The Tweet from user @weaverwardone showed up in the Twitter feed Wednesday midday, timestamped 12:20 PM Aug 4th. @weaverwardone is the official account of Bryan Weaver’s campaign for Ward One’s Democratic nomination for the D.C. Council. Weaver a longtime Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner sitting on Adams-Morgan’s ANC1C.
The Tweet reads: “Really, Ted Loza and Jim Graham going door to door asking Latino businesses to take down my sign and put up his?”
Seeing the name of Ted Loza is noteworthy because it hasn’t popped up much in the press since resigning as D.C. Council Member Jim Graham’s (D-Ward One) chief of staff last fall, in the wake of his arrest on charges that he solicited bribes from persons who could benefit from the taxi regulation legislation authored by his boss.
Loza has been a poo-bah in the District’s Latino circles, and his service to Graham offered the council member representing D.C.’s most Latino-laden ward the opportunity to further ingratiate himself with that community.
Although no longer wielding influence in the corridors of the Wilson Building, Loza seems to remain tethered to Graham in an informal capacity, aiding him in his renomination battle. Weaver reported spotting the low-laying Loza whipping up votes for Graham at the D.C. Latino Caucus endorsement meeting. Loza’s tarnished image may have hindered Graham’s effort. Weaver scored an upset and snared the group’s nod.
I contacted candidate Weaver for more details he couldn’t distill into less than 140 characters.
Weaver shared a Facebook conversation between the candidate and Ernesto Giron, proprietor of Churreria Madrid, a restaurant that has served up traditional Spanish cuisine in Adams-Morgan since 1973. Churreria Madrid’s front window displays a Weaver sign, reflecting a friendship that Weaver says goes back 15 years.
Citing the taking down of Weaver campaigns signs from Combinacion and Pepitos on Columbia Rd., NW, two restaurants nearby his establishment, Giron charges that “Ted Loza had been waging a fear campaing against the latino businesses.”
In Giron’s account, Ted Loza “came to churre the other day, and told milly that it was not a good idea to make an enemy like jim, that she had one of 3 options, one take your sign down and place a jim one there, two, to place a jim sign next to yours, or not to have any,” putting forward an “apolitical” public face to the neighborhood, in Weaver’s terming.
Giron claims that Loza added an ominous coda: “he also said that it was not in our best interest to side with the losing candidate.” Giron also reported that the council member himself paid a follow up visit, Graham re-elect campaign sign in hand, but was refused his offer to put it in Chuerria Madrid’s window.
There seems to be no love lost between Graham and Weaver, stemming largely from finding themselves on opposing sides of the often contentious business before ANC1B, a forum frequented with liquor license-haggling and zoning disputes with the bars and restaurants that line 18th St., NW.
So Weaver has an interest in reporting this, but Washington City Paper’s “Loose Lips” columnist (and former Washington Examiner reporter) Alan Suderman reports tales of a similar scenario unfolding between the Graham and the owner of Adams-Morgan “PoPo” favored watering hole, Adams Mill Bar & Grill.
A call to Graham’s campaign for comment was not returned. A number for Loza could be located.
Loza couldn’t deliver the Latino caucus’ nod. Watch as the Ward One Democrats’ battle to see if Loza’s stumping for Graham bolsters or jeopardizes his renomination prospects.
