Am I really going fact-check “Don’t Leave Us Fenty,” the latest Ron Moten-backed jam in favor of Mayor Fenty’s candidacy for reelection? Oh, you bet I am.
Adrian Fenty, for my city did plenty / the ex-offender movement that helped the re-entry / but where’s Mr. Vince Gray, when you need him? / He’s busy with Emmanuel Bailey, his private meetings
>> Big Wax actually gets off to a strong start! Fenty has put quite a bit of energy into the Employment Readiness Center, an initiative run jointly through the Department of Employment Services and the Department of Corrections. Bailey, the majority stakeholder of the consortium which was awarded the “deeply flawed” D.C. Lottery contract over the Mayor’s protestations. Gray, Bailey and former Councilmember-turned-lobbyist Kevin Chavous did controversially meet privately in December 2008.
We get the real facts, no propaganda
>> Whether you believe that Vince Gray’s depiction as a vampire counts as “propaganda” or not, my mailbox — and my recycling bin — have both pled for relief from the deluge of mail I’ve received in the past couple of months from the Mayor.
They play them politricks, but we ain’t havin’ it / one way to that Wilson Building, one way to that dais is / so place your ballots up / September 14 / vote for that green team / we might get anything
>> Fact: even though “politricks” is patented Otherside Magazine lingo, it’s still a fantastic little portmanteau. That, and the Democratic primary for mayor is definitely on the 14th. Sadly, it’s impossible to verify Mr. Big Wax’s claim about getting “anything.”
The South Capitol massacre / Fenty looked after us / gave us the resources / followed up afterwards / got all of the younguns jobs, worked with the parents too / I ain’t no well and do, that’s how our mayor do / but Gray never showed up and six were slayed / ’cause his only concern is William Smith get paid
>> Hmm. Well, Fenty did technically “follow up” in the wake of the South Capitol Street shootings in March, though he was hardly greeted with fanfare. Additionally, I’m pretty sure that there were only four people killed in the incident. “William Smith” refers to William C. Smith and Co., the contractor which Gray used to build that much-maligned fence around his home, which was later torn down. (More on this later.)
They worried about ball tickets at Nationals stadium / but what about our streets when kids are slayed in ’em? / Gray cut the funding for all of the grassroots / is that what this man do, he say that he keep it true?
>> Obviously, we’ve moved on to talking about the epically-stupid long-term kerfuffle over the Council’s baseball tickets. (See context here and here.) We assume that Big Wax is talking about Gray’s refusal to raise income taxes that would have supplied funding for human services this year, despite widespread support of the proposal from other Councilmembers. Gray said earlier this year that he didn’t think that an election year was a good time to raise taxes, since he was trying to get people to vote for him. He may not “keep it true,” but it was at an honest response.
Vince Gray / the ex-chief of human services / jacked a billion dollars and he didn’t render services
>> My research tells me that Vince Gray did not steal a billion dollars from the city.
Fenty kept the medical center open in Southeast / invest a hundred million, yeah, that’s for D.C.
>> That is factually accurate: Fenty did invest $100 million in city funds to purchase the United Medical Center at auction.
Gray violate, denied shelter to homeless / caused the city to pay fines, the blow was enormous
>> The city did pay $1 million in fines in 1993, after many homeless families were denied access to emergency shelters. But was this actually Gray’s fault? TBD’s Kevin Robillard has already examined this talking point in depth and finds that it’s only kinda sorta true.
He flipped with the streetcars / gon’ flop as the mayor / cut the funding for AIDS patients but nobody care
>> Well, first: there were definitely plenty of people who cared about funding for AIDS patients. Secondly, a lot of the claims that Gray did not spend money on HIV/AIDS prevention stem from the a nearly two-year gap in leadership at the Office of AIDS Activities in the early 90s. From a June 4, 1991 article in the Washington Post: “The D.C. AIDS office has lacked a permanent manager for two years and has been criticized for not spending millions of city and federal dollars over the last four years, at a time of spreading infection by the HIV virus believed to cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome.” It’s certainly hard to spend money (or prevent cutting it from the budget, depending on your perspective) without somebody to provide guidance on where to do so. Then again, there’s no arguing that spending on HIV/AIDS prevention did decrease during his time at Human Services. (So make your own conclusions.) And of course, while Gray has tried to downplay his streetcar snafu by expressing regret over the way it went down, there’s no question that it was a flip-flop.
He voted William C. Smith 300 million in contracts / it’s change for the renovation of the fence and all that / that Harry Thomas gets a million uncompetitive funds from Vince Gray / they rob the city without a gun
>> The first claim here is somewhat accurate. The Washington Times reported on November 23, 2009 that “[a]ccording to council documents, William C. Smith & Co. has about $300 million of real estate development east of the Anacostia River — an area of the city that Mr. Gray has represented.” The second half of the claim refers to the earmarking of funds that were awarded to Ward 5 in March 2010, seemingly without a competitive bidding process. A questionable practice, sure; but the amount of the funds appears to be only $320,000, however — so Big Wax is slightly off on his dollar amount here.
If you’re going to shine in the sun, you’re going to get some blisters.
>> Well, not if you’re wearing sunscreen.
