By Nikita Stewart and David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 27, 2007; DZ01
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty pushes forward a no-bid contract for a favored developer in a hot part of town. The D.C. Council approves the deal without a peep.
Now it comes to light that Fenty's top deputy in charge of development owns property down the block from the fast-tracked project.
Is this the recipe for scandal?
That's what D.C. resident David Mallof suggested Monday when he presented his findings about Deputy Mayor Neil O. Albert to the council's Committee on Economic Development.
According to city property records, Albert bought a $741,940 condominium a quarter-mile from the controversial West End library development project in January.
In July, the council approved emergency legislation authorizing Fenty (D) to enter into exclusive negotiations with EastBanc Inc. to sell the West End library and fire station.
Since then, after neighborhood activists raised complaints, several council members have said they may seek to overturn the bill and force the mayor to conduct competitive bidding.
After learning of Mallof's findings Monday, committee Chairman Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) wanted some answers from Albert.
"Something didn't smell right," Brown said in an interview. Albert already had testified that day, but Brown summoned him back to the chambers.
Albert, visually perturbed, explained that he initially put a contract on the condo before Fenty was elected, not to mention before Fenty appointed Albert as deputy mayor.
"It's a free country," Albert said in an interview later. "I can buy property where I want to buy it."
Turns out, Albert had plenty of sympathy from committee members Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who have faced their own troubles over many years in public office.
Barry, whose well-documented legal problems have made him a well-known figure across the country, cautioned that critics should conduct more research before making such accusations. Then again, Barry added, Albert probably should have been proactive and revealed his ownership of the property upfront.
Evans, who believes he was unfairly tarred by The Washington Post a few years ago over his alleged misuse of funds raised by a political action committee in his name, quipped: "Not a week goes by that I'm not accused of doing something nefarious."