Tommy Wells Named Director of D.C. Environment Department

(Updated at 12:05 p.m.) Departing Ward 6 City Councilman Tommy Wells will be director of the District Department of the Environment, Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser announced this morning (Friday).

Bowser praised the “livable, walkable” brand of her former campaign rival, and his role in instituting the plastic bag fee.

“He’s been focused on how we can green our city and make our city sustainable for his entire time on the Council,” Bowser said. “He’s going to help us clean up the Anacostia.”

Wells, who is the first agency director Bowser has appointed, said he was ready for the challenge of making the District more environmentally friendly.

“As someone who keeps an canoe on the Anacostia River, I could not be more thrilled to have this role in the nation’s capital,” he said.

Wells noted that he will be the first former D.C. Council member to serve in the cabinet of a mayor.

“That’s what states do all the time,” he said to applause.

In other Council news, committee assignments have been made, according to Washington Post reporter Aaron C. Davis. Ward 6 Councilman-elect will sit on the Education, Transportation and the Environment, and Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs committees. Elissa Silverman, a Hill resident and at-large Councilwoman-elect was assigned to the Finance and Revenue, Housing and Community Development and Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs committees.

The announcement was made inside 400 E St. SW, where a new fire station, Hyatt Place hotel and retail are being built now. The LEED Silver building is set to open in fall 2015, officials said.