WASHINGTON -- D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty seems more polite and less abrupt than we're used to.
In recent months, Fenty attracted criticism for seeming arrogant, dismissive, petty and even infantile. The mayor says that's not him.
The usually supportive Washington Post editorial page decried his "infantile" and "petty" refusal to share city baseball tickets with the D.C. Council. In recent weeks, Fenty also has been criticized for letting a private friend and contractor drive his government issued car and for allowing a $75,000 heater to be installed in a public pool Fenty uses.
Fenty apologized for the pool heater Thursday, saying he knew it was being installed and he should not have let that happen, though he noted that the city is in the process of upgrading all public pools that need it.
The new burst of humility -- and the fact that he turned the baseball tickets over to the Council -- is prompting questions about an apparent change in attitude.
"Well, I think when you make a mistake, I think part of being a professional is admitting it and learning from it and getting past it," Fenty said.
Fenty's talked to a lot of big city mayors who told him that you've got to roll with the punches and not have a lot of pent up anger when you're mayor.
