BY LOU CHIBBARO JR., WASHINGTON BLADE
Jeff Marootian was named interim director of the D.C. Department of Transportation.
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced earlier this month she has named gay former Obama administration official Jeff Marootian as interim director of the D.C. Department of Transportation, known as DDOT, effective Aug. 11.
Marootian had been serving as DDOT's deputy director since March and was tapped by Bowser to temporarily fill in for DDOT Director Leif Dormsjo, who announced in July he was resigning to take a new job with an engineering firm.
The mayor's office has not said whether Marootian is being considered for the permanent DDOT director's position or whether Bowser will arrange for a national search for a new director as she has for the heads of other city agencies and departments.
Prior to joining DDOT earlier this year Marootian served as Assistant Secretary and White House Liaison at the U.S. Department of Transportation during the Obama administration.
He previously worked for the D.C. government from 2003 to 2011, where he held positions at the Metropolitan Police Department and DDOT. He worked on President Obama's 2012 election campaign and also served that year as LGBT Outreach Director at the Democratic National Committee.
Marootian received both a bachelor's and master's degree in Public Administration from George Washington University. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at GW's Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.
He becomes the sixth gay or lesbian official named so far by Bowser to serve in a cabinet-level position in her administration. The others are: Courtney Snowden, Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity; Polly Donaldson, Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development; Matt Brown, Director of the Mayor's Office of the Budget; Sheila Alexander Reid, Director of the Mayor's Office of GLBTQ Affairs; and David Do, Director of the Mayor's Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
