Colbert King says Fenty being voted out because he didn't hire enough Black officials

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I thought King was rather naive about that. That's certainly not why I voted for Gray. And if black people are voting for Gray because they want they're city "back" -- ain't gonna happen. The drive in from the suburbs isn't getting any easier. White people are here to stay.

Yup. Though I disagree that it's primarily about race. It's about class. The rapidly shrinking poor population want's its city back. But DC is--and will continue to become--a middle-class and upper-class city. That horse has left the stable. What the mayor can do is to say the right things to make the transition a bit less painful. But, no, the days when "the city is for poor people, the suburbs is for rich people" is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how many people Fenty appointed to ranking positions who have no connection or loyalty to the city..

Just want to note that this is approximately number 3,883,283,003th on the list of things I care about. The best available folks in the country should be found and hired. Leaving aside whether Fenty's appointments were, in fact, the best available, but their residency status at the time of their hiring is almost comically irrelevant. Appointing home-grown, incompetent people is probably the single most telling symptom of a dysfunctional city government.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how many people Fenty appointed to ranking positions who have no connection or loyalty to the city..

Just want to note that this is approximately number 3,883,283,003th on the list of things I care about. The best available folks in the country should be found and hired. Leaving aside whether Fenty's appointments were, in fact, the best available, but their residency status at the time of their hiring is almost comically irrelevant. Appointing home-grown, incompetent people is probably the single most telling symptom of a dysfunctional city government.

Yes, but the implication that there are few to no qualified people living in the city is insulting. Don't be surprised if insulted people vote you out of office. If you are not able to implement your agenda because you are rejected at the polls, you might concede that this issue should have been higher on the list of things you care about.

[Anonymous]

Colbert King is definitely not a hack. I have read his columns for years and he has been quite willing to say things that piss off blacks, the entrenched D.C. power structure, and WaPo. Courtland Milloy on the other hand...

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how many people Fenty appointed to ranking positions who have no connection or loyalty to the city..

Just want to note that this is approximately number 3,883,283,003th on the list of things I care about. The best available folks in the country should be found and hired. Leaving aside whether Fenty's appointments were, in fact, the best available, but their residency status at the time of their hiring is almost comically irrelevant. Appointing home-grown, incompetent people is probably the single most telling symptom of a dysfunctional city government.

Yes, but the implication that there are few to no qualified people living in the city is insulting. Don't be surprised if insulted people vote you out of office. If you are not able to implement your agenda because you are rejected at the polls, you might concede that this issue should have been higher on the list of things you care about.

That appointing only home-grown corrupt or second-tier people is symptomatic of a dysfunctional government, and that folks might punish a mayor for being insufficiently boosterish about the "home team" are not mutually incompatible. I agree with you.

As far as good government goes, I say get the best person in the country at whatever field you're wanting to fill. Narrowing the scope of any kind of executive-level search is asinine, whatever the political implications. I think if more politicians cared about doing the best possible job, rather than job security, we'd have a much better world in which to live.

Sometimes protecting the delicate sensibilities of the voters is secondary. My strongest wish is that Gray might piss off as many people as Fenty.

[jsteele]

Colby apparently doesn't bother to read his own columns anymore. Today he says the election had nothing to do with race:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092405076.html

Funny, he says that the fact that black people voted for Mendelson shows that race was not that important. But, both of Mendelson's opponents were also white. So, that is hardly convincing proof.

I agree that race is being incorrectly hyped as a factor. I stated that pretty clearly earlier in this thread. But, it would be nice for King to be a little more consistent in his columns and to put forth more convincing arguments.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how many people who voted for Gray almost voted for Fenty and vice versa. I almost voted for Gray. I literally contemplated tossing a coin before I walked into my voting spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot believe how many people Fenty appointed to ranking positions who have no connection or loyalty to the city..

Just want to note that this is approximately number 3,883,283,003th on the list of things I care about. The best available folks in the country should be found and hired. Leaving aside whether Fenty's appointments were, in fact, the best available, but their residency status at the time of their hiring is almost comically irrelevant. Appointing home-grown, incompetent people is probably the single most telling symptom of a dysfunctional city government.

It seems odd because he was replacing a successful mayor from the same party who was not running for re-election. That left a whole team to pick from, and it's hard to believe that all of them were bad. Williams got a lot of good things done.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:Colby apparently doesn't bother to read his own columns anymore. Today he says the election had nothing to do with race:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092405076.html

Funny, he says that the fact that black people voted for Mendelson shows that race was not that important. But, both of Mendelson's opponents were also white. So, that is hardly convincing proof.

I agree that race is being incorrectly hyped as a factor. I stated that pretty clearly earlier in this thread. But, it would be nice for King to be a little more consistent in his columns and to put forth more convincing arguments.

Yeah I like King myself but this column left me scratching my head. However, I was surprised four years ago when Mendelson beat A. Scott Bolden a well known African American attorney so handily. But how is this proof that people don't vote on race when one white guy beats two other white guys? Just because he got the most votes doesn't mean so much -- except that maybe they were able to educate enough voters that Michael D. Brown is not Michael A. Brown.