Did political rivalries cost D.C. the chairmanship of the MWAA board?

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, surrounded by children from the Raymond Recreation Center’s Afternoon Access program, launches the (DPR) Department of Parks and Recreation summer pool season at the Banneker Pool, May 22, 2015. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Board of Directors broke with tradition Wednesday, passing over a D.C. representative for the chairmanship of the 17-member board that oversees two major airports in region  as well as construction of the nearly $6-billion Silver Line rail project.

In past years, chairmanship of the board has rotated between the District, Maryland, Virginia and the federal government. Virginia’s Frank “Rusty” Conner just completed his second year as chairman and a D.C. representative was next in line to lead the panel. Instead, board members unanimously chose William Shaw McDermott, who represents the federal government, as the next chairman.

But three people with knowledge of the process, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of situation, said that political rivalries and other concerns, cost the city the position.

Some board members had concerns about whether Warner Session, the District’s senior representative on the board and its current vice chairman, would be a good fit for the job. As a result, Session did not have the votes to become chairman, they said. But an effort to ensure D.C. retained the chairmanship by electing its next most-senior representative, Barbara Lang, former CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, was thwarted by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser because of Lang’s close ties to former mayor Vincent Gray, those with knowledge of the proceedings said. Lang was also a vocal proponent of former D.C. Council member David A. Catania when he ran against Bowser last year for the mayoralty.

It was Gray who appointed Lang to the MWAA board. (Session also is a Gray appointee.) Because of tension between Bowser and Lang, D.C. officials opted to pass the chairmanship on to the federal government’s representative, the three people said.

Asked if the mayor scuttled Lang’s potential rise to the chairmanship, Bowser spokesman Michael Czin, suggested it was the other way around and questioned if Lang was the one who had sabotaged the District’s chance to lead the powerful board.

Lang would not publicly support Session for the chairmanship, according to two people familiar with the board’s private deliberations over the last several weeks.

“It would have been in the best interest of the District if all four of the District’s representatives supported elevating our vice chair to chair, which has been the practice for the authority,” Czin said.

Asked why she would not publicly endorse Session, Lang said she had never discussed her vote for the authority’s chairman in two previous elections.

“My support is a private matter – I would never say who I would or would not support. Before this, I have never been asked,” she said.

Lang, however, said she had not sought the chairmanship and said she thought it would not have been appropriate to run against Session. “It was D.C.’s turn, the District should have had a nominee.”

For his part, Session said it wasn’t a lack of votes, but a lack of time, that prompted him to decline the chairmanship.

“As you know I am a sole practitioner,” said Session, who runs the Session Law Firm. “So it really was a more practical thing. I was worried I wouldn’t have the time to do the job properly.”

Session said he was surprised by the suggestion of tension between Bowser and Lang.

There was no sign of internal discord at Wednesday’s meeting, where Session nominated McDermott and McDermott nominated Session. Both were elected unanimously.

“We have an experienced vice chair for you and he will be valuable,” said Conner in extending congratulations to McDermott. “Listen to his advice. And let me thank each of you for your anticipated service.”