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Gray Screws Up
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jsteele
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Well, the Vince Gray era is not off to a very impressive start. First, Gray has appointed Reuben Charles as head of his transition team. Charles is a relative newcomer to the city who has a flair for fundraising. He also has tax and debt problems in multiple states. He has been organizing fundraisers while hinting that he will be the next chief of staff. Does anyone wonder what he is promising in return for donations?
Second, today Gray missed the funeral of MPDC Officer Paul Dittamo. Keep in mind that one of the leading criticisms of Adrian Fenty is that he sometimes didn't make it to important funerals, adding to his reputation of being a jerk. If there was one thing to which Gray should have been sensitive, it is funerals. Especially funerals of MPDC officers who are killed in the line of duty. Needless to say, the FOP (who endorsed Gray) is not amused. For his part, Fenty did attend the funeral. Let's hope that Gray doesn't continue down this path or it will be a long four years. |
Anonymous
| I can't believe he missed that funeral. The first DCPD Officer to die in the line of duty in more than 3 years! He ought to know better. |
Anonymous
| What about having his victory party at the Love nightclub of which the owner owes over a million dollars in back taxes to the city? Off to a marvelous start. |
Anonymous
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Jeff,
Do you think these are legitimate criticisms of Gray, or is this nitpicking from the Fenty crowd? I mean, the man isn't even in office yet. |
Anonymous
| The more things change the more they remain the same? Let's hope not! |
jsteele
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Well I made the two criticisms included in my original post and I am far from being part of the Fenty crowd. Of the two issues, I think that Ruben Charles is the the one presenting the biggest concern. I personally didn't care that Fenty was a jerk. I did care about his misuse of city resources and habit of giving contracts to his frat buddies. As such, I have great concerns about someone with a very checkered past being in a position to cut deals with financial backers. Much as I said about many of Fenty's appointees, there has to be a better choice than Charles. Gray says his staff didn't inform him about the funeral. I think that is a problem in itself. The staff may well be out to lunch on this and need to be clued in. But, I hope that Gray doesn't blame every misstep on his staff. He needs to remember where the buck stops. |
Anonymous
Really, is any of this shocking? |
Anonymous
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Fenty attended the funeral, but late. And the excuse of Gray was that no one in his office knew that the funeral was happening. Really?! Weren't there significant road closures? And while I was getting ready for work, I heard about it at least half a dozen times that morning so it's hard to believe that nobody in his entire staff knew about it.
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Anonymous
| His staff didn't inform him about the funeral? So what? Gray knew the officer died. It's incumbent upon him to make scheduling priorities clear to his staff. |
Anonymous
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I supported Gray, and would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I definitely share the concerns about Charles, and think the funeral snafu was dumb.
So where is the benefit of the doubt? I'm waiting to see whether these are the first signs of future disappointment or wake-up signals that Gray will heed. I'm still enough of an optimist to hope for the latter outcome. |
Anonymous
| WTOP also reported that when the White House called to invite Gray to lunch or dinner with the President, he asked the caller why Obama did not call himself. Really. This is going to be an interesting 4 years. |
Anonymous
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I am content with his transition team. It looks like he is trying to surround himself with some thoughtful heavy hitters. I hope one of the recommendations ihe receive is to rid the city of Ghandi
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/3/grays-transition-team-mix-familiar-faces-newcomers/ |