Jonetta Rose Barras: A Ward 3 feeling in Ward 7

There wasn’t any hesitation in Emma Parrish’s voice when she told me she’ll vote to re-elect Mayor Adrian M. Fenty: “I think he has done a lot for the city.”

She cited improvements in schools and renovated libraries as just two reasons she believes he deserves a second term. A Ward 7 resident since coming to the District to attend college, Parrish declined to tell her age: “I’m a senior citizen; let’s leave it at that.”

Parrish has lived through all the District’s elected mayors. Walter Washington and Anthony A. Williams were good. “But Fenty has impressed me even more.”

Misty Brown, a new resident to Ward 7, also heaped praise, calling Fenty a “fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.

“We old-timers, sometimes, have trouble accepting a youthful vision. The city is benefiting under his leadership,” Brown continued. “Fenty gave us buildings that have made us feel like we’re in Ward 3.”

The Benning Road Library and Ridge Road Recreation Center are “gorgeous,” she said, adding that she looks forward to visiting the Deanwood center. She’s been told it’s “like an amusement park,” with a water slide, indoor pool, music center and library.

Interestingly, as the mayor receives accolades for his successful campaign renovating recreation centers, many of which had been neglected for decades, candidate Vincent C. Gray has used that work to suggest Fenty has led a corrupt government.

Don’t believe the propaganda.

The Fenty administration sought construction assistance from the D.C. Housing Authority because the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation has never had the capacity to effectively and efficiently implement its own capital improvement agenda, and because the D.C. Council refused his request to give that responsibility to public facilities czar Allen Lew.

The Housing Authority put out a request for proposal. A dozen companies responded; Banneker Ventures/Reagan Association won the bid to serve as project managers. They were to receive $5 million for their work — not the full $82 million, as has been tossed about.

Ironically, as he has campaigned, Gray has taken credit for the construction of Deanwood rec center. But, the very company he’s been trashing — Banneker Ventures — completed that project, on time and on budget.

Gray can’t have it both ways. He can’t suggest that Banneker only received the contract because its owner is the mayor’s fraternity brother while taking credit for the fine work Banneker has done.

Undoubtedly, there wouldn’t have been a problem if the Housing Authority had presented the contract to the council for approval. But there continue to be legal questions about the legislature’s authority to impose such a regimen on an independent agency that receives most of its operating budget from the feds — not the District.

Neither Brown, Parrish, nor any of Fenty’s other supporters is unaware of his mistakes; as a young politician, they expected, he would make his share. But they believed he would work on behalf of all District residents.

“The good far outweighs the negative,” said Parrish.

Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].