I was also at the event last night, and agree with the previous posters on who came off strong. Also, I'm disappointed that Todd wouldn't even show up.

The only one I can't go along with is Sloan. I was talking to him about a month ago after a meeting, and he made some pretty disgusting remarks about Todd.

First, he implied something about Todd's sexuality based on his looks and then derided him for being in the closet and how that's lying to voters. Then he tried to deflect it as "some people are saying" and "older African-American voters might care about that". Really rubbed me the wrong way.

The weird thing is that the conversation started with agreement that Todd wasn't a good candidate, so he didn't even need to go there.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new opinions after last night's event?

It is disappointing that Brandon Todd once again found something better to do than attend a community forum. This one was very well-attended and Todd's repeated absences at forums suggests a lack of respect for the public. I notice that his attendance record for fundraisers is much better. So, I guess Todd should get points for not disguising who he views at important.

Leon Andrews, Renee Bowser, Doug Sloan, and Dwayne Tolliver are all serious candidates who would be better choices than Todd. The problem is that they will likely split the anti-Todd vote and let him coast for the victory. Because these candidates are all credible and don't seem to have strong policy disagreements, the question for me becomes which of them can put together the strongest campaign and get out the votes to potentially knock off Todd. Note, sadly, this is a different question than "who would be the best Council Member". By the measure of getting voters to the polls, I think Bowser comes out ahead. She has more endorsements, a better record of attracting votes, and appears to have a stronger organization overall. Her union backing will result in boots on the ground which will be important. So, I am now in the Renee Bowser camp.

I was also at last night's event and had pretty much the same response as Jeff. I also happen to be a Renee Bowser supporter, and agree that Andrews, Sloan, and Toliver are credible candidates. I also got to meet Drew Schneider, who runs the http://www.ward4candidatesinfo.com website; he got a well-deserved shout-out from the moderator, Colbert King.

I notice that an upcoming forum, Thursday, 4/2, 7 - 9 pm at Kingsbury School, has a limited list of invitees, based on amount and/or number of donations. There are four candidates who qualified: Andrews, Bowser, Todd, and Toliver, and the subject area is housing, jobs, and development. It sounds like they will really be able to get into the meat of things, with a limited number of candidates talking about a small, inter-related set of topics. But you need to sign up in advance to attend. You can find a registration link in the announcement of the event on http://www.ward4candidatesinfo.com/calendar, on which you can find other events.

One event that is not on there yet is a forum/straw poll that I understand is to be held by the Ward 4 Democrats. I gather it is to be held on Wednesday, April 1, at the Lamond Rec Center, 20 Tuckerman St, NE. The voting is set to begin at 6 and the forum at 6:30. Based on previous such events, there should be a long line for the voting, although I don't think a public announcement of the event has been made yet (so if I have made any errors in the details, I apologize). I have been told that Brandon Todd is no longer President, but I would still think he'll have a home court advantage, possibly shared with Judi Jones and Doug Sloan who live nearby. Incidentally, if you Google "Ward 4 Democrats", you probably won't find much. The latest thing I could find was from last August, and the most prominent thing on it was Brandon's bio.

So much fighting for a seat on the DC Council?

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new opinions after last night's event?

It is disappointing that Brandon Todd once again found something better to do than attend a community forum. This one was very well-attended and Todd's repeated absences at forums suggests a lack of respect for the public. I notice that his attendance record for fundraisers is much better. So, I guess Todd should get points for not disguising who he views at important.

Leon Andrews, Renee Bowser, Doug Sloan, and Dwayne Tolliver are all serious candidates who would be better choices than Todd. The problem is that they will likely split the anti-Todd vote and let him coast for the victory. Because these candidates are all credible and don't seem to have strong policy disagreements, the question for me becomes which of them can put together the strongest campaign and get out the votes to potentially knock off Todd. Note, sadly, this is a different question than "who would be the best Council Member". By the measure of getting voters to the polls, I think Bowser comes out ahead. She has more endorsements, a better record of attracting votes, and appears to have a stronger organization overall. Her union backing will result in boots on the ground which will be important. So, I am now in the Renee Bowser camp.

This just pisses me off!

Can you clarify what pisses you off?

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any new opinions after last night's event?

It is disappointing that Brandon Todd once again found something better to do than attend a community forum. This one was very well-attended and Todd's repeated absences at forums suggests a lack of respect for the public. I notice that his attendance record for fundraisers is much better. So, I guess Todd should get points for not disguising who he views at important.

Leon Andrews, Renee Bowser, Doug Sloan, and Dwayne Tolliver are all serious candidates who would be better choices than Todd. The problem is that they will likely split the anti-Todd vote and let him coast for the victory. Because these candidates are all credible and don't seem to have strong policy disagreements, the question for me becomes which of them can put together the strongest campaign and get out the votes to potentially knock off Todd. Note, sadly, this is a different question than "who would be the best Council Member". By the measure of getting voters to the polls, I think Bowser comes out ahead. She has more endorsements, a better record of attracting votes, and appears to have a stronger organization overall. Her union backing will result in boots on the ground which will be important. So, I am now in the Renee Bowser camp.

This just pisses me off!

Anonymous wrote:Any new opinions after last night's event?

It is disappointing that Brandon Todd once again found something better to do than attend a community forum. This one was very well-attended and Todd's repeated absences at forums suggests a lack of respect for the public. I notice that his attendance record for fundraisers is much better. So, I guess Todd should get points for not disguising who he views at important.

Leon Andrews, Renee Bowser, Doug Sloan, and Dwayne Tolliver are all serious candidates who would be better choices than Todd. The problem is that they will likely split the anti-Todd vote and let him coast for the victory. Because these candidates are all credible and don't seem to have strong policy disagreements, the question for me becomes which of them can put together the strongest campaign and get out the votes to potentially knock off Todd. Note, sadly, this is a different question than "who would be the best Council Member". By the measure of getting voters to the polls, I think Bowser comes out ahead. She has more endorsements, a better record of attracting votes, and appears to have a stronger organization overall. Her union backing will result in boots on the ground which will be important. So, I am now in the Renee Bowser camp.

Any new opinions after last night's event?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick Google. At http://www.washingtonliteracycenter.org/what-we-do/ I found the DC has about 90,000 functionally illiterate adults. At http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html I found that the 2013 population of DC was about 650,000 with about 17% under 18; that leaves about 550,000 adults. So the 90,000 illiterate ones are less than a sixth of the population. That is totally at odds with the figures cited above. Although I have a reasonable amount of respect for American University, the page cited seemed to be a PR office, and the fact that some staffer pulled together a bunch of numbers does not make me believe something that is totally at odds with what I have seen in decades of living here.

A great way to perpetuate a problem is to claim it does not exist.

Your ignorance perpetuates ignorance.

Nobody denies that illiteracy exists in Ward 4. But, those of us who live there don't find the figures cited to be believable. AU's numbers don't seem to be well-sourced and are in conflict with other available information. Questioning information as a method of determining its validity is a time-honored practice. Blind acceptance of information without concern for its accuracy is actually one source of ignorance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I met Todd, I was STUNNED at his lack of intellectual ability. I don't give a damn about his finances. I had a conversation with him and literally had to walk away. He is NOT ready for primetime.

Sounds perfect for Ward 4 - he's on par with the previous occupant of that office.

I never voted for her. I thought she was an idiot.

Anonymous wrote:I just did a quick Google. At http://www.washingtonliteracycenter.org/what-we-do/ I found the DC has about 90,000 functionally illiterate adults. At http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html I found that the 2013 population of DC was about 650,000 with about 17% under 18; that leaves about 550,000 adults. So the 90,000 illiterate ones are less than a sixth of the population. That is totally at odds with the figures cited above. Although I have a reasonable amount of respect for American University, the page cited seemed to be a PR office, and the fact that some staffer pulled together a bunch of numbers does not make me believe something that is totally at odds with what I have seen in decades of living here.

A great way to perpetuate a problem is to claim it does not exist.

Your ignorance perpetuates ignorance.

Anonymous wrote:When I met Todd, I was STUNNED at his lack of intellectual ability. I don't give a damn about his finances. I had a conversation with him and literally had to walk away. He is NOT ready for primetime.

Sounds perfect for Ward 4 - he's on par with the previous occupant of that office.

Can you do better? You are the ward that elected Muriel Bowser three times, are you not? Recent evidence suggests that no, you can't do better. Or won't.

When I met Todd, I was STUNNED at his lack of intellectual ability. I don't give a damn about his finances. I had a conversation with him and literally had to walk away. He is NOT ready for primetime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brandon Todd just seems like more of the same old in DC politics.
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2015/02/19/leading-ward-4-candidate-filed-for-bankruptcy-in-2005-over-debts-to-j-crew-nordstrom-others/

Is there any movement around another candidate? I'd be happy to donate to a campaign if it's not an obvious waste of money.

You are basing this decision on his financial problems in college? Wow, people. Would you like to be judged forever for the things you did in your 20's? I wouldn't.

I'm concerned about voting in another criminal who will abuse the powers of the office. It seems like there are some genuine people on the council, like McDuffie and Grosso. I'd like our Ward 4 councilmember to be a decent person.

Eleven of the candidates were there for the whole event; Brandon Todd came at about 7:55. Things went smoothly, with a large degree of agreement on the issues. Some of the candidates were more knowledgeable than others, of course; I would pick out Andrews, Bowser, Sloan, and Tolliver as the standouts, but other attendees might disagree.

It struck me that Todd's main claim is his record of constituent service, but I think Ron Austin may well have a longer and deeper record in that area.