Housing Complex  Gray and Brown Play Good Cop, Bad Cop on Jobs
More money for everybody! (Lydia DePillis)  Today, Mayor Vince
Gray announced a new pilot project that would create a carrot
for employing District residents on six public school
modernization projects: A five percent premium for general
contractors that meet District resident hiring requirements
negotiated in their contracts, and a bonus paid to
subcontractors equal to 10 percent of the payroll of District
residents on the job. City Administrator Allen Lew estimates
that if this program boosts the percentage of District residents
working from 22 percent to 35 percent, the projects will cost
one percent more overall.  But, you say, don't we already have a
First Source law that requires projects built with city funding
to employ 51 percent District residents? Well, not quite–it only
stipulates that contractors have to make 51 percent of their new
hires from the District. Many of them bring a crew from project
to project, or even do their hiring ri