Mayor Adrian Fenty’s choice to lead the D.C. Department of Human Services, the District’s welfare agency, is a rare Republican appointment who believes society must do “everything in our power to build the capacity of every individual in this city to succeed.”
Clarence Carter, Fenty’s DHS director nominee, joins the administration after working six years under President George W. Bush, most recently as deputy administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $41 billion foodstamp program. He has also served in various social service-related capacities under former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, former U.S. Sen. George Allen and former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean — all Republicans.
“He is clearly extremely well qualified for the position,” Fenty said Wednesday during a news conference at the Ward 7 Senior Wellness Center.
Carter, a black Republican, said he and Fenty discussed his political party affiliation and social policy philosophies “extensively” during the interview process. The District is, after all, a heavily Democratic city where homelessness and poverty remain serious challenges for DHS to tackle.
“Clearly I had the credentials to do the job, but would it work in this environment?” Carter asked.
In the end, Carter said, he and Fenty recognized that they shared the same ideals, “that no one in this city is a throwaway person.”
“Every individual in this society deserves the enabling conditions to make their lives work, and we have an obligation to make that happen,” Carter said. “That’s the social policy that I believe in.”
Carter replaces Kate Jesberg as DHS director.
Including human services, the mayor Wednesday appointed six people to lead executive agencies, nearly filling out his Cabinet.
» Three interim directors were promoted: Linda Argo in the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Sharlynn Bobo in the Child and Family Services Agency, and Kelly Valentine in the Office of Risk Management.
» Clarence Brown, director of Howard University’s gerontology center, will lead the Office on Aging.
» Toni Fernandez Whitney, policy director with the D.C. Council’s health committee, was named director of the Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration.
