Mayor-elect Gray Announces Additional Appointees, Dodges Questions on Police Chief Lanier

In a press conference Thursday, Mayor-elect Vince Gray announced seven additional appointees to his new administration, two of which require Council approval. The appointees like Eric Goulet, the current Budget Director for the Council, are familiar faces in D.C government and demonstrate that Gray is bringing his current team along with him to his mayoral administration. Still looming in the shadows are announcements about current District Agency heads who have not resigned or received formal termination letters, such as Police Chief Cathy Lanier. 

Gray called his team a group of "highly qualified" people who were not new to District government and who would be "responsible to residents" of D.C. When asked if being a Fenty administration official "disqualified" someone from being a candidate,  Gray said "no," reiterating his statement that he was looking for the "best people we can find."

When asked pointedly if Police Chief Cathy Lanier was "hanging in the wind," Gray said he was not and argued that he was moving ahead with his appointments in a "timely fashion," despite complaints to the contrary.

Pushed to clarify about current agency heads and whether he had sent out all the termination letters he would be sending, Gray said he has met with some agency heads and is still working out what will happen. He asked them to "please continue to serve" the District until their services are no longer required.

Gray indicated remaining questions about his team would be answered over the coming weeks and that he expected to have the majority of his appointees in place by his Jan. 2 inauguration. 

The seven appointees are:

Eric Goulet as Deputy Chief and Directo of the Mayor's Office of Budget and Finance;

Brian Flowers as General Counsel to the Mayor;

Cynthia Brock-Smith as Secretary of the District of Columbia  (requires Council Approval);

Janene Jackson as Director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs;

Stephen Glaude as Director of the Office of Community Affairs;

Roxana Olivas as Director of the Office of Latino Affairs  (requires Council Approval);

Crystal Palmer as Director of Motion Picture and Television Development.