"For her to make comments like that, it’s stupid....She’s an angry woman.”
—Attorney General Peter Nickles, Oct. 25

"I was mistreated. Not only me, but my entire heritage....If Marion Barry was a white person and I was a black person, there would be riots in the streets right now."
—Ximena Hartsock, parks and recreation director, Oct. 10

Jesús Aguirre, the new boss of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), has quite a bit in common with the departing boss, Ximena Hartsock:

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]