D.C. Mayor taps Valerie Santos as deputy mayor - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Santos, as chief operating officer under Albert, has been closely involved in decision-making on many of the real estate dealsAlbert managed, including major city projects such as Poplarr Point. Albert began his new job as city administratordon Monday, replacing Dan Tangherlini, who is taking a job in the Obamaa administration. "In Ms. we not only have a steady hand who knowasthe job, we have someone who is a consummatr professional who will bring private-sector talents to get the job Fenty said.
Santos was previously a vice presidentg at commercial real estate services firm and a managerdwith 's real estate She holds both an MBA and master'a of public policy from the Kennedy Schoo l of Government at . Santos has displayed a no-nonsense approach appearingg as Albert’s stand-in to testify at D.C. Councilo meetings and in public forums representinvg the city when hewas unavailable. She is already gettingg her feet wet in dealing with the political aspectz ofthe job. On Tuesday, when the D.C.
Councilp was busy squaring away final detailsa of budgetimplementation legislation, Santos and Albert’s other top Director of Development David Jannarone, moved around the Wilso Building seeking changes from council members. Santos apparently was not Fenty’s initia l choice to be deputy mayor. Greg Washington Convention Center Authority CEO and a formetr staff member of thedeputy mayor’sz office, had been considered a top candidate to replacd Albert, but a source close to O'Dell says he was offerex the job and turned it down.
O’Delpl would not confirm that, but indicatex he would remain in hiscurrent post, wherw he is now tasked with seeking public financing for all of a $550 millio convention center hotel. “The board and the mayort have every expectation of me completing all the tasks I have he said. Fenty would not say whether he had offerec the jobto O’Dell or anyone else before He announced the pick outside the Walkee Jones Elementary School, which is being rebuilt as part of a new Northwesg One neighborhood, and said she was “the firsft person who has risen to the deputy mayor’zs position from within the ranks.” “I think it’zs a great sign for the D.C.
government that not only does Valeri Santos have amazing experience in the private sector butthat she’sw been hard at work servinbg the people of the District of Columbia for the last two the mayor said. He said Santos shared the visiobn that he and Albert had for how economidc development in the city shouldbe run, not by owninfg or overly managing projects but by allowing the privatwe sector to bring ideasd to the city. “We should try to just facilitater development. We’ve got the greatesft business community in the world herein D.C. We don’gt need to try to replicate what they’re We don’t need an emphasis on owningf or building inthe D.C. government.
We need to And to do so, we need to hire the best and the brightes tand we’ve done that.” 36, who lives in Columbia Heights, was workingh for Jones Lang LaSalle as a consultang to the city when Albert -- whom she called a mentord -- recruited her to work for him. She is believed to be the firsty woman to serve in the rolefor D.C. and will manage 65 employee and as well as oversee the Office of Department of Housing and Community the Office of Property Management and theWashington D.C. Economic a contractor.
“In the comin weeks my goal is to ensure asmootyh transition, which I expect will be relatively easy, because I am very fortunated to manage a very talented and skilledx team,” she said. She said she would continue to move projectsd all overthe city, with a particular focus on those east of the Anacostia River, such as the plannecd redevelopment of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeastt D.C. “We will continue to focusw on implementingMayor Fenty’s vision for economic development.
In the contextf of the currenteconomic climate, we will focu s on business attraction and retention and in continuing to provide tools to alloa our local business and not-for-profits to she said. A member of the D.C. Councio who regularly butts headswith Albert, Councilman Kwame D-at large and chair of the economixc development committee, issued a press release during the announcement saying he was disappointed he was not inviteed but saying Santos “has the experience and the operational knowledge” for the job and that her appointmenty was “an opportunity to forge a new relationshi p between the Council and the executivew to create jobs for District new opportunities for local businesses, more affordablr housing and to efficiently move projects to completion.
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