Vincent Gray kicked off his campaign to rejoin the D.C. Council on Saturday, and he seemed quite sure of himself. “I’m not going to say if we win… when we win,” the former mayor said in a crowded sanctuary at The House of Praise church in Northeast.
Gray will try to unseat incumbent and former protege Yvette Alexander, who jumpstarted her campaign last month by fielding questions from skeptical Ward 7 residents. While Gray was supposed to speak at that unofficial forum, organized by former Ward 7 Councilmember H. R. Crawford, an emergency prevented him from attending. Instead, his campaign manager, Alicia Prince, recorded the crowd’s questions regarding Gray’s legal issues, failure to bring Wal-Mart into the ward, and possible aspirations to become mayor again.
Though the audience members never received their answers as promised (due to lack of access to email addresses, Prince says) Gray addressed many of their concerns during his first comeback rally.
Before sharing his plans for what he would do if elected to the Ward 7 seat—a role he held before becoming the Council chairman and then mayor—Gray said he felt obliged to speak about past “injustices.” The four-year-long probe into a shadow campaign behind his 2010 mayoral campaign ended last December. He thanked the audience for their support, faith, and willingness to carry him through.
“While I’m moving forward, I won’t forget what happened because I don’t want that to happen to somebody else if they can possibly avoid it,” he told the crowd.
The District, at large, has experienced injustices as well, Gray continued, referring to the city’s plight for statehood. “We are everyday denied the opportunity to be able to enjoy and exercise full democracy and basic rights that we’re supposedly guaranteed by our constitution,” he said.
Part of his work in Ward 7 would be to “fight to bring real democracy” to the District because “we’ve earned it and we deserve it,” he continued.
In a numerical review, Gray then listed his accomplishments as mayor—97 percent of children and 93 percent of adults enrolled in health care programs; 40,000 new jobs were created, hundreds of millions were invested in affordable housing; and 80 percent of 3 year olds and 94 percent of four year olds attended school all day, everyday. Additionally, he said, there were 88 homicides in 2012, compared to 162 last year.
After reminiscing, he turned to the present. “This is a campaign for the people of Ward 7,” he said, finally segueing into plans for many of the ward’s underserved neighborhoods.
He first acknowledged failures, such as one of the ward’s few sit-down restaurants, Rays The Steaks, which shuttered in 2012. He then shared his reaction to hearing the news that Wal-Mart would no longer build two stores in Ward 7. “I was ready to punch somebody in the mouth… that was an unbelievable day,” he said.
The planned Wal-Mart at Skyland Town Center was a priority for Gray when he was mayor. When Wal-Mart threatened to cancel plans for three stores, including Skyland, over the Large Retailer Accountability Act, Gray vetoed the minimum wage bill and Wal-Mart said the plans would move forward. He then attended a groundbreaking in March 2014, and a lease was signed in December of 2014.
Now, both the Skyland Town Center and Capitol Gateway stores are no more, as the retail giant announced the closing of 269 stores worldwide.
Those projects aside, Gray spoke about improving amenities in communities such as Penn Branch and Parkside. He also mentioned reviving spaces like the Strand Theater in Deanwood.
To bring forth such plans, he said he’ll use technology as a gateway in the form of an incubator like 1776. “I’m saying to myself, why can’t we bring startups to Ward 7 to help our young people understand how to use technology to bring economic development to our city,” he said, adding that he’d also rely on foreign investments for developments, mentioning his two trips to China as mayor.
While there are a number of areas of growth in the ward, Gray prefers to hear about them from a distance, he told the crowd. “I want people to come out and be involved, but if your only reason to come is to tell me what’s wrong with everything then send me an email…. or do it on some form of social media—that way I don’t have to hear it in my ear every couple of minutes.”
Instead, he asked his audience to dream about the future of Ward 7, with low crime, access to healthcare, and a plethora of amenities.
And with that, Gray said he’d love to treat everybody in the room to a soda, and there’s only one brand that will do, he told his audience. “It’s clear, effervescent, lively… it’s 7 UP.”
