More than 5,700 employees of the District of Columbia received a total of $15 million in bonuses despite a prolonged recession and major budget problems. The Washington Examiner used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to acquire the records.

Times have been good for government workers under Mayor Adrian Fenty. Not so great for taxpayers, but good for government workers expecting big bonuses.

Among the big winners were Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who was handed $41,250 in August 2007 after barely two months on the job; Department of Health Director Pierre Vigilance, who was given $15,000 in 2008; and city property manager Robin-Eve Jasper, handed $18,000 over two years.

All of this occurred while the city laid off employees and faced nine-digit budget shortfalls. The reason for laying off employees “by the busload”, as the Examiner says? The city claimed it could no longer afford their employment.

You know what it could afford, though? To hand a sweet $21,997 bonus to Eric Stanchfield of the D.C. Retirement Board; $21,796 bonus to Anthony Pompa, finance office executive; and $25,000 bonus to Karen Griffin, schools special education executive.

In fact, the school system did quite well when it came to financial rewards.

It paid to be on Rhee’s good side. School employees, including Rhee’s top staff, accounted for nearly half of the Fenty-era bonuses, records show. Then-special education “czar” Phyllis Harris was paid $17,000 in 2008; special-ed bureaucrat Karen Griffin was given $25,000 the same year; and Rhee’s chief of staff, Lisa Ruda, was given $17,000 in 2008, records show.

And how has this all worked out? Well…

Under Rhee, standardized test scores in the public schools have made marginal improvements. Fourth-graders’ test result are now only the fourth-worst in the nation; eighth-graders’ are only the second-worst.

Success!

And despite the city council voting to ban the practice on October 1, 2009, records show that $565,000 in bonuses have been dispensed since October. Most of those are tied to contracts signed before the ban went into effect, so the city can’t just back out now, though Democrats have had little problem in the past ignoring contracts in the name of populism and cronyism (see: Auto Bailout; AIG bonuses).

Attorney General Peter Nickles insists that the $15 million in bonuses were entirely worth the expense to taxpayers. He provides no evidence but claims the city is much better off than it was a few years ago. Oddly enough, some people disagree.

“Fenty, Rhee and [police Chief Cathy] Lanier have tried to tell everybody in the city we don’t have enough police officers, firefighters and teachers because they don’t have any money. But at the same time they’re lining the pockets of their favorites,” police union Chairman Kris Baumann said. “If you put this in a movie, people wouldn’t believe it. It would be too far-fetched.”

My favorite example?

Not all of the bonuses had high price tags. Ted Loza, onetime chief of staff to Councilman Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, was given more than $3,000 in bonuses in the past two years, including a $700 bonus in April. In September, he was arrested on federal bribery charges.

Nickles just emailed to say, “That money? Totally worth it.”