A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
Good morning sweet readers! A Good Friday to you, or as LL’s niece calls it, “Good Ol’ Friday.” News time:
Rotten Orange: The Sekou Biddle campaign, oops, LL means the completely independent restaurant and hotel workers union, is going after frontrunner Vincent Orange in a new set of attack ads. One flier compares Biddle’s experience as a teacher (represented by an apple) with Orange’s past as a lobbyist and a politician (represented with a moldy orange, and if that wasn’t clear enough the orange comes with a sticker that says “Vincent Orange”). Meanwhile, Orange is going after Republican Pat Mara, with an uninspired mailer reminding everyone that Mara is a member of the national political party that doesn’t care too much about the District’s home rule. C’mon VO, get with it. Your mailers need some sort of fruit on them to be effective. And Josh Lopez has a new ad making fun of Council Chairman Kwame “Fully Loaded” Brown.
AFTER THE JUMP: Bums and Endorsements; Denied; Not My Fault…
The Bums!: Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe is on fire today in his endorsement of Republican Pat Mara. He quotes a pal, Bennie, saying Mayor Vince Gray and Council Chairman Brown’s recent protest arrests were auditions for “when they get arrested for their ethical violations.” And Jaffe says that Vincent Orange”looks and sounds like a snake oil salesman.” And he says that electing Mara would “send the bums a message.” Mara also gets the nod from the Georgetown Dish’s Beth Solomon “for more accountability in our government, for a better balance of ideas and solutions to our challenges, and to raise the quality of our ongoing relationship with Congress.” And speaking of endorsements, the Greater Greater Washington set is backing Gabe Klein—whoops, Bryan Weaver, despite his pitiful knowledge of the Metro system. And last but not least, the Post endorses D. Kamili Anderson in the Ward 4 school board race, and Philip Pannell for the Ward 8 race. Anderson “speaks eloquently about the need for rigor and accountability and says traditional schools need to be as innovative as successful charters” while Pannell “combines a keen knowledge of Southeast neighborhoods with a broad view on policy.”
Denied!: Former Mayor Sharon Pratt couldn’t get past the Secret Service to deliver a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to show his support for the the District’s voting rights by putting a “No Taxation Without Representation” license plate on his limotank. “Pratt says she’ll get the letter to Obama even if she has to ‘have a pigeon deliver it to him.'” Pratt went with Mary Washington, the widow of D.C.’s first elected mayor. The letter was signed byGray and former mayors Anthony Williams and Marion Barry. WTOP’s Mark Plotkin reports that Adrian Fenty ignored Pratt’s many calls and emails. What, no BlackBerry now that he’s left government?
Not My Fault: Mayor Gray responds to the nearly 100 Republican lawmakers who want to know why the District isn’t responding to their requests for information on publicly funded abortions. Ain’t my fault, says Gray, it’s Fenty: “The Mayor has received the letter and is reviewing it. He wants to thank the Members of Congress for their interest in the health care services provided by the District for its low-income citizens. Since receiving the first letter in January, his staff has been in communication with congressional staff about this issue. Unlike previous Administrations, Mayor Gray will send a response.” What, no BlackBerry when Fenty was in government?
DYRS BLUES: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham says it might be time to reexamine the District’s policy of sending its troubled youths to out-of-state treatment centers in the wake of an escape by four teens from a center in South Carolina (three of them have since been caught.) “Sending youths to distant detention centers ‘has a terrible impact on family connections, increasing the likelihood youths will be disoriented when they return to the community,'” says Graham.
In Other News: Here’s the mug shot of teen who escaped from New Beginnings. Dear Police Chief Cathy Lanier part 2: This Post follow up story about Charlie Sheen’s high-speed police escort and your apparent inability to tell the public how it happened makes you look very bad.
Gray and Council skeds: Nada.