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Sworn In as Mayor, Fenty Vows 'Greatness' for District, Schools
Adrian M. Fenty takes the oath of office at the Washington Convention Center. Looking on are his wife, Michelle, sons Matthew, left, and Andrew and parents Jan and Phil Fenty.
(By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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The mood was optimistic.
"I'm energized," said Gregory Jackson, a resident of Northeast Washington. "We're moving to another level of accountability and results. I think Mayor Fenty truly will be one who leads by example."
Sharon Baskerville, head of the D.C. Primary Care Association, was equally hopeful.
"I've heard a lot of promises -- and seen a lot of them broken," she said. "But I do believe them today."
For those who did not attend, expectations of the new administration were high, with residents reciting a list of priorities.
Dressed in a suit, Wil Taylor, 26, was at the Anacostia Metro station on his way to a job interview, résumé in hand at about the time Fenty was giving his speech.
Fenty "seems to have a genuine heart for the people," said Taylor, who lives on Good Hope Road in Southeast. "He also seems more concerned about the youth than anyone else. I am ready for him to take action. People my age and younger want him to find more jobs for us."
Also at the Metro station, Gloria Starks, 46, said she hopes Fenty "puts police on every corner that has trouble rather than having to wait and rush out each time there is a crime."
Fenty plans to move quickly to implement major initiatives, beginning today with a 10 a.m. news conference during which he will unveil his proposal to take direct control of the 58,000-student school system. Tomorrow, he and his nominee for police chief, Cathy L. Lanier, will lay out plans to increase the presence of officers in neighborhoods.
Under Fenty's school governance proposal, he would reduce the authority of the Board of Education and require that the superintendent report directly to him. The council would get line-item control of the schools budget, while the elected board would be maintained with a peripheral role.
A majority of D.C. Council members have said they support the general framework of Fenty's plan, and many are expected to join him for today's announcement. Parents and students also will be on hand at the John A. Wilson Building, Fenty aides said.
The proposal has not been well received by incoming school board President Robert C. Bobb, who was inaugurated in a separate ceremony last evening along with two other board members.
