FentyReElect

Adrian M. Fenty

Mayor, District of Columbia

At 38, District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is one of the youngest mayors of a major metropolitan U.S. city. He was elected in November 2006 with a commanding 89% of the general election vote. A native Washingtonian, Mayor Fenty is the fifth elected mayor of the nation’s capital.

High quality public education, government efficiency and accountability are among the key hallmarks of his first mayoral term. Fenty has been widely known for his commitment to constituent services throughout his political career. As mayor, that commitment to all District of Columbia residents has continued.

A rising political figure, Mayor Fenty has become known nationally for his leadership in urban education reform. The public school system in the District of Columbia had been troubled for years with student test performance scores and graduation rates among the lowest in the nation. During his first months in office, he shocked the city and the nation by bringing the public school system under his administration’s control.

The bold move and the addition of a school chancellor as a direct report have been credited with putting the school system on the path to long-awaited improvements inside and outside the classroom. Elementary and secondary schools showed significant reading and math gains during 2008. The Fenty administration has also embarked on a five-year, maintenance and construction plan to improve school buildings by 2014.

Making life better for all District of Columbia residents is a priority for Mayor Fenty. He added more police officers to patrol the streets and expanded community policing; added thousands of affordable housing units; created the Housing First program which provides permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals and families; and improved the delivery of emergency medical services. He has worked even harder to improve the lives of the city’s children. He has reformed Child Protective Services (CPS) by establishing an experienced, quality leadership team and reducing the backlog of investigations through improvements in social worker retention and recruitment.

Mayor Fenty will remain vigilant about expanding opportunities for District residents as he continues to lay the groundwork for the future. To stimulate the local economy, he will create jobs, spur economic development and invest in infrastructure projects. With the Obama administration in place, Fenty will continue the push for the District to finally get a voting member in Congress. Improving public school education will remain a cornerstone of the Mayor’s agenda, with a special focus on boosting graduation rates and reducing truancy.

On his way to becoming the fifth Mayor of the District of Columbia, Fenty won all 142 precincts in the District’s democratic primary, which was unprecedented, and was sworn in as the fifth mayor on January 2, 2007. Prior to being elected as Mayor in 2006, Fenty had been re-elected for a second District Council term in 2004 and decided to enter the 2006 Mayor’s race. Fenty was elected to the Ward Four council seat in 2000 after defeating a four-term incumbent. Before his election to the Council, he was the lead attorney and counsel for the DC Council Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation.

Mayor Fenty was born in the District on December 6, 1970, and grew up in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood. His parents, owners of the popular Fleet Feet athletic-apparel store, still live in his boyhood home. He attended District of Columbia Public Schools, including Woodrow Wilson High School, before graduating from Mackin High School. Fenty attended Oberlin College then earned a Juris Doctorate from Howard University Law School. After graduating from law school, Fenty served as an ANC Commissioner and President of the 16th Street Neighborhood Association.

A long-distance runner in high school, Mayor Fenty regularly takes part in triathlons and other races in the District and throughout the region. Mayor Fenty lives with his wife Michelle, their twin sons Matthew and Andrew and daughter Aerin, in the District's Crestwood neighborhood.