The Washington Post has the news in the Friday afternoon dump that Mayor Adrian Fenty just fired D.C. Department of Health Director, Gregg A. Pane, along with two of Pane’s deputies. We noted back in January that Fenty had major plans to streamline the department in his first 100 days, starting with a consolidation of its eleven agencies into the current seven.
Fenty eliminated many of the agency heads appointed by former Mayor Anthony Williams soon after his term began, with Pane one of the few remaining hold-overs from the Williams era. The director’s removal is part of a “more aggressive public health strategy,” according to Fenty, though it’s not clear if there were specific reasons behind the changing of the guards (though we can think of at least one widely-publicized misstep).
There’s no information yet about Pane’s replacement.
Photo of Mayor Adrian Fenty by Intangible Arts.
