District Attorney General Linda Singer has resigned, the Washington Post is reporting.
The Post, unsurprisingly, attributes Singer’s decision to frustration over her role vis-a-vis Fenty General Counsel Peter Nickles, a longtime family friend whose office is just around the hall from Fenty’s bullpen on the third floor of the Wilson Building. Nickles has been heavily involved in just about every major executive branch legal maneuver since the beginning of the Fenty term, including negotiating several major court settlements and the sale of Greater Southeast Community Hospital.
Singer, on the other hand, seemed to have been relegated to comparatively penny-ante affairs. A glimpse at her office’s press page reveals a whole lot of scofflaw-property shutdowns and consumer-affairs business. That’s not without certain exceptions: Singer, for instance, has served as the District’s point person on preserving the handgun ban before the Supreme Court.
Nickles, unsurprisingly, has been named interim AG.
Big question: Does this mean Nickles will actually be moving to the District? A bit of controversy erupted when Nickles declined to move from his suburban Virginia home into the District after being named general counsel. The city argued that Nickles’ position was required to be D.C.-domiciled under the law, but the AG’s spot certainly is.
Singer’ resignation letter, in full, after the jump.
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALLINDA SINGER
ATTORNEY GENERALDecember 17, 2007
Dear Mayor Fenty:
It is with great regret that I tender my resignation as Attorney General, effective January 5,2008. It has been a privilege to serve the people of the District of Columbia in this position and I am grateful to you for giving me the opportunity.
I believe that I have raised the quality of the work of the Office of the Attorney General and the enthusiasm and performance of its many dedicated, gifted lawyers and staff. A few of the accomplishments of which I am most proud include: defending your takeover of the public schools, successfully petitioning the Supreme Court to review a decision striking down the District’s handgun ban and launching new initiatives to reduce gun violence, settling the Rosenbaum case, and bringing the first cases against landlords that refuse to abate dangerous lead paint in their housing. I am confident that I am leaving the office in far better shape than I found it and with a strong foundation for my successor to build on.
Thank you again for allowing me to serve in this important role. I wish you, my colleagues in the cabinet and the staff of the Office of the Attorney General every success in pursuing a better District of Columbia.
Sincerely,
Linda Singer