Neil Albert

The Washington Business Journal says that Greg O’Dell, the head of the Washington Convention Center Authority, is first in line for Neil Albert‘s old position as deputy mayor for planning and economic development.

Albert, of course, became city administrator when the current guy, Dan Tangherlini, decided to take a position at the Treasury. Previously, our own Loose Lips placed O’Dell atop a list of names being whispered for the job.

LL’s take: “Currently CEO of the Washington Convention Center Authority, O’Dell’s got a crackerjack reputation for getting things done—not least because as president of the Sports and Entertainment Commission he presided over the on-time completion of Nationals Park. The timing is good, too—with the SEC folding into the WCCA, either he or SEC chief Erik Moses will be in need of a job. Working against him: He might be just too nice of a guy.”

WBJ’s take: “O’Dell’s name has surfaced partly because he used to work under Albert and in part because his convention center authority will be absorbing the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, putting he and commission CEO Erik Moses in the same shop. Some observers have suggested Moses could then be tapped to run the convention center…Fenty thanked O’Dell and [Valerie] Santos-Young in his remarks to the D.C. Building Industry Association May 14, something [one source] took note of. “He made it a point to call out Greg O’Dell and Valerie Santos-Young. Based on that, maybe he is looking at them,” Soto said.