Option one was to place the city in federal receivership, not unlike the commissioner structure prior to home rule, a move favored by some of the newly elected congressional Republicans and almost no one in the District.
[2] Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the District’s non-voting representative to Congress, supported the control board.
Working with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Tom Davis, the new chair of the D.C. subcommittee, Norton convinced Congress to pass legislation in 1995 (the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995) creating the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority – or as it was commonly known: the “Control Board.”[2] The Control Board had broad powers traditionally reserved for the city government and responsibility for balancing the District's budget.
The Board was expected to approve the Mayor’s appointments to key government positions, including the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and had the authority to remove such appointees for cause.
[2] The problems that caused the District's financial crisis had much more to do with its unique status and were beyond the control board's ability to repair.
For example, the District government was forced to educate the city’s youth without nearly $300 million in operational funding it would have received were it part of a state.
Furthermore, when the District attained home rule, it inherited $2 billion in unfunded pension liability, which had been accumulated entirely by the Federal Government.
The Revitalization Act removed several costly state functions such as the criminal justice and tax collection systems; provided debt relief; and relieved the District of its massive, federally created pension liability and disproportionate share of Medicaid payments.
[2] By 2001, the city had balanced five consecutive budgets (each with a surplus), restored its access to capital markets and improved bond rating, and repaid all advances made by the U.S. Treasury during the early Control Period years.
Later staff members included Karen W. Chambers who served as Director of Contracts as well as Andrew Reece, Donough McDonough, and William Stroud.