Results tagged “mayoradrianfenty>”

With relations between Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council as strained as they are, you'd think the city's chief executive might do what he could to make things just a little bit better. But if a hearing today before the council on the ongoing Department of Parks and Recreation contracting scandal serves as any indication, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Law-breaking, wasting public funds and an elected official who's increasingly unpopular -- the story had everything you would want in an exposé. So when WTOP's Mark Segraves reported Monday that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty used a police escort and clogged up area roads on his daily bike ride, everyone jumped on it. Including us.

Like, literally. Our sister site Londonist brings news of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who on Tuesday night jumped off of his bike to save a woman from an aggressive gang of teen girls. The victim of the attack, who actually voted for opponent Ken Livingstone in last year's mayoral election, called Johnson "my knight on a shining bicycle" in comments to The Guardian.

We reported yesterday on rumors that the Giro d'Italia, one of professional cycling's biggest events, may come to the District for an opening stage in 2011.

As a competitive cyclist who mourned the postponement of this year's only professional race in the District, I was ecstatic, though slightly skeptical, to stumble acros the news this morning that organizers of the Giro d'Italia, one of the three grand tours of international cycling, were thinking of bringing the opening stages of the race to D.C..

Let's just say that the Fenty administration and the D.C. Council aren't planning any friendly get togethers any time soon.

My local political prayers are being answered. It was just last week that I got giddy thinking of the potential mayoral match-up of Council member Kwame Brown (D-At Large), Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) and Mayor Adrian Fenty. Well, it may just have gotten even more Brown-y. D.C. Wire is reporting that former Fenty campaign staffer Sulaimon Brown has officially announced he'll be challenging the mayor in 2010. If everything comes together as we all hope it does, we're looking not at one Brown, not two -- but three of them taking on Fenty. What are the chances of that? And which of the candidates is already regretting printing thousands of generic "Brown for Mayor!" campaign signs now?

The pools are open! The pools are open! Thus declared D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty today (well, we're paraphrasing slightly). The outdoor municipal swimming pool season got its official start at a ceremony at the Anacostia Pool this morning, though minus any sort of mayoral or celebrity cannonball. Instead, members of the Bell Multicultural and Dunbar Senior High swim teams did the honors by being the first to dive in. It's nice to get the kids involved, but is too much to ask for something a little sillier, Mr. Mayor?

On the heels of Nikita Stewart's scoop last night that people have been getting vetting calls from the FBI about D.C. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty called a 3 p.m. press conference today to announce a “Cabinet-level” personnel announcement. And the word has just come down: Tangherlini is off to Treasury, where he'll serve as assistant secretary for management, chief financial officer, and chief performance officer. That's sure a lot of titles, DanTan!

The mayor's office and DDOT may have come to an understanding that the city will continue to foot the bill for extended Metro service after late night Nationals games, but at least some D.C. Council members aren't pleased. Here's a statement just sent out by At-large Council member Kwame Brown (D):

"The District paid an enormous price to build the Nationals Stadium,” said Councilmember Brown. “It’s absurd for District residents to cover the cost of extended Metro service when the Nationals are enjoying a stadium paid for by the people. At some point you have to ask when enough is enough. It’s time for the Nationals to step up to the plate."

No, we didn't camp outside his Ward 4 home or track him down at local airports to uncover his secretive travel habits, but we do try and keep our eyes open for Mayor Adrian Fenty. Ever the athlete, yesterday Fenty took part in a triathlon at Georgetown University and followed it up with the Carl Dolan Memorial Spring Classic 25-mile bike race in Columbia, Md. And how would we know? Like last year, I raced alongside Fenty, who is a member of local race club DC Velo. I pondered an impromptu on-bike interview, but instead settled for resting in his mayoral slipstream. Fenty drove to the race in his Smart Car, though his bike rode with an imposing security detail in a jet-black Suburban.

The Nationals finally won a game last night (8-2 over the world champion Phillies!), but it looks like members of the D.C. Council weren't there to enjoy it. No, instead, the epically ridiculous, second-year-in-a-row Mayor/Council dispute over friggin' baseball tickets is still going on. This morning, Council chair Vince Gray showed up on FOX 5 to give the mayor a big fat spanking over the whole thing. The local news station does a nice job juxtaposing clips of Fenty from his appearance yesterday, looking sweaty, irritated and irrational, with cool as a cucumber Gray, who calmly explains that the mayor is crazy if he thinks he can describe his relationship with the Council as "fantastic." Take a look.

      

The "soft" part of the launch of the city's new Circulator bus routes came to an end today, as D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), and DDOT acting director Gabe Klein all came out to 18th Street and Columbia Road NW this morning for an official ceremony to kickoff the new bus lines.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is out of town today, and once again, no one seems to know where he is. WTOP's Mark Segraves has been hammering away on the story all morning, first reporting that Fenty attended American University's NCAA basketball tournament game in Philadelphia last week without telling anyone, and then following up with news that the Mayor is AWOL again today, and his office won't even tell the D.C. Council where he is.

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, who is second in the line of succession to the mayor and the second-highest ranking elected official in town, is in the dark.

Continue reading "Mayor Fenty Away on Another Secret Trip"

     

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty delivered his annual State of the District speech today at the Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center in Ward 4, the section of D.C. he used to represent on the D.C. Council. To call Fenty's remarks today a "speech" is actually a bit a of a stretch; the mayor referred to the prepared text distributed to the media beforehand only loosely, instead relying on it as more of an outline to dole out a list of facts and figures on what his administration has accomplished over the last year.

How big of a deal are doggie politics to D.C. residents? Big enough to cause D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans to show up for the groundbreaking at the new S Street Dog Park. Flickr user maxedaperture stopped by the ceremony yesterday and snagged a few good shots. The triangle park at 17th and S Streets NW had been an unofficial dog park for years, and the city finally approved turning it into an officially sanctioned dog park last summer.

If District pols know two things, it's that Mayor Adrian Fenty is an accomplished cyclist and an accomplished fundraiser. It's really not a good idea to challenge him at either.

The Examiner's Freeman Klopott spotted first lady Michelle Obama leaving Georgia Brown's this afternoon, after having had lunch at the Southern cuisine restaurant with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Michelle Fenty and Jill Biden. President Barack Obama had previously met up with Mayor Fenty for lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl, but this is the first time we've heard about the city's two first ladies named Michelle sharing a meal since the Obamas arrived in town. Of course, Mrs. Fenty has had a lot on her plate, what with having given birth to daughter Aerin only two months ago.

       

Some 15,000 people showed up on a cold day at D.C.'s RFK Stadium Monday to answer President Barack Obama's call to service, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty encouraged District residents to participate in the massive event, where volunteers helped assemble 75,000 kits containing food and personal items for soldiers serving overseas.

Hizzoner stopped in at CycleLife for a special event to inaugurate the pedicab, apparently the official vehicle for the inauguration. The District Of is going to be chock full of them next week. DCist associates say they've sighted pedicabs from time to time over by Fight Club in Shaw and in Southwest, but they're hardly a regular feature on the city's streets in the way that taxis, buses, or bicycles are.

Mike DeBonis at City Desk received a note over the transom with details about the Mayor's on-again inaugural concert, and now it's confirmed. The Mayor is hosting an early party (doors at 7 p.m.) at the 9:30 Club on Sunday night featuring Fall Out Boy, T.I., and Young Jeezy.

There might be some shakeups in the way that the District's government celebrates the inauguration.

   

By now you've seen the front page Washington Post photo, but here's a few other images of President-elect Barack Obama's visit Saturday to Ben's Chili Bowl with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. None of us was lucky enough to happen to be inside when the two men showed up at the venerable U Street eatery, but Flickr contributor goldmember was strolling by and caught the crowd gathered outside and the secret service vehicles block traffic.

UPDATE: The Post has identified the hotel as the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown.

You had to know this was coming: a couple of D.C.-based political organizers have put together an online petition, Save the Parties, in support of the D.C. Council's legislation that would allow District bars and restaurants to stay open 24-hours and serve alcohol until 5 a.m.

Petition: "Mayor Fenty: The people voted overwhelmingly for change, and we want to celebrate that change big-time! Stand strong -- don't back down on 5 a.m. bar closings during Inauguration week."

Bill Myers reports in the Examiner that Mayor Adrian Fenty's regular bike rides have chalked up at least 178 man-hours for additional police security. "At least 100 times between January 2007 and June 2008, records show, one or more extra officers were paid to accompany Fenty’s bike team and security detail." The records paint a pretty different picture than the mayor's image as a chief executive who tends to drive himself around town without a large security detail or a motorcade. Police union head Kris Baumann told the Examiner the extra hours are "an embarrassment and a waste."

The Reliable Source appears to have the scoop: Michelle Fenty, wife of D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, has given birth to a healthy baby girl this morning. The gossip column is reporting that Aerin Alexandra Fenty was born at 6:08 a.m. at an undisclosed hospital in the city. Mother and baby are reportedly both doing just fine. According to BabyNameWizard.com, Aerin is an alternate spelling of the name Erin, which is derived from the Irish word for Ireland.

To follow up with those of you who reacted strongly to our photo gallery yesterday of the abandoned St. Elizabeths West Campus and the plans that are in the works to relocate the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard there, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton held an impromptu press conference this morning to unveil the city's plans for its share of the nearly 200 acres of land in Southeast Washington, D.C. Wire reports.

Mayor Adrian Fenty has been in office for a little over 20 months now. Almost all of the criticism leveled against him since he became mayor have been about his style of governing. He doesn't consult enough people when selecting key members of his administration (Michelle Rhee). He moves too quickly to fire city employees when something goes wrong (the Banita Jacks case). He allows his closest advisers to run roughshod over certain agencies (the Peter Nickles/Linda Singer switcheroo). Despite those criticisms, Fenty has been able to hang on to his image as an effective reformer who is focused on improving the city's most troubled areas, like the school system. If anything, concerns about Fenty's leadership style have only lent themselves to bolstering that image. But yesterday's D.C. Council hearing on what went wrong with this year's summer youth jobs program showed for the first time how Fenty's style can lead to substantive problems.