Martin Austermuhle
Harry ‘Tommy’ Thomas, Jr.This post has been updated
Though he pleaded guilty to two federal crimes and gave up his Ward 5 seat on the D.C. Council late last week, Harry Thomas, Jr. hasn’t technically left office. That was one of the surprising takeaways from a crowded meeting in Ward 5 last night to discuss a special election to replace Thomas.
In a presentation to over 200 people crowded into the basement of the Israel Baptist Church, Rudolph McGann, a staff attorney with the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, confirmed that Thomas’ resignation letter had not yet been received by his office, preventing it from formally declaring a vacancy and moving ahead with scheduling a special election. Once the letter is received, he said, the office would have five days to declare a vacancy, after which the board could schedule the election.
According to D.C. law, the special election would have to come on the first Tuesday 114 days after the vacancy is declared, so May 15 is looking like a possible date. (D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton wants that changed.) As for having the election coincide with the April 3 primary, McGann noted that it probably wouldn’t be possible.
“The logistics of that premise are pretty difficult to overcome,” he said, pointing out that ballots for the April primary have to be sent to print on February 18, and the process to qualify candidates for the Ward 5 special election may not be done by then.
Beyond the ongoing delay in moving forward on finalizing Thomas’ resignation and setting a date for the special election, residents and civic leaders seemed most concerned about the lack of representation they’ll face over the next four months. Councilmember Vincent Orange (D-At Large), who once represented Ward 5 on the council, said that his staff would be available to handle constituent calls; Councilmembers Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and Michael Brown (I-At Large) similarly offered Ward 5 residents their support. (D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown has a meeting scheduled for tonight on Ward 5 constituent concerns.)
Despite hints that a crowded field of contenders may run to replace Thomas, last night’s meeting was surprisingly free of overt campaign pitches. What did emerge was a potential division between those — like Orange — who want to narrow down the field of contenders before polling day and those that want the election itself to be the final say. Pollster Ron Lester, who was invited to speak by Orange, proposed the idea of a ward-wide poll to test name recognition of various candidates, but there was little practical agreement on who would pay for such a survey or what purpose it would end up serving.
For as much talk as there was about moving forward, there was very little discussion about the acts that Thomas admitted to. Numerous speakers asked for prayers for his family, but no one explicitly showed any outrage over the $353,500 he stole from the District. In fact, the theft itself was never directly mentioned.
UPDATE, 11:40 a.m.: The election board said today that Thomas’ resignation letter had been forwarded along by Brown today. (It’s below.) It also noted that Thomas and Brown got the process backwards — the resignation letter should have gone to the board first, and then on to Brown. Still, it’s looking like the vacancy will be declared in time to have the special election on May 15.
