Posts Tagged ‘ximena hartsock’
Ximena Hartsock Headed to Youth Trust?
Whither Ximena Hartsock?
The soon-to-be-ex-director of the city parks and recreation department might have been rejected by the D.C. Council, but Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has made no bones about declaring Hartsock to be a model municipal administrator deserving of continued government employment.
And yet, the confirmation battle has soured relations between Hartsock and several councilmembers, making any appointment to a council-confirmed post a futile exercise. But a solution may exist.
The rumblings are this: Hartsock's next stop in municipal government is likely to be as chief executive of the Children and Youth Investment Trust Corp. That is a quasi-governmental nonprofit that partners public and private entities to fund and oversee various youth programs. Crucially, the president/CEO post is appointed solely by the nonprofit's board.
Fenty Promises To Replace Hartsock By Dec. 1
Today, the D.C. Wire reported that a five-member council delegation met with Mayor Adrian Fenty last night to discuss the standoff over Ximena Hartsock. A symbol of testy council-mayoral relations, Hartsock is Fenty's choice to helm the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation. Following some discord among the council, Hartsock, and Fenty, however, the council voted against confirming Hartsock. The mayor responded by keeping Hartsock in place.
According to a source familiar with the meeting, the prevailing sentiment among the councilmembers in attendance (Chairman Vincent Gray and councilmembers David Catania, Mary Cheh, Harry Thomas Jr., and Muriel Bowser) was that Hartsock had to go.
Fenty, according to the source, assured that he was looking for her replacement but stressed that the search wasn't an easy one. The meeting ended with a promise: The mayor would replace Hartsock by Dec. 1, the source recalls.
Still, Fenty still couldn't help being Fenty.
Another D.C. Council Hearing No-Show!
Just in case you thought the Fenty administration might play nice with the D.C. Council's investigation of the $120 million in parks contracts sent to the D.C. Housing Authority, think again.
Interim parks director Ximena Hartsock and her capital projects director had been asked to come to today's hearing on the matter, but they did not show.
That prompted Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., chairing the inquiry, to announce at the hearing that he will be issuing subpoenas for the witnesses and related documents.
Is Peter Nickles’ ‘Angry Woman’ Comment Sexist? Yes.
I know the fight between AG Peter Nickles and Councilmember Mary Cheh is getting a lot of play on City Desk. LL noted it. And our Weekend in Reviewer picked it up as well. I think it needs a third look. WaPo wrote on Sunday:
“It’s almost becoming a lawless administration,” said council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3). “They seem to have no limits or restraint on what they are willing to do.”
Attorney General Peter Nickles, who often speaks on behalf of the administration, said Cheh “has no idea what she’s talking about.” “For her to make comments like that, it’s stupid,” he said. “She’s an angry woman.”
What struck me was Nickles' blatant sexism (which DCist picked up on). Nickles' comment that "she's an angry woman" feels like he's channeling Mad Men. It's made all the more ironic considering that Nickles had played the race and gender card over the very topic he and Cheh are fighting about: Ximena Hartsock.
Read More "Is Peter Nickles’ ‘Angry Woman’ Comment Sexist? Yes." »
How to Get a Sweet WaPo Editorial
In case you were doubting the tight relationship between the Washington Post editorial board and the upper echelons of the Fenty administration---particularly schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee---check this e-mail, sent on Oct. 5 from Rhee to embattled parks-and-rec director-designee Ximena Hartsock:
Spoke to Wapo ed board folks about you today. Told them you are the most qualified person possible, that you have amazing capacity and that everything you do has your hallmark of excellence. They'll write a good piece for tomorrow.
Mass Firings at Parks and Rec
Today at least 10 managers at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation were fired, less than a week after Mayor Adrian M. Fenty relieved DPR Director Clark E. Ray and replaced him with DCPS administrator Ximena Hartsock.
Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. released a late statement this evening decrying the move: "Once again we are witnessing the flagrant disregard of our City's workforce....These are individuals with families, children, mortgages, and obligations. They are our neighbors and our fellow residents, and include many hardworking childcare service providers."
LL has heard rumblings, unconfirmed, that Hartsock's team at DCPS will be moving with her to Parks and Rec, where they will jointly administer DPR and DCPS programs this summer.
New Parks Director: Ximena Hartsock
At a press conference this morning, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced the installation of former D.C. public schools principal Ximena Hartsock as the head of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Hold on--that means someone was fired.
Yes, that was Clark Ray, who was nominated by Fenty in August 2007 to run DPR. True to the administration's workaholic ways, the dismissal wasn't done in accordance with any standard of work-life balance. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini brought Ray in for a talking-to on Sunday evening.
Said Fenty of the abrupt leadership change: "It was very clear we needed to shift gears." He said that the department's programming "needs to go to the next level." Fenty said that Ray would be moving to a job with the Greater Washington Sports Alliance.
As for Hartsock, she was principal of Ross Elementary School in Dupont Circle before getting pulled into the administration of DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee. There, she ran the office of "out-of-school" affairs, managing afterschool, summer school, and Saturday programs---about 30,000 students, said Hartsock. Hartsock faces questions about her suitability for the job, considering that her resume is big on stuff like bilingual education but short on parks stuff. "Managing summer school is like running a school system," said Hartsock at the press conference. Hartsock, a longtime resident of Arlington, will move to the District, as the law requires of agency directors.
At least one onlooker is puzzled by the move: "I just think he was a very responsive director," says Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., who oversees the department. "He set a standard so I don't know what reason the administration had for letting him go.
Fenty was asked whether the dumping of Ray had anything to do with the controversy over his kids' participation in a city basketball rec league. Michael Williams, who administered youth leagues at DPR, claims in a recently filed lawsuit that he was dismissed from his job after raising questions about whether the Fenty children were playing in the proper age bracket.
Hizzoner had no trouble dodging this question. "That's a double no-comment, the first in the administration," he said, referring to the fact that the matter is both under litigation and concerns personnel.
Reporting by Mike DeBonis
