The District mayor’s race has become a genuine slugfest: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty hammers his chief opponent, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, with the failings of the Department of Human Services during his tenure. Gray slams Fenty with his so-called reckless spending from the city’s savings account.
The forum last week sponsored by the Ward 3 Democrats and the Federation of Citizens Associations offered more of the same. Gray may have felt good after bashing Fenty for allegedly getting his facts wrong, and the mayor may have experienced satisfaction from his offensive. But Ward 3 residents, who went to St. Columba Episcopal Church in Tenleytown expecting to hear the politicos’ plans for District, surely were disappointed.
They may have thought they had tuned into the history channel. The future couldn’t be found.
Questions from former Councilwoman Kathy Patterson and a panel of informed residents provided ample opportunity to for the two to present plans for the next four years. Yet the two major candidates repeatedly returned to the past: Gray pounded Fenty about his budget proposals; Fenty went all 1990s.
Let’s stipulate these facts:
— The mayor, attempting to keep his promise of no new taxes, has implemented astronomical increases in fees and fines. Further, he has used money from the government savings account to sustain some services during a historic national recession. And at times, during the past three years, he’s been less than warm and fuzzy.
— During Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly’s administration in the early 1990s, Gray was director of DHS — one of the city’s largest, most expensive and most troubled government agencies. While he may have implemented some reforms, the place was a mess. His boss, aided by finance chief Carol O’Connor, mismanaged the budget, ultimately pushing the District to the brink of bankruptcy and into the arms of a financial control board.
That’s all well-documented history. The past may be an indicator of the future, but it isn’t the sole barometer of competence or potential success. Still, Gray and Fenty are mired in it.
Consequently, when a Ward 3 resident asked about development around subway stations, neither candidate discussed plans for neighborhood economic development. When someone asked about those controversial contracts for recreation projects, there wasn’t a conversation about procurement reform. And, when government spending was questioned, there wasn’t a discussion about the fiscal issues the city faces. Gray said he had some ideas about raising revenues but only mentioned filing a lawsuit against the federal government. (He was joking, right?)
The 2010 mayoral forums may have become a source of entertainment for political junkies like me. But they also have exposed the dearth of creative 21st-century ideas about municipal management. What worked in 2010 may not prove effective in 2012.
If the District is to continue its renaissance, visionary leadership isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. It’s time the candidates took us on a tour of the future.
Jonetta Rose Barras’s column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected]
