By Harry Jaffe
Michelle Rhee’s close friends in the upper echelons of Washington’s political and philanthropic community turned out in January to celebrate her engagement to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Among the guests at the home of Ron and Beth Dozoretz were Federal City Council education activist Terence Golden, co-hosts David and Katherine Bradley, the Washington Post’s Don Graham, and D.C. Council finance chair Jack Evans. Mayor Adrian Fenty and his wife, Michelle, showed up late.
After the speeches I sidled up to the shrimp bowl and tried to elbow aside a large fellow in a pork pie hat. A mutual friend made the introduction: “Meet Sinclair Skinner.” He quickly turned tail when he heard my name, and I was left to wonder how Skinner got an invitation to such an intimate gathering. I had heard he was Fenty’s friend; who knew he was Rhee’s buddy, too?
Turns out Skinner was not on the invitation list. My guess is he showed up with Fenty’s campaign fundraiser, John Falcicchio. The unmistakable image — then and now — is that Skinner is joined at the hip with the mayor.
At that party in January, Skinner was dodging requests to testify before the city council. The legislators wanted to know how Skinner, an unlicensed engineer, pulled down nearly $1 million in city contracts for his engineering firm; and what, if anything, he did for the dough. Under threat of court fines, Skinner testified in April that he was rather clueless about the contracts.
To get some answers, the council asked Robert Trout — a top notch, no-nonsense lawyer — to investigate Skinner’s dealings with the city and Fenty. If Trout reports his findings this summer, before the fall mayoral election, Skinner could be Fenty’s albatross.
The mayor’s base of voters in Upper Caucasia supports him for his brave stance on school reform, his renovation of school buildings and parks, his energy and youth; but they could abandon him if he wired or condoned contracts for his buddies, who then failed to do the work.
And what have we heard from the mayor? Zip.
Watching Fenty prepare to run for a second term, I can’t help but see his face on the cover of Mad magazine, with that clueless grin that Mad’s mascot Alfred E. Neuman always wore, and his refrain regardless of the calamity about the engulf him: “What, me worry?”
Time to worry. Unless our boyish chief executive shakes off the hangover from his glorious victory three years ago, he might go down as one of the most titanic political losers in history. Two polls — one in January and another in March — showed him getting 30 percent of the vote and trailing Council Chairman Vince Gray by 15 to 17 points.
Fenty doesn’t need polls to tell him he has problems; he knocks on doors and voters express their disappointment to his face.
Wouldn’t it be tragic if the reforms Fenty has begun end because he picked bad friends — like Skinner — and let them take advantage of the city?
Maybe it’s time to cut the dude loose.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected]
