With just a few days remaining before he takes office, Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty named another round of key appointments Thursday, the majority of whom are holdovers from the outgoing administration of Mayor Anthony Williams.
Of the 15 appointees, 11 served in some capacity under Williams. Nine of Fenty’s picks will serve in an interim capacity.
Fenty said some of the interim picks could end up in their postspermanently, while others will work in the positions for up to 180 days until a permanent appointee is chosen.
“I think it’s safe to say, in some agencies, we’re going to take a closer look,” Fenty said.
Fenty’s announcement included appointments for two high-profile leadership jobs.
He named Harriet Tregoning, director of the national nonprofit Governors Institute on Community Design, to lead the Office of Planning, and Patrick Canavan, current director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, to serve as chief operating officer at the often-troubled St. Elizabeths Hospital, where he has worked as a clinical administrator.
One of the interim picks, Oscar Rodriquez, whom Fenty named Interim Chief Procurement Officer for the Office of Contracting and Procurement, does not have the background required to hold the job full time, Fenty said.
Rodriquez, who has a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently leads the District’s Center for Innovation and Reform.
“We take office Jan. 2 and we have a responsibility to run the agencies,” Fenty said at a news conference at the Frank D. Reeves Center at 14th and U streets in Northwest.
A final round of announcements, including Fenty’s pick for interim fire chief, is planned at the Reeves Center today.
Fenty, who ran on a platform of bringing in fresh faces to lead the city, traveled to New York City, Chicago and San Francisco in recent months to meet with mayors to discuss best practices.
He defended his holdover appointees as qualified and highly competent, adding that he learned from his visits to other cities that many of their agencies were led by homegrown people.
“I think it would be a huge mistake to go out and say, just because I’m new, everybody else has to be new,” Fenty said.
Fenty appointed thefollowing to leadership positions Thursday:
» Patrick J. Canavan, chief operating officer, St. Elizabeths Hospital
» Harriet Tregoning, director, Office of Planning
» Gustavo F. Velasquez, director, Office of Human Rights
» Corey R. Buffo, interim director, Department of the Environment
» Wanda S. Durden, interim director, Department of Parks and Recreation
» Mercedes Lemp, interim director, Office of Latino Affairs
» Lisa Marie Morgan, interim director, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
» Oscar S. Rodriguez, interim chief procurement officer, Office of Contracting and Procurement
The following were named to continue in their current positions:
» Uma Ahluwalia, interim director, Child and Family Service Agency
» Stephen T. Baron, director, Department of Mental Health
» Thomas E. Hampton, commissioner, Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking
» Soohyun “Julie” Koo, interim director, Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs
» Dr. Gregg A. Pane, director, Department of Health
» Brian L. Wilbon, interim director, Department of Human Services
» Kelly Valentine, interim director, Department of Risk Management
