In an era of near-daily ethical outrages by federal officials, how should we think about local scandals?
“Scandal” is a strong word, but the late October report that Ayanna Harrison, the Executive Director of Support Operations for the Alexandria City Public Schools, also held a full-time job as the chief operating officer for the Kindezi Schools in Atlanta was a profound disappointment.
It was also disappointing that the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority fired its CEO, Erik C. Johnson, in September after disclosures that he and his family were living in an ARHA property in Old Town.
The central question, “What were these people thinking?” is probably unanswerable. Even so, Harrison and Johnson’s situations share some important themes about what really happens when the public trust is violated, even if the behavior is not a provable crime.
In Harrison’s situation, we do not know what could have been done better, or more efficiently, at ACPS if she had devoted her full time and attention to her significant responsibilities. It may be odd that a theft of services can involve one’s own services to an employer, but that is the reality here.
Johnson’s situation was different. By occupying an ARHA unit, he impaired ARHA’s central mission of making affordable housing available to residents who qualify and manage to get to the top of ARHA’s lengthy waiting list.
Years ago, former Mayor Allison Silberberg sought to make ethics in government a central element in Alexandria’s political culture. That effort was an uphill climb because the city seemed relatively scandal-free.
The temptation to normalize the incidents involving Ms. Harrison and Mr. Johnson, or to see them as a small city’s small problems, should be resisted. There are meaningful personal and institutional consequences that flow from each.
According to a Nov. 19 report in the Alexandria Times, ACPS has sued Harrison for $800,000 in Alexandria Circuit Court. She is not currently shown on the Kindezi Schools website. If she seeks other employment her search will be complicated if she encounters human resources personnel at prospective employers who have heard of Google.
Harrison’s situation provides an easy opportunity for criticism about central office administrative personnel and the School Board. Alexandrians’ taxes support ACPS, but residents often have little or no connection to ACPS and are nonetheless free to opine on how the schools are managed. ACPS needs the support of the entire community; Harrison’s actions were damaging.
The Board’s statement that Harrison’s situation, “…has shown that improvements to our processes regarding employee oversight and accountability should be made” recognizes reality, as does ACPS’ hiring of an external auditor. In contrast, the largest ACPS employee group, teachers, has a built-in accountability system: their class schedules.
As to Johnson, the reputational and other consequences he will sustain from occupying an ARHA unit may depend on the outcome of the lawsuit he filed on Nov. 13 against ARHA and its Board of Commissioners in Alexandria Circuit Court. The suit alleges two counts of breach of contract—each seeking damages of $750,000—and one count of defamation seeking damages of $3 million.
Johnson’s complaint, at paragraph 20, alleges, “Practically everyone at ARHA knew that Mr. Johnson was going to be moving into 409 Cook Street. It was not a secret.” The “practically everyone,” according to the Complaint, included members of the then-ARHA Board. City Council totally replaced the Board since this incident came to light.
Paragraph 73 of the complaint sums up Johnson’s case:
Had the Board told the truth—that it was aware that Mr. Johnson moved into 409 Cook Street and that ARHA’s belief when he moved in was that 409 Cook Street was no longer subject to the affordable housing compliance requirements under the LIHTC [Low Income Housing Tax Credit] program and that ARHA’s properties in Chatham Square were all going to be converted in to market rate units, and that the ARHA personnel responsible for ensuring [Department of Housing and Urban Development] compliance rescinded the approval previously reported, the ensuing scandal that erupted and the negative narrative that ended up being perpetuated would have never happened.
As an eminent trial lawyer I worked for early in my legal career would say, “Well, Mark, those are matters for the evidence,” meaning that the claims of the parties will be resolved in court.
Even if a lapse in judgment by a public official may have been widely known the lapse is no less damaging to the agency and the public that the official was duty-bound to serve.
The writer is a former lawyer, member of the Alexandria School Board from 1997 to 2006, and English teacher from 2007 to 2021 at T.C. Williams High School, now Alexandria City High School. He can be reached at aboutalexandria@gmail.com and free subscriptions to his newsletter are available at https:/aboutalexandria.substack.com.
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"What was she/he thinking" is a favorite expression of my wife. My usual response is something along the lines of "no thinking involved."