Mayor Anthony Williams will withdraw all recent nominations for seats on D.C. boards and commissions, he said Wednesday, including a high-profile post for his communications director.
Williams, who leaves office Jan. 2, has delivered 28 nominations to the D.C. Council since the Sept. 12 primary, when Adrian Fenty was elected the Democratic mayoral nominee and, therefore, presumptive chief executive.
“In conjunction with [Fenty], we’re going to withdraw ours, then he will be resubmitting nominations,” Williams said during his weekly news briefing. “Now whether we’re able to work with him on whatever number, that remains to be seen. But certainly, that’s what we’re going to do in general.”
Williams agreed after the primary to end most major appointments out of respect for, and at the request of, the likely mayor-to-be, Williams spokesman Vince Morris said earlier this month.
So it came as a surprise last week when Williams offered four nominations — including Morris — to the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission, the body responsible for construction of the new baseball stadium and management of RFK Stadium. The resolutions generated immediate criticism from the Fenty camp.
Williams said all nominations would be withdrawn going back to a yet undetermined cut-off date. But backing off appointments should not suggest the current administration is finished, he said.
Nominations since Sept. 12
» Four members: Sports & Entertainment Commission, Taxicab Commission, Historic Preservation Review Board, Board of Nursing
» Three members: Rental Housing Commission
» One member: Housing Production Trust Fund Board, Water and Sewer Authority Board, and boards of social work, nursing, psychology, pharmacy, massage therapy and architecture and interior design
