When D.C. needs the White House, who you gonna call?
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that President Barack Obama, on his way to deliver his speech to Congress last night, punched up Mayor Adrian Fenty’s number on his cell phone.
“Fenty,” the president might have said, “can’t you do something about this traffic? I have a date with the American people.”
Fenty got the joke, of course. Obama’s course was plotted and cleared for his motorcade, lead by D.C. cops astride Harley-Davidsons.
“When are you showing up in my neighborhood gym for some hoops?” Fenty could ask. “Me and Caron Butler against you and Holder.”
And so forth.
Point is, the president and Fenty might have one another on speed dial.
And it’s quite possible that D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton called the White House yesterday after the Senate voted on the bill that would give the District’s delegate to Congress full voting rights on the House floor. Or Obama might have called Norton. The two go way back and stay in good contact.
Without question, the top elected officials in D.C. have better access to the White House than at any other time in the capital city’s short history. This is no small thing. Under the Constitution and the Home Rule Act, the president is the boss of all bosses in District affairs.
Let’s say the mayor proposes a law banning assault weapons, and the city council passes it, and Congress includes it in a spending bill and sends it to the White House. And the president happens to be Antonin Scalia, who vetoes the bill because of the D.C. gun ban.
The fact that Fenty and Norton have direct access to Obama is important — but it’s not enough. Since the White House has so much influence over the affairs of the capital city, our local public officials beyond the top two need a way to reach the executive branch.
“We should have a designated person in the White House,” says Councilman Jack Evans, who represents Georgetown, downtown and Shaw.
The model is Charles Horsky, Lyndon Johnson’s adviser for national capital affairs from 1962 to 1967. It was Horsky, a Montana native, who helped push through the Home Rule Act, got funds for Metro and played a role in establishing the Kennedy Center, among other things.
President Bill Clinton assigned two aides to work closely with D.C.: first Alexis Herman and then Carol Thompson Cole. Though President George W. Bush didn’t appoint a specific D.C. adviser, local officials could count on Chief of Staff Joshua Bolton to take their calls, squeeze money out of the federal government and show up at key events.
It’s terrific to hear first lady Michelle Obama declare her desire to connect with us locals; and we can hope the first couple does more than use our schools as a backdrop. But Obama would show a true commitment by appointing an aide to work directly with District officials on District affairs.
Ultimately, Obama does run the city, but he has a few other matters to handle, too.
