We Need a Mayor who...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this is the best you can do to convince me to vote for Fenty, you are doing a very bad job. I'm still waiting for you to tell me about all of the great things Fenty has done. Thus far, you have not addressed any real issues.

Well. Making public school teachers truly accountable is a REAL thing. His and Rhee's policies will take time to ripple across the city.

The DMV improvements are HUGE. If you don't think so then you weren't living here in the 80's and 90's. It used to be like trying to gain an audience with Jabba the Hutt.

School Facilities are improving. That is huge, too.

[Anonymous]

The DMV improvements were started and mostly done under Williams.

Gray will not undo advancements in government in online initiatives. He is not a luddite.

Fenty on the other hand, has a trail of issues, Peacaholics (see this week's City Paper), Ron Moten, Sinclair Skinner, Omar Karim etc who have been the beneficiaries of significant amounts of DC taxpayer money because they are fraternity brothers. or other connected people. At least Barry awarded crony contracts to people who were moderately qualified - certainly moreso than these jokers.

Can you come back and tell us that these contracts are actually acceptable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is the best you can do to convince me to vote for Fenty, you are doing a very bad job. I'm still waiting for you to tell me about all of the great things Fenty has done. Thus far, you have not addressed any real issues.

Well. Making public school teachers truly accountable is a REAL thing. His and Rhee's policies will take time to ripple across the city.

The DMV improvements are HUGE. If you don't think so then you weren't living here in the 80's and 90's. It used to be like trying to gain an audience with Jabba the Hutt.

School Facilities are improving. That is huge, too.

Wait, I did the whole vehicle registration thing when Williams was in office. All of that stuff you love was already there before Fenty came into office. They had the web services, the better queueing system, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't care about who's black, who's white or who's purple. All I know is that if Johnny does not live West of the Park, he still can't read and is still going to jail! The unemployment rate and high school graduation rates have not gone down under Fenty's Administration. One of my major concerns is that there has been no movement for the rest of DC. The Mayor took a MILLION dollars out of Adult Education programs, so even as an adult, Johnny still won't learn how to read! It came out of the Office of the Superintendent's budget and Gray put it back in. Have you met the Superintendent of Education? Making sure poor children get an education is definitely not her priority! All she did was replace the front office with Bush appointees and has produced NOTHING! That's why you never hear her name mentioned even though she represents all students in the city, charter and DCPS. Why doesn't the Mayor bring out Victor Reinoso, Deputy Mayor for Education. Oh, because no one knows what he does! Don't pick a few things and tell me if we don't vote for Fenty, the city will go backwards. Point to some REAL progress. If that's better service at DMV, great. If that's bike lanes, great. But that is all that I can think of for his accomplishments.

The schools west of the park have always been and will always be really good. Show me improvement elsewhere, and we can talk. Did you know that the number of special ed kids in private school under Rhee's leadership has almost doubled??? That special ed costs the city more than $300MM yearly??? I bet you didn't know that.[b]

Actually. I did know that. These are systemic problems that Fenty is working on. These things take time, people! Washington's black population is wailing like some helpless third world nation beating it's chest at the UN. It is shameful. NO one has a magic wand for us. You cannot simply keep changing captains in midstream and hope to get across the river. We are getting there. 4 years is NOT enough time to FIX EVERYTHING!

A CULTURAL SEA CHANGE IN VALUES.

That is what Fenty has brought to Washington. He is NOT perfect. Politicians are generally scoundrels, grow up! FENTY's heart and his policies are in the right place.

Who is voting for FENTY?

Whites who are older and/or childless or who do not have school aged children.

Whites with children in private school.

BLACKS who cluelessly think that Fenty isn't Black enough.

Blacks or whites that have an irrational hatred of Asian people (Rhee).

Period.

Williams did a lot more with each of his terms. I don't think you can say that it's just a matter of time. And we didn't change captains during Williams' terms. So I think it's the captain, not the crew that is the issue here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is the best you can do to convince me to vote for Fenty, you are doing a very bad job. I'm still waiting for you to tell me about all of the great things Fenty has done. Thus far, you have not addressed any real issues.

Well. Making public school teachers truly accountable is a REAL thing. His and Rhee's policies will take time to ripple across the city.

The DMV improvements are HUGE. If you don't think so then you weren't living here in the 80's and 90's. It used to be like trying to gain an audience with Jabba the Hutt.

School Facilities are improving. That is huge, too.

Wait, I did the whole vehicle registration thing when Williams was in office. All of that stuff you love was already there before Fenty came into office. They had the web services, the better queueing system, etc.

Will you Williams lovers let it go! HE did not implement the online standards. Williams had a static rudimentary website for DC. It was very basic. Fenty moved it light years forward. Williams is Not. a. candidate. Fenty was the connected guy with 2 blackberries on his belt. He is dragging this city kicking and screaming into line with other modern cities.

Gray. sob. Oh, the humanity.

Blargh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is the best you can do to convince me to vote for Fenty, you are doing a very bad job. I'm still waiting for you to tell me about all of the great things Fenty has done. Thus far, you have not addressed any real issues.

Well. Making public school teachers truly accountable is a REAL thing. His and Rhee's policies will take time to ripple across the city.

The DMV improvements are HUGE. If you don't think so then you weren't living here in the 80's and 90's. It used to be like trying to gain an audience with Jabba the Hutt.

School Facilities are improving. That is huge, too.

Wait, I did the whole vehicle registration thing when Williams was in office. All of that stuff you love was already there before Fenty came into office. They had the web services, the better queueing system, etc.

Will you Williams lovers let it go! HE did not implement the online standards. Williams had a static rudimentary website for DC. It was very basic. Fenty moved it light years forward. Williams is Not. a. candidate. Fenty was the connected guy with 2 blackberries on his belt. He is dragging this city kicking and screaming into line with other modern cities.

Gray. sob. Oh, the humanity.

Blargh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can keep this city's online conveniences moving forward. Doesn't anyone on DCUM remember the hassle of not being able to do a lot of the DMV processes online? DC.gov . I love it. I know it isn't perfect but much of the old pain in the ass things that you used to have to do in person can now be done online.

Fenty is right. If you grew up in DC and you are 35 and over you must remember. The city didn't work. It was a national joke. But if you were from here, it was a private shame and a source of rageful frustration. How is a 67 year old (old guard YELLAH, sorry folks) going to help DC move our city forward technologically and educationally. Culturally, politically, GRAY stands for everything that was wrong with the OLD DC. And I loved many things that were good about the OLD DC: "7th Avenue" Fish Frys, RFK Stadium, Rock Creek Park's rest area BB-Q's at a picnic table, WHUR, WOL, the "old 9th Street corridor", chess at Dupont Circle, cheap ribs on 14th, $5 barbershop haircuts and conversation, fried chicken in a paper bag...but come on, people--Old school was good and fun but it really did NOT run any where near efficiently. And Johnny couldn't read, Johnny went to Lorton, Johnny went to SuperMax and you know it. And if you don't know what any of this means, then you are dangerously in denial or uninformed.

When will regular black people stop falling for the old divide and conquer style rhetoric of the Gray campaign. FENTY. He is our guy. He went to Coolidge for $%$#$! sakes.

They're (Yes, the "plan") trying to make you think he's not "black enough".

Don't fall for it.

Oh, brother! Fenty didn't fix anything. The man that brought DC back from the ghetto was a 2-term bow-tie wearing carpetbagging nerd named Tony Williams.

And he was AWESOME.

Fenty acts like he's still in short pants, the arrogance of claiming credit for someone else's work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is the best you can do to convince me to vote for Fenty, you are doing a very bad job. I'm still waiting for you to tell me about all of the great things Fenty has done. Thus far, you have not addressed any real issues.

Well. Making public school teachers truly accountable is a REAL thing. His and Rhee's policies will take time to ripple across the city.

The DMV improvements are HUGE. If you don't think so then you weren't living here in the 80's and 90's. It used to be like trying to gain an audience with Jabba the Hutt.

School Facilities are improving. That is huge, too.

Wait, I did the whole vehicle registration thing when Williams was in office. All of that stuff you love was already there before Fenty came into office. They had the web services, the better queueing system, etc.

Will you Williams lovers let it go! HE did not implement the online standards. Williams had a static rudimentary website for DC. It was very basic. Fenty moved it light years forward. Williams is Not. a. candidate. Fenty was the connected guy with 2 blackberries on his belt. He is dragging this city kicking and screaming into line with other modern cities.

Gray. sob. Oh, the humanity.

Blargh.

The Internet Wayback Machine says you are wrong: http://web.archive.org/web/20060110184021/http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/online.shtm

Liar. Busted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A CULTURAL SEA CHANGE IN VALUES.

That is what Fenty has brought to Washington. He is NOT perfect. Politicians are generally scoundrels, grow up! FENTY's heart and his policies are in the right place.

Who is voting for FENTY?

Whites who are older and/or childless or who do not have school aged children.

Whites with children in private school.

BLACKS who cluelessly think that Fenty isn't Black enough.

Blacks or whites that have an irrational hatred of Asian people (Rhee).

Period.

Williams did a lot more with each of his terms. I don't think you can say that it's just a matter of time. And we didn't change captains during Williams' terms. So I think it's the captain, not the crew that is the issue here.

If Fenty's heart is in the right place, why is his hand in the taxpayer's cookie jar? WTF was he thinking awarding development contracts to his fraternity brothers as if DC is his private fiefdom to enrich himself and his friends?! It's well known that they didn't do any work and just passed it through to subcontractors, lining their pockets with the majority of the treasury's expense.

I can't wait for that arrogant corrupt bastard to get his comeuppance.

11 days and counting!

[Anonymous]

I'm maddest about charter schools having to occupy office buildings, cos the closed school buildings are sold off to developers...We need a mayor who'll OBEY the LAW....and Fenty does not seem to be that mayor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm maddest about charter schools having to occupy office buildings, cos the closed school buildings are sold off to developers...We need a mayor who'll OBEY the LAW....and Fenty does not seem to be that mayor

Well, that actually made sense. Our PP&E budget was way out of whack with other public school systems. We were maintaining too many dilapidated buildings, and it was taking away dollars from teaching. Those buildings needed to be sold off. That's not an endorsement of everything done in the name of educational reform in DC. But the numbers don't lie. We were spending far too much on buildings for the number of students in the school system.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure that this, of all the Fenty/Gray discussions, is the place to raise this, but I don't think it's worth it's own board, and this is as good as any.

The Post today had an article about Mary Cheh's endorsement of Vince Gray http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090205356.html. Because she is a member of the government and a member of his own party with whom he has to work, and also because he wants and needs support from her constituents, I would expect a response along the lines of "I am disappointed that CM Cheh did not choose to support me, but I respect the fact that she and Vince Gray have worked together and that she has chosen to support him." Instead:

"Mary Cheh has chosen to align herself against education reform, against public safety and against the improvements of the last three years," said Sean Madigan, a Fenty spokesman. "More importantly, she has shown she is more interested in cutting political deals than in listening to her neighbors."

I assume Madigan was speaking for Fenty, but it seems amazingly harmful to his own campaign. I'm not in Ward 3, but I still feel resentful at the unnecessary insult to Cheh. Negative campaigning against Gray may do more harm to him than to Fenty, but negative campaigning against Cheh dirties Fenty without even sullying Gray.

Does anyone else see this as other than a self-destructive hissy-fit?

[Anonymous]

DC needs a mayor who realizes that the entire system (including the school system) is a cesspool filled with people who will steal from elementary school kids, etc. There is no accounting or accountability. And there won't be under eitther Gray or Fenty. So - I don't live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC needs a mayor who realizes that the entire system (including the school system) is a cesspool filled with people who will steal from elementary school kids, etc. There is no accounting or accountability. And there won't be under eitther Gray or Fenty. So - I don't live there.

It shows. You have nothing to offer but a diatribe you've heard oft-repeated by others such yourself who don't actually know anything about DC. "Entire system is a cesspool etc. etc. etc." is the sort of overly-broad and ill-informed criticism that could only be uttered by someone who is actually ignorant of their subject.

Crawl back into your hole, you are less than worthless here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else see this as other than a self-destructive hissy-fit?

That's the "nice" Fenty who works well with others. Could you imagine the earlier Fenty who was cold and aloof?