The collateral noise being heard in this final stretch to the District primary election is deafening, distracting and wholly disingenuous. Despite major media endorsements, including from the editorial board of this paper, mayoral front-runner Adrian Fenty continues to be accused by his chief opponent of being inattentive and reckless — ludicrous and laughable charges.
In the council chairman’s race, some critics have called contender Kathy Patterson, a shrew, a harridan or far, far worse.
The line must be drawn.
When a woman displays some of the same skills and characteristics as her male counterpart — intelligence, toughness, tenacity, impatience and adroitness at procedural and political machination — she is denigrated. She is called abrasive, difficult and uninspiring.
He, on the other hand, is celebrated.
Thankfully, Patterson doesn’t suffer fools — even when they are her colleagues. She doesn’t sugarcoat. She doesn’t pander to residents. She doesn’t grandstand for the media.
She successfully maneuvers around obstinate lawmakers who won’t take a risk and are fatally in love with the status quo. She calls do-nothing bureaucrats to account for wasting the public’s money while failing to deliver quality municipal services. And she ensures that the federal government and its corporate allies don’t run roughshod over the city.
These traits were praised in John Wilson, now deceased; they made him a great council chairman. But in Patterson, people call them deficits.
Don’t believe the hype.
Patterson is one of the best lawmakers on the council. Taxpayers get their money’s worth with her in city hall. She does her homework, forcing her opponents — on the council or in the executive branch — to either do the same or whine when they don’t win. Her record of getting legislation through committees and the full body speaks to her ability to build consensus and inspire others.
There has been much clangor during these last weeks: soapbox speeches; promises of irrelevant scorecards; day-late, dollar-short proposals to transform the District. Public Schools plastered on slick paper and mailed to thousands of voters; recitation ad nauseum of empty phrases like “we have to help vulnerable residents”; and a general hoisting of
fear by those whose behavior would shame the Henny Penny brigade.
The sky is not falling. And neither the executive nor the legislative branch will descend into destruction and chaos, as some want us to believe.
The job of a mayor and a council chairman, ultimately, is to provide leadership — thoughtful, dynamic leadership that inspires a community and holds a vision steady, against a doubtful, frightened public or an ill-favored wind.
Forget the name-calling, scurrilous charges, blatant distortions and rewriting of history. Let me repeat: Residents interested in dedicated leaders who offer a bright future for the District won’t go wrong selecting Fenty as mayor and Patterson as council chairman in the Democratic primary election.
Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s “D.C. Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta.” She can be reached at [email protected].
