Four years ago, at-large D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson was in the same position he’s in today: racking up endorsements and campaign donations for a re-election bid while annoying a whole bunch of people.
In 2006, most folks were certain A. Scott Bolden, a lawyer and a former chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, would swamp the incumbent. He was smart, aggressive and politically astute. But he irritated more people than Mendelson. Endorsements from three newspapers essentially advised people to hold their nose and vote for Mendelson, ruining Bolden’s election reverie.
This year, Mendelson faces another candidate with promise. Clark E. Ray worked in President Clinton’s administration. He was a director of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, who was summarily dismissed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty one Sunday evening. Before Ray could even clean out his desk, his successor, Ximena Hartsock, was moving in. (Interestingly, last week she endorsed Ray. That may not be helpful, since she didn’t win council confirmation.)
Despite a record of commitment to the city, Ray has received scant attention. An endorsement from the Rev. Willie Wilson, pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Ward 8, garnered media attention. Wilson once lambasted homosexual lifestyle and decried the number of young black girls who were identifying themselves as lesbians. Ray is openly gay.
Still, that nod won’t ensure Ray’s victory. In fact, the early odds are against him.
What is Mendelson’s strange magnetism?
Most people, who follow local politics and council antics, often talk about Mendelson’s indisputable affection for minutiae and nitpicking. A political ad in the 2006 campaign turned that negative into a positive, asserting his attention to detail makes him a conscientious and thorough legislator.
It’s true, Mendelson is dedicated to the fine print — even when none exists. But his weakness isn’t that fixation. It’s the fact that his political and public policy arcs are late 20th Century. Often he’s an obstacle to change.
As the chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, he has repeatedly blocked passage of anti-gang legislation. He has frequently sided with the police union as Chief Cathy Lanier has tried creative devices to suppress crime in the city. Mendelson has argued against efforts to change the law regarding the release of information on juveniles who have committed crimes though, under pressure, he reversed himself this week. Additionally, he has tussled with Fenty and his managers, attempting to discredit the administration. Last year, Mendelson began an investigation into the executive’s effort to donate surplus fire equipment to a small town in the Dominican Republic. After several months, the report from that investigation found the administration had not engaged in any criminal activity or deliberate wrongdoing.
Will that portrait of legislator as obstructionist be enough for a Ray victory, or will Democratic voters do as they did in 2006: Hold their noses and re-elect Mendelson?
We’ll have to wait until September for the answer to those questions.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be contacted at mailto:[email protected] “>[email protected].
