As the national Democratic rules committee prepared to meet this weekend in Washington, D.C., to hash out a plan for seating delegates from Michigan and Florida, Mayor Sheila Dixon reiterated her support for finding a compromise before the convention to count the votes from primaries that the party previously ruled ineligible.
“I think everyone?s vote should be counted,” the mayor said at a news conference Friday.
Dixon ? who endorsed Sen. Barrack Obama for president in February ? is a member of the party?s credentials committee, the body that would ultimately decide whether or not to seat the delegates if the rule committee fails to reach an agreement. Dixon?s committee would meet the first day of the convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 25 in Denver.
Both Florida and Michigan moved up the date of their primaries in violation of party rules; subsequently the Democrat National Committee did not recognize the results from both states.
But Dixon said that despite her endorsement of Obama, she supported finding a way to count the votes.
“I know it would be good for my candidate if they weren?t seated,” Dixon noted.
“But the party needs to come together.”
Meanwhile Dixon spent the majority of the news conference touting her selection of Wanda Durden as the new director of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Durden, a former interim director of Parks and Recreation for Washington D.C., is being charged with righting a crucial city agency.
“When we talk about reducing crime in the city, it?s not just the Police Department,” Dixon said.
Dixon said she expected Durden to clean up the agency, which runs city parks, swimming pools and recreation centers.
“We need some discipline in Parks and Recreation,” the mayor said. “The agency needs to step up.”
Durden said she would spend the coming months assessing the agency with possible cuts in mind.
“We need to figure out what works and what doesn?t,” she said
