WASHINGTON — Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed a woman with federal government experience Monday to replace former Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio who is facing sexual harassment allegations.
If confirmed by the council, Nina Albert will lead the Office of Planning and Economic Development.
Albert has experience in D.C. government having worked at DMPED and WMATA, but she was recently a Biden appointee where she served as commissioner of the Government Services Administration. In her former role, Albert oversaw federal buildings.
The appointment comes five months after the Mayor’s former Chief of Staff and former Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio was accused of sexually harassing women. The Mayor’s Office of Legal Council conducted a report, finding that Falcicchio sexually harassed a woman on his staff. A second woman who was seeking to do business with the city later came out with similar accusations.
When asked how this appointment helps rebuild community trust that some say was broken by Falcicchio’s alleged behavior the Mayor said officials are working to build trust every day.
“From day one, former Deputy Mayor Falcicchio’s departure I’ve done exactly what I said I was going to do and that’s how you build trust, you do exactly what you say you’re going to do,” said Bowser.
When asked how she plans to heal divisions within the agency, the Acting Deputy Manager said it is all about leading from a high ethical standard.
"When you lead from a position of ethical standard that is very high people understand that," she said.
Many believe Albert is the perfect pick to carry out Bowser’s five-year plan to grow downtown, adding 15,000 residents by converting vacant federal office buildings into homes and community spaces.
“I actually think having worked for federal government, and GSA in particular, is a great benefit to the District of Columbia,” explained Albert. “I understand the process they’re going through to figure how to consolidate federal real estate.”
Besides immediate and long-term plans to rebuild downtown, the Acting Deputy Mayor said she will focus two additional priorities: Sports and Housing.
With sports, Albert says they are working to attract the Commanders back to D.C.
“We’re really lucky this is a sports town and attracting the Commanders back to the District obviously will be an exciting opportunity that we’re all collaborating and focusing on,” she said.
As for housing, she plans to focus on cost of living, whether it's housing or affordable retail.
“That entire bundle is what makes a city livable. We happen to live in an incredible city with greenspace and access to water so I think we have an opportunity to be the greenest city in the country,” said Albert. “We’re a city of diverse communities, people who care about each other on the community level and we should be building upon that.”
The next step is council confirmation.