For Vincent Gray, One Path to Victory Began in Georgetown
• June 18, 2013

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, they say. In Vincent Gray’s case, one way to decide to run for mayor of the District of Columbia included a Italian dinner in Georgetown – with some pretty persuasive women.

On February 20, at il Canale on 31st Street, the future D.C. mayor met with Virginia E. Hayes Williams (mother of former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams), civic activist Judith Terra, communications consultant
Janet Staihar, Barbara Hawthorn, designer of il Canale’s interior, as well as il Canale owner Joe Farruggio (who is apolitical). The women were there to convince Gray to run against Mayor Adrian Fenty in the September 14 Democratic primary.

After the three-and-a-half hour meal – with pizzas, pasta, fish, pasta e fagioli (Italian bean and potato soup), risotto with clams, and for dessert cannoli and tiramisu – according to Staihar, Gray left saying he would consider all they talked about. He would later joke during the campaign: “I will never forget the dinner with Virginia Williams, Judith Terra and Jan Staihar. Finally, I just said, ‘Okay! Okay! I give up. I’ll run!’ “ (The dinner was noted in the Feb. 22 Washington Post’s “Reliable Source.”)

“The purpose of the dinner was to encourage Vince to enter the race,” Staihar said. “Most people dining around us had no idea who Vince was at the time. We had two tables pulled together and sat right in plain sight near the bar. When we introduced Vince as the next possible mayor to a few of the diners, they looked at us like we had just landed from Mars.
”Which, of course, is not to say that Gray decided to run that night. He declared his candidacy several weeks later, in response to many issues, among them the growing concerns with Fenty’s abrasive, aloof style of management and the voiced feelings of neglect issuing from the less wealthy areas of town.

As for the arguments put forth during that meal, the women are tight-lipped, preferring to talk upGray’s positive attributes. “We needed someone to unite the city,” Terra recalled this week, staying with the Gray slogan: “One City.” The long-time Georgetown resident and philanthropist who now resides on Colorado Avenue, N.W., added: “We need a statesman. I watched this man. He is the best chairman of the city council we have ever had. He is a prince of a man. He is going to be a great mayor.”

Morning in America
•

 

-The recent bed bug epidemic suggests we’re headed for the developing world, but not on the glamorous Orient Express. In fact, as those ever-richer nations show off the new transport and trappings of wealth, we sink further into poverty.

For two years the media has compared America’s woes to the worst periods in history, but two recent books suggest the nation’s plight raises the specter of much poorer nations. In “Third World America: How Politicians are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream,” Arianna Huffington documents the deteriorating infrastructure and the travails of formerly middle-class workers. “Winner-Take-All Politics:How Washington Made the Rich Richer – and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class” explains how 30 years of tax cuts and regulatory inaction have led to the hyperconcentration of wealth in the richest one percent. Both advocate for broad initiatives focused on the concerns of the middle class. Given our unfair past, unpleasant reality, and painful prospects, we agree.

“It’s morning in America,” as President Reagan’s ad announced. But it’s shaping into a lousy day. Many of us aren’t going to work – almost one in five are under- or unemployed, including a record number of youths. For those with jobs, the commute is going to be a drag – for one in eight it starts by 6 a.m. One in four bridges we cross are deficient. We aren’t stopping at Starbucks – one in nine families can’t make a minimum payment on a credit card, unless perhaps they’re taking food stamps. An all-time high of one in eight families collect them each month.

Tonight will be rough too. For the almost one in seven losing their homes or late with their loans (and one in fifty homeless children), finding somewhere to sleep could be challenging.

Historically, the status quo is horrific. Real income sank over the last decade and home prices nearly went flat. Each grew little since Reagan was president. But things look much better if you’re much bigger.

American companies save $100 billion in taxes through offshore havens each year. Companies with appalling safety and compliance records get off lightly. Investment banks are posting high profits
doing the same risky things, now in the name of clients. Known bad-actor BP paid only $580,000 in penalties over a decade and fought safety measures that might have prevented the devastating Gulf disaster. Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine, cited for 515 violations and closed more than 60 times in 2009, exploded last spring. Yet after wrecking lives and economies, these companies and industries successfully fight changes to head off future calamities.

The Republicans and Tea Partiers look forward to taking over Congress, but look back for inspiration.
The right wing is resurrecting Reagan’s rhetoric. They are again selling “supply side economics”
– cuts to taxes, services and regulations – and enormous military expenditures. Republicans are again pushing hard to return money to the wealthiest over those who’ve just lost their wealth.

Almost 40 cents of every dollar gain of household income, from 1979 through the eve of the recent
recession, went to the wealthiest one percentThe top 300,000 people (one-tenth of one percent)
enjoyed about one-and-one-half times the growth of the bottom 180 million (60 percent) between 1979 and 2005.

Despite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s sympathy for the rich, cutting taxes is one of the least efficient ways to create jobs. The Congressional Budget Office ranked extending Bush tax cuts as the least effective option to promote growth. Cutting taxes for the rich, who can already afford to spend and tend to save, makes even less sense.

The right wing also rails against “big government.”They attempt to eliminate the logical answer as to who might protect the houses, credit safety, and jobs of Americans jeopardized by this crisis. Instead, they advocate trusting in the market, companies, and environment that created it. These trickle-down economic policies benefit well-rewarded companies and the wealthy, while harming the middle class.

Since 2008, Democrats have proposed broad solutions to safeguard the pocketbooks, cities, and futures of working class Americans. The right wing has either stopped or watered down many of these initiatives. Republicans are expected to assume the mantle of Congressional leadership in January. With it will come even greater accountability to all Americans.

The right can adopt broadly endorsed defense cuts, infrastructure investment, recession relief, and regulation expansion. If not, Republican and Tea Party candidates must create other credible and comprehensive solutions. Otherwise, a deepening economic crisis could send our income and home values back to the 1980’s.

And those of us who lived in the “best country in the world” will want to wake up somewhere
else.

A Political Wrap Up
•

By Tuesday, you might’ve been deceived into thinking nothing had changed in Washington, D.C.

Vincent Gray was still sitting in his accustomed Chairman’s seat as the DC Council returned, preparing to tackle ticklish and problematic issues including a looming budget deficit reported at $100 million.

At Large Councilman Kwame Brown was in his old seat, and so was Democratic At Large Councilman Phil Mendelson and every other member of the council who had stood for re-election. Everyone, including Mary Cheh (Ward Three), Jim Graham (Ward One), David Catania (At large), Harry Thomas Jr. (Ward Five), and Tommy Wells (Ward Six), was there, no worse for the wear and tear of campaigning. Michael A. Brown was in his seat, not confused with the likes of Michael D. Brown.

Mayor Adrian Fenty was still Mayor Adrian Fenty. When last heard, Michelle Rhee was still Chancellor of the District of Columbia Schools.

Everything was the same.

Except that it wasn’t.

Gray was now something else, in addition to being Chairman of the City Council. Gray was now the presumptive mayor of the District of Columbia—the sixth and oldest in its history—having just knocked off the youngest elected mayor in D.C.’s history in the Democratic Primary, September 14. He had done this in an election that revealed a deep economic and racial divide in the city.

The vagaries of the District electoral makeup being what they are, he has still to endure a general election in November. But this, as it has been in the past, should be a mere formality, with Democrats in the District outnumbering Republicans or anything else by an overwhelming margin.

Kwame Brown, as it turned out, easily bested Vincent Orange in the race for Chairman, in spite of some difficulties with financial revelations during the campaign. Phil Mendelson, with a determined effort to make sure voters knew who the real Michael Brown was, managed to fend off an odd challenge from Shadow Senator Michael D. Brown, and a lesser one from Clark Ray.

But Gray’s victory over Fenty still sent a shockwave through the city. For one thing, nobody knew who had won until the wee hours of the morning because of major difficulties at the Board of Elections, where it took a long time to count the votes what with same day registration and new technology.

In the end, Gray carried Wards Eight, Seven, Five and, perhaps most telling, Fenty’s home turf, Ward Four —the same ward where Fenty had first been elected to the council, upsetting long-time veteran Charlene Drew Jarvis. Gray even beat Fenty in Brentwood, the precinct where Fenty made his home. On the other hand, Fenty decisively carried Wards Three and Two, the most white wards of the District, as well as Wards Two and Six, if less decisively.

Early in the campaign, Gray had observed that, “The city was never as divided as it is now.” At the time, that sounded a little like hyperbole, but he was absolutely right. He said the divide was not merely racial but economic — which is to say it was both.

Fenty’s fall was a steep one, and it was based almost solely on the way he ran the government — on the way he conducted himself. Large parts of the city, especially the blacker and poorer parts of the city, felt abandoned, ignored, and left out of the process. This was especially true of the big changes that were begun under Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee in the school system, a system Fenty had vowed to change when he ran the table in the elections of four years ago, winning all wards and precincts. He was seen as arrogant, high-handed, petty and aloof.

Fenty ignored the warnings revealed in two polls, which showed a big disconnect between accomplishment and character, substance and style. He insisted that his accomplishments would carry the day, and during the latter parts of the campaign he did not change. He blasted Gray for his tenure as DHS director under Sharon Pratt Kelly, while praising himself and Chancellor Rhee for making tough decisions.

But there was a failure in leadership. Fenty and Rhee never felt they had to persuade people to come along with the tough decisions, or to show empathy with those most affected by the them; the unemployed, teachers left jobless after two large firings, and so on.

The end result was a 56 to 45 percent Gray margin over Fenty, or 62,174 votes for Gray and 52,000 for Fenty. Kwame Brown won over Orange by a 55 to 39 percent margin. Mendelson beat back Michael D. Brown by 64 to 28 percent margin.

In his first statement after his election victory, Gray promised to bring unity back to the city — in effect, to recreate the “One City” platform he once ran on. “I know this city remains divided, and I promise to do everything in my power to bring this city back together,” he said. “We face grave challenges. Now is the time to move forward. Let now be the time for this city to unite.”

Gray attempted to allay fears on the part of many people that, “I will not turn back the clock,” to earlier political times in the District. He also said he would continue with school reform, making it broader and more inclusive while placing greater emphasis on early childhood and vocational education. He also promised to hold town hall meetings in every ward, to sound out to the entire city. Only a week before the election he had said at a Penn Quarter breakfast that he might resurrect former Mayor Anthony Williams’ Citizens Summit, in which residents from all wards were invited. “We might tweak it a little, but it’s another way to bring the city together.”
Both Gray and Fenty have shown considerable class while planning for a smooth transition,
a process that could prove difficult. At a Democratic Party Unity Breakfast, Fenty hugged Gray and vowed to use all the resources available to him to make for a smooth transfer of power.

No personnel decisions have been made yet, including the one that everyone is most interested
in: the fate of Chancellor Rhee.

If Gray and Fenty have shown grace in victory and defeat respectively, Rhee seemed bent on making things more difficult, whether as an exit strategy or a ploy to give herself room to stay and finish the job she started — an idea floated by some council members. “RHEE IS LIKELY TO HEAD FOR THE DOOR,” the Washington Post front page trumpeted on Friday. This was after comments she had made at a glitzy Newseum premiere of “Waiting for Superman,” a documentary film about education reform in which she was one of the heroines quoted on camera as worrying about the children going to “crappy schools.” More harmful may have been the comment she made at a post-screening panel discussion, in which she said “yesterday’s election results were devastating. Devastating. Not for me, because I’ll be fine, and not even for Fenty, because he’ll be fine, but devastating for the schoolchildren of Washington.” In an e-mail she sent out later, she backtracked saying she meant that if reform were discontinued it would be bad for the children.

Rhee has not been shy in her approach to her job. She made a controversial appearance on the cover of Time magazine bearing a broom she intended to use. She fired principals, closed schools, instituted two large teacher firings, and negotiated a complicated contract with the Washington Teachers Union that included a loosening of tenure rules and some merit pay, as well as the installation of a teacher evaluation system. Under Rhee, test scores went up and infrastructure improved, but school is still out on the overall effect of her tenure.

Gray said he and Rhee would be sitting down and talking soon, although it hasn’t happened
yet. During the campaign, he consistently refused to discuss her fate. “We will talk,” he said the day after the election. “I put in a call to her, although I haven’t heard back from her. I imagine she is busy running the schools.”

An Oprah Winfrey show aired recently (taped before the election) that had Oprah calling
Rhee a warrior woman for turning the D.C. School System upside down.

If Rhee, who did not call to congratulate Gray on his victory, has shown a certain lack of post-election grace, so did Courtland Milloy, the Washington Post columnist, with a column entitled “Ding Dong, Fenty’s Gone. The Wicked Mayor is Gone” — a blast of vitriol. “People who need more time to gloat and wave their fists, take it,” he urged.

Probably not the kind of comments Gray was looking for. On the other side, in addition to Rhee, national journalists warned that reform itself took a hit; school reform was in danger because of the election results.

Yet Gray repeatedly said education reform was his top priority. What he also said during the campaign was that education reform was not about any one person. [gallery ids="99196,103363" nav="thumbs"]

New Cap File Editor With Washington Roots Impresses CAG
•

 

-Editor Kate Bennett jumped in at the last minute to replace author Kitty Kelley (tending to a sick friend) as the speaker for the monthly meeting of the Citizens Association of Georgetown on Sept. 20 at the Latham Hotel. If anyone had been disappointed not to see Kelley tell her celebrity and politico tales, they were quickly charmed by Bennett, the new editor at Niche Media’s luxury magazine, Capitol
File. The former editor of Niche’s Vegas Magazine replaces Susan Schaffer who is now Cap File’s publisher.

Bennett considers both D.C. and Vegas a “one-horse town,” as in government and gaming. “Vegas is a place to visit at least once,” she said. “You can live well there if you play your cards right.” Pun intended.

While she may have just arrived from Las Vegas, where she lived for 11 years, Bennett is from Chevy Chase. She went to Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and St. John’s College in Annapolis. With its Great Books program, Bennett cites “The Odyssey” as her favorite. Her father, James Glassman, is well known in Washington journalism circles, having worked at The New Republic, The Washington Weekly, U.S News, Roll Call and other publications, think tanks and TV shows. Glassman, a columnist and diplomat, now heads up the Bush Institute. Bennett’s husband is from Annandale. “We met in the bar in Vegas,” she laughed.

Bennett is “amazed at the changes in D.C.,”especially the fine dining choices. Niche’s Jason Binn is her “fearless leader.” As for Cap File, she said, “If it’s hot, hip and fashionable, we’re on it.” She added that she wants “smarter, more intelligent stories.”

“Capitol File is a classy magazine for D.C., and I want to make it even more respected.” It’s website relaunches on November 1. And those after-parties? Of course, more to come.

CAG and Georgetown University to Discuss Mutual Neighborhood Solutions
•

 

-Georgetown University must file its new campus plan with the DC Zoning Commission by December 31st 2010, outlining future infrastructure projects and development on its main campus and medical center. University administrators have already identified four guiding principles for the upcoming plan: academic quality, on-campus community life, civic engagement and sustainability.

But the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) and the Burleith Citizens Associations (BCA) are working to prepare a case in opposition to the proposed plan. There has been longstanding disapproval from the surrounding neighborhoods of GU concerning campus development and the gradual encroachment of student renters upon the nearby residential community. “Georgetown University is committed to engaging with our neighbors in conversations about issues of common interest and concern,” said Jeanne Lord, GU’s associate vice president of student affairs.

Giant Food Moving Forward with Wisconsin Ave. Redevelopment
•

 

-Giant Food has announced plans to move forward with redevelopment of its Wisconsin Avenue site, which will be anchored by a new and expanded approximate 56,000-square-foot Giant supermarket. The new mixed-use project, “Cathedral Commons,” will be a vibrant focal point of the neighborhood to include retail shops, restaurants, commercial and residential space, and open plazas.

The new Giant will nearly triple the size of the existing store. Plans call for new full-service floral, bakery, meat, seafood, and deli departments and an expanded offering of fresh produce and natural, organic, gluten-free, and international products. “This project will have a great impact on District resident — generating new jobs, mixed income housing and millions in tax revenue. I applaud the Cleveland Park residents and Giant Food for their fantastic partnership in getting this project off the ground,” said Mayor Adrian Fenty (before the primary results).

DC City Council Chairman Vince Gray (also, before the primary results) said, “Economic expansion
is important to Cleveland Park and to all District residents, and in redeveloping this shopping center, Giant is not only generating millions in tax revenue; the company is giving District residents an opportunity to earn a living. We thank the community and Giant for their efforts.”

“The community enthusiastically embraces this development, and we are happy to see it come to fruition,” said DC City Councilmember Mary Cheh (Ward 3). “In addition to a great new grocery and neighborhood services, it will create a more walkable and livable community. We look forward to the project’s economic impact and embrace Giant’s plans to utilize environmentally sensitive design elements.” For additional information and illustrations go to www.WisconsinAveGiant.com

Armored Heist Update
•

“It took less than 30 seconds,” said one Wisconsin Avenue shopkeeper, who asked not to be identified. “It looked well planned – seemed like a movie,” he said of the Sept. 30 armored car hold-up on O Street and Wisconsin Avenue. The Garda security truck was transferring cash to the BB&T bank on the corner. A black Dodge Magnum, as identified by others, pulled up with no license plates on it, according to the clothing store employee. “They [four hooded, masked suspects] stopped the guard on the sidewalk, pointed a gun, took the money bag and took the guard’s gun.”

“There was a struggle that ensued over the weapon as the individual was pointing it at the guard,” Lt. John Hedgecock of Metropolitan Police Department’s District 2 told Fox5 News. “The guard struggled with him for a moment, and he was overpowered and fell down.

No one was injured. D.C. police – now working with the FBI – will not say how much money was stolen. The crime was committed outside the Georgetown BB&T, which was never entered – and it closed after the 2:20 p.m. incident. The car involved in the crime was later found a few blocks away.

Change in Direction for WNO
•

Washington National Opera (WNO) saw change last week, in response to General Director Placido Domingo’s September 27 announcement that he would not be renewing his contract when it expires in June. As a result, Tuesday saw the appointment of Philippe Auguin to the position of music director
of the Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.

Domingo has served as General Director since 2003 and brought the Washington National
Opera to a new level by bringing on national stars and doing big productions. However, the company still struggles financially, and the absences of Domingo, while performing and directing at the Los Angeles Opera, did not help.

Domingo will complete his commitments with the Washington National Opera through June 2011, which included the timely appointment of new Musical Director Philippe Auguin. This came after Heinz Fricke retired a month ago and announced he would be unable to oversee the latest production of Strauss’ opera, “Salome,” due to health problems.

Auguin will make his first appearance as music director October 7, the opening night of “Salome.”
He made his debut at Washington National Opera conducting “Gotterdammerung,” in November 2009.

“From the moment I stepped onto the podium, I felt a special rapport with the talented musicians of the Orchestra,” stated Auguin. “Considering the outstanding success of our collaboration last fall, and the exceptionally warm reception we received from Washington audiences, I am convinced that the Orchestra and I have a great future together, one that will be marked by artistic excellence and growth. I am honored and delighted to accept this directorship, my first in the United States.”

Town Hall Meetings with Vince
•

Vince Gray, in keeping with his mission to share ideas and discuss issues with DC residents as Mayor, will be hosting a series of town hall meetings in every ward of the city to allow people a chance to voice their opinion and have open discussion. Check to see when and where he’s coming to your neighborhood:

October 5: Ward 5, at Community Academy Public Charter School, 1400 1st St., NW

October 7: Ward 3, at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Albemarle St., NW

October 12: Ward 7, at Sousa Middle School, 3650 Ely Place, SE

October 14: Ward 2, at School Without Walls, 2130 G St., NW

October 19: Ward 1, at Columbia Heights Youth Center, 1480 Girard St., NW

October 21: Ward 8, at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., SE

October 26: Ward 4, at Peoples Congregational Church, 4704 13th St., NW

October 27: Ward 6, at Eastern High School, 1700 East Capitol St., NE

Gray’s Ward 2 Town Hall Meetings
•

Presumptive mayor Vincent Gray’s version of a magical mystery tour through all of the city’s 8 wards continued apace at the Foundry Methodist Church in Dupont Circle in Ward 2, one of the two heavily white wards where voters favored incumbent Mayor Adrian Fenty by wide margins in the recent Democratic primary.

In this, and in a Ward 3 town hall “getting to know you” meeting meant for folks to get a closer look at Gray after the primary, he appeared to make strong strides in easing some of the resentment still nurtured by many Fenty voters in Northwest Washington.

After favorable reports from a Ward 3 town hall meeting, Gray again showed a strong, detailed and comfortable command of a variety of issues and topics, a hearty sense of humor, strong, no-nonsense views and an earnest desire for inclusion in problem-solving by the public.

All the much-ballyhooed suspicion, fear and worry about Gray’s commitment to education reform, and ties to DC’s less appealing political past did not surface among an audience composed of the city’s most far-flung and affluent ward, stretching from Southwest, to Dupont Circle, the Penn Quarter District (and the less affluent Shaw area), Logan Circle and Georgetown.

Part of the reason was that Gray’s biggest bet noire as an issue—what in the world to do with the nationally prominent, polarizing reform icon and controversial DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee—appeared to have resolved itself as if by magic. In a press conference the previous day, Rhee, Gray, and Fenty all appeared together to make the official announcement that Rhee would be resigning her position as of the end of October. Everyone involved insisted that the decision, reached after numerous phone calls, was, “a mutual agreement.”

Sure enough, he once again repeated adamantly what he said at the press conference and other meetings: “She did not abruptly resign. I did not ask her to quit. It was a mutual decision.”

It helped having interim chancellor Kaya Henderson in the audience for this town hall meeting, who was greeted with warm applause. In some ways both Rhee’s resignation and Henderson’s appointment as Interim Chancellor (through the school year at least) seemed to defuse some of the disappointment in certain wards of the city where a large majority had voted for Gray’s opponent. Or at least it did on this occasion.

Gray talked mostly about education reform and the future, but there were no further questions on the subject from the audience. They had questions and tales about the presence of a noisy pizza parlor in Georgetown, about the makeup and power of the numerous boards and commissions and their memberships, about raising taxes (or not), about Statehood (Gray has this down like a great performer), about homeless shelters, literacy, at-risk and vulnerable residents, especially the elderly, and so on.

In almost all cases, Gray displayed two qualities that will serve him well after he wins the general election on November 2—as he’s more than likely to do in spite of a Fenty write-in effort—and is inaugurated in January.

Gray impressed many with a command of the issues, seemingly calling up statistics, examples and understanding of how this city functions and works, not so much as a politician showing off but as a man who seems to have made a study of the subject of bureaucracy and government at work.

Gray also showed a certain benign kind of opportunism, in the sense that he used every question as a way to not only invite, but urge people to take part in the process of government. Asked about how grants are received by aging programs. “This isn’t just an issue about which organization gets what grants,” he said. “This is about protecting some of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly and others. You have to want to take part here. You can do that. Work as a volunteer, work with those groups that give seniors an opportunity to come together in groups.”

Per talking about the looming budget crisis ($175 or more million deficit coming right up): “We need your input and cooperation in this. We are all in this together. It’s not the government’s problem, it’s not the city council’s problem or the mayor’s or some agency’s, and it’s ours. Tough decisions are going to be made; I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Cuts will have to be made. Don’t’ say, ‘cut this one or that one, but not the one that we don’t want cut.’ It’s about all of us. We need your input.”

Talking about statehood really jazzed him up. “Yeah, I’m going to be going up to the hill on this and in my capacity as mayor. But on statehood, I don’t want to go up there alone. I don’t just want to have somebody right behind me, another person on the right and the left. I want hundreds, no, thousand of people behind me, and if we get thrown in jail, so be it.” They hooted and hollered and whistled then.

A homeless person asked about the prospect of homes for everyone and then appeared to disapprove of the right to marriage law passed by the district, allowing gay couples to marry. Gray took on both. “Housing for everyone sounds nice,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want it? But it doesn’t work that way. It’s impossible to be truthful. Because it’s not going to solve the problem of homelessness in this city. Everybody will come here and you increase the problem. As for the other, I fought for the legislation on right to marriage legislation. I believe in it with all my heart.”

“I came here and to all the other town hall meetings so that you can get to know me better,” he said. “Lots of people know little about me. I think maybe I wouldn’t vote for me if I knew as little as all that.”

“I want us to work together,” he said. “And that’s a concrete thing. I want people from all the wards to work together, to get to know each other. We are facing tremendous challenges but also a great future. We did that on the council, and I have to say I think we have and had a tremendously talented council. I have to say, in all honesty, that I’m feeling a little separation anxiety starting to seep in. I’ve developed friendships in this council. We all have.

“But we have big challenges. Number one is education. Safety. Jobs, The economy,
The budget. On top of that we are a deeply divided city—divided by geography, economics, society, and, let’s face it: race.

“We can’t continue that way. People say you’re never going to change that. I’ve heard that in other meetings. And I say, you can’t stop trying.”

Gray said that everything is tied together: education, he said, is about adult education, continuing education, special education, early childhood, charter schools. “There’s this strange statistic: there are actually more jobs available now but the number of unemployed remains the same. Why? Because the people applying for jobs don’t have the tools, the education, the training, and skills for the jobs that are there. We’ve got to change that.”

“I’m going to say one thing about reform,” he said. “My commitment to reform is steadfast and won’t change. I believe strongly in the position of a strong chancellor, capable of making tough decision. We have that again in Kaya Henderson, and we had it in Michelle Rhee who worked tremendously hard for children which resulted in major improvements.”