Ward 1 Residents Pack Gray Town Hall
So far, the town halls hosted by presumptive Mayor-elect Vince Gray have been held in wards where he cleaned up (5, 7) or where he got his clock cleaned (2,3).
But yesterday's Ward 1 town hall was the first Gray convened in a ward that split about as close to even as the Democratic primary got: 60 to 40, in favor of Mayor Adrian Fenty. (Ward 6 is the other, having gone 55-45 for Fenty.)
The audience was large, filling the auditorium of the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School and an overflow room. It also seemed more diverse than in past town halls, with a healthy mix of younger white residents, long-term African Americans and a large group of Hispanic voters.
Observations and thoughts, after the jump.
- Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) gave an opening speech that could well be considered too partisan for what was supposed to be an open town hall for everyone -- Fenty voters, Gray voters, Independents, Republicans and anyone else. "There are no write-ins in this room," Graham loudly declared, referring to a campaign to write-in Fenty for Mayor on November 2. Only Council member Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) was more peppish, having led pro-Gray chants at the inaugural town hall in his ward two weeks ago.
- Gray delivered his usual stump speech, starting with education reform. And while he again pledged to fully maintain the progress that has been made and outlined his hopes for a comprehensive birth-through-24 education system, there has been one issue he hasn't touch in five town halls so far -- the new teacher contract and the IMPACT teacher evaluations. Maybe those are two details too many for a broad speech on his mayoral ambitions. Or maybe he's steering clear because those are two matters that the D.C. Teachers Union hasn't been particularly happy about.
- On the city's shrinking budget, Gray again reminded the crowd that not only will cuts be needed, but everyone has to be willing to have their pet program cut for the sake of the greater goal. He also stressed that while the homeless need to be provided shelters, city residents can't demand that those shelters be placed anywhere but in their neighborhoods.
- The biggest crowd-pleaser of the night was -- again -- Gray's bit on statehood and self-determination. His best line? "Why should we pay membership dues but never get a membership card?" (Might Gray refuse to send Congress our budget next year to make a point?)
- Hey, folks who really want Bruce Monroe Elementary re-built (it was closed in 2007) -- we get it. Thirty of you showed up, you held up your signs, you started a chant, you asked Gray a question and then you walked out. Everyone has their cause. But there's no need to use the town halls to make us all painfully aware of them.
- Former mayoral candidate Ernest Johnson (317 votes in September!) asked Gray to set aside "luxury programs" like the streetcars and Convention Center hotel, and direct funds to job creation instead. Gray wasn't buyin'. (I swear I heard urbanists across the city breathe a sigh of relief.) The streetcars, Gray pointed out, are in the capital, not operating budget. Additionally, he cited development along Portland's streetcar lines as a justification for their economic potential. As for the convention center hotel, Gray argued it will increase the city's convention capacity, thus bringing in more business.
- Gray again brought up an idea from his campaign's jobs and economic development report -- turning the District into a Cayman Islands-like tax haven for disaster insurance reserves.
- A student from Roosevelt HS asked about bullying of LGBT students. Gray's solution? "Step to 'em." (No, really, he said this.) He then meandered through a response about there being no magic bullet to the problem, and victims needing someone to talk to about it. Not one of his brightetest moments.
- In response to a question on increased parking meter rates (which has come up at four of the five town halls so far), Gray advocated lowering them, but not until the city is in "better times." We called it -- with a massive budget deficit through 2012, it's unlikely that the D.C. Council will cut a few million from parking meters by lowering rates.
- Another consistent theme that has come up is contractors that do work for the city not giving jobs to residents. Gray again argued that if they're not going to comply with the District's First Source law, he'll make sure they never do business with the city again.
- One audience member asked about rising levels of crime in Ward 1, and advocated for the city hiring more cops. Gray honestly said that the money simply isn't there for more new cops, but that he'd like to see more community policing and more cops living in the city in which they serve. (According to stats he's rolled out over the last few town halls, fewer than 20 percent of D.C. cops and firefighters actually live here.)
- Another question on Hardy Middle School, this time from a parent. This make it three town halls where the dismissal of Principal Patrick Pope has been brought up. Every time Gray says the same -- he won't micro-manage the schools.
- Along with Graham and Thomas, Councilmember Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) made an appearance, making both him and Thomas five-for-five on town hall attendance. Former Ward 5 Councilmember and Council Chair candidate Vincent Orange also showed up, as did Virginia Williams, mother of former Mayor Anthony Williams.
Tomorrow, the town hall tour stops in Ward 8, and next week it hits Ward 4 before ending its run in Ward 6. Our handy map is here.
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