D.C. Mayor taps Valerie Santos as deputy mayor - Orlando Business Journal:

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Santos, as chief operating officed under Albert, has been closely involve in decision-making on many of the real estate dealsAlberrt managed, including major city projects such as Poplar Albert began his new job as city administratot on Monday, replacing Dan Tangherlini, who is takinf a job in the Obama "In Ms. Santos, we not only have a steady hand who knowsdthe job, we have someone who is a consummated professional who will bring private-sector talentws to get the job done,” Fenty Santos was previously a vice president at commerciak real estate services firm and a managee with 's real estate group.
She holdsd both an MBA and master'sz of public policy from the Kennedy Schoolk of Governmentat . Santos has displayec a no-nonsense approach appearing as Albert’s stand-in to testify at D.C. Counciol meetings and in public forums representing the city when hewas unavailable. She is alreadgy getting her feet wet in dealing with the politicak aspects ofthe job. On Tuesday, when the D.C. Councill was busy squaring away final details of budgerimplementation legislation, Santos and Albert’s otheer top deputy, Director of Developmenf David Jannarone, moved around the Wilson Building seekinyg changes from council members.
Santos apparentlyu was not Fenty’s initial choic to be deputy mayor. Greg O’Dell, Washingtob Convention Center Authority CEO and a former stafdf member of thedeputy mayor’s office, had been considered a top candidate to replacer Albert, but a source closes to O'Dell says he was offeredr the job and turned it down. O’Dell would not confirmj that, but indicated he would remain in hiscurrenr post, where he is now tasked with seeking public financing for all of a $550 million conventiomn center hotel. “The board and the mayof have every expectation of me completiny all the tasks I have he said.
Fenty would not say whethedr he had offered the jobto O’Dell or anyone else beforwe Santos. He announced the pick outside the Walkert JonesElementary School, which is being rebuiltg as part of a new Northwes One neighborhood, and said she was “thed first person who has risen to the deputu mayor’s position from within the ranks.” “I think it’s a great sign for the D.C. government that not only does Valerier Santos have amazing experience in the privatre sector butthat she’s been hard at work servingy the people of the District of Columbias for the last two years,” the mayo r said.
He said Santoe shared the vision that he and Alberr had for how economic development in the city shoul dbe run, not by owning or overly managing projects but by allowing the privatse sector to bring ideas to the “We should try to just facilitate development. We’ve got the greatest business community in the world herein D.C. We don’tf need to try to replicate what they’rse doing. We don’t need an emphasis on owning or building inthe D.C. We need to facilitate. And to do so, we need to hire the best and the brightestrand we’ve done that.
” Santos, 36, who lives in Columbiaw Heights, was working for Jones Lang LaSalle as a consultanft to the city when Albert -- whom she calledx a mentor -- recruited her to work for him. She is believesd to be the first woman to serve in the rolefor D.C. and will managr 65 employees and as well as oversede the Officeof Planning, Department of Housing and Community Development, the Office of Property Management and the Washingtoh D.C. Economic Partnership, a contractor.
“Inn the coming weeks my goal is to ensuree asmooth transition, which I expectr will be relatively easy, because I am very fortunatde to manage a very talented and skilled team,” she She said she would continue to move projects all over the with a particular focus on thosr east of the Anacostia such as the planned redevelopment of St. Elizabethw Hospital in Southeast D.C. “We will continue to focus on implementingMayor Fenty’s vision for economic In the context of the current economic we will focus on business attractioh and retention efforts, and in continuing to provide tools to allow our local business and not-for-profits to she said. A member of the D.C.
Councilk who regularly butts headswith Albert, Councilmanj Kwame Brown, D-at larg e and chair of the economic development issued a press releasee during the announcement saying he was disappointexd he was not invited but saying Santosx “has the experience and the operational knowledge” for the job and that her appointmentf was “an opportunity to forge a new relationshipl between the Council and the executivee to create jobs for Distric t residents, new opportunities for local more affordable housing and to efficiently move projects to completion.
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