| Page 2 of 5 < > |
Ripping Down Barriers
Glenis Gillis, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's executive assistant, checks out a homemade sign that was given to the mayor during a recent appearance.
(Photos By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Finally, Ginsberg gets up after what seems an eternity in this administration. About five minutes.
Fenty takes a bite of chicken. Next?
An Egalitarian Strategy
Instant.
Efficient.
Accountable.
Fenty's stated goal is to overhaul government and create an egalitarian environment that speeds up communication and decision-making. So for one of his first acts, he got the city to pay $134,000 to tear down walls on the third floor of the stodgy John A. Wilson Building, the District's city hall. Most of the building is gilded artwork, marble columns, old-fashioned globe lights. Inside the bullpen, though, are flat-screen plasma TVs, track lighting and mirrored glass. The waiting area consists of four chairs squeezed into a corner.
The effect can be jarring to those used to a more traditional mayor's office. Especially if they're wearing a coat. Even the closets have been stripped out. Staff workers and guests pile jackets onto a coat rack or onto empty desks, an awkward sight, considering Fenty hosts fellow mayors and members of Congress.
Fenty is pleased with his bullpen: "The efficiency is light-years ahead of how the traditional executive office works, where the chief executive is cordoned off and removed from the rest of the workers. You don't engage people that way."
Whether the Fenty administration produces better results than the previous administration of Anthony A. Williams remains to be seen. The wonky Williams (D) was criticized for being remote and taking too long, while Fenty -- with aides in his face and BlackBerrys on his belt -- is a blur of input and action.
But some residents are saying that he's moving too fast to take over the schools and that his team failed to adequately clear some streets during last week's snowstorm. Advisers have fretted that Fenty picked a new police chief too abruptly. And reporters are griping that the mayor is calling news conferences -- 10 in the first 30 days -- for announcements that are not particularly newsworthy.
The bullpen "is more about the control he's trying to have," said parent activist Cherita Whiting, who opposes Fenty's school-takeover plan and refers to his office as the "bullpit."
"Everybody he's hired is a 'yes person,' " Whiting said. "There's not anyone to challenge the decisions he has made."
