December 5, 2007
Drama, Intrigue and Bacon at D.C. Council Breakfast
Up until last year, the D.C. Council's weekly breakfast meetings were closed to the press and the public. The meetings, which then council Chair Linda Cropp claimed were merely social in nature, were thought of by local reporters as the place where city politicos hammered out sensitive deals -- and did so away from the prying eyes of the District's residents. Even though that has now changed, we've never really gotten much of a sense of what happens at the breakfast meetings, especially when the mayor shows up. Until now.
It was at last Wednesday's breakfast that Mayor Adrian Fenty had it out with various members of the council over his plan to shutter a number of public schools. So testy were some of the exchanges that Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) lost his cool and dropped an f-bomb directed at Fenty. WTOP's Mark Segraves was one of the few reporters to witness the whole breakfast, and as we linked to in yesterday's Go Home Already, he blogged about it yesterday. Here's some of the other interesting tidbits we liked:
Fire Drills: We've all dealt with fire drills, either in school or at work. The D.C. Council? Not so much. "Evans, the longest continuously serving member of the Council said 'I've been here 16 years and we've never had a fire drill. They tried it once, but everybody knew it was a drill so nobody left.'"
Crime: How bad has the perception of crime gotten recently? Bad. "Council Members then started asking for more cops in their Wards and asking how they could get the Nation of Islam to protect their neighborhoods."
The Fenty Smackdown: What does a mayoral smackdown sound like? "Graham explained that he thought a Ward Council Member should be part of any decision made on school closing in their Ward. 'I thought I'd have a bigger role,' he said to Fenty. Fenty was quick to respond. He leaned across the table and stretched his arm toward Graham and told him that Council Members don't dictate police deployment, 'But that hasn't stopped you from sending hundreds of emails, calling assistant police chiefs, calling me, to get more cops in your Ward. I suggest you put the same energy in to the schools.'" Ohhhhhhhhhh snap!
Barry's Big Mouth: Apparently Marion Barry's idea of off-the-record conversations with city officials means he can tell the whole council and the press about them. "On the way out, Tangherlini walked over to Barry, who was still seated at the table. 'You know, our off the record conversations, have to stay off the record,' Tangherlini told Barry."
Free Food: Mark Plotkin, WTOP's resident political analyst, seems to like the free food more than the show. "Plotkin breezed in and went straight to the buffet. He loaded up his plate took a seat and chowed down. Minutes later, he was back at the buffet for seconds."
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And we wonder why nothing gets done in DC. Seems like of the Ward Council Members are petty prima donnas.
jim graham got a lesson there. if you're going to be out there in front of things and constantly in the public eye about one aspect of life (the crime thing) then you better expect to do so for everything. either you're a dedicated public servant, or you aren't.
When you say "fuck" out of exasperation can it really be said to be directed at anyone? It's probably a "you had to be there" kind of thing, but if the WTOP write-up is any indication (quoting Barry as saying "I can't finish..." rather than, say, "Let me finish..."), it wasn't so much personal as situational.
p.s. I can haz bacon plz?
Seriously, that sounds delicious right about now.
Lmao....ummmm what exactly does Barry have to say thats relevant? I guess he's the only one in the room that hasn't noticed the tin-foil "dunce" cap sprouting around his head. Like seriously wtf dude you single handedly took DC down the drain with your incompetence, meddling, and crooked management principals.
Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic, and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Fenty's strength will dissapear.
The Fruit of Islam don't smoke, drink, do drugs, eat swine, go to titty bars, and they pray five times a day. Sure, they think white people are mutants invented in a lab by a crazy scientist, but that's no whackier than thinking a 2,000-year-old jew who got nailed to a tree wants you to eat his flesh and drink his blood to be reborn into new worlds.
Instead of asking how to get the FOI boys in your ward, we should be asking how much they charge and how many baseball bats they need.
I loved reading that. Maybe I missed it, but does this mean the public can now come? It sounds like it was mostly journalists, but he does mention some activists too. If the show is going to be like that every month, count me in. I can pretend to be an activist on something or other. Or I can say I write for DCist, according to my "stats" I'm the number 5 biggest dork on this site. That should entitle me to a press pass, right?
Maybe I'm missing something but the Fenty smackdown doesn't make sense to me.
Graham was complaining he wasn't allowed to be more involved in education decisions affecting his Ward and Fenty responded you should put as much energy into schools as you do for police. Ummm, isn't that what Graham was trying to do?
CM Graham got deservedly smacked on that one... while I'm still annoyed with Fenty and his administration on a lot of levels, this just moved him back up a notch...
BTW, why has no one focused on Catania's call that every DCPS student should have a psychiatric evaluation...are freaking kidding me?!
I think one of DCPS's big problems (adminstratively and financially) is that DC's special education population keeps growing and they're the ones getting sent to private schools on the public's dime. I think Catania wants some solid proof those kids need special ed (and the high-dollar schools) before they pony up the dough. Otherwise, it's an easy way for teachers to unload "troublesome" students. Hey, they're special ed! Bus their asses someplace else.
Reid - My stats say I'm the 2nd biggest dork here? I gotta know who's dorkier than me.
Put me down for a press pass as well. Team DCist can't wait to lob questions at the Council and, barring that, rocks at their heads.
Motherfucking Catania should have a psychiatric evaluation! I hope that none of you were dumb enough to vote for that worthless prima donna.
Since the press will now be attending these, I'd imagine the discussions won't be anywhere near as fun in the future. They need to get Channel 13 cameras in there and record these discussions. They're incredibly entertaining. Plus getting to see Plotkin attack the buffet twice in one sitting is also fun to watch.
zippy, I assume from Barry's following statement that his point was that he felt that Fenty felt that the council beat the mayor's office to the press. And that's why they weren't being included... AND in this case that is exactly what had happened in this case.
Say what you will about the state of modern media but Mark Segraves' blog is a priceless look behind the slightly ajar doors of local politics. Way to be in the right place at the right time.
The psyche eval thing was crazy (...weird!) and the smackdown was well aimed. Fenty wins.
zippy, I assume from Barry's following statement that his point was that he felt that Fenty felt that the council beat the mayor's office to the press. And that's why they weren't being included... AND in this case that is exactly what had happened in this case.
Say what you will about the state of modern media but Mark Segraves' blog is a priceless look behind the slightly ajar doors of local politics. Way to be in the right place at the right time.
The psyche eval thing was crazy (...weird!) and the smackdown was well aimed. Fenty wins.
The psyche eval thing was crazy (...weird!)
Would you expect anything less from David Catania? Spend some time watching Council meetings on channel 13. You'll see plenty of strange behavior by Catania.
Marion Barry said the F-word to the Mayor in front of the District Council? Did Mr. Barry apologize? Is he going to be put on leave like Tim Page? Mr. Page didn't use profanity, of course, so maybe the sanctions will be greater here. Tsk.
Someone should f-bomb Barry out of office.