Fenty Nominates Nickles as Attorney General
UPDATED: 11:30 a.m.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced his nomination of Peter J. Nickles to the attorney general post this morning. The Washington Post reported earlier this week of the mayor's plans.
They were joined on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building by council members Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), David A. Catania (I-At Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who all said they were supporting the nomination. Bowser and Graham praised his fight against the city's slumlords while Catania said he was impressed with Nickles's negotiations to save Greater Southeast Community Hospital, now known as United Medical Center.
The presence of the four council members was a significant showing for Nickles, who has often found himself in the mix when the Fenty administration and the council are at odds.
"I've known Peter Nickles for 20, 25 years," Barry said. "I've locked horns with him, too."
"Many times," Nickles chimed in.
Nickles, a close adviser and family friend to Fenty who first served as the mayor's general counsel, took over as interim attorney general after Linda Singer resigned the post in December. Singer reportedly left the position because she said Nickles, as general counsel, inserted himself too much in the affairs of her office.
The announcement comes just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city's handgun ban, sending the District scrambling to balance dual goals: to respect the court's ruling while trying to preserve its commitment to strong gun control laws.
The nomination of Nickles, 69, will no doubt bring controversy, though the mayor has been heavily lobbying council members, many of whom say they will support Fenty's nominee.
Nickles is known for what his supporters call a no-nonsense, hard-charging style. His critics have a different take, describing him as arrogant and abrasive.
Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, has been a vocal critic and issued a statement saying that he would hold a public hearing on the nomination. "I expect a robust discussion regarding many of the questions surrounding this nominee, including the well-known residency requirement," he said. "It is mystifying, evn though the Mayor clearly intended to make this choice months ago, the nominee still resides outside the District and has made no known effort to change that fact."
Nickles, who lives in Virginia, said that he is looking for a District residence, maybe even a condo. District law gives him 180 days after a nomination to move into the the city's borders. "I'll invite you over to my house for drink," he told reporter Tom Sherwood, who questioned when he would actually move.
Arriving on the heels of the high court's ruling, the nomination will also remind some that it was Nickles who, upon taking office after Singer's resignation, shook up the gun case legal team just weeks before it was to go before the high court. Yesterday's ruling was the first in 70 years and legal observers say it will have reverberations around the country.
Nickles has faced recent criticism about his firings of eight lawyers in the attorney general's office for budget cuts and poor performance, but a judge forced him to reverse the decisions. The interim attorney general has also been deeply involved in issues such as the decision to put up police checkpoints in a D.C. neighborhood recently faced with a spate of deadly gun violence. And he has won high praise for leading the crackdown against slumlords in the District.
By Marcia Davis |
June 27, 2008; 9:45 AM ET
| Category:
Mayor Fenty
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Posted by: JohnAdams1 | June 27, 2008 1:11 PM
We do not want him! NOT HIM!
Posted by: Ward 5 DC Residnent | June 27, 2008 1:18 PM
What a shame! With the wealth of legal talent in this city, it is a poor reflection on Mayor Fenty that he has insisted on, and persisted in, the coronation of this individual.
In his brief tenure to date, Mr. Nickles has succeeded in bungling several high-profile legal actions and in alienating virtually his entire department, not to mention other colleagues and political leaders. He brings with him far more baggage than any prospective Mayoral appointee should have at this stage in his confirmation process.
Posted by: Disappointed in our Mayor | June 27, 2008 2:27 PM
How many of the city's taxpayers' dollars, dollars that could have gone for productive programs, did Mayor Fenty and his lapdog Nickles waste taking the city's gun ban to the Supreme Court? How many more dollars will they waste on other fruitless "message" projects? When will D.C. insist upon real leadership, a decent city government, and an intelligent police chief?
Posted by: Brolin_1911a1 | June 27, 2008 2:52 PM
But Nickles lost the handgun ban case and others.
Wonderful...we pick a lawyer who can't win in court.
Posted by: Jonathan Rees | June 27, 2008 4:40 PM
The Chancellor is systematically depleting the educational roles of educational aides/ paraprofessionals in dc public schools. It has been told to me by my union official that she is not honoring the details of the paraprofessional contract. Specifically giving Head start paraprofessionals who were in this position during the 07-08 school year a letter of separation when it is clearly stated they have until 2012 to become highly qualified. As it stands now the educational aide / paraprofessional role will be held by Head start aides ,which will eliminate all other paraprofessional positions held in the past. This will leave special education, pre-k and k teachers without the much needed assistance of a paraprofessional. This problem will become more prudent as classroom sizes will surely become larger due to the closing of over 20 schools. I would like to remind the Chancellor that in most cases it is the paraprofessional who maintains order, and give the children the individualize instruction needed to be successful. The Chancellor also needs to remember these paraprofessionals live in the communities that they work in. These paraprofessionals are not new faces like those of admistrators, or teachers that change on a yearly basis. Paraprofessionals provide dc public schools with a sense of permanency and consistency.
Posted by: Caring Para... | June 27, 2008 7:20 PM
There is no doubt he's qualitifed for the job. Beyond that, it is so refreshing to see a DC AG whose not afraid to step on some toes to improve the District. Why does Councilman Evans and others support him if he's so bad? Maybe Evans should be voted out in favor of someone who is a better judge of character? I think not.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 27, 2008 8:27 PM
Maybe Evans should be voted out in favor of someone who is a better judge of character? I think not.
Posted by: | June 27, 2008 8:27 PM
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Yes! Vote Smallberries, DC Council
Posted by: John Smallberries Esq., Republican Candidate, AT LARGE | June 28, 2008 11:30 AM
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Nickles is the new mayor because Fenty cannot function.
amazing.