The Sierra Club’s District chapter has endorsed Ward 7 D.C. Council Member Vincent Gray for council chair, to the dismay of his opponent, who has worked with the environmental advocate on numerous issues during her 12 years in office.
Gray won the endorsement by backing every Sierra Club issue on the group’s candidate questionnaire, said Jim Dougherty, a club leader.
Ward 3 Council Member Kathy Patterson, from the club’s perspective, botched at least two questions, Dougherty said — one on the subject of rebuilding Klingle Road, and the other on reopening Beach Drive to traffic.
“Vince was 100 percent,” Dougherty said. “He answered all our questions in an environmentally progressive way.”
The official Sierra Club endorsement describes Gray as “forward-thinking in his approach to public transit and his commitment to cleaning up the Anacostia River and protecting our parkland.” The club has 3,000 D.C. members.
“We discussed many environmental issues and I am delighted that at the end of that process they feel I am the best candidate to be chair of the council,” Gray said.
Patterson worked closely with the Sierra Club on legislation to ban CSX Corp. trains from transporting toxic chemicals through the District. The disappointing endorsement, Patterson said, was solely based on her decision not to reconsider the council’s 2004 vote to rebuild and reopen Klingle Road — a narrow Northwest byway that winds from Mount Pleasant to Woodley Park through 2,000 acres of U.S. parkland.
The council’s vote “should be respected,” Patterson said in a statement.
“I am sorry that the Sierra Club is focused on a single roadway in upper Northwest instead of environmental issues that could have a positive impact on every D.C. resident,” she said.
Other Sierra Club endorsements
» Ward 1 D.C. Council Member Jim Graham for re-election
» Mary Cheh for Ward 3
» Tommy Wells for Ward 6
