Nickles-and-Diming
The D.C. Council should put aside petty concerns and confirm an attorney general.

Monday, November 17, 2008

IT'S BEEN nearly a year since D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty asked Peter J. Nickles to take over as attorney general. The D.C. Council, though, has the last word, and it's troubling that the pique some members feel toward Mr. Fenty could cloud their judgment about what's best for this critical office.

Seven votes on the 13-member council are needed to confirm Mr. Nickles; if the council fails to act by Dec. 12, his appointment becomes permanent. Mr. Nickles has been serving as the mayor's general counsel last December when Linda Singer, then attorney general, resigned out of frustration with what she saw as Mr. Nickles's interference with her office. Given that backdrop, it was inevitable there would be skepticism of Mr. Nickles. His close relationship to the mayor and his activist approach to the office -- not to mention his outsize personality -- invited even more scrutiny. But any fair-minded review of his credentials (impeccable) and his accomplishments these last 11 months (solid) affirms that he was a wise choice. From helping to craft new firearm restrictions after the Supreme Court voided the D.C. handgun ban to shutting down nuisance businesses to troubleshooting government crises, Mr. Nickles has emerged as the most important member of the mayor's Cabinet.

Oddly, it is this prominence that gives pause to those critics who see it either as evidence Mr. Nickles is not independent enough of the mayor or proof that it is the acting attorney general, not Mr. Fenty, who is calling the shots. It is a misreading of District law to see the attorney general as separate from the executive branch, and it is a misreading of Mr. Nickles to suggest his interpretations of the law are subject to political whim. One had only to watch Mr. Nickles at his confirmation hearing to know the impossibility of him pandering to anyone. In a recent examination of the office, public policy advocate DC Appleseed found that previous officeholders viewed "the quality of the working relationship between the Mayor and the Attorney General" as "the determining factor in whether a person will be successful in the role." Other qualifications were excellence as an attorney, being a quick study, management skills and political clout.

The council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary is set to vote on Mr. Nickles today. Chairman Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) intends to recommend the nomination be moved on to the full council. Council members who see this decision as an opportunity to reassert their authority by taking Mr. Fenty down a peg should think about the larger damage they would be doing, to an office benefiting from Mr. Nickles's expertise and to their own reputations.