Fenty, Brown Face Fight to Revamp Agencies

With great fanfare and lofty promises, District leaders in 2004 established an agency to restore the long-polluted waters and dilapidated banks of the Anacostia River.

The Anacostia Waterfront Corp. (AWC), as conceived by then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams and endorsed by the D.C. Council, would turn what had become a symbol of neglect into an urban paradise.

Now there's a new mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, who wants to do things differently. Fenty and the council agree that the Anacostia agency and a sister entity, the National Capitol Revitalization Corp.(NCRC), are ineffective and that the District needs a new engine to drive development.

But in what has shaped up as a tussle for control over millions of dollars in land deals, the mayor and council disagree on who or what that engine should be. The conflict could reach a conclusion today when the council votes on a proposal to create a quasi-independent agency, the Economic Development Authority.

The new agency would oversee an array of ambitious projects, including the Anacostia and Southwest waterfronts, the McMillan Reservoir and the massive redevelopment slated for the 67-acre parcel on the eastern edge of Capitol Hill.

But Fenty (D) sees no need for a new agency. He believes that his administration should oversee the projects, in the same way that he believes it should control the public school system.

"The people of the District of Columbia elected Adrian Fenty to lead this city," said Neil Albert, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, who, under Fenty's plan, would oversee the projects.

"They're going to hold him accountable for development, not an agency set up by the city council. We believe the mayor should have full control." Albert is now the CEO of the AWC.

But council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) contends that an independent agency is needed to ensure "a single focus on our larger projects and make sure that those projects get done."

Under Brown's proposal, the agency would be managed by five board members and a chief executive officer, all appointed by the mayor but confirmed by the council. Brown believes he has the votes to create the agency, but he also has talked with mayoral aides and said that his proposal might be modified by the time the council votes.

Quasi-independent agencies, such as the one Brown proposes, are common in cities and states to promote real estate deals, streamline bureaucracy, and issue bonds. For years, the District agency charged with that responsibility was the Redevelopment Land Authority, until it was succeeded in 1999 by the NCRC.

The Anacostia corporation has been applauded for ensuring that projects meet environmental standards and include affordable housing.