Allen Y. Lew, the man Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray has selected to serve as the District’s next city administrator, is my kind of government manager. He’s not enamored of bureaucracies. He has no patience with incompetence. And he’s driven by results — not ego or the media spotlight. Fans of outgoing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who worried about the future of the government, can relax a little with Lew in charge of daily operations. His expertise and accomplishments are legendary: He oversaw the completion of the Walter Washington Convention Center; honchoed construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, and since 2007 has remodeled dozens of athletic fields and public schools.
When the renovation of the Rose L. Hardy Middle School stalled, Lew, as director of the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM), stepped in, kicked out the contractor, hired a new team and got the work done. He completed the aquatic center in Ward 3 near Wilson High School, which some residents had begun to think was simply a figment of their imaginations. Through his efforts the annual ritual of closing schools because of inoperative heating or air conditioning equipment came to an end.
When elected officials have faced seemingly impossible feats and they often called Lew. He’s their miracle man
Gray was smart to tap Lew, persuading him to abandon the trailer from which he’s been operating to come inside the John A. Wilson Building. During the announcement of his appointment, I asked Lew whether he thought he could make the transition from outlier to city hall insider. He said he couldn’t yet answer that question, confessing that he likes thin bureaucracies and lean, efficient operations.
“I hope to parlay some of that style into the way we deliver services to the city,” he said.
Hallelujah! May dozens of Lew clones fill government agencies all across the District.
It would’ve been fine if Gray had selected the current City Administrator Neil Albert or even Robert Bobb, who served under Mayor Anthony A. Williams. I like and respect both; but they are more traditional managers.
Lew is unorthodox. He’s the right man for this moment in the city’s history.
With the District facing a looming budget shortfall of more than $400 million in fiscal 2012, the government needs a lead manager who knows how to squeeze efficiencies from lean budgets and government contracts; who is expert at guiding managers to meet expected quantitative and qualitative performance goals; and who won’t accept excuses for why a job can’t be done.
“Charm is my most favorite tool,” Lew joked.
No doubt there will be a bump or two as Lew adjusts to a role that will thrust him into the spotlight he has eschewed. There also may be some concerns in selected quarters of the city about his style, which sometimes can be abrupt. But, if Gray provides the necessary support and protection, Lew won’t disappoint. He hasn’t thus far.
Jonetta Rose Barras’s column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
