Mayor Adrian Fenty wasted no time naming Neil Albert as his new city administrator, replacing Dan Tangherlini, who has been tapped for a high profile slot in the Treasury Department.
But Fenty is left with one major opening still to fill: Albert’s slot as deputy mayor for planning and economic development. Since 2007, Albert has molded, managed and moved forward the District’s $13 billion development pipeline. Fenty said Friday the decision was a couple weeks away; he declined to hint at possible replacements.
Tangherlini was nominated Friday as assistant secretary of management, chief financial officer and chief performance officer under Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, but he is expected to leave his city job in the next two weeks.
The post pays about $50,000 less than the roughly $210,000 he earns now.
As city administrator, Albert will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of a 33,000-employee, $10 billion annual operation. Flanked by most of his cabinet on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building, Fenty declared Albert well prepared to take on the added responsibilities.
“I could not stand here with more confidence,” Fenty said. “I would not trust this to anybody who would not be able to keep this momentum going.”
Some in the activist community strongly disagreed.
“This is a sad day for District of Columbia residents who are concerned about our public assets,” said Parisa Norouzi, co-director of Empower DC, a group that promotes public use of surplus public property. “Neil Albert has made it very clear that his commitment is to developers and not to community needs.”
Tangherlini’s shoes, Fenty said, “are enormous to fill.”
“I’ve got a vast array of municipal experience, and that’s what it takes to be a good city administrator,” Albert said.
The people of the United States, the mayor said, will benefit from Tangherlini’s energy, outside the box thinking, follow through, intelligence, and commitment to community. There is “no greater compliment to what we’ve been doing here,” Fenty said, than Obama’s choice for treasury.
“Dan is moving on, moving up, and going on to serve the country,” the mayor said.
Tangherlini started in the D.C. government under former Mayor Anthony Williams as chief financial officer for police department. He later became director of the Department of Transportation, before moving on briefly to Metro as interim general manager. Fenty named Tangherlini as his city administrator day after winning the election in 2006.
“More than one person has come up to me and said, ‘I’m really surprised Obama hasn’t stolen Dan away from you,’” Fenty said.
In his new post, Tangherlini will be Geithner’s principal policy advisor while overseeing human resources, information technology, financial management and accounting and budgeting, among other treasury operations.
Ward 2 D.C. Councilman Jack Evans said Tangherlini is taking advantage of a “terrific opportunity.”
“It is a dream job,” Evans said. “He is very talented.”
As for Albert, Evans said, “Neil would be my choice to be city administrator.”
Hayley Peterson contributed to this report.
