“There is a crisis of leadership in America,” Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich said Sunday during an appearance on “Meet the Press,” adding that the problem isn’t just in the political arena. Anyone paying attention to District affairs during the past six months would second that sentiment. There has been a palpable absence of vision and a dearth of courage. Regrettably, there also has been an overabundance of unethical and other questionable behavior by many city leaders, particularly politicians.
Mayor Vincent Gray may have been involved in dirty campaigning, possibly paying an opponent cash and promising a job to him if he trashed incumbent Adrian Fenty. This week, the Washington Post’s Nikita Stewart reported new allegations: Gray’s campaign accepted cash contributions that exceeded legal limits and converted them into money orders, allowing the alleged violation to go undetected.
D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown allegedly misappropriated donations to his 2008 campaign. Ward 7’s Yvette Alexander has been accused of using money from a fund designated to help poor constituents to cover her personal expenses. Ward 5’s Harry Thomas Jr. appears to have used $300,000 designated for underserved District youth to enrich himself.
Unfortunately, other civic leaders not involved in scandalous activities haven’t demonstrated much mettle, publicly standing against misbehaving elected officials. Consider Brown’s midyear reshuffling of committee chairmanships simply to whip a colleague he perceived to be an enemy: Barbara Lang, president and chief executive of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, initially seemed to challenge the chairman’s actions. “It’s a little unsettling. Businesspeople like things to stay put,” she said, according to the Post.
By week’s end, she appeared to have flipped, however: “We think this reorganization will provide appropriate oversight needed to advance the city’s agenda,” she said in a prepared statement.
Lang couldn’t be reached. But her chief of staff Marco Aguilar said she “fully supports” the reorganization and that the statement was “not a reversal of her [earlier] position. Barbara stands firmly by her remarks.”
The Greater Washington Board of Trade parsed its support, celebrating the selection of Vincent Orange for a small business committee and Muriel Bowser as the city’s new representative on the Metro Board.
Their vocal opposition could help alter the city’s declining course.
Residents might be accepting of leaders’ shenanigans, if things were getting done. But there has been more yakking than acting: Gray has created a slew of special commissions and task forces; delivered a 26-page economic development speech; reportedly spent more than $200,000 for a summit in Ward 8; and worn out most of us with his empty “one city” slogan. Brown hasn’t done much better.
Truth be told, improving the quality of leaders can’t be left to the chamber, the BOT or any other group. Ordinary residents who have sat on the sidelines shaking their heads or throwing spitballs have to get in the game — today. Tomorrow will be too late.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
