Ted Loza is No Longer D.C.?

When D.C. voting rights advocacy organization DC Vote launched its "I Am DC" ad campaign earlier this summer, it placed posters featuring the faces and stories of 10 D.C. residents (including our own Martin Austermuhle) on Metrobuses and other visible spots around the city. But recently we noticed that images of the posters available for download on the DC Vote web site now number only nine. Who was on that 10th poster? It was embattled Jim Graham chief of staff Ted Loza.

"We recently made the decision to take down the ad from our Web site while the situation is pending," said DC Vote spokesperson Jaline Quinto. That situation, of course, is Loza's recent arrest and indictment on federal bribery charges in connection to a massive investigation into corruption within the D.C. taxicab industry.

DC Vote's ad buy with Metro ended at the end of September, so the physical posters are long gone, and Quinto said DC Vote didn't make any special effort to remove or recall them in the wake of the scandal, even though the Loza story broke on Sept. 24.

"All the posters from the campaign ran for the full month and then were removed and returned to us," Quinto said.