Washington, DC: Mayor-Elect Janeese Lewis George Names Transition Team and Launches Police Chief Search

Mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George launched her transition on Wednesday, naming the team that will staff her administration before she takes office on Jan. 2. At the National Press Club, she named Jennifer Levy as transition director. Levy served as the first deputy attorney general in New York and advised the Lewis George campaign. The transition office is based at 899 North Capitol Street NE.

Five co-chairs will lead the work with Levy: Beatriz "BB" Otero, a former D.C. deputy mayor for health and human services; Gautam Raghavan, who directed the White House Office of Presidential Personnel; Greg Akerman, a labor leader who leads the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council; Kimberly Perry, the executive director of DC Action; and Aaron Jenkins, who directed the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships under President Barack Obama. "This is the big leagues," Lewis George told reporters. "It's a group that I trust, and I hope that this shows residents of the District of Columbia that that's where our government is headed, with credible, quality leaders who are ready to deliver on Day 1."

First jobs: hiring, budget and basic services

The team will vet candidates for deputy mayors, agency directors and commissioners, shape the first 100 days, and take applications through a new jobs portal at janeesefordctransition.com. Lewis George said a priority is no interruption in essential services such as trash collection and snow removal during the handover from Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration. The team will run what she called a forensic analysis of city agencies and the budget to find efficiencies and savings, and she raised the possibility of desk audits at some agencies. She confirmed she will keep an economic development office and wants a leader who can cut red tape for businesses and push toward her goal of building 72,000 homes in five years.

A search for a police chief

Lewis George announced a contract with the Police Executive Research Forum to conduct a national and local search for the city's next chief of police. She noted the organization has assisted with more than 200 police executive searches, including in Baltimore and Boston. Jeffery Carroll has served as interim police chief since December 2025. She also said her team is working to set a meeting with President Donald Trump on shared priorities such as the expansion of Union Station and federal land transfers to the city, and that she aims to work with Congress to fully fund D.C. Superior Court so it can hire more magistrate judges and cut case backlogs.

The road to Jan. 2

Lewis George said she will resign her Ward 4 D.C. Council seat on Jan. 2, the same day she is sworn in, and she hopes a special election to fill the vacancy will be held as soon as March 16. She said she will release an accountability scorecard with resident feedback before she takes the oath. The transition and a people's inauguration will be funded with council allocated funds and small dollar fundraising, barring corporate donations from entities currently doing business with the District. Lewis George won the Nov. 3 election with about 84 percent of the vote and succeeds Bowser as the District's first new mayor in 12 years.