D.C. Mayor Told To Fire Top Manager

The federal panel overseeing the capital city’s finances told Mayor Marion Barry to fire the head of his biggest department Friday, saying services to the poor “are in jeopardy of collapse.”

The panel, put in place by Congress with powers to deal with the district’s financial problems, voted unanimously to ask Barry to dismiss Vernon Hawkins as head of the Department of Human Services.

Barry said he could not move Hawkins out of his present job for at least 60 days.