Fresh From Victory, Fenty Sets Top Priorities for Transition

Fenty also sought out top city officials, asking for meetings with Williams, outgoing City Administrator Robert C. Bobb, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey and Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. Fenty reiterated that he would consider firing Ramsey if neighborhood policing does not improve.

At Williams's weekly news conference at the John A. Wilson Building yesterday, Williams and Bobb said they were willing to help Fenty.

Bobb said some city workers are "jockeying for jobs" within the new administration, and others are submitting their resignations.

"I have a pretty good idea," he said, about which members of "the current administration should not continue in the new administration." The bureaucracy, he said, needs "dramatic and systematic change."

Fenty has identified a potential candidate to replace Bobb: Dan Tangherlini, interim Metro chief and former head of the District's Transportation Department.

Tangherlini is seeking appointment as the permanent Metro leader; a decision is planned in October. But if he does not win that job, Fenty said, "we would be very interested in him."

Bobb is resigning his city post to run for president of the Board of Education. At the news conference, he appeared to send a warning to Fenty not to overstep his bounds. The schools are independent of the mayor and council.

Fenty has said he will appoint a deputy mayor for education, which would be a new Cabinet-level position, and might try to take control of the struggling school system.

But Bobb said that if he wins the school board race, he plans to serve as a "shield for the superintendent as to some of the political issues up here," a reference to the Wilson building.

In an interview yesterday, Janey made clear that any overtures by Fenty should complement the vision and changes that he has put in place.

"He has the same amount and quality of fervor as I do for lifting up the children who have been left behind," Janey said of Fenty.

Fenty stressed that he would have little patience for agencies that do not improve, even one not under his direct control such as the school system.

"If we have to use the bully pulpit to get things done, we will," he said.

Fenty discussed the future while sipping a late lunch, bean soup from a Styrofoam container. He was standing on a side street near his campaign headquarters on Florida Avenue. Wearing a navy blue suit and regimental tie, Fenty tried to remain out of view during the 20-minute interview, but he was repeatedly approached by strangers.

"Thank you for coming to my mom's cookout on Peabody Street," one man called out. Another gave him a pin that read: "I Support Affordable Housing."

A woman who identified herself as a member of the D.C. police homicide unit slipped Fenty her business card.

"We really need some help," she told Fenty. Clearly concerned about his criticism of the police, she added, "You know, not all of us are bad people."

"I know," replied Fenty, who crisscrossed the city during the campaign. "I'm out there."

Staff writers Theola Labbé, Lori Montgomery and Robert E. Pierre contributed to this report.