The man who led the District’s massive school modernization project under Mayor Adrian Fenty will run the city’s day-to-day business after Mayor-elect Vince Gray is sworn into office. Allen Lew will take the helm as city administrator when Gray is sworn in Jan. 2. On Wednesday, Gray said Lew will hold the District’s bureaucracy accountable the same way he held accountable the developers who were revamping the District’s schools. Gray also announced that Gerri Mason Hall will be his chief of staff. Hall has executive-level experience in human resources in the private sector, and has served similar human resource roles in both the District and the federal government.
The position of city administrator “requires someone who is a visionary and a doer,” Gray said. “It has to be someone with a constructive level of impatience, and I see all these abilities in Allen Lew.”
Lew was known as a tough project manager who streamlined construction efforts and cut down on excess costs.
“I like lean operations, efficient operations,” Lew said. “I like thin bureaucracies.”
He said he’ll be looking to establish performance standards and then hold city staff to those standards.
Standards combined with lean bureaucracies might be a signal for more deep cuts to come in city spending. The D.C. Council just got done slicing the budget to fix a $188 million shortfall. In the spring, officials will be back at it again as they dig deep for cash to fill an expected $440 million budget gap. Gray has repeatedly signaled he wants to ensure the city is as lean as it can be before he considers a tax increase.
Lew also gave a nod to the Fenty administration motto, saying “I am driven by results.”
It was that drive that sunk Fenty’s re-election bid. The outgoing mayor was repeatedly accused of focusing on results while ignoring community leaders.
But Gray said that’s not a concern with Lew.
“[Lew] understands how important it is to work with the community,” Gray said.
And if he slips up, Hall will be there to get Lew back on Gray’s “One City” message.
“I am clear on the mayor[-elect]’s expectations and his vision,” Hall said. “It will be my job to ensure we are advancing his vision of one city.”
