Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal said he will make an announcement about his D.C. mayoral intentions on Tuesday, not at one of his restaurants, but at Ben’s Chili Bowl.
Shallal, a progressive democrat, said on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show that he’s “not a candidate yet,” but he will pick up petitions today at the D.C. Board of Elections. He already has a “Andy Shallal For Mayor” website, and said later in the show former boxing promoter Rock Newman will be his campaign manager. So expect the announcement Tuesday to be, “I’m running.”
“I’m interested in seeing how this how whole race is shaping out,” Shallal told Nnamdi and NBC4’s Tom Sherwood. “I was sitting back looking at what this city’s in need of. And in these days of budget surplus, we feel like we have a leadership deficit. I think we really need to see how we can turn this around.”
Shallal noted that, despite numerous condos, bike lanes and beer gardens, there are still a lot of poverty issues that have not been addressed. He said there’s a dropout crisis in D.C. schools that is not being addressed: “You have to make school exciting for kids.” Shallal said by lowering the voting age to 17, the final year of high school could become a civics lesson. “I’m all for engaging young people,” he said.
When asked about how people view political ethics in this city (see: Michael Brown, shadow campaign), Shallal said it’s a “key issue.”
“People see politics as being dirty, filthy. It’s not something that a decent person would get into,” he continued, saying people asked him why he’d want to be in a “messy” business. “These are the people that make decisions that effect my life. I want them to have integrity. I want them to care about me.”
As Sherwood pointed out, Shallal chaired disgraced former Councilmember Michael Brown’s 2012 re-election campaign. The restauranteur said Brown “succumbed to greed” and that he hasn’t spoken to him recently.
Another key issue for Shallal? Art. He said he would devote one percent of each agency’s budget to art and culture.
Listen to the whole show here.
