If you haven’t read Washington City Paper‘s profile of mayoral hopeful Tommy Wells yet, get on it! There’s a lot to dig into: Tommy Wells as Irv Nathan antagonist, Tommy Wells as disappointment to benefactor Sharon Ambrose, Tommy Wells as tree obsessive.

Even more interesting than Wells’ tree smartphone app, though, is the question about who will replace him. Since Wells’ Ward 6 seat is also up in 2014, he’s leaving the job whether he wins the mayor’s race or not. There are no candidates to replace Wells so far, but Charles Allen, Wells’ chief of staff, is widely rumored to want the job.

Allen says he hasn’t decided on a run, but political consultant/go-to media quotemeister Chuck Thies, who also pegs Allen as Wells’ likely replacement, points out to LL that Allen has been buying Facebook ads promoting his Facebook fan page anyway.

Allen tells LL that he paid for the ad, but not out of political ambition. He’s just trying to spread the Ward 6 news. “I created a Facebook page to try and help get the word out,” Allen writes in an email. “To help people find it, I put up a low-dollar ad so folks can find the page more easily.”

Make of that what you will. LL will point out, though, that no other Wilson Building chiefs of staff have their own Facebook fan pages.

Screenshot courtesy Chuck Thies