By Yolanda Woodlee and V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 4, 2008

The head of the organization that runs the Walter E. Washington Convention Center has resigned, citing personal reasons, after a stormy tenure in D.C. politics and a recent clash with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration.

Reba Pittman Walker stepped down Friday as general manager and chief executive of the Washington Convention Center Authority, a position she had held for 2 1/2 years. Her resignation is effective May 30, according to the authority.

Walker said "she is taking time off to spend more time with her family," said Lydia Sermons-Ward, spokeswoman for the authority. Nothing happened at recent board meetings "to signal that Reba would abruptly resign," she said.

In 1999, Walker, then known as Reba Pittman Evans, resigned after three months as then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams's chief of staff amid staff infighting and questions about her leadership skills. Some council members were critical of her $50,000 severance package.

Beverly Perry, a Pepco official who chairs the authority, said members had talked about the pressure to move the convention center to "the next level of competition." But she said the board was not unhappy with Walker, whose resignation was first reported in the Washington Business Journal.

She added: "Was the board dissatisfied? No. Was her performance satisfactory? Yes. Was the board asking for more? Yes. It was because of her personal issues that she thought it was time to move on."

Perry said the board wants to bring more retail, conventions and businesses, including banquets, to the facility.

In reference to a perceived slight by Fenty's administration, Perry acknowledged that a ceremony last fall to rename the convention center after the city's first elected mayor was "not handled in a politically sensitive way." She said that former mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly complained that she was not invited and that the event was not placed on Fenty's calendar in a timely manner. "We had already put that behind us," Perry said.

In a statement, Walker said: "I have great enthusiasm for the people who make hospitality Washington, D.C.'s largest and most important private-sector business. . . . It has been an honor to work with some of the brightest talent in the meetings and conventions industry, and I know the Convention Center will continue to have a strong impact on the District's and the region's economy."