Please tell me you regret voting for Gray

[Anonymous]

Claim:

Your cronies are not qualified to do what they're doing but make lots of money at it anyway.

Responses:

Barry: A mayor should be able to hire his people. (And inaction.)
Fenty: A mayor shouldn't have to answer to anyone. (And inaction.)
Gray: I'm appalled that this happened. (And an investigation to follow.)

Okay, I'm still waiting to see what Gray does and whether he actually makes any changes. The jury is still on out on him but so far, his response has been much better than either Fenty's or Barry's so I'm willing to give him a chance.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I'm still waiting to see what Gray does and whether he actually makes any changes. The jury is still on out on him but so far, his response has been much better than either Fenty's or Barry's so I'm willing to give him a chance.

Yes, the jury is still out. But, his response goes even a little further than you suggest. Sulaimon Brown has been fired. Talib Karim (another controversial hire) has resigned. One of the supporters children (I believe it was Green's son) also resigned. Cherita Whiting is still in her job, but there is a very good argument that she is qualified for that position. Gray made a number of missteps and I am still not convinced this trend is going to end, but at least he is trying to correct things.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, I don't give a crap if the Mayor's college buddy got paid $300k over the course of 4 years. To me, what's important is that the damned work got done. It's clear not a lot of folks commenting her lived through the last 30 years in DC. Because pre-Williams, $300k would have been a drop in the bucket, *and* the work would never have been completed.

I don't even care if Gray "cleans up" the contracting to the point that we don't see $300k going to well-connected businesses. If the work doesn't actually get done, then, as a city, we're fucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Claim:

Your cronies are not qualified to do what they're doing but make lots of money at it anyway.

No, that's just part of it. The allegations are that Gray intentionally tried to subvert the electoral process by using Brown as a shill to attacked Fenty, allowing Gray to take the high road. And that Gray financed (in part) Brown's campaign to achieve that end.

That's very different (and in my mind, worse) than run of the mill nepotism (which shouldn't be countenanced, and was FAR more prevalent in the Fenty administration that in Gray's).

You're correct that many Fenty apologists minimized the allegations of corruption in his administration. But by characterizing the Sulaimon Brown Affair as just another example of nepotism, you're doing the same thing.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify, I don't give a crap if the Mayor's college buddy got paid $300k over the course of 4 years. To me, what's important is that the damned work got done. It's clear not a lot of folks commenting her lived through the last 30 years in DC. Because pre-Williams, $300k would have been a drop in the bucket, *and* the work would never have been completed.

I don't even care if Gray "cleans up" the contracting to the point that we don't see $300k going to well-connected businesses. If the work doesn't actually get done, then, as a city, we're fucked.

I think you can get the work done and not waste $300,000. Why can't you imagine that scenario?

[Anonymous]

DC has a long-history of pay-to-play. Is that a good thing? Of course not. Can I imagine a system where it was eliminated. Yes. But we're not there yet.

The whole point of pay-to-play is that it's almost a requirement to get elected, and be re-elected. Most of the critique of Fenty as being "aloof" and "leaving some behind" stems from him paying off the wrong people--or to few.

If Fenty had given more cash to hype-men like Biddle to be quiet (rather than Gray paying him off to yammer on about how he was "in the pockets of the developers") Fenty would probably still be mayor.

As DC's population grows more and more middle-class, the electorate will be less susceptible to the demogaugery of these grifters and con men, and paying them off will no longer be a requirement for elected office.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:If Fenty had given more cash to hype-men like Biddle to be quiet (rather than Gray paying him off to yammer on about how he was "in the pockets of the developers") Fenty would probably still be mayor. .

You clearly know nothing about Biddle. I don't think I will be able to vote for him due to his ties to Gray and Brown, but he was a Fenty supporter. He is the furthest thing from a "hype-man" that you can get.

As for getting rid of "pay-to-play", we can start on April 26. Join me in identifying the candidate most likely to be an independent (and honest) voice on the Council and let's get behind him (or her).

[Anonymous]

Sorry, doing three things at a time here: for "Biddle" read ["Sulaimon] Brown".

I'll vote for the honest, independent voice, so long as the polls show they have a chance in Hell of winning. Otherwise, I'm voting for "Not Orange".