Last night, D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray’s office sent out a terse press release admonishing Mayor Adrian Fenty for not making his agency directors available for this morning’s budget hearing. Only City Administrator Neil Albert would be there, he had been told, meaning more than a dozen agency directors were being held back by the executive. This was classic Fenty — just straight out refusing to play ball with the council whenever it tries…

Courtesy the Office of the Mayor This morning Mayor Adrian Fenty named Valerie Santos as his new Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Santos replaces former DMPED Neil Albert, who was recently promoted to City Administrator after Dan Tangherlini exited for the Obama administration. Previously, Santos had served as chief operating officer under Albert. Some of the major development projects long in financing limbo that will now be under Santos’s guidance: the Southwest…

After last week’s news that the Old Georgetown Board rejected a design proposal for an Apple store along Wisconsin Avenue for the fourth time, rumors are floating around that the computer manufacturer’s iconic store might end up elsewhere in the District. The Examiner’s Harry Jaffe wrote on Friday that frustrated city officials looking to land the city’s first Apple store might actually be helping find a location somewhere other than Georgetown:My sources say [Deputy…

Mayor Adrian Fenty has just named four new top appointments to his administration, including the expected announcement that Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert will join Metro’s Board of Directors. Here’s the rundown on this round of appointments: Kathy Etemad Hollinger is named Director of the Office of Motion Picture and Television Development, the agency responsible for promoting Washington as a location for film and television production, and for arranging permits for…