Bonds

Members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee yesterday overwhelmingly selected party chairwoman and longtime political fixture Anita Bonds to fill the At-Large seat on the D.C. Council vacated by Chairman Phil Mendelson.

Despite pleas from underdog challengers Doug Sloan and John Capozzi that the council needed a young, progressive and ethically minded interim councilmember, Bonds’ years of activism in local politics—she once served as an aide to then-mayor Marion Barry—eased her path to victory. During the single round of balloting at Catholic University, Bonds secured the support of 55 of the 71 voting members present.

Bonds won’t waste any time savoring her win—she’s set to be sworn in at 9:15 a.m. today, ahead of the council’s last legislative session on December 18. After she was declared the winner yesterday, she said she hoped to focus on jobs and infrastructure, and dismissed claims that she would merely be a Barry proxy. On a bill he put forth that would grant additional protections to ex-convicts as they search for housing and employment, for one, she said she had concerns over making returning citizens a protected class under the city’s expansive Human Rights Act.

“It needs work,” she said of the bill, which Barry has strongly pushed for. “How do you implement that so it’s not onerous for the business community?”

As for her current employment at Fort Myer, one of the city’s biggest and most well-connected contractors, Bonds stepped back from earlier comments that she would take a leave-of-absence until the special election. She did say that she would have to cut back from her work there, though. “Common sense is that I’ll have to cut back to be an effective councilmember, and that’s exactly what I’ll do,” she said.

Bonds responded defensively to questions related to her outside employment, saying that reporters don’t ask the same questions of male councilmembers who hold second jobs.

“I think it’s ironic that there’s a concern about what I’m going to do…I guess as a female I’m a little sensitive to that. I don’t hear that when the guys run for re-election,” she said. “You don’t ask those questions, you don’t ask how much they make in their law practice or how much they make as vice-presidents of their companies, but you’re very concerned over me, little ol’ me?”

If Bonds stays in her job, she’ll join Councilmembers Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and David Catania (I-At Large) as legislators who keep outside employment. Evans works for a law firm, Cheh teaches at George Washington University and Catania is a vice-president at M.C. Dean, another large city contractor.

Bonds said that she plans on running for the full term in the April 23 special election, where she’ll face a number of declared candidates (including Capozzi) and rumored contenders, like Republican Pat Mara and former interim councilmember Sekou Biddle. Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large), who was recently beaten by David Grosso, has hinted that he’ll also run in the special election.