Reports: Gray to retain Lanier, hire back old Fire Chief

Photo courtesy of
‘DC’s Police Chief Cathy Lanier’
courtesy of ‘intothelens4149’

The announcement came late last night: Mayor Elect Gray will this afternoon introduce “key appointments in the public safety cluster of his administration,” at the Reeves Center at 1:30pm. The reports we’re hearing jibe with something we’d heard discussed by sources inside the Gray Transition team: Police Chief Cathy Lanier will remain in her post.

In addition, TBD is reporting that former DC Deputy Chief Kenneth Ellerbe will be appointed Fire Chief this afternoon, after helming the fire department in Sarasota for the last eighteen months.  Ellerbe had been deputy chief in DC before leaving as part of a “Personnel Exchange Agreement,” which allowed Ellerbe to seek a promotion but not give up his retirement benefits in DC.  There was a significant dust-up in the public sphere late last year surrounding this unconventional exchange, and Ellerbe then resigned from DCFD before he could be eligible to retire from DCFD at 50.

And now, he’s back to serve as Chief. Boy I bet the council’s going to love that confirmation hearing.  Something tells me Phil Mendelson is going to have a field day with this one.

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.

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