Mayor Adrian Fenty stalled for two months before formally signing paperwork that appoints Dennis Rubin the District of Columbia’s fire chief.
Fenty signed Rubin’s confirmation papers Tuesday after receiving a note from D.C. Council Member Phil Mendelson asking him to explain what was happening.
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“Swift passage of the nomination served to demonstrate our confidence in the appointment,” Mendelson wrote in a letter obtained by The Examiner. “The unnecessary delay in issuing the mayor’s order of appointment has the opposite effect.”
Fenty lobbied the council to approve Rubin’s nomination quickly because the fire department has been in shambles. One of Fenty’s first official acts as mayor was to sign a settlement with the family of journalist David Rosenbaum in which he promised to overhaul the fire department within a year. Rosenbaum was mugged in January, but rescue officials wasted critical minutes helping him because they thought he was drunk. He died one day later. Carrie Brooks, Fenty’s spokeswoman, said her boss took “official action” when he swore Rubin in June 8, but acknowledged that the paperwork should have been signed.
“We certainly thank the council member for pointing out the technical error,” she said.
As chair of the Judiciary Committee, Mendelson’s office has become a focal point of the opposition to Fenty’s administration. Mendelson has balked at Fenty’s proposal that would give Police Chief Cathy Lanier one of the most generous pension packages in D.C. history. The mayor wants Lanier to be paid nearly three-quarters of her average salary after retirement and wants the District Council to approve the package immediately, without a hearing. He has accused Mendelson of undermining Lanier for balking at the proposal.
Mendelson said that the Rubin paperwork gaffe — and his continuing delay in sending over a pension package for rank-and-file police officers — are examples of mayoral hypocrisy in light of Fenty’s demand for quick action on Lanier’s pension.
