Mayor Vince Gray is visiting Wall Street on Thursday, fighting to keep the District’s high bond rating scores. But in his absence, his administration appears to have lost control of two pressing stories in the media.
Gray has been described as a process-oriented leader. He makes a decision only after collaborating with others and deliberating on the details. In today’s fast-paced media, though, he may need to be a bit more proactive or risk having the story of his administration told for him rather than by him.
On Tuesday, the Washington Teachers Union announced its victory in a arbiter’s ruling that requires the city to hire back 75 teachers fired by former D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Gray and interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson have yet to say whether they’ll appeal the decision. On Wednesday they lost control of the story, when Rhee announced that they would.
Meanwhile, Gray’s acting attorney general, Irvin Nathan, dove into a bunker after The Washington Examiner and Fox 5 revealed he has been dropping drunken driving cases for the past two weeks. The only answers from his office come from a senior staffer. Without Nathan’s voice, it’s the defense attorneys who oppose him in court who are shaping the story line for him in the press. That’s doing little to benefit Nathan’s image, and he will soon face an approval process in the D.C. Council.
