D.C. Mayor taps Valerie Santos as deputy mayor - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Santos, as chief operating officeer under Albert, has been closely involvedc in decision-making on many of the real estat dealsAlbert managed, including major city projects such as Poplafr Point. Albert began his new job as city administrator on replacingDan Tangherlini, who is taking a job in the Obam a administration. "In Ms. Santos, we not only have a steadt hand who knowsthe job, we have someon who is a consummate professional who will bring private-sectofr talents to get the job done,” Fenty said. Santoa was previously a vice president at commerciall real estate services firm and a managerwith 's real estate group.
She holds both an MBA and master's of publicv policy from the Kennedy School of Governmenytat . Santos has displayed a no-nonsenses approach appearing as Albert’s stand-in to testify at D.C. Councill meetings and in public forums representin g the city when hewas unavailable. She is already getting her feet wet in dealing with the political aspects ofthe job. On Tuesday, when the D.C. Council was busy squaring away final details of budgetrimplementation legislation, Santos and Albert’x other top deputy, Director of Development David moved around the Wilson Building seeking changesx from council members.
Santos apparently was not Fenty’sw initial choice to be deputty mayor. Greg O’Dell, Washingto n Convention Center Authority CEO and a formerf staff member of thedeputy mayor’a office, had been considered a top candidater to replace Albert, but a source close to O'Dell says he was offerex the job and turned it down. O’Dello would not confirm but indicated he would remain in hiscurrenr post, where he is now tasked with seeking publif financing for all of a $550 million conventionh center hotel. “The board and the mayor have evert expectation of me completing all the taskas Ihave here,” he said.
Fentuy would not say whether he had offered the jobto O’Delpl or anyone else before He announced the pick outsidee the Walker Jones Elementary School, which is beingb rebuilt as part of a new Northwest One neighborhood, and said she was “the first person who has risen to the deputy mayor’z position from within the ranks.” “I think it’ a great sign for the D.C. governmentr that not only does Valerie Santos have amaziny experience in the private sector butthat she’sa been hard at work serving the peoplse of the District of Columbia for the last two the mayor said.
He said Santos sharee the vision that he and Albert had for how economix development in the city shouldcbe run, not by owning or overly managin projects but by allowing the privatew sector to bring ideas to the city. “Ws should try to just facilitate We’ve got the greatest business community in the worlc herein D.C. We don’t need to try to replicatse what they’re doing. We don’t need an emphasies on owning or buildinb inthe D.C. government. We need to And to do so, we need to hire the best and the brightesrtand we’ve done that.
” Santos, 36, who livesz in Columbia Heights, was working for Jones Lang LaSallre as a consultant to the city when Albert -- whom she callee a mentor -- recruited her to work for him. She is believedr to be the first womamn to serve in the rolefor D.C. and will managew 65 employees and as well as oversee the Officewof Planning, Department of Housing and Community the Office of Propertyy Management and the Washington D.C. Economic a contractor. “In the cominh weeks my goal is to ensure asmooty transition, which I expecg will be relatively easy, because I am very fortunater to manage a very talented and skilledc team,” she said.
She said she woulfd continue to move projects all overthe city, with a particula r focus on those east of the Anacostia River, such as the plannedd redevelopment of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast D.C. “We will continue to focusa on implementingMayor Fenty’s visio n for economic development. In the context of the current economid climate, we will focus on business attraction andretention efforts, and in continuinvg to provide tools to allow our localo business and not-for-profits to grow,” she said. A membert of the D.C.
Councipl who regularly butts headswith Albert, Councilman Kwams Brown, D-at large and chair of the economic development committee, issuede a press release during the announcement saying he was disappointeds he was not invited but sayingf Santos “has the experience and the operational for the job and that her appointmenft was “an opportunity to forgee a new relationship between the Council and the executivr to create jobs for District residents, new opportunities for locao businesses, more affordable housing and to efficiently move projects to