Caught Up in Controversy

Lurita Alexis Doan (2006-present)
Prior to GSA, she served as president, CEO and founder of New Technology Management Inc., a small business that provides installation and integration of border surveillance technology to the federal government.

• Investigated for attempting to award a $20,000 no-bid contract to a friend.
• Investigated for intervening on the behalf of Sun Microsystems, a California computer vendor, in the midst of a lengthy contract renewal dispute, even against the advice of her own contracting officials.
• Reportedly compared GSA Inspector General Brian Miller and his staff to terrorists.
• The Office of Special Counsel found Doan violated the Hatch Act by inducing "her subordinates to engage in the type of political brainstorming session that is prohibited from occurring while the political appointees are on duty or in a federal workplace."

Stephen A. Perry (2001-2005)
Prior to GSA, Perry worked for 37 years as an executive with the Timken Co., a Canton, Ohio, manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels.

• A GSA IT schedule contract was used to procure private sector interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
• The GSA inspector general found widespread violations of federal laws and regulations at the Federal Technology Service, a now- defunct subsidiary that bought technology goods and services.
• His chief of staff, David Safavian, was convicted of obstruction, making false statements and lying about his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and is currently free awaiting appeal.

David Barram (1996-2000)
Prior to GSA, Barram held senior management positions at Apple Computer, Silicon Graphics and Hewlett-Packard before moving to the Commerce Department, where he served as deputy secretary and chief operating officer.

• Created a stir when he announced GSA would close all Federal Supply Service distribution centers and supply points, resulting in the potential loss of about 2,000 jobs, including hundreds of blind and disabled workers. After years of legal drama, the agency closed six warehouses and eliminated about 300 jobs.

Roger Johnson (1993-1996)
Prior to GSA, Johnson was chairman and CEO of Western Digital Corp., a Fortune 500 technology firm in Irvine, Calif.

• Investigated by the Justice Department and the GSA inspector general for allegedly using agency employees to carry out personal tasks and for reportedly billing limousine rides and other borderline expenses to taxpayers. He was cleared of all charges in 1997.
• Disliked by employees so much that they circulated an underground newsletter that spread agency gossip and was highly critical of his management skills.

Richard Austin (1990-1993)
Prior to GSA, Austin was a former Sangamon County, Va., board chairman and an employee of Central Management Services.

• Accused of carrying out a "midnight transfer" of federal property (known as Barracks K) to the Navy, allegedly to prevent a group of homeless advocates from using it as a shelter.
• Refused for many months to halt excavation of the site of a federal building in Manhattan, despite the discovery of human remains that were believed to be part of the oldest and largest pre-Revolutionary African-American graveyard in North America, holding as many as 20,000 dead. Austin halted the construction only after then-Rep. Gus Savage, D-Ill., chairman of the public buildings subcommittee, threatened to withhold approval of GSA projects.