Another setback for the Fenty Administration

WASHINGTON - The Fenty Administration must allow the District's auditor full access to records relating to some of the District's largest development deals, a judge has ruled.

Fenty's Attorney General Peter Nickles had fought to restrict access to the thousands of pages of documents.

In May of 2009, the auditor, Deborah Nichols, used her subpoena power for the first time to compel the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to grant her full access to records of the now defunct Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation.

The Fenty Administration refused, saying the subpoena was too broad and therefore unenforceable. Nichols hired the District's former Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti and the case went to court.

The ruling by D.C. Superior Court Judge Eugene Hamilton marks the first time the legislative branch of the District government has used a subpoena to get records from the executive branch.

"The ruling validates the auditors rights to look at documents of the executive branch," Spagnoletti tells WTOP.

The stalemate between the auditor and the mayor began earlier this year when the D.C. Council passed legislation requiring the auditor to ensure the development deals overseen by the two groups complied with D.C. laws.

The development deals include the new Target in Columbia Heights.

Nickles tells WTOP he finds the judges order surprising and he will seek to block it.

Many of the D.C. councilmembers have complained for some time that the Fenty Administration was not forthcoming with records or information that they request. This marks the first time the issue has made it to court.

The ruling comes just one day after the D.C. Council rejected Fenty's pick to head the Department of Parks and Recreation. The Council rejected the nomination of Ximena Hartsock, saying she had not complied with District laws when it came to closing day care centers.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)