One of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s closest confidants throughout her political career is leaving the mayor’s office in a major shake-up.
On Friday, the office announced that John Falcicchio, the mayor’s right-hand man as chief of staff and deputy mayor of planning and economic development, would be leaving his positions.
The mayor’s office thanked Falcicchio for his service during his nine-year tenure but gave no further comment about his departure.
“We also thank Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio for his years of service to the District as he transitions to the private sector,” Bowser’s office wrote in a news release announcing appointments to replace Falcicchio.
Mark Segraves, a reporter with WTOP’s news partner NBC Washington, said the reason for Falcicchio’s departure isn’t known.
“Nobody in the mayor’s office, including the mayor, will say why he left, under what circumstances,” NBC Washington’s Segraves said. “One top aide described to me, ‘There is no daylight between John Falcicchio and Mayor Bowser’ — one of her closest, if not closest, advisers, and second most powerful person in the Bowser administration.”
Lindsey Parker, the former deputy chief of staff since 2015, was appointed to the position of chief of staff, a position long-held by the former political adviser.
Keith Anderson, who ran the city’s department of general services, will step into Falcicchio’s position as interim deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
Falcicchio is the most recent official to leave the Bowser administration since Chris Geldart, the former deputy mayor for public safety and justice, who resigned in October after assault and battery charges were put against him.
Falcicchio himself has not made a public comment.
