Washington Blade - August 7, 2007
Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Speaking at a community health center in the city's Congress Heights section, Fenty announced his decision to appoint Dr. Shannon Lee Hader, an epidemiologist and senior scientific adviser for the Office of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, as director of the AIDS administration, known as HAA.

The announcement of Hader's appointment came one week after Fenty on Aug. 3 nominated Clark Ray, the gay head of the city's Office of Community Relations & Services, as the new director of the Department of Parks & Recreation.

If confirmed by City Council, as expected, Ray, 43, would switch gears from overseeing a small staff in the Office of the Mayor in his current post to taking over a city-wide department with a budget of $42 million and a staff of 618 full-time employees.

Fenty called Hader an experienced and highly knowledgeable AIDS physician with experience managing government AIDS programs in the U.S. and abroad.

He noted that Hader has played a prominent role in the start-up of the Public Health Evaluation Initiative for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, a $15 billion worldwide program to help developing countries address the AIDS epidemic.

Hader told a gathering at the Unity Health Care Center in Congress Heights, where Fenty introduced her, that HIV "doesn't respect boundaries of race, sexual orientation" or other categories of people at risk for AIDS.

"D.C. has tremendous resources and there is tremendous talent and leadership commitment," she said. "There is no reason D.C. should not lead the nation in the fight against HIV."

Hader's appointment to the AIDS administration comes after Dr. Gregg Pane, director of the city's Department of Health, which oversees the AIDS agency, announced in January that he would reorganize HAA's staff and operations before a new director came onboard. At that time, Pane took the unusual step of naming himself interim director of HAA while retaining his post as Health Department director.

The permanent director's position has been vacant since January, when Fenty chose not to retain Marsha Martin, the HAA director under Mayor Anthony Williams.

Hader met last week with gay D.C. Councilmember David Catania (I-At-Large), who serves as chair of the Council's Committee on Health, which monitors the workings of HAA.

Catania expressed support for Hader's appointment, according to a source familiar with Hader's appointment.

Pane said the mayor selected Hader from a group of candidates identified through a national search.

Hader received her medical degree from Columbia University and received training in internal medicine and pediatrics at Duke University Medical School. She studied infectious diseases at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Biographical information about Hader released by the mayor's office states Hader has been an employee of the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention who has been detailed to the global AIDS office as an AIDS expert.

Hader recently completed a three-year tour as director of the CDC's international operations office in Zimbabwe, where she worked on AIDS treatment and prevention programs.

Hader has co-authored a number of AIDS-related research studies published in medical journals and has participated in international symposia addressing ways to curtail the transmission of AIDS in developing countries.

"She is a recognized HIV/AIDS clinician and doctor," said Loren Hartman, a spokesperson for the global AIDS office, which is an arm of the State Department.

One source familiar with HAA said that in the course of his reorganization of HAA, Pane has transferred several DOH officials with proven managerial skills from DOH to HAA, where they would play an important role in the new HAA director's management team.

Fenty announced his decision to nominate Ray as director of Parks & Recreation at an Aug. 3 news conference held in a city recreation center and swimming pool in Northeast Washington.

The mayor called Ray a "results-oriented" leader with more than 20 years of experience in government and the private sector, including service in the Clinton administration on the White House staff and as Neighborhood Services Coordinator under former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams.

Ray also served as director of external affairs at the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission under Mayor Williams. When Fenty won election as mayor last November, he named Ray coordinator of his mayoral transition team.

"I am humbled and honored to be selected for this position," Ray said after Fenty announced his nomination. "Mr. Mayor, I share your vision for making D.C. a world-class city," he said. "I am ready to roll up my sleeves and go to work."

D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who chairs the committee that must approve Ray's nomination before it goes to the full Council, said he supports the nomination, even though he expects some to question whether Ray has sufficient experience in the field of parks and recreation.

"He has been responsive, dedicated and always concerned," Thomas said of Ray, noting that Ray has a proven track record in the area of facilities management.

Thomas said he would call a confirmation hearing on Ray's nomination when Council returns from its recess in September. He predicted the full, 13-member Council would vote to confirm Ray's nomination.

Ray is the fourth openly gay official to be appointed by Fenty to head a city office or agency. In January, days after taking office as mayor, Fenty appointed gay attorney Lars Etzkorn as director of the city's Office of Property Management and gay psychologist Patrick Canavan as chief operating officer of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, the city's public psychiatric hospital.

Fenty later named gay activist Christopher Dyer as interim director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Affairs.

With his nomination of Ray as head of the Parks & Recreation Department, the LGBT Affairs Office is the only remaining cabinet level office or agency for which Fenty has not named a permanent director. Last month, Fenty told members of his LGBT Advisory Committee that he would announce in the middle of August his decision on whether to name Dyer permanent director or name someone else to the position.

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