On Sunday night, in the back yard of her home on Broad Branch Road in Northwest Washington, Suzannah Creedon told a group of neighbors why she had decided more than a year ago to devote herself to Adrian Fenty’s run for mayor.
“Like Adrian,” she said, “I was born in Washington. When I heard he was running for mayor, we talked and I realized that here was someone who understood the city’s problems and would actually do something about solving them.”
Creedon, who is white, lives with her husband, J.D., and their two young daughters. The faces in the crowd that night were black and white and brown, but what many had in common, besides a preference for Fenty, wasthey were native Washingtonians.
Like Fenty.
This is not a Fenty endorsement. But it is an appreciation of the fact that men and women who were born and raised in Washington, are beginning to win public office in their hometown. For all those who dismiss residents of the capital as a transient bunch that changes with the political tides, pay attention. The locals are taking over.
That I have to note this political phenomenon is testament to the fact that until the Home Rule Act took effect in 1974, Washington was governed by Congress and federal appointees. It was not allowed to develop a political class, though it has always had a permanent population, going back generations.
These were the locals who called Marion Barry “a “Bama,” the all-purpose epithet for a newcomer from the South. The early city councils had an occasional native Washingtonian — Charlene Drew Jarvis and Harry Thomas Sr. come to mind — but most were outsiders.
Which is why I am so excited about Harry Thomas Jr.’s chance to win the seat once held by his father. Harry Sr. was a tireless champion for his ward on the city’s east end. Harry Jr. came up through the schools and the streets and has devoted himself to training young athletes.
In Ward 3, businessman Robert Gordon is not a native, but he’s been here 30 years and sent his kids through Washington schools. That’s enough street cred for me.
Kwame Brown is a good example of what a local can do on city council. As at-large member elected in 2004, he became a presence in all eight wards and has taken strong stands on employment and contracting.
Vince Gray, who won the Ward 7 seat last election and is running for council chair, is also a local.
Imagine this:
Fenty wins as mayor. Gray takes the council chair. Harry Thomas Jr. wins Ward 5. Gordon prevails in Ward 3. For sure, local roots don’t guaranteequality public servants, but they do tend to be help connect pols to their constituents.
“I just started my daughter at Murch Elementary,” Suzannah Creedon tells me. “At the end of the day, that’s why we are behind Fenty. He’s absolutely the best hope for the kids in the city.”
Perhaps because he once was one.
Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at [email protected].
