Wait one minute. Why are so many people decrying the slow pace of Mayor-elect Vincent Gray’s transition? Weren’t they the ones who claimed they wanted an executive with a more deliberative, inclusive, transparent style?
Mayor Adrian Fenty hasn’t even left city hall and already people are missing his lightning-swift governing approach. Everyone seems to be remembering that around this time in 2006, he already had selected key personnel including his city administrator, chief of staff, chief of police, and deputy mayor for economic development. He also had begun an aggressive push of his first major legislative agenda: education reform.
But, in fairness, Fenty had a lot of time to think about what he wanted to do. He had started his campaign, albeit unofficially, two years earlier. On the other hand, Gray was indecisive for several months. He announced his candidacy only six months before the September primary. And, he probably didn’t believe he would really defeat Fenty’s muscular green machine. Weeks after the general election, Gray still may be pinching himself.
More seriously, the reason for Gray’s glacial transition could be that in conducting a full and fair assessment — outside the hot, angry rhetoric of a political campaign — of key personnel in the Fenty administration, he has come to realize the young pol constructed a fairly decent management team. That fact is underscored by responses from District residents in earlier citywide polls, which indicated they liked the direction Fenty was taking the city — even if they didn’t fancy his style.
So, why switch out Department of Motor Vehicles Director Lucinda Babers, who has made marked improvements, nearly silencing decades of complaints about long lines and poor service?
City Administrator Neil Albert, Health Department Director Dr. Pierre Vigilance, procurement chief David Gragan, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Director Linda Argo, public works’ Bill Howland and Planning Director Harriet Tregoning have done great jobs. Why kick them to the curb?
District residents have made clear they like the job Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier is doing. While Gabe Klein may seem obsessed with bike lanes, his Department of Transportation has made the city more livable for everyone — not just people in cars who can’t wait to race back to Maryland or Virginia at the end of the workday. And, if you like the results of education reform, there is reason to retain Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso.
Sure, there are a few Fenty managers who should be shown the door immediately. For example, Valerie Santos, deputy mayor for economic development and planning, is high on my list. Department of Employment Services Director Joseph P. Walsh Jr. may be a good guy, but the agency hasn’t improved much.
Still, the notion that a new mayor is somehow required to eject effective managers because political retreads and ambitious wannabes are salivating in queue for government jobs and contracts is so 20th century. Gray should resist following that worn tradition.
Jonetta Rose Barras’s column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
