Peter Nickles says he has mellowed with age.
Critics say they would hate to have met him in his caustic days.
Nickles, 70, will face the public this week, asking to be confirmed as the District of Columbia’s attorney general.
More than anyone else in the administration, Nickles has shouldered the responsibility for carrying out what he thinks of as Fenty’s revolution.
The Nickles-Fenty partnership was formed before Fenty was born. Nickles befriended Fenty’s parents while vacationing in Maine and has been an unofficial member of the family ever since.
He was one of the first people Fenty turned to after winning his historic election in 2006. First, Nickles was a Fenty adviser, then the mayor’s general counsel and then — after conflicts last year with then-Attorney General Linda Singer — Nickles became the acting attorney general.
He has been in the middle of nearly every controversial Fenty decision:
– When Fenty wanted to quarantine dangerous neighborhoods with police blockades, Nickles put together the legal briefs to defend the policy.
– When Fenty wanted to keep the public’s eyes off of his administration’s e-mails, Nickles crafted the order to delete them.
– When Fenty wanted to fire employees who the mayor believed had embarrassed the city, Nickles wielded the ax.
– When Fenty needed someone to ward off federal court monitors who were probing long-failing institutions like the schools, the foster care system and group homes for the disabled, Nickles charged into court.
For Nickles, the anger over his style is proof that he’s doing the right thing.
“Every time I get slapped down by the existing culture, I’m going to snap right back,” Nickles told The Examiner in a recent interview. “We’ve got to stand for something.”
To his friends, Nickles’ confrontational style is evidence of a marrow-deep commitment to reform.
“He really does push for his convictions,” said John Blake, one of Nickles’ oldest friends and colleagues. “I’ve thought that city government needs that kind of public servant.”
But police union President Kris Baumann said Nickles’ shoot-first, ask-questions-later approach undermines the city’s reform efforts.
“They’re not going to be able to hire anybody, they’re not going to be keep qualified people,” said Baumann, who initially was pleased when Nickles joined the Fenty team. “What has been clear during his brief tenure is that he either does not understand the law or he’s not willing to abide by it. That’s a recipe for disaster when you’re talking about an attorney general.”
Councilman Phil Mendelson is a Nickles critic and chairs the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, which will handle Wednesday’s confirmation hearing. Nickels needs a simple majority to win the job.
“He’s been doing a good job of representing the mayor’s interests,” Mendelson said. “But the attorney general is not the mayor’s lawyer; he’s the city’s lawyer.”
Nickles says he’s unfazed by such criticism.
“You know the old saying, ‘You’re only friend in Washington is your dog?’ ” he once told an interviewer. “Well, I’ve got a dog.”
Just the facts
Peter Nickles
Born: Sept. 26, 1938, in Middletown, N.Y.
Education: Princeton, B.A. 1960; Harvard law school, 1963
Family: Wife, Maria, married in 1962; three grown children; eight grandkids
Career: Partner, Covington & Burling, 1964 to 2007. Class-action lawyer concentrating in securities fraud and toxic torts. Filed several pro bono suits against D.C.
Favorite book: “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Favorite movie: Brian De Palma’s “Scarface”
Favorite song: Frank Sinatra’s “My Funny Valentine”
Hobbies: Noted triathlete
For more on Peter Nickles, click here.
