Ranking DC's Mayors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

If not for Michelle Rhee, he probably should be ranked higher. She was a fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Like forgetting to plow NW any time it snowed? Barry turned DC into a massive jobs program and we're still stuck with the massive bureaucracy that he put in place

Barry is the singular reason that MPD is not a violent, nihilistic, corrupt, violent and power hungry force like NYPD or Chicago PD. There was a moment when it could have went the other way, but for his “jobs program” promoting hiring, retention and promotion of Black cops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gray was actually a pretty good mayor in terms of policies and direction of the city — people rank him lower because the campaign against Fenty was so ugly and because of the alleged improprieties in his campaign, though.

Really? Alleged? I watched the debates.

Yes, alleged — he was never even charged with any crime, much less convicted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

If not for Michelle Rhee, he probably should be ranked higher. She was a fraud.

I worked with her when I was at OSSE. She was definitely a fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

If not for Michelle Rhee, he probably should be ranked higher. She was a fraud.

I worked with her when I was at OSSE. She was definitely a fraud.

But we forget. She was able to close a lot of DC Schools that were materially under enrolled. I wish there was a more strategic manner this could have been done. But DCPS was wasting a lot of money keeping schools that were at 25 or 30% capacity open.

By closing schools they were able to consolidate resource use.

The rest of what she did was all about her - and absolutely a power trip. Her resume was an aggressive interpretation of facts - and she really did not understand how long term the items she put in were going to play out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ranking the Mayors of the District

1. Tony Williams
2. Bowser
3. Walter Washington
4. Fenty
5. Gray
6. Pratt-Kelly
7. Barry

Tony Williams and then there is no second place. Rest just are awful. Bowser may get to number 2 before done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

If not for Michelle Rhee, he probably should be ranked higher. She was a fraud.

I worked with her when I was at OSSE. She was definitely a fraud.

Best hire made. Not given enough support.

[Anonymous]

Tony Williams gets pilloried for "gentrification". DC needed gentrification. Barry's incompetent patronage system had driven the middle class (white and most of black) out of the city. Williams understood the reality that DC needed more employed taxpayers and that the surrounding jurisdictions needed to shoulder their share of poverty. DC became a dynamic city over a 20 year period thanks to Williams' vision. If people got "left behind" in this city over the last 20 years, it is because they have failed to take advantage of the numerous city programs designed to lift people out of poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Barry was awful. A crooked, corrupt racist. While the rest of the country was laughing at us, Washington DC was suffering.

Tony Williams was the Best DC Mayor Ever.

- yet the city spent funds to build a statue honoring him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Barry was awful. A crooked, corrupt racist. While the rest of the country was laughing at us, Washington DC was suffering.

Tony Williams was the Best DC Mayor Ever.

- yet the city spent funds to build a statue honoring him.

I think the city can be grateful to him in many ways. The MPD is his best legacy and it’s probably the best big city police force you will find and it’s all because of Barry. That deserves a statue.

The complexion of the District’s police force has long been a political issue. In 1966, when he was a militant civil-rights activist, Marion Barry called the then majority-white DC cops an “occupation army.” When he got to be mayor, Barry appointed a black chief and pushed him (and his successor) to recruit black District residents, broadening hiring standards to do it. After the crack epidemic of the late 1980s and early ’90s pushed the murder rate close to 500 a year, Congress forced DC to hire some 1,500 recruits over two years. Thanks to Barry’s hiring policies, most were African-American, and by 1998 the force was 67 percent black.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/05/26/washington-dc-police-race/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No. He was an arrogant little sh!t.

This is harsh but I have to agree. I voted enthusiastically for Fenty in the Democratic primary but it was only during the general election campaign that he announced he would take over the public schools. I was angry that he only announced this *after* he won the primary, which was in effect winning the general. But later I could see his point and thought maybe he was right....except that he hired Michelle Rhee as DCPS Chancellor who was another arrogant administrator who thought she could hire and fire her way to excellence. Rhee just created more turbulence. Was sooooo glad to see Fenty go!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No. He was an arrogant little sh!t.

I agree he was arrogant.

But - he got the parks turned around and he did a lot for DCPS.

Once you have parks and schools - families are more committed to the city.

He tried but the way he tried wasn't effective - at least in my neighborhood. Fenty's administration spent a lot of money fixing up the local parks but it was without community input and didn't really help that much. However, under Bowser we had a lot of community input as to what we wanted in the parks and the overall change has been really good. I say all this while at the same time I'm no fan of Bowser. But I have to admit that the process for getting community buy-in on the changes to the parks was much better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Like forgetting to plow NW any time it snowed? Barry turned DC into a massive jobs program and we're still stuck with the massive bureaucracy that he put in place

Barry is the singular reason that MPD is not a violent, nihilistic, corrupt, violent and power hungry force like NYPD or Chicago PD. There was a moment when it could have went the other way, but for his “jobs program” promoting hiring, retention and promotion of Black cops.

I've only lived in the District since '09, but MPD is certainly unique in this regard, and if he was the force behind this he deserves credit. Unfortunately, Barry is also the reason for control board had to take over, so his legacy is a mixed bag, to say the least. However, I'm not willing to ignore some of the good things he may have done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Like forgetting to plow NW any time it snowed? Barry turned DC into a massive jobs program and we're still stuck with the massive bureaucracy that he put in place

Barry is the singular reason that MPD is not a violent, nihilistic, corrupt, violent and power hungry force like NYPD or Chicago PD. There was a moment when it could have went the other way, but for his “jobs program” promoting hiring, retention and promotion of Black cops.

I've only lived in the District since '09, but MPD is certainly unique in this regard, and if he was the force behind this he deserves credit. Unfortunately, Barry is also the reason for control board had to take over, so his legacy is a mixed bag, to say the least. However, I'm not willing to ignore some of the good things he may have done.

I would like to hear more about the good things he did. I know he was credited with creating the summer youth employment program which I think has been good for the District but this info about the MPD is new to me. By the time DC was on my radar, Barry seemed like an old addict who told people what they wanted to hear. However, clearly he did do some good things for the city and I'd like to know more about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd put Fenty over Bowser and Washington.

No way.

1. Williams
2. Barry (people forget all the good he did at first)
3. Bowser (that's really sad that she's this high)
4. Walter Washington
5. Gray
6. Fenty (I worked in his administration, ugh!)
7. Pratt-Kelly

Like forgetting to plow NW any time it snowed? Barry turned DC into a massive jobs program and we're still stuck with the massive bureaucracy that he put in place

Barry’s version of “snow removal” was done with a straw and mirror.

Best one-liner on DCUM in a while!