City Officials Squabble Over Takeover Plan

Bobb, who would become head of the state board under Fenty's governance structure, quickly denied his role. Landrieu withdrew her objection a day later, and the Senate approved the takeover bill. But the fallout was quick: Bobb was let go from a consulting job with a powerful developer eager to curry favor with Fenty, and other city leaders piled on.

"That was a huge error in judgment," said council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2). "For an elected official to go to the Hill to circumvent the process -- however it happened, it's a no-no."

Asked about his relations with Bobb, Fenty professed to have put the issue behind him. "What I have to do is get the school system ready for the first day of school," he said. "I do not have the luxury of looking backward."

The episode angered Norton, who has had her own disputes with Fenty, particularly over who will lead the city in the push for voting rights. But she gave strong support to the mayor's takeover legislation, quickly moving it through the House of Representatives.

For a week, however, it remained unclear why Fenty's bill had been blocked in the Senate; Landrieu had chosen to remain anonymous. With Fenty at a convention in Las Vegas, Norton issued a news release asking the anonymous senator to come forward.

When Landrieu did so, Norton took charge, negotiating a deal among Landrieu, Fenty and Bobb. Norton resolved a subsequent impasse when Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) briefly delayed the bill over Fenty's response to an inquiry regarding Levin's longstanding push to install meters in D.C. taxicabs.

Norton, who has reprimanded Fenty in the past for his approach to Capitol Hill, made a point of instructing the mayor to apologize to Levin, according to a source with knowledge of the discussion.

In the end, the city's elected leaders are wondering whether they can repair lines of communication.

"There's got to be an enormous level of trust," Gray said. "But can you trust the person sitting across from you if you have something like this?"