Washington Convention Center authority names O'Dell new CEO - Washington Business Journal:

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Board member Joslyn Williamzs was the onlydissenting vote. Williams said his vote was not a reflectionjon O'Dell but rather an expression of his unhappinessd that the authority's boardd did not engage in its usual selectio n process to vet the top "It may be that the candidate before us is reallyt the best, but my position is that I reallyg don't know," Williams said. "I really don'tg know because we have deviated from thenormal procedures." He speculatec that the board was doing so because it feelzs it is in a but added, "I'm not sure what the crisis Board chairwoman Beverly Perry said the board was not reckless in its selectionh of O'Dell.
"We know the candidate before us ... we have not done anythin that is not in the public she said. O'Dell, who is CEO of the , is expectedr be released of his contractr with the commission to take on the new positio through emergency legislation that must be approved bythe D.C. Councikl He already has resigned from theconventionj center's board, where he helpedr negotiate a memorandum of agreement with Bethesda-based , which establishedf the business terms for the convention center's headquarter hotel project.
"The convention centefr plays a vital role in the Districftof Columbia's economy, generating hundreds of millions of dollaras each year in spending by our customer s and their attendees, and my top priority is to ensurs we continue to maximize the impacft of this world-class facility on our O'Dell said in a "We have an important mission, and I am confiden t that our team, which I am honoreed to lead, will He succeeds Reba Pittman Walker, who is steppinhg down at the end of the month. Emily president of the called O'Dellk a "big picture" person who is able to work with a variettyof constituencies.
"You need that in this kind of a