His mayoral victory all but assured, the BlackBerry-toting, 35-year-old, can-do triathlete Adrian Fenty is looking to the future.
“This is a government that hasn’t gotten everything wrong,” Fenty said. “There has been progress. There are those who hold people accountable, work longer days. There were a lot of mandates in what occurred yesterday, but chief among them is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but just be better than what we were before.”
Fenty soundly defeated Council Chairman Linda Cropp in Tuesday’s primary, picking up 57 percent to Cropp’s 42 percent and carrying a remarkable 23,300-vote margin of victory over a 26-year public servant.
Assuming he wins the general election over Republican David Kranich and Statehood Green Chris Otten, Fenty quickly will turn his sights to the sixth floor of City Hall.
Leadership changes are certain to come, but don’t expect wholesale turnover. In a government with some “broken pieces,” Fenty said, his administration will “put in the time and energy to make sure people do the job they’re hired to do.”
Even before the general election, he will start with what he called a “pre-transition,” whichwill include some personnel review.
“My campaign has really spent a lot of time studying best practices,” Fenty said. “What we’ve already decided is to really beef that up, to spend a lot of time looking at best practices across the country. … As a natural course, you start looking at who is the best person to do that.”
But Fenty, who would be the youngest mayor in District history, has assured voters that his top priority will be improving the school system, “making sure the money actually gets to the kids.”
“This is what I love to do: figuring out who’s responsible for what, who’s getting it done,” he said. “This is what I live for.”
Fenty was criticized during the campaign as an energetic but inexperienced legislator with little interest in the day-to-day workings of government.
The reviews came from, among others, Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans and Carol Schwartz, the council’s lone Republican, who recently asked, “Are we electing a mayor or are we selecting a track and field star?”
“Both of them have called and pledged their full commitment not only to the general election but also to our administration,” Fenty said.
But come January, Fenty will have to develop an entirely different relationship with his former council colleagues.
A November victory will make him responsible for a $9 billion budget and some 33,000 employees.
He will be expected to come through on promises to reform the school system, to rededicate police officers to the beat, to spread prosperity to all neighborhoods and to produce a bank of affordable housing units.
