Incoming Mayor Vincent Gray is on the receiving end of pleas and suggestions for job seekers in his new administration. People who worked on his campaign will line up for plum jobs. He needs a new fire chief, a permanent school chief, perhaps a fresh police chief and on and on. The city is packed with wannabes polishing their records and massaging supporters.
To replace Attorney General Peter Nickles, Gray might want to reach out and request a candidate apply for the job. I suggest he start knocking on Channing Phillips’ door.
The attorney general job is crucial in a city that also functions as a state. The AG runs an office of more than 600 lawyers and staff. He or she decides who to sue, which cases to settle, how best to defend the city from legal assaults, whether a public official or bureaucrat violated the law and should be charged with a crime.
Together with the police chief and U.S. Attorney — who prosecutes the most violent and serious crimes — the AG is responsible for keeping our streets safe.
Peter Nickles, our current AG, has been a lightening rod and target for criticism, to say the least. He’s a veteran litigator and longtime counselor for Mayor Adrian Fenty. He was seen as Fenty’s confidant; he was criticized by every D.C. Council member for acting as if he were Fenty’s legal sharp shooter, rather than the top attorney who represented the city’s best interests.
Animus toward Nickles has fueled the referendum to make the AG an elected office. Even if voters approve such a change, and it survives legal challenges, an election would not take place for two years. So Vince Gray needs an AG. We need Channing Phillips.
Phillips and I have not spoken since I passed him on the street a few weeks ago. The idea came to me from a source. It took a nanosecond to realize he would be ideal.
Phillips is a native Washingtonian. His father was a civil rights leader. He graduated from University of Virginia and got his law degree from Howard. Since then he has devoted himself to public service in his home town. He clerked for a local judge and joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 1994. He prosecuted criminals, moved up to second in command and served as acting attorney general early this year. When Ron Machen got the U.S. Attorney job, Phillips went to Main Justice to fill a new post as head of diversity.
We need Channing Phillips back, period. He knows and loves his home turf. Local lawyers respect him. The D.C. bar association named him lawyer of the year in 2009. He knows how to manage. He and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are close. The cops respect him, he respects them; he would honor the city council and his role as lawyer for the entire government.
I don’t even know if Channing Phillips would take the job if Gray offered it. The new mayor would be smart to ask. We would be lucky if Phillips accepted.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
