Remember when Jim Graham flew to LA for the weekend to attend Elizabeth Taylor's funeral and sent DC taxpayers the bill?! Maybe he should have taken a DC cab to the West Coast.

Jim Graham didn't have a lot to do with the redevelopment of CoHi or anything else in his Ward. His cavalier attitude towards being an elected representative, from flaunting parking in his beetle to public monies being "his" to determine how to collect and deploy were a total turn-off. I won't argue that he has done good in his life, but it was time for him to go a while ago.

It will be nice to get some new blood on the council, whether it is Brieanne or Weaver and Charles Allen from Ward 6.

Anonymous wrote:Finally. The fact is---if you play favorites so heavily with one or two particular developers (LaKritz-Adler . . . . ), then the rest of them will start funding your opponent. Loved the fact that Jim Graham's election night party was at Haydee's Restaurant---the business he told that it was perfectly okay to destroy public treeboxes so they could fit more outdoor tables. When you act that way for so long, eventually you turn off enough people that you get tossed out.

signed----

stopped being a Graham supporter in 2009

yup. but what the young fools who voted for Brianne don't realize that the agenda is such that , when they are ready to buy a house in 10 years, all that will be left in Ward 1 are teeny tiny little condos selling for 800K with no parking.

I believe its called " sustainability" HA ! It stands for " help developers sustain their speculative market"

Jim Graham will continue to serve Ward 1 for 9 more months and " Brianne" still has another elcetion to win before she can call herself the Councilperson for Ward 1.

Those are facts.

Now the sentiment: as someone who has lived in Ward 1 since before the Cohi metro was built, when Target was a vacant field, before El Haynes and Cap city existed, before Bancroft had a new play ground and when you could get a 4 bedroom row house in Mt P for 170K and a house on 1500 block of Monore for two hundred and fifty dollars, yes, that was it ( the year was 1997), Jim Graham has done A LOT for Ward 1.

Not all on his own, but he did apply himself. I believe the proper thing to say is : Thank You .

I will keep my yard sign out until my flowers cover it.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't she pro-neighborhood preference for charter schools?

According to this:

http://c3.thevoterguide.org/v/wamu14/race-detail.do?id=12719987

She is not, but Graham is.

I am very glad that Graham lost, but as a former charter school parent I believe there are reasons to offer perhaps a limited neighborhood preference for charters. The reason is how they are sited and the burdens that they can put on their immediate neighbors (traffic,parking) -- so it's only fair that the schools' neighbors also have the ability to benefit educationally. As public schools, charters bootstrap themselves onto DCPS' zoning status as matter of right institutions in residential zones, even if they locate in a church or some other space. And, while DCPS is under matter of right, traditionally such schools were neighborhood schools (ie, lots of students walked, so impacts were mitigated) and were subject to the oversight of the political process. Charters arguably should be treated for zoning purposes more like private schools, which are subject to a special exception process in which community impacts are reviewed, balanced and ideally mitigated. Because they're not, a limited neighborhood process (say for some slots) ensures that the community gets some direct benefits along with the impacts.

jsteele wrote:We thank Jim Graham for his public service and wish him a enjoyable retirement.

Maybe the DC taxicab industry can contribute a one-way cab ride for him to the airport!

Finally. The fact is---if you play favorites so heavily with one or two particular developers (LaKritz-Adler . . . . ), then the rest of them will start funding your opponent. Loved the fact that Jim Graham's election night party was at Haydee's Restaurant---the business he told that it was perfectly okay to destroy public treeboxes so they could fit more outdoor tables. When you act that way for so long, eventually you turn off enough people that you get tossed out.

signed----

stopped being a Graham supporter in 2009

jsteele wrote:We thank Jim Graham for his public service and wish him a enjoyable retirement.

He's out the door? Wow, maybe he will get a free taxi ride

We thank Jim Graham for his public service and wish him a enjoyable retirement.