April 26 DC Special Election

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has endorsed Vincent Orange in the At-Large race. It will be interesting to see how Orange handles that hot potato.

I'd love to know the WTU's reasoning for this endorsement.

They sat in a quiet room and asked each other "Is there anything we can do to block Orange?"

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has endorsed Vincent Orange in the At-Large race. It will be interesting to see how Orange handles that hot potato.

I'd love to know the WTU's reasoning for this endorsement.

They sat in a quiet room and asked each other "Is there anything we can do to block Orange?"

Yeah, that was my best guess as well.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has endorsed Vincent Orange in the At-Large race. It will be interesting to see how Orange handles that hot potato.

I'd love to know the WTU's reasoning for this endorsement.

They sat in a quiet room and asked each other "Is there anything we can do to block Orange?"

Yeah, that was my best guess as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: As charming as Vincent Orange is, I also agree with the view on taking him down at all costs. He's "old DC", and we've seen where that's taken us in the last few months of VG's administration. He had his chance, but somehow keeps the machine alive, and he knows he can't unseat Harry Thomas, Jr., who's just done a much better job. Unfortunately, the NW wards are very split on Biddle, Weaver, Mara, and Lopez. vs. a consolidated front by Orange "across the river". If someone doesn't pull a sac-fly to center on this, we may just end up with Orange on Council. So, who drops out? Not Biddle - Not Lopez - Not Weaver.

Reality Bites. It's coming down to the wire. What candidate is willing to make the sacrifice for the greater good?

Did you hear Kojo today? Josh needs to step aside until he has more polish and gravitas to carry the growing Latino population. Bryan does it better and is well known enough in ward 1 to represent Latino issues. Lacking Fenty's endorsement is a double edged sword for Josh.

Sekou is an easier "sell" citywide than Bryan at this point in DC's demographics. East of the River could go Biddle if Patterson kicks in. School reform types who miss Michelle and Adrian can rest assured that Sekou at least understands what's going on in education. Orange just bragged about his personal work helping McKinley and Noyes! Uh, Vince, read the paper lately?

My dream world would be Bryan AND Sekou. Right now we need a serious ABO effort.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Did you hear Kojo today? Josh needs to step aside until he has more polish and gravitas to carry the growing Latino population. Bryan does it better and is well known enough in ward 1 to represent Latino issues. Lacking Fenty's endorsement is a double edged sword for Josh.

Sekou is an easier "sell" citywide than Bryan at this point in DC's demographics. East of the River could go Biddle if Patterson kicks in. School reform types who miss Michelle and Adrian can rest assured that Sekou at least understands what's going on in education. Orange just bragged about his personal work helping McKinley and Noyes! Uh, Vince, read the paper lately?

My dream world would be Bryan AND Sekou. Right now we need a serious ABO effort.

I did listen to the show which I thought was very good. I have a hard time criticizing Josh Lopez -- political differences aside -- because he is working his butt off. The caller who asked whether he had any illegal relatives here was ridiculous and probably a plant from another campaign. Josh handled it real well (in case anyone is wonder, no, he doesn't have any illegal relatives here). Too bad about Josh's Fenty ties.

I don't think Biddle sells well east of the river. The people there seem really pissed at Kwame. Thomas and Barry are not exactly the best character witnesses and when you put Thomas, Barry, and Kwame altogether, it sort of makes it hard to be taken seriously. While we are focused on anybody but Orange, much of the city is focused on anybody but Kwame (represented by Biddle). I don't think east of the river is interested in a Republican, so the real question is whether either Weaver or Lopez can capture any Ward 7 and 8 votes. Lopez is apparently making a good showing in Hillcrest, so give him his due. Weaver has Barry's old girlfriend supporting him and I think she does more for Weaver than Barry does for Biddle.

Anyway, come to my reception for Weaver tomorrow (details above) and hit him with your best shots. I think you will be impressed.

[Anonymous]

Deborah Royster of the Ward 4 Dems has written that their candidate forum next Wednesday will not include an endorsement or straw vote. She says that's because of insufficient notice to candidates and members. Since I got a call from Sekou's campaign weeks ago urging me to go and vote for him there, I am not sure that's a credible reason. It seems to deprive Sekou and Josh (who I think is an officer of the group) of a what should have been a vote for one of them.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Deborah Royster of the Ward 4 Dems has written that their candidate forum next Wednesday will not include an endorsement or straw vote. She says that's because of insufficient notice to candidates and members. Since I got a call from Sekou's campaign weeks ago urging me to go and vote for him there, I am not sure that's a credible reason. It seems to deprive Sekou and Josh (who I think is an officer of the group) of a what should have been a vote for one of them.

Weaver's campaign told me that they had just learned the meeting might include an endorsement. If Biddle has been organizing for weeks, he would clearly have an unfair advantage. Also, I am a Ward 4 Democrat and don't recall any notice of a candidate forum at all. I did receive a standard postcard alerting me to the regular meeting. Perhaps I didn't read it close enough, but I don't remember it saying anything about a forum, let alone an endorsement vote.

Josh was the Ward 4 Democrats Vice President. I don't believe he is anymore.

[jsteele]

The Intowner has just endorsed Bryan Weaver for the At-Large seat:

http://www.intowner.com/2011/04/09/who-should-fill-the-at-large-council-seat/

"So, where do we stand on who ought to be given the vote to fill the remainder of the unexpired at-large term? Based on what we have heard others who value legislators who are clear-headed and knowledgeable and also capable and willing to analyze the facts and circumstances — as evidenced by Bryan Weaver’s thoughtful response to our tax rate question, not to say anything about the obvious fact that he was ready to state his views on the record, we are endorsing him for election to the at-large seat."

What I notice is that those groups and publications that are used to conventional politics in DC have been endorsing either Biddle or Orange. Those that are taking the time to examine all candidates rather than simply go along with convention are choosing Weaver. There are many signs that this election is diverging from tradition. People are tired of politics as usual.

[jsteele]

Marshall Brown, a paid consultant on Sekou Biddle campaign and father of Kwame Brown made some incendiary statements in a Washington Post article today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pondering-meaning-of-changing-dc-demographics/2011/03/30/AF02nCHD_story_1.html

"The longtime white population, the people who got involved in statehood, civil rights and environmental causes, thought of this as a black city ... But the new white voters aren’t involved like that. They want doggie parks and bike lanes. The result is a lot of tension."

"The new people believe more in their dogs than they do in people. They go into their little cafes, go out and throw their snowballs. This is not the District I knew. There’s no relationship with the black community; they don’t connect at church, they don’t go to the same cafes, they don’t volunteer in the neighborhood school, and a lot of longtime black residents feel threatened."

This is very reminiscent of Courtland Milloy's description of newcomers to DC as "myopic little twits."

There is a candidates forum this evening that I have been planning to attend. I will try to ask Biddle if he agrees with his consultant on this topic.

[jsteele]

Marshall Brown, father of Council Chair Kwame Brown, has been dismissed by the Sekou Biddle campaign from his role as campaign consultant. This follows Brown's remarks concerning new white residents of DC that I mentioned above.

[jsteele]

There is a really fun candidates forum tonight at the Black Cat. Here is info:

The Washington City Paper, NBC4's Tom Sherwood and the DC Politics show on WPFW sponsor an At-Large Candidates Forum on Tuesday, April 12 from 7-9pm at Black Cat!

Current and former Loose Lips reporters from Washington City Paper, Chuck Thies from DC Politics show, and NBC4's Tom Sherwood will ask the tough questions. In the absence of a public poll, the organizers created criteria for participation in this event: all candidates who reported a minimum of $10,000 in campaign contributions on March 10th are eligible.

The debaters are: Sekou Biddle, Arkan Haile, Joshua Lopez, Patrick Mara, Vincent Orange, Bryan Weaver.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:There is a really fun candidates forum tonight at the Black Cat. Here is info:

The Washington City Paper, NBC4's Tom Sherwood and the DC Politics show on WPFW sponsor an At-Large Candidates Forum on Tuesday, April 12 from 7-9pm at Black Cat!

Current and former Loose Lips reporters from Washington City Paper, Chuck Thies from DC Politics show, and NBC4's Tom Sherwood will ask the tough questions. In the absence of a public poll, the organizers created criteria for participation in this event: all candidates who reported a minimum of $10,000 in campaign contributions on March 10th are eligible.

The debaters are: Sekou Biddle, Arkan Haile, Joshua Lopez, Patrick Mara, Vincent Orange, Bryan Weaver.

I don't know who will give the best answer, but this I will predict: Haile won't show.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has endorsed Vincent Orange in the At-Large race. It will be interesting to see how Orange handles that hot potato.

I'd love to know the WTU's reasoning for this endorsement.

Ah, excellent. Just when I thought my esteem for the WTU couldn't sink any further... I'm curious, does the WTU accurately reflect the beliefs of DC teachers, do you think? Or is it just controlled by a small subset of disgruntled nutjobs? Given the recent WTU leadership election, and now the VO endorsement, I'm genuinely curious.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has endorsed Vincent Orange in the At-Large race. It will be interesting to see how Orange handles that hot potato.

I'd love to know the WTU's reasoning for this endorsement.

Ah, excellent. Just when I thought my esteem for the WTU couldn't sink any further... I'm curious, does the WTU accurately reflect the beliefs of DC teachers, do you think? Or is it just controlled by a small subset of disgruntled nutjobs? Given the recent WTU leadership election, and now the VO endorsement, I'm genuinely curious.

This is a good question and one that I wonder about myself. There were two votes for the WTU leadership. Participation in both of them was abysmal. Given the past history of WTU which included the embezzlement of its funds and a takeover by the ATF, I wonder if a large number of teachers have simply given up on it. Moreover, given that a large number of WTU members don't live in the District, the WTU endorsement might not actually represent many votes.

[Anonymous]

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Acqunetta Anderson is a product of the District of Columbia Public Schools she is the best candidate to fill vacancy on the State Board of Education--Ward 4 School Board Member.

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As an educator and executive, she has: developed curriculum and standards at the elementary, middle and high school levels. As a former educator, she--taught math and science enrichment at the elementary, middle and high school levels. As the Local School Analysis Team (LSAT) chairman at Brent ES---she spearheaded the development of the schools museum magnet school curriculum and program. She is a leader in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) learning programs. Under my leadership she has hosted summer institutes for students and teachers ---developing science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum and standards for several school districts for more than 8 years. She is a dedicated and is committed to excellence in all levels across the continuum of education to encourage, advance, assist and sustain the quality and integrity of education.

Her governance and experience as a curriculum developer, a middle state evaluator team leader, and fiscal management skills has been valuable. As an advocate for student learning, and fiscal issues, I am the best candidate for the Ward 4 School Board position.

Sh[url]