District Mayor-elect Vincent Gray continued to round out appointments in his administration Friday.
At a noon news conference, Gray announced that William Howland would remain as director of public works, the city agency that deals with trash pickups, snow-clearing and parking tickets.
Howland became director under former Mayor Anthony Williams and kept his job under out-going Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Howland is credited with bringing more organization to the wide-ranging DPW offices and creditably responding to the massive snowstorms last season.
For another city agency that touches a lot of individual lives and businesses, Gray named Nicholas Majett to be director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The DCRA handles thousands of licenses and inspections for retail, restaurant and businesses in the city. Majett is a deputy director of the DCRA and will replace his boss, Linda Argo.
Lucinda Babers, director of the city's once-feared Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), is being reappointed to the job. Under mayors Williams and Fenty, the DMV office has shed much of its criticism for sluggish inspections and license renewals.
Gray also announced that Harriet Tregoning would continue as director of the city's Office of Planning. Although the name sounds bureaucratic, the office largely shapes what retail development will occur in the District through its land use policies.
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The mayor-elect tapped veteran city employee Ron Collins to be chairman of the office on boards and commissions. Again, a powerful clearing house for hundreds of appointments that Gray will make to help run and advise the government. Collins currently is the deputy secretary of the D.C. Council.
Other appointments include Eric Richardson to head the Office of Cable Television, and Julie Koo as director of the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
