Council Mostly Applauds Nominee

School Pick Draws Fire Over Fenty

Allan Lew, the nominee to direct the school modernization program, has led the D.C. baseball stadium project, which city leaders consider a success. (By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)

D.C. Council members and city leaders yesterday gushed praise on Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's nominee to take over the $2.3 billion public school modernization program, but some were highly critical of the mayor for the secrecy with which he made the choice.

Council members questioned Allan Y. Lew during a public roundtable on his nomination and voiced displeasure with Fenty's lack of consultation in the process for choosing Lew and other appointees.

In recent weeks, some council members have complained that they were blindsided by Fenty (D) and received short notice or none at all about the nominations of Lew and Michelle A. Rhee to be school chancellor. The council is scheduled to vote on their confirmations July 10.

"I'm really angry about the process. Not the nominee. The process," said council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). "I just want to go on the record that I don't like that."

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) asked Lew why he did not talk to council members about the fact that he was being plucked for the new position, especially since the $611 million Washington Nationals stadium project, which Lew is responsible for as executive director of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, could have been left in limbo.

"I think out of respect for the mayor's office," Lew said.

"What about respect for the council?" Gray asked.

Lew said he expected the mayor's office to reach out to the council.

Lew managed the construction of the Washington Convention Center in addition to the baseball stadium project -- two big-ticket items that city leaders consider successes so far.

Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) said she was pleased when she learned that Lew was the nominee to head the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization -- a new department established by Fenty's school takeover plan.

Schwartz said she thought: "Gosh, that's just the kind of expertise we need. I wish you were two people."

As chief of the schools modernization, Lew would be paid $275,000 a year, a raise of $25,000 from his sports commission job. He said he plans to manage school construction with the same care he has used with past projects. Lew's duties would include creating the construction office from scratch. He said he would want to operate initially out of trailers at RFK Stadium and would have about 35 full-time employees, including a general counsel and a chief financial officer.

Lew said he is working with City Administrator Dan Tangherlini to find $2 million to $3 million in the D.C. budget to finance the office for the remainder of fiscal 2007. Gray said in an interview that any change in the budget would need to get council approval.

Lew said he has visited several schools and has seen the damage done by years of neglect. The schools will need an aggressive maintenance program to preserve the school renovations, he said. "If we don't build in the various warranties . . . three years, two years from now, we will be revisiting the same schools," he said. "It's almost like not changing the oil in your car. The engine dies."

"That's how we've managed the schools for many, many years," Lew said.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), a former school board member, reminded Lew that he has never been in charge of building a school. "It's different. It's like building a hospital," he said, noting that Lew will need someone on staff who knows how to construct schools.

Lew, who said in earlier testimony that he relies on private contractors, said that if confirmed, he would hire experts in school construction.