D.C.'s deputy mayor for public safety, who was charged with assault in Virginia and faced questions about where he lives, is out after a meeting with Mayor Muriel Bowser, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
Former Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart met face-to-face with Bowser Wednesday, and she accepted his resignation.
“I’m saddened to say that I have accepted the resignation of Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart, but I am proud of the work that we have done together over the last eight years, and I am immensely grateful to Chris for his service to the city,” Bowser said.
“We both agree that the focus should be on the big issues affecting D.C.,” she said.
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“I no longer wanted to be a distraction to the vitally important work of the public safety agencies of the District government," Geldart said in a statement to News4.
Geldart is a longtime District government employee, holding cabinet-level positions under two mayors. Like most high-ranking D.C. government officials, he’s required to live in the District, but when he was charged with assault after an argument in a parking in Arlington Oct. 1, police listed his address as a home in Falls Church, Virginia.
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The Falls Church house is, in fact, where Geldart and his wife and their children live. However, Geldart also rents a 12th-floor apartment in a building in Southeast D.C., where he’s registered to vote and pays income taxes.
“His family lives in another place, and he claims to have established residency in the District, and I think the issue surrounding and all the questions being raised are distracting from his job and my job, and I have accepted his resignation,” Bowser said.
It’s unclear how much time Geldart spends at each residence.
Bowser said City Administrator Kevin Donahue, who previously served as deputy mayor for public safety, will act in that role until after the election in November, at which point the mayor will name a new interim deputy mayor for public safety.
Geldart Charged After Altercation Outside Gym in Arlington
Geldart has been on personal leave since he was accused of assaulting a man Oct. 1 during a parking lot dispute outside the Gold's Gym in Arlington's Ballston neighborhood.
Geldart and his family were leaving the gym in the 3900 block of Wilson Boulevard that afternoon as a man who works at the gym also left, a police report says. Witnesses said Geldart opened a door of his car and may have hit the man’s car with the door. An argument broke out.
Geldart and the other man could be seen on surveillance video from outside the gym facing off and arguing, with both men waving their hands in the air. At one point, the two men make contact before Geldart’s wife steps between them.
On Oct. 3, the alleged victim filed a criminal complaint with the Arlington magistrate’s office. An arrest warrant for assault was issued, and Geldart turned himself in and was released pending a preliminary hearing.
