Attorney General Nominee A 'Scrapper'

P eter J. Nickles is here to stay.

And he's even moving to the District, he says.

As expected, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) nominated the family friend to be attorney general. Not interim. Not acting.

Nickles, the mayor's former general counsel, has been a lightning rod for controversy as confidant and enforcer since the mayor took office last year. When Fenty has conflicts with the D.C. Council, Nickles is generally in the mix. In front.

He got his interim attorney general title in a swirl of controversy, replacing Linda Singer, who, sources say, resigned in December after Nickles interfered with her cases.

Recently, his plan to rid the attorney general's office of what he calls underperforming lawyers by firing them has prompted complaints of age discrimination in favor of younger attorneys. Nickles is 69. The union representing attorneys has gotten retirements for three attorneys and reinstatements for another three.

Despite complaints about Nickles's sharp-elbow style, four council members joined Fenty at a news conference Friday on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building to give the nod to the nomination.

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) was one. The former mayor said he has known Nickles at least 20 years, pointing to Nickles's work as a private attorney suing the city on behalf of the mentally ill and prisoners.

"I've locked horns with him, too," Barry said.

"Many times," Nickles chimed in.

Barry added, laughing, "I agreed with you on a lot of issues. As mayor, I couldn't because I was being sued."

Council members Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) praised Nickles's work on a lawsuit against slumlords, and David A. Catania (I-At Large) applauded his leadership on the lawsuit against health insurance provider CareFirst and negotiating the saving of Greater Southeast Community Hospital, since renamed United Medical Center.