Even before Mayor Vincent Gray had decided who would permanently lead the Department of Parks and Recreation, he had begun sending political appointees to the agency. Cherita Whiting arrived to serve as a “special assistant.” Nicholas Hall went in as a “writer-editor.” “I did not request them. I did not interview them,” Jesus Aguirre said about the duo, under questioning last week by Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser, chairman of the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation.

Aguirre, a holdover from the previous administration, wasn’t named until a week ago by Gray. By then, Whiting, who strongly supported his mayoral bid, and Hall, the son of Gray’s $200,000-a-year chief of staff, were ensconced in the agency.