Martin Austermuhle
Photo by philliefan99
Given how badly 2011 went, Mayor Vince Gray better believe in symbolic new beginnings. But no number of attempts to reset his administration can mollify his most fervent opponents, who will seek to recall him from office this year.
With a difficult, if not disastrous first year in office, Gray seems to be trying to start off 2012 on a more positive note. On the last day of 2011, his administration released a seven-page-long list of accomplishments (see below), including everything from reducing unemployment and kick-starting development projects to continuing school reform efforts and bringing international attention to the District’s lack of voting rights and autonomy.
He’s recently sat down with the Post and the Current Newspapers — both of which are widely read by the very residents that most say they dislike Gray — for wide-ranging interviews, and claimed victory when he announced that the District had continued growing since the 2010 Census and that the city’s murder tally had hit a 50-year low.
His hope for a new day may well be aided by the symbolic break with 2011, along with a new cadre of senior staffers that have taken place, including a new chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and communications director. While most of the District’s chief executives have enjoyed a good first year and struggled thereafter, Gray may well be looking to make his second year significantly better than his first — and that probably won’t be hard, given how tough last year was on him.
Gray isn’t the only controversial elected official looking to start anew, though. D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown has announced that he’ll be holding monthly press conferences ahead of council legislative sessions, while he recently went out of his way to upbraid Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) for using his government email account to criticize a challenger for his seat.
But for all the talk of a reset, Gray and Brown’s most fervent opponents are still looking to toss them from office.
A group of activists that formerly affiliated themselves with Mayor Adrian Fenty have pledged to file the necessary paperwork this week to seek the recall of a number of elected officials, including Gray, Brown, Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5), Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). In essence, they want to un-elect the five.
Recalling an elected official is a daunting challenge, so much so that it’s never been successfully accomplished. For citywide candidates like Gray and Brown, some 45,000 signatures are needed just to get a recall on the ballot — and those signatures have to be gathered evenly across the city and within only six months. (An attempt to lower signature requirements for citywide candidates was taken out of comprehensive ethics legislation at the last minute late last year.) For ward-based candidates, petitioners need only gather signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in that ward, or between 5,000 and 7,000 signatures.
Realistically, the recall efforts for Gray and Brown will be tough to come by. As the Examiner reports today, they’ll require significant organization and money. But what both Gray and Brown have to continue worrying about — and what might interrupt their hopes for a new start — are ongoing federal investigations that will likely be wrapped up this year.
The U.S. Attorney for the District is still looking into claims by Sulaimon Brown that he was given money and a cushy government job in exchange for attacking Fenty on the campaign trail, while Brown still faces accusations that he illegally steered campaign money to a company run by his brother in 2008.
