oversaw a workforce
one third the size of the District’s and a budget one fifth the District’s. She resigned
on January 7, 1999, and the position of Chief Management Officer was abolished.
- Resignation of Camille Cates Barnett, January 7, 1999
- “Improving Service Delivery: A Status Report of the District of Columbia Chief
Management Officer,” May 29, 1998 - News release of appointment and résumé, December 22, 1998