The mayor’s case in support of DC’s embattled 911 director
With Tuesday's DC Council vote Mayor Muriel Bowser comes out swinging in an effort to save Karima Holmes's job
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At a Friday press conference, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser showed clear support for embattled 911 director Karima Holmes. Holmes was brought back in March of this year to run the Office of Unified Communications. Pending her confirmation she has been serving as acting director. Holmes left the agency in January 2021 after five years as director. Holmes faces a confirmation vote on Tuesday by the entire DC Council. Charles Allen, the chairman of the committee with oversight of OUC has recommended disapproval of the nomination. Both Allen and DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson believe they have the votes to end Holmes’s career at OUC. They suggested Mayor Bowser withdraw the nomination.
Bowser and Holmes each made the case that Holmes is the right person for the job. They point out Holmes is a leader with a national reputation in the 911 field.
STATter911 has written extensively in the last six years about Karima Holmes and her leadership at DC 911. Because of that, I thought it would fair to not weigh in with my opinions or previous reporting in this post. Instead, watch and listen to everything the mayor and her 911 director had to say on Friday about the nomination and the mayor’s support for Holmes. I will follow-up soon with a separate post about Tuesday’s vote.
