Yep. Like when Trayon White said that the Rothschilds controlled the climate to create natural disasters to gain ownership of black cities, and Mendelson kept eating his sandwich and said nothing. A real profile in courage/master of adulting.
And what did Erin Palmer do?
Who cares? She wasn't a colleague of his nor the Chair of the Council. If Cheh had the cojones to say something, Mendo should have, too.
What will she do if she wins? Will she move to censure White?
Yep. Like when Trayon White said that the Rothschilds controlled the climate to create natural disasters to gain ownership of black cities, and Mendelson kept eating his sandwich and said nothing. A real profile in courage/master of adulting.
And what did Erin Palmer do?
Who cares? She wasn't a colleague of his nor the Chair of the Council. If Cheh had the cojones to say something, Mendo should have, too.
What will she do if she wins? Will she move to censure White?
One hopes if a colleague spouts antisemitic and/or racist claptrap she will put her sandwich down and tell him his language has no place on the council or in society writ large and that she would not with hate crimes and antisemitism surging, do nothing/say noting save chomp-chomp on said sandwich?
Yep. Like when Trayon White said that the Rothschilds controlled the climate to create natural disasters to gain ownership of black cities, and Mendelson kept eating his sandwich and said nothing. A real profile in courage/master of adulting.
And what did Erin Palmer do?
Who cares? She wasn't a colleague of his nor the Chair of the Council. If Cheh had the cojones to say something, Mendo should have, too.
What will she do if she wins? Will she move to censure White?
One hopes if a colleague spouts antisemitic and/or racist claptrap she will put her sandwich down and tell him his language has no place on the council or in society writ large and that she would not with hate crimes and antisemitism surging, do nothing/say noting save chomp-chomp on said sandwich?
Okay. But what is Erin Palmer going to do about it?
Anonymous wrote:Voting for Erin. Phil's redistricting shenanigans lost my vote
I was considering a vote for Erin but then I saw that Cleveland Park’s clownish commissioner Sauleh Siddiqui and redistricting tsar Bob Ward are backing her. No thanks!
Yep. Like when Trayon White said that the Rothschilds controlled the climate to create natural disasters to gain ownership of black cities, and Mendelson kept eating his sandwich and said nothing. A real profile in courage/master of adulting.
And what did Erin Palmer do?
Who cares? She wasn't a colleague of his nor the Chair of the Council. If Cheh had the cojones to say something, Mendo should have, too.
What will she do if she wins? Will she move to censure White?
One hopes if a colleague spouts antisemitic and/or racist claptrap she will put her sandwich down and tell him his language has no place on the council or in society writ large and that she would not with hate crimes and antisemitism surging, do nothing/say noting save chomp-chomp on said sandwich?
Okay. But what is Erin Palmer going to do about it?
Why isn’t Erin Palmer going to do anything about this disgusting antisemitism on the council if she’s elected?
Anonymous wrote:Well, this went way off track. Thanks for some of the perspectives here (some of the others are... wow). I'm going to vote for Erin Palmer and encourage my friends and neighbors to do so also. Fingers crossed for a good change!
Are you referring to the PP who accused anyone who expressed even mild reservations about Palmer's lack of experience of being sexist? Agreed, that was pretty off track and unhelpful.
I'm still on the fence on this one.
The whole back and forth bickering on that is just... I don't know. People need less free time or something. I just want a decent person as with principles as council chair. There are some helpful points made earlier in this post that cemented my vote for Palmer, but not all the bickering.
Do you mind pulling out the key points that swayed you? After reading it all, bickering aside, I feel much less sure of what she actually stands for and wants to accomplish. General ethics are important of course but I don't know how that translates into leadership for the board.
No, I am not reading this 16 pages of hot mess again. Sorry.
Haha. I didn't mean literally pull out. I meant, recap what swayed you. But, no worries. I think I'm where I need to be to fill out my ballot.
Anonymous wrote:Well, this went way off track. Thanks for some of the perspectives here (some of the others are... wow). I'm going to vote for Erin Palmer and encourage my friends and neighbors to do so also. Fingers crossed for a good change!
Are you referring to the PP who accused anyone who expressed even mild reservations about Palmer's lack of experience of being sexist? Agreed, that was pretty off track and unhelpful.
I'm still on the fence on this one.
The whole back and forth bickering on that is just... I don't know. People need less free time or something. I just want a decent person as with principles as council chair. There are some helpful points made earlier in this post that cemented my vote for Palmer, but not all the bickering.
Do you mind pulling out the key points that swayed you? After reading it all, bickering aside, I feel much less sure of what she actually stands for and wants to accomplish. General ethics are important of course but I don't know how that translates into leadership for the board.
No, I am not reading this 16 pages of hot mess again. Sorry.
Haha. I didn't mean literally pull out. I meant, recap what swayed you. But, no worries. I think I'm where I need to be to fill out my ballot.
Ok Phew, good luck! And with the rest of the ballot.
Anonymous wrote:Voting for Erin. Phil's redistricting shenanigans lost my vote
I was considering a vote for Erin but then I saw that Cleveland Park’s clownish commissioner Sauleh Siddiqui and redistricting tsar Bob Ward are backing her. No thanks!
Anti-redistricting firebrand Katherine Samolyk is a big supporter of Erin Palmer's as well, going so far as to host an event for Erin. It's almost as if Erin is staid enough to garner supporters on both sides of the redistricting aisle!
Anonymous wrote:Voting for Erin. Phil's redistricting shenanigans lost my vote
I was considering a vote for Erin but then I saw that Cleveland Park’s clownish commissioner Sauleh Siddiqui and redistricting tsar Bob Ward are backing her. No thanks!
Anti-redistricting firebrand Katherine Samolyk is a big supporter of Erin Palmer's as well, going so far as to host an event for Erin. It's almost as if Erin is staid enough to garner supporters on both sides of the redistricting aisle!
Sounds like Palmer is wishy-washy, then, if she's playing both sides. I mean, I guess all politicians are shady, though.
Anonymous wrote:Voting for Erin. Phil's redistricting shenanigans lost my vote
I was considering a vote for Erin but then I saw that Cleveland Park’s clownish commissioner Sauleh Siddiqui and redistricting tsar Bob Ward are backing her. No thanks!
Anti-redistricting firebrand Katherine Samolyk is a big supporter of Erin Palmer's as well, going so far as to host an event for Erin. It's almost as if Erin is staid enough to garner supporters on both sides of the redistricting aisle!
Sounds like Palmer is wishy-washy, then, if she's playing both sides. I mean, I guess all politicians are shady, though.
Or just that Mendo is so toxic, incompetent and corrupt that he may turn pocket aces into a fold.
Anonymous wrote:Why do you think Palmer would get run over by Bowser (if she's still Mayor) more than Mendelson? If he has some kind of method to standing up to her I can't see it. Maybe once or twice on minor issues, but that comes off as performative to cover for when he does nothing on bigger deal issues.
How's that sports betting thing going?
Palmer literally has no experience dealing with Bowser and politics at this level. That’s the problem. Politics is not as simple as just “standing up” to adversaries/powerful interests.
This. I don’t love Mendo but Chair is about more than simply having the right opinions. If Palmer can’t bring people with her, it doesn’t matter if I agree with her. And what experience dies she have with major stakeholders to do that? None.
What makes you think Bowser will be re-elected?
I don’t think White has gotten the necessary traction to unseat her. I think early voting has worked against him— too many people I talk to still don’t really know his deal, and some have already voted.
He should have run as a better centrist.
This. But the problem is that is may not actually be a better centrist.
Anonymous wrote:Ok, I was all set to vote for Palmer for Chair but I'm working on my ballot this week and doing lots of reading and have started getting cold feet. I'm frustrated with Mendo and agree the Council needs fresh faces and I like the idea of new leadership. I think my political align pretty well with Palmer and I like her personally -- she has a great attitude and seems easy to work with and I could see that translating to a good leadership style.
But I'm suddenly getting nervous. Council Chair has a lot of power. It's a big job with a ton of logistics. Palmer has a great resume and I'm a huge fan of her advocacy. But she's never been in a role with this many moving parts, this level of logistics. I am stressed about it. ANC can be a challenging job but it's very small compared to Chair. Her day job has always been as more of a team player.
She also has proposals for changing the way the Council works. I don't disagree with her proposals (re-forming the education subcommittee and hiring on more staff to draft and review legislation) but that kind of change can be hard and she has no track record with it -- no track record with building teams (other than her campaign team, which is smaller than typical because she decided to do public funding) or building a program from the ground up. I have done those things and it is really challenging work.
It's hard to imagine voting for Mendo (though I've done it in the past so it's not THAT hard) but I'm just starting to wonder if Palmer's enthusiasm and style can overcome these deficits in experience. Can some of Palmers supporters make the argument in favor? I want to vote for her but I need to get past this reservation.
(please don't accuse me of being a Mendo plant -- I genuinely want to vote for Palmer and want to hear the best argument in her favor on the issue of experience and leadership ability, I have been angry with Mendo since the Council overturned Prop. 77)
Being an effective advocate, as she has been as ANC, requires strong organization and leadership skills. If she has gotten results for her ANC, and it sounds like she has, it’s because she knows how to organize, engage, and be persuasive. In addition, she will have a staff as Council chair, and if she’s smart she’ll hire some experienced hands.
It’s true that this will be a leap for her, but that’s not an argument to keep someone in office who seems completely uninterested in representing and advocating for the people who elected him—in some cases actively working against their expressed interest (e.g. leading the effort to overturn the results of Initiative 77).
He also refuses to engage on development of the RFK site, which is highly time-sensitive given the likely end of Democratic congressional rule after the midterms (more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/05/31/commanders-stadium-dc-norton-bowser-mendelson/); I’m no Bowser fan, but it seems clear that he’s the hold-up, and that’s absolutely disqualifying given the stakes.
He needs to go, and I’m confident that Erin Palmer is up to the job.
ANC is basically high school student government. She’s going to be absolutely steam rollered by DC interest groups and will as a result focus on only the most inane virtue signaling stuff.
Why are you so invested in undermining her experience? ANC work is real, on-the-ground work on behalf of constituents. In the best case, it’s what people who care about their communities do to make them better and to make government more effective. That’s what she has done. She has gotten results for her constituents, which includes engaging with “special interests.” You really want to make it seem small potatoes and meaningless, and to belittle her. Why?
lol I know what ANC work is. One step above PTA.
Again, belittling. PTA work is real work, too—often done by women and rarely appreciated for what it accomplishes. Now I think I understand why you’re so invested in this attack.
Are you also the person belittling her work as a lawyer and at AU?
Multiple people are pointing out she’s a lightweight. And it has nothing to do with gender.
ANCs are a useless blight on DC governance. Any candidate who claims ANC experience as a qualification for office gets an automatic demerit from me. PTA president would actually be more persuasive come to think about it.
Ummmm. It has everything to do with gender. Haven't heard this critique of Matt Frumin.
I am a woman and I'm one of the people who is worried she does not have the experience to be Chair. I'm not critiquing Matt Frumin because I don't live in Ward 3 and he's not on my ballot. However, I've also noted that I'd feel so much more comfortable voting for Palmer to be a member of the council than Chair. Why is she running for Chair instead of At-Large? I really don't get it.
I am not a fan of Mendo's but before he became chair, he had almost 30 years of experience in DC politics, including over 10 years as an ANC (including holding positions within the committee like treasurer, on top of normal ANC duties), significant experience within DC's Democratic State Committee, plus three years as an At-Large member. I'm not saying every incoming chair has to have that kind of experience (and in fact it might be good to have someone with more experience outside of government for a variety of reasons) but it is very, very hard to take Palmer seriously when you are comparing her to this.
Chair is a big job. It is not enough to simply be passionate and articulate and share my views. It is reasonable to be unsure that Palmer is up for it, and when the question is raised and then waived away by Palmer or her supporters, it does not instill confidence. If she flounders and struggles and gets criticized, will that be waived away too?
If you are unable to acknowledge that gender, in part, is part of the critique of Palmer, it is hard to believe that you share, e.g., Palmer's/Democratic Party views seriously. One suspects you would have chafed at Elissa Silverstein running for chair, too. We take the candidates for who they are. Palmer went to law school and had kids. Mendelson did not go to graduate school and did not have custody of his kid. Different experiences. She's younger, too. Of course she has less overall experience - but every millennial is going to have less experience than every Boomer, particularly white male Boomers. If the answer is we can only trust old white men, I give you Evans and Graham. Mendelson knew Evans was bad for years - and did nothing - because they are close friends. Time for some clean hands to steer the council.
Ok wow, let's get started:
(1) I didn't say gender plays no role in every criticism of Palmer. I said it plays no role in MY concerns about her as chair. I'm sure there are people for whom her gender makes her seem less qualified. But given that I'm a woman with a REMARKABLY similar background to Palmer, I don't think that's it. I have friends from law school who are women who are my age (early 40s) who I think could do the job. They have all actually run stuff before. I also know a number of organizers in DC, also women, with significantly more leadership and organizing experience than Palmer. These comparisons give me plus when I look at her. It is not because I don't think women can do the job. I am evaluating Palmer as an individual. Also: "One suspects you would have chafed at Elissa Silverstein running for chair, too"? What a neat little straw man you have constructed.
(2) I am a die hard progressive who, if you met me, you'd probably respect and like. I've worked a lot in DC on major progressive initiatives, including paid parent leave, domestic violence initiatives, and education. I want a progressive as Chair. I'm glad Palmer has the views she has. But I've also been doing this work long enough to know that simply holding an opinion does not qualify you to get progressive policies enacted. Do you have any idea how many die hard but ineffectual progressives I've worked with over the years? So many. I've also worked with people who got much better at it with time. Palmer strikes me as someone who could be really effective as chair... in 10 years after she has more ANC experience, maybe spearheaded a major initiative, maybe served as an At-Large member for a time. If saying that makes you question my progressive bona fides, then you know NOTHING about policy making. Also, Mendelson has been a pretty progressive chair, which you would understand if you'd been following DC politics for more than 10 minutes. He's been much less effectual in the last few years, but he's not a centrist or conservative democrat.
(3) I went to law school, I have kids. So do most of the women I know. Some have the credentials for work like this, some don't (I personally don't think I am currently qualified to be Council Chair based on my experience). Law school is 3 years, and it's not like Palmer took years off from public advocacy work to have kids. These are not reasons to feel sorry for her or take a chance on someone unqualified. There are LOTS of qualified women with graduate degrees and kids out there. But other than four years on an ANC, she has almost no relevant experience. I think her ethics work is laudable, but it's an advisory role. I might feel differently if I didn't know so many women with the kind of qualifications I'd like to see in this role. I am frustrated that my option here is Palmer, who I like personally but am really unsure about her readiness for the job. That's not a sexist critique, it's a rational and evidence-based one.
(4) Yes, she's young! That's one of the problems. It might be different if she'd been doing different things with her career thus far, but she hasn't. Mendelson was in his late 40s when he joined the Council (as member, not chair)-- he was pretty young too. But he'd been working ANC for nearly two decades. Palmers been doing it for 4 years. See how this works? It's not agist to expect people to work their way up, it's prudent. And it's easy to have clean hands when you haven't been working in politics very long. Mendelson is imperfect, but his hands are actually pretty clean for someone who has been working at that level as long as he has. It's much harder to do that. Which again, is why Palmer's inexperience is very relevant. What is going to happen when she is getting pressed upon by special interests and has to deal with a lot of politicians who DON'T have clean hands? We have no idea, since she has little to no track record.
(5) The option isn't Palmer or Evans/Graham. It's Palmer (young, inexperienced, personable but untested) or Mendo (flawed, maybe getting too tired and old for the job, but with exceptional knowledge of the system and a track record of supporting progressive policies). I'm not saying it's a cut and dried decision. But the idea that Palmer is the clear winner is ridiculous.
Honestly, if these are the arguments her supporters are trotting out to deal with VALID criticisms of her lack of experience, I'm less interested in her than I was before. But okay, go ahead and call me a sexist meanie if it makes you feel better when she loses as a result.
Mendo has a clear track record of hindering and watering down progressive policies then claiming credit for them over his objections. He uses progressive language but drags his feet on meaningful change.
Have you considered the possibility that instead of acting in bad faith, that he’s weighing competing priorities and making necessary compromises to ensure that policies you support get passed?
This. People who haven't lived in DC that long or who have only been paying attention for the last few years don't seem to understand that Mendelson has been a gift for progressives in DC the last 10 years. If you are mad about paid family leave getting watered down, you need to understand that it probably would not have happened AT ALL without Mendelson brokering a deal. There are major business interests in DC that opposed it and the compromise made it happen.
Plus, since Mendelson is such an institution, he doesn't mind getting the heat from progressives on stuff like that, which actually helps protect progressive Council members who can blame him to their angry supporters without having to go toe-to-toe with opposing forces. Mendelson effectively protects people like Allen and Silverman who are able to be more strident proponents of liberal policy because Mendelson has the ability to broker deals to get some aspect of what they are proposing though. He's not a centrist, he's a technocrat, and Chair is a role for technocrats.
Honestly, I was fairly sold on Palmer but this conversation has pushed me off her. I really agree with the PP who suggested Christina Henderson as a worthy successor to Mendo. I really like Henderson and I appreciate that she's laying low and building relationships and constituent advocacy for a while but would love to see her in a bigger role. Maybe her sites are set on Mayor but what I've seen of her so far, I'd rather she ran for Chair.
And unlike Palmer, Henderson has years of real policy experience. But go ahead and tell me I'm a sexist for being more enthusiastic about Henderson than Palmer I guess.
I live in her district and agree with you that this conversation has changed my intention to vote for her. I like our council member here in Ward 4, voted for her, and continue to support her even though some of her stances are in direct contradiction with my financial and personal interests - I do it for the greater good, if you will. But I don't think Erin Palmer will be a similarly good choice. It has nothing to do with sexism, her background, etc. I will also be sharing these thoughts with other voters.
You may not agree with Phil Mendelson on every issue, but there are many occasions in DC politics when he seems like the only adult in the room.
Yep. Like when Trayon White said that the Rothschilds controlled the climate to create natural disasters to gain ownership of black cities, and Mendelson kept eating his sandwich and said nothing. A real profile in courage/master of adulting.
Two actual Jewish people on the Council -- Silverman and Nadeau -- basically gave Trayon a pat on the back after his bigoted outburst, more or less patronizingly saying "he doesn't know any better, hopefully this will be a learning experience for him," as if he were 8 years old. It was cringe-inducing.
Trayon should have been removed from office, obviously, but if the Jewish people on the Council wouldn't support that, there's not much Mendo could have done.
Anonymous wrote:Voting for Erin. Phil's redistricting shenanigans lost my vote
I was considering a vote for Erin but then I saw that Cleveland Park’s clownish commissioner Sauleh Siddiqui and redistricting tsar Bob Ward are backing her. No thanks!
Anti-redistricting firebrand Katherine Samolyk is a big supporter of Erin Palmer's as well, going so far as to host an event for Erin. It's almost as if Erin is staid enough to garner supporters on both sides of the redistricting aisle!
Sounds like Palmer is wishy-washy, then, if she's playing both sides. I mean, I guess all politicians are shady, though.
I don't know why Ward supports her nor do I know why Samolyk supports her, but that she has both of their support is not indicative of playing both sides. She's not Goulet!
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