Fenty re-election

[Anonymous]

What are the chances? Is Vincent Gray the only competitor?

[Anonymous]

If Fenty loses to one of the Browns (Kwame or Michael) or Gray they will roll back all of Ree's school reforms. Higher taxes and more money being fleeced out of Wards 2,3, 4 & 6 to Wards 7 & 8. I'm actually kind of worried for the city.

[Anonymous]

If Gray runs, I will vote for him. If Gray doesn't run, I won't vote at all. I don't trust either of the Browns -- Kwame hasn't shown me yet that he can lead and Michael (Ron was my dad) Brown, well, he doesn't seem to feel he should pay his dues. He always walks into an election acting as if he should start at the top without having the track record to convince voters he is legit. My guess is that Gray is the only legitimate competitor.

[Anonymous]

What has gray done for the district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What has gray done for the district?

Reverse your question. What had Councilman Fenty done for the city?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:What had Councilman Fenty done for the city?

Fenty was a great councilman. It is really hard to believe how bad he sucks as Mayor given what we saw from him before It's night and day. Even his personality was totally different.

[Anonymous]

Let's not panic about school reform without Fenty or Rhee. It's a not so subtle scare tactic that there will be exodus of families to burbs (right, try selling a DC house in this economy) and chaos in the streets without Fenty. It bolsters donations from Fenty's NW base who have the cash the majority of the city does not. Don't fall for the fear of class warfare card. The council voted for mayoral school takeover (except M Brown, opportunistic party hopper that he is). More people have skin in the DC school reform game. VIPs' kids in DCPS, the "middle class", new teachers and principals, Arne Duncan, Obama and his appointees, etc. Like the charter movement in DC, aggressive change does not mean NO oversight. Or union contract. I hope Peebles runs just to bleed Fenty's warchest dry and minimize the class war weapon. Gray can do more good where he is. And he doesn't want to be mayor.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What had Councilman Fenty done for the city?

Fenty was a great councilman. It is really hard to believe how bad he sucks as Mayor given what we saw from him before It's night and day. Even his personality was totally different.

Agree. Fenty excelled at all the things that matter in a councilmember. He either got greedy, or fell victim to the Peter Priciple (promoted to the level of his incompetance). I hope not to vote for him again.

[Anonymous]

Can Eleanor Holmes Norton run? I guess that would be a step down for her...

[Anonymous]

How about a normal person like Tony Williams who is really really good at managing and has a vision for the city? DO you remember downtown pre- T W?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What had Councilman Fenty done for the city?

Fenty was a great councilman. It is really hard to believe how bad he sucks as Mayor given what we saw from him before It's night and day. Even his personality was totally different.

Well I do not remember him as a good councilman. I remember him as a showman. Whenever there was an opportunity to be seen, he was seen. He would call press conferences to attack Mayor Williams for the least little thing. He attacked Williams for wanting to take control over the schools. Lo and behold, his first act as mayor was to steal Williams ideas and hold them out as his own. He attacked Williams for paying Ramsey $175,000 and stating repeatedly to the media that no government worker was worth that much money. However, in his first months in office, he paid his own police chief $190,000 with a guaranteed 5 year K. He stood on a mound of snow and called the news people and said that Williams was inefficient for not moving the slow fast enough. Well, we know about his idea of letting the snow melt to get rid of the snow. All I remember is a man who loved the media, but had very few accomplishments. Yes, he returned calls but did he get his constituents much success for their perceived problems. He made the appearance of getting things done, but he actually got nothing accomplished. Name one legislative victory.

If we use the Fenty theory that he was a good councilman for Ward 4, ergo he must make a good mayor. Well my sister lives in Ward 7 and she swears that Vincent Gray was beloved by his constituents. Vincent Gray was also a manager who successfully ran one of the largest agencies in the city, DOES. He was a successful business man, and I have not heard any bar complaints that he stole from the estate of a dead man. And now, Vincent Gray has been a somewhat (he voted to confirm Peter Nickles bad mistake) effective Chairman of the city council. So for the poster who asked what has V. Gray done for the city, my response would be a heck of a lot more than Fenty has. One other thing, I believe that Gray would be a mayor for the entire city and not just for a few of its citizenry. That's my fifty cents and I am sticking to every penny.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Well I do not remember him as a good councilman. I remember him as a showman. Whenever there was an opportunity to be seen, he was seen. He would call press conferences to attack Mayor Williams for the least little thing. He attacked Williams for wanting to take control over the schools. Lo and behold, his first act as mayor was to steal Williams ideas and hold them out as his own. He attacked Williams for paying Ramsey $175,000 and stating repeatedly to the media that no government worker was worth that much money. However, in his first months in office, he paid his own police chief $190,000 with a guaranteed 5 year K. He stood on a mound of snow and called the news people and said that Williams was inefficient for not moving the slow fast enough. Well, we know about his idea of letting the snow melt to get rid of the snow. All I remember is a man who loved the media, but had very few accomplishments. Yes, he returned calls but did he get his constituents much success for their perceived problems. He made the appearance of getting things done, but he actually got nothing accomplished. Name one legislative victory.

If we use the Fenty theory that he was a good councilman for Ward 4, ergo he must make a good mayor. Well my sister lives in Ward 7 and she swears that Vincent Gray was beloved by his constituents. Vincent Gray was also a manager who successfully ran one of the largest agencies in the city, DOES. He was a successful business man, and I have not heard any bar complaints that he stole from the estate of a dead man. And now, Vincent Gray has been a somewhat (he voted to confirm Peter Nickles bad mistake) effective Chairman of the city council. So for the poster who asked what has V. Gray done for the city, my response would be a heck of a lot more than Fenty has. One other thing, I believe that Gray would be a mayor for the entire city and not just for a few of its citizenry. That's my fifty cents and I am sticking to every penny.

Most of what you are arguing is not that Fenty was a bad council member, but that he flip flopped after becoming Mayor. That is exactly my complaint with him. As for Gray, yes he voted to confirm Nickels. He also voted in favor of the school takeover. He may not have mismanaged an estate, but he did find a city contractor to renovate his home. Gray started his Chairmanship by being little more than a lapdog to Fenty. Fenty could do most of what he is doing had he not had Gray as his enabler. Gray may well be a good manager, but he has not shown himself to be a good leader. Rather, he is someone who simply goes with the prevailing political winds. Even now, he cannot bring himself to decide whether to run for mayor.

Also, Fenty did have a major legislative achievement as a Council Member. He introduced Bill 16-250 which would authorize up to $1 billion in revenue bonds to finance modernization of DC public schools. While there are various opinions as to how much improvement Michelle Rhee has brought to DCPS, I don't think anyone disputes the benefit of the modernization funds. Fenty introduced that bill at a time that nobody thought school funding had a chance in hell.

I really wish there were an alternative to Fenty, but it is clear that Gray is not the answer.

[Anonymous]

I am not a fan of Mayor Fenty and hope to have an alternative for whom to vote, but I'm really tired of hearing this old canard that he stole from an elderly person's estate. Fenty was pretty fresh out of law school and was found to have neglected an elderly person's estate matter. There was never any allegation of theft or dishonesty. He may not be that bright, but I never heard he was a thief. Now his friends may be another matter . . . .

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear your take on Gray, Jeff. He looked to me like someone who could be a uniter but I'll take your opinion under consideration and wait to make up my mind on him.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it makes me pine for Carol Schwartz and her always-hopeless campaigns. This year, I could see the city actually rally around her.