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| | | A stick in the eye ... | | October 29, 2009 | | | | The sandbox is getting a little rough.
Who will blow the whistle on the increasing acrimony between the D.C. Council and the mayor?
The Washington Post's editorial page tried on Monday, calling Mayor Adrian Fenty "a mayor obtuse to his obligations to work cooperatively" with the council.
Just for the record, we looked up "obtuse" at dictionary.com.
It means " ... not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull."
There's more: "Not sharp, acute or pointed; blunt in form."
It listed synonyms: "unfeeling, tactless, insensitive, blind, imperceptive, unobservant, gauche, boorish, slow, dim."
The editorial board was kinder to Council Chairman Vincent Gray, but not by much. It suggested that Gray's potential interest in a run for mayor is obscuring his judgment.
The writers praised Gray as someone who has been "fair-minded" on most issues. But they say his willingness not just to oppose school reforms but to encourage strident opposition is nothing short of "madness."
"Madness" is not a word that looks good on a campaign brochure.
Right now, Gray is unopposed for re-election as chairman. We can picture someone announcing for chairman against him and promising to "stop the madness."
Similarly, if someone were to mount a real campaign against Fenty, could that person maybe promise not to be petty?
The editorial urged Gray to rein in the vitriol expected at this week's hearing on education reform, and it urged Fenty to attend, saying it is up to the mayor to "make the first move" toward restoring civility.
So far, the evidence suggests there's fat chance of that.
The council in recent days rejected the mayor's nominee for recreation director on a 7-5 vote. It wasn't aimed so much at the nominee, Ximena Hartsock, as at the mayor himself. (Her confirmation hearing included ugly racial aspersions that were not repudiated nearly strongly enough by those who spoke up.)
Hartsock was a victim of sheer politics of the worst kind — retaliation. No matter how much some members sought to find sustainable reasons for opposing her, the complaints were only a vehicle to slap the mayor.
At week's end, Fenty slapped back.
He appointed Hartsock as interim director for up to 180 days. It appears to be legal. And it appears to be a stick in the eye to the council.
Attorney General Peter Nickles, who increasingly is becoming the spokesperson for the mayor, says she'll be in office less than 180 days, just until the mayor finds a new nominee.
Still, there were hints that the council might try to scuttle the Fenty move soon.
• Putting children first. If your Notebook were to choose a tired phrase to retire in this or other debates, it would be any reference to putting "children first," unless we're talking about lifeboats.
Our entire reporting career has witnessed a version of this "children first" mantra. Reformers of all sorts, education bureaucrats, federal officials, editorial writers and advocates of any education change use it.
Can't we just all agree that we all want "children first" when it comes to education policy?
We don't know about others, but to us "children first" has become a hollow battle cry, signifying nothing.
• More development. Mayor Fenty this past week rightfully cheered the city's chance to redevelop 62 acres of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus after the hospital moves to Bethesda.
That area of Georgia Avenue is ripe for new housing and retail. The mayor referenced a "new sense of vitality."
Let's just hope that development comes along faster than change promised at the McMillan Reservoir property on North Capitol Street across from Washington Hospital Center.
Your Notebook stood with then-Mayor Tony Williams and more recently with Fenty as city officials touted the mixed-use development envisioned for McMillan.
Unfortunately, it looks the same today as it did five, 10, 15 and 20 years ago.
Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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