Just as he showed during his mayoral campaign, when his coffers swelled to a record $3.8 million, Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty is having no problem raising cash for his inauguration.
The 15,000-person bash, slated for Jan. 2 at the Washington Convention Center, is expected to cost $500,000. As of late last week, Fenty’s inaugural corporation was halfway there.
The donations, totaling $213,000 as of Friday, range from as little as $1,000 from Diane Bernstein, president of D.C. Action for Children, to $25,000 from D.C.-based management consulting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates, real estate management firm Tenacity Group, Chevy Chase Bank and Bank of America.
Benjamin, David and Gail Jacobs gave three checks totaling $26,667. Benjamin Jacobs is managing partner of JBG Cos., a player in the Southwest waterfront revitalization.
Developer Richard Kramer donated $20,000, and developer Franklin Haney, once a bidder for the Washington Nationals’ franchise, contributed $15,000, as did Comcast and a group called “Square 669N Nominee.” Square 669N is a large piece of land near the Southeast waterfront owned by developer Ron Cohen who also contributed $10,000 to the Fenty inaugural through his firm, Cohen Companies.
Cohen paid $55 million for the site, just north of the new baseball stadium, in 2005.
The joint inauguration of the District’s new mayor and D.C. Council will start at 7 a.m. Jan. 2 with a prayer service at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church and end with the black tie optional inaugural ball. Fenty, new Council Chair Vincent Gray and seven council members will be sworn in at 10 a.m. during a ceremony at the convention center. From 2 to 4 p.m., Fenty’s “bullpen” on the third floor of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. Northwest, will be open to the public.
The ball is scheduled for7 to 11 p.m. at the convention center. Free tickets are still available in the rear first-floor lobby of the Reeves Center.
