The Dithering of a District Diva

Why So Serious, Mayor Fenty?

I went to an event for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty on Wednesday night.  Dubbed a “Meet & Greet” event, I half-expected to — Meet & Greet Fenty. That did not happen.  I was slightly surprised by this, and not just because Fenty has been having a bit of a P.R. problem as the primary vote inches closer.  Mostly, I was surprised because only a few hours beforehand, I received the following Tweet from the official Fenty twitter page:

Though I had heard the excuse that the hostage situation — in Silver Spring, Maryland — caused him not to attend, I don’t think there is any official word on why he didn’t show.  I pressed the Fenty camp on his absence and they responded via Twitter:

First of all, Why, Thank You!! I did win the 2010 Black Weblog Award for Best New Blog. *woot woot*  And I did have a great time at the event, held at Mezza Luna restaurant in DuPont.  You know I love my food, and the family-owned Mezza Luna had one of the savoriest chicken wings lightly coated in a smoky barbecue sauce and one of the tastiest white sangrias I’ve had in D.C.  Add to that great conversations with my fellow district residents and new friends, and I would definitely count the night a success.  But I was really looking forward to speaking with the Mayor directly. After all of the negative press Fenty has received and the characterizations of him as “aloof” and “arrogant“, I would have thought he would take every opportunity to show that he has been mischaracterized.

In any event, I took the time to seek out Fenty’s Green Team members who were at this event, but I couldn’t find any at all.  I did talk to some adamant supporters who validated my understanding that Fenty’s policies have reduced crime in the city and have improved the education system.  And then I spoke with two D.C. teachers who are completely against D.C. Education Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s policies — including the evaluations that fired over 100 teachers last year.

After only being in the city for a year, I’ve definitely seen tangible changes made in my neighborhood, and for the added convenience, I honestly don’t mind the $300 jump in rent that I’ll have to pay because of these improvements when my lease is up.  And there is no doubt that Fenty’s complete overhaul of D.C. public schools has lead to higher graduation rates, and proficiency scores for students.  He has put more police on the streets, has increased homicide case closures, and has dramatically decreased property and violent crimes in the city.

Those are the most important issues for me (besides these ridiculous Metro fares and infrequent and dirty trains…who do I speak to about that???). But I guess the real question is, would mayoral candidate and city council chairman Vincent Gray make these same positive changes? And if so, why not vote for Gray just because he listens?

Yes, the number one complaint I’ve heard about Fenty is that he is not listening to people’s concerns.  Strikingly — though violent and property crime is down — the Firefighters and police union endorsed Gray over Fenty, saying:

“Mayor Fenty has done nothing to warrant the endorsement and support of D.C. firefighters,” said Ray Sneed, president of the firefighters’ Local 36. “From a labor standpoint, he is unreachable, unapproachable and our correspondence goes unanswered.”

There’s also the reported snubbing of civil rights’ icon Dorothy Height and Maya Angelou. Fenty twice canceled meetings with the two  legendary women, prompting a Washington Post editorial about Fenty’s “unlikely” chances of winning, because Fenty had “los[t] the love of Black women,” as a result of these snubs.

And then, there was the DCDistrictDiva “snub.”  I took the 45 minute bus ride out to the Fenty campaign headquarters on Georgia Ave only to wait on the official I was supposed to be meeting with — for two and a half hours.  I did data entry — which I hate — while I waited for the official, but it right at that 2.5 hours mark, I had had enough and I walked out.  I emailed him about this and he apologized, saying it was a  “misunderstanding.” In any event, I tweeted about it, and, guess who responded?

I’m not going to base my decision on who I vote for on what could possibly maybe might have been a “misunderstanding,” or on strictly emotional issues, such as how a politician makes me feel.  I care about education for our youth, crime levels, and homelessness most of all in this city.  If a politician is nice to me, but doesn’t produce any results that I support (*ahem* George W. is so cool, I’d love to have a beer with him! *ahem*), then I don’t want that either. But, like it or not, personality matters.  Listening Matters.  Gray listened to a concern that I had — though admittedly minuscule — and responded.  Just like the young D.C. teacher I met at the Meet & Greet said: “In a relationship, all girls want the guy who listens.”

That sentiment was echoed to me again after the Fenty party in the most unexpected of places: my cab.  I was heading home from DuPont and immediately reporting via phone that Fenty was a no-show. Who chimed into my phone call? My taxicab driver, Foday. In fact, Foday was so passionate about the issue that my 10-minute ride home turned into a 45 minute this is what’s wrong with Fenty session.  He railed on the taxicab fare cap that Fenty has imposed, which, he said, prevents cabbies from making a living wage.  He even gave me a flier of the campaign against Fenty’s policies that cab drivers have organized.  (I personally am a fan of low cab fare, but I would be willing to pay more if the fares are, indeed, preventing the cabbies from making a living. ) When Foday had said his peace, he glanced up toward the ceiling of the cab and took a deep breath before looking back at me.  “Thank you for listening, I can tell you are a good girl,” he said to me.

Wow. Imagine if Fenty had been sitting in that seat instead of me.  While 45 minutes of just listening to people wouldn’t melt away all of the negative press he’s been getting, it certainly would have helped.  To his credit, Fenty recently released an ad saying he was sorry for his mistakes and if we re-elect him, he’ll do better next time.  Great. So in your next term, answer the phone when people call you, reach back out to the unions you have lost, have regular town hall meetings to allow people to voice their concerns.  But what about now. The moment he realized that he was losing ground with the people and was being characterized as someone who is “aloof,” his communications team should have gone into high gear, scheduling town halls to let people say their “peace,” open up a dialogue, and let people know that he cares, he understands, and he is working on it.

But, I would never argue that he doesn’t care; indeed, my first glimpse of Fenty was seeing him in a tan wool pea coat and a matching ivy hat, speaking to reporters in the cold of winter as news of a little boy shot in the head by a stray bullet in Columbia Heights rang out.  Seeing him there to support the family in their most nightmarish of hours made a huge impression on me.  As his wife Michelle came out and said — through tears — last week:

“The reason he goes out there every single day moving 1,000 miles an hour is for the people of Washington, D.C. and for them not to understand that the whole point of his actions is for them is very difficult.”

The problem? Perception is nine-tenths of the law. He needs to do more showing and telling about the things he’s actually done, because he has done a lot.

Fenty is the incumbent here. This is his race to lose.  Yet, Gray is in the best position because really, all he has to say is that I’ll do the same thing Fenty’s doing, except I’ll do it with a smile, and answer your questions in a timely fashion, as Jonetta Rose Barras noted in the Examiner.

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