Allen Y. Lew, the man Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray has selected to serve as the District’s next city administrator, is my kind of government manager. He’s not enamored of bureaucracies. He has no patience with incompetence. And he’s driven by results — not ego or the media spotlight. Fans of outgoing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, who worried about the future of the government, can relax a little with Lew in charge of daily operations. His expertise and accomplishments are legendary: He oversaw the completion of the Walter Washington Convention Center; honchoed construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, and since 2007 has remodeled dozens of athletic fields and public schools.
When the renovation of the Rose L. Hardy Middle School stalled, Lew, as director of the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM), stepped in, kicked out the contractor, hired a new team and got the work done. He completed the aquatic center in Ward 3 near Wilson High School, which some residents had begun to think was simply a figment of their imaginations. Through his efforts the annual ritual of closing schools because of inoperative heating or air conditioning equipment came to an end.
