Color of Cabinet Has Fenty on the Defensive

Race has long been intertwined with District politics. Marion Barry, who served four terms as mayor, famously told white residents who did not support his reelection in the mid-1990s to "get over it." Former mayor Anthony A. Williams was criticized for failing to bring development to largely black neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, even as he oversaw a renaissance downtown in Northwest. Further, the Cabinet has been viewed as a reflection of which constituencies the administration is aiming to serve.

During his campaign, Fenty, 36, cast himself as a part of a new generation of mayors who would focus less on politics and more on improving accountability and outcomes, lifting all parts of the city through hard work. He has made a point to appear in Ward 8, the city's poorest ward, as often as possible and delivered his State of the District address there.

"The mayor believes in diversity, but he's not playing a numbers game," said former D.C. Council member Kevin P. Chavous, who gave Fenty his first job in city government and advises him on education issues.

"He really is focused on finding people to be in his Cabinet whom he feels share his vision," added Chavous, who is black. "He understands this dynamic of race and class in D.C. and how people feed off of signals. But I also think he feels that competency and getting the job done will be the best gauge of his effectiveness."

Fenty, who rarely talks about race, wasted little time selecting his deputies. His choices have often been bold and unpredictable.

He named an obscure commander, Cathy L. Lanier, to become the city's first female police chief, replacing Charles H. Ramsey. He plucked Linda Singer, a friend of City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, from a social justice organization to become his attorney general, even though she did not have a license to practice law in the District. Fenty installed Albert to head the economic development post, even though his experience was limited to overseeing parks and recreation and youth and family services in the Williams administration.

Some say the mayor has the right to pick people without interference because he must trust them to carry out his agenda.

"It's a great period to take risks, and you can apologize later," said Mark Lerner, a white resident of Ward 3 who chairs the board of directors at William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School. "The District doesn't need incremental change; it needs drastic change. . . . Bravo, mayor. Do it. Just do it."

Some who worked closely with Fenty on his campaign had pushed him to hire Rodney D. Monroe, a black police chief from Richmond, just days before the mayor made his surprise announcement of Lanier.

"Fenty is moving along with breakneck speed to make appointments without any concern or care for all the constituencies of the city," said the Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, 53, the black pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

Fenty has made a point to consult other big-city mayors such as New York's Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and Chicago's Richard M. Daley (D).

"During the whole campaign, he was hugged-up on black people," said Michelle Erway, 26, a black federal government contractor from Northeast, whose 3-year-old son will enroll in a charter school this fall. "Now that he's in office, he's hugged-up on white people. I lost a lot of respect for him after he was elected."