I am troubled by the increasingly overt efforts by Washington City Paper and other political observers to search out and brand the “Barry Candidate” in the Ward 6 D.C. Council race. Recently, some have assigned this moniker to Howard Croft. As a deeply committed supporter of Croft’s candidacy for the council, I am disturbed that an African-American is awarded this distinction among a field of white candidates with arguably stronger ties to the mayor.

Indeed, with a mayor who has held the city’s highest office for 15 of the last 19 years, I would be concerned about any council candidate who had not had occasion to work with him at some point in his career. While Croft was appointed to the parole board and the zoning commission by the mayor, one of the other candidates worked as an aid to the mayor, another sought his endorsement in the last election, and a third worked hard for the mayor in his last race and still is a strong supporter.

Given the state of the District government and the mayor’s efforts to stay out of the Ward 6 race, it is safe to say “Barry Candidates” are a thing of the past. But if candidates must be painted with the Barry brush for political fodder, it is our responsibility to see that the brush is fairly applied.

Chair

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B

Capitol Hill