Washington Informer

Pannell Raises Money in Northwest

A leading candidate for the D.C. State Board of Education in Ward 8 recently raised money on his own behalf in a tony residence in Northwest.

Philip Pannell, who is running for the city's board of education, held a fundraiser on Sept. 17 at the Ward 4 home of Ernest Hopkins, a longtime friend and the director of legislative activities for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Hopkins said that Pannell would be an asset to the board.

"Philip has a commitment to improving the public school system and improving its library sciences," said Hopkins, 52. "I have supported him on many issues in the past and when I found out that he was running for the board, I offered my support and he agreed to a fundraiser."

Pannell, one of the District's most seasoned political and civic activists, is running against incumbent Trayon White. Pannell, 61, ran for the position in April 2011, to replace the late William Lockridge, but lost to White in a field that had a number of candidates.

District voters will determine who will occupy the seat during the Nov. 6 general election. Bradley Lewis, a Ward 8 resident, traveled across town to support Pannell at the fundraiser.

"I have known Philip for 25 years and I know that he cares for kids and he cares for the community," said Lewis, 54, who lives in Historic Anacostia.

U.S. Senator Encourages D.C. Residents

The District's quest for full citizenship has a strong ally in the United States Senate.

Sen. Mary Landrieu [D-La.] said on Sept. 19 that District residents should not lose faith in the country's political system as it seeks full representation in the U.S. Congress.

"In the post-election, there is a brand new opportunity to press for voting rights for the residents of the District of Columbia," said Landrieu, 56.

Landrieu sits on the subcommittee that deals with D.C. affairs. She has long supported the District in the Senate on a variety of issues and once served as the keynote speaker at a Kennedy-King Dinner.

Landrieu said that District residents need to continue to advocate for their rights as citizens.

"I would encourage the people not to give up hope," she said.

Fort Lincoln Votes for Gas Station

The residents of a neighborhood in Ward 5 recently voted to support a major retailer's desire to sell gas to its customer.

The residents of Fort Lincoln, a far Northeast neighborhood voted, 75-31, to have the new Costco – which is part of the new Shops at Dakota Crossing retail complex – set up a gas station with its retail component.

The Costco is scheduled to open Nov. 28. It's the first Costco in the District of Columbia.

Ward 5 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Robert King, who represents single-member district 5A12, said that the vote is not only a victory for Fort Lincoln residents, but District consumers as well.

"You will see gas prices drop all across the city because of Costco," said King, 61. "When you talk about Costco, you are really talking about gas, where it makes a lot of its money."

King said that final approval for the gas station by D.C. Zoning authorities "should come by January."

Bonds Will Go for Mendelson's Seat

The leader of the Democratic Party in the District has decided to transition from a political activist to a full-fledged council member when the opportunity presents itself.

Anita Bonds, the chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, confirmed recent published reports that she will seek the at-large seat on the D.C. Council that is expected to be vacated by interim D.C. Chairman Phil Mendelson once he's elected chairman in a special election on November 6.

"I am interested in the position as the interim council member," Bonds said. "Sometimes you can make change on the inside and I feel like I can do that now. I can be useful to the residents as an insider."

When Mendelson wins, as expected in the special election, the D.C. Board of Elections will declare his seat vacant and determine a date for the special election, which will probably be in early March.

Bonds, a longtime political activist in the city, served as an advisory neighborhood commissioner who represented the Bloomingdale neighborhood for years.

She lives in Northwest and has ties to D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and a host of other seasoned political operatives. She said she intends to submit her name to the Democratic State Committee when the vacancy officially opens.

District law states that when a D.C. Council at-large member leaves the position, the party that the officeholder belongs to fills it temporarily until a special election is held, usually 90 days after the vacancy is declared. Bonds said that she has the right to seek the interim position.

"Even though I am the chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, I do not have to step down in order to get the council member position," she said.

Bonds said that she knows the process of filling the interim position well. She presided over the January 2011 process in which Sekou Biddle, a D.C. State Board of Education member, got the nod to be the interim member over former D.C. Council member Vincent Orange by a vote of committee members.

Orange later defeated Biddle and other opponents in an April 2011 special election to fill the seat permanently.

Orange, who won the Democratic Party nomination for one of the two at-large seats on the D.C. Council in the November 6 general election, said that he's aware that Bonds wants the temporary position but said others are also interested.

Bonds said that she's not discouraged by the perception that some politicians who serve in the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest are morally and ethically challenged.

"I see myself as a problem solver," she said. "I am also known for not shying away from a fight and I think that is the way that I can be the most helpful [to District residents] by being a fighter for the people."

Cooper Wants Change – Now

A.J. Cooper, an independent candidate for the at-large position on the D.C. Council, said that D.C. residents should send a message to the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest in the November 6 general election that politics as usual is over.

"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired," said Cooper, 32. "We as D.C. residents deserve a lot better. I am a candidate running for [one] of the at-large seats on the city council who is not connected to corporate interests."

Cooper's main opponent is D.C. Council member Michael Brown (I-At Large) but he also faces Republican Mary Brooks Beatty, David Grasso, Leon Swain Jr., and Statehood Green Party Ann Wilcox for one of the at-large seats.

A candidate who gave it his best shot for the at-large seat in the Democratic primary in April is preparing once again to run in the hopes of snatching Phil Mendelson's spot before he was elected interim chairman of the D.C. Council.

Peter Shapiro, 49, who finished third in the spring Democratic primary with 10.56 percent of the vote, said that change is needed in District politics.

"I think we have a broken political system and we need fresh new leadership," he said. "We need someone on the D.C. Council that has experience in politics but has the perspective of an outsider."

Shapiro isn't a political novice. Although he's a D.C. native, he moved to Prince George's County in 1990 and served on the Brentwood, Md., town council and then served on the Prince George's County Council from 1998-2004.

While on the county council, he served as chair for two consecutive years, notable in that the tradition is for the chairmanship to rotate among members for one-year intervals.

Shapiro gained praise from county leaders and residents for his efforts to improve public education and by upgrading the busy Route 1 corridor.

Shapiro is the director of the Chesapeake Center for Public Leadership in Northwest, which is designed to instruct leaders in the public sector on how to approach problems with innovative strategies through programs and workshops.

Mendelson appears to be a shoo-in by most political experts to win the position as the chairman of the D.C. Council permanently on November 6, in a special election. If that happens, Mendelson's seat will be declared vacant by the D.C. Board of Elections and the D.C. Democratic State Committee will choose the occupant in mid-to-late November.

The occupant will serve on the D.C. Council for approximately 90 days until a special election is held to permanently fill the seat. The election will likely take place in early March.

It's the same process that occurred when Kwame Brown became chairman of the D.C. Council in November 2010 and Sekou Biddle won the intra-party contest to serve in the position until he lost to Vincent Orange in a special election in April 2011.

Chuck Thies, a District political analyst, said that Shapiro has a chance to win the special election to the at-large D.C. Council seat in 2013.

"He spent time, effort and energy in the Democratic primary," said Thies, 47. "He probably created a base for himself and he does have name recognition."

Some political observers say that Shapiro spoiled the seat for Biddle during the Democratic primary in April in Wards 2, 3 and 6, because Biddle lost the seat to Orange by only a few thousands votes. Biddle fared well in the predominantly white areas of the city while Orange won black neighborhoods by comfortable margins.

Thies said that a special election is "different" from a primary for a candidate like Shapiro.

"He has built a base and could be formidable, in that he will likely face a number of people running for that seat," he said.

He said that there is a question "of what Sekou will do?"

Biddle, who works as the vice president of advocacy for the United Negro College Fund in Fairfax, Va., refused to answer questions about whether he will seek Mendelson's seat in a 2013 special election.

Thies said that the biggest advantage Shapiro has is his experience in running in a D.C. race.

"Newcomers should not plan on winning the first time," he said. "They should be in it for the long haul."

Shapiro said that he is ready to provide the leadership that the city needs.

"I want to be an advocate for the people and be a good public leader," he said.

 The Democratic National Committee will hold its national convention in Charlotte from September 3-6, and District Democrats will support the party’s candidates, platform and press its own agenda.
Anita Bonds is the chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, which is the official arm of the national Democratic Party in the city. Bonds said that amidst the celebratory atmosphere that will take place the party has several objectives.
"We are going to participate in the process of nominating our candidates for president and vice president," she said. "Of course, that will be President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. But we will be working on promoting the local party."
The District of Columbia has been the most reliable Democratic jurisdiction in the U.S. Electoral College since it was allowed to participate in presidential elections, starting in 1964. The District throws its support behind the Democratic candidate for president even during landslide Republican years that re-elected Richard Nixon in 1972, elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 and re-elected Reagan in 1984.
Obama won the District in the 2008 general election with 92 percent of the vote, by far the largest percentage in an electoral jurisdiction that year. The District is so heavily favored to go to the president again the Obama for America campaign, based in Chicago, hasn’t set up a campaign office in the city and the president isn’t scheduled to make a campaign appearance.
Bonds said that there will be 58 party members, including the 44 delegates that won their positions through party elections and selections by the D.C. Democratic State Committee. Among the notable delegates are D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2).
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray will serve as the head of the city's delegation and will preside over delegation meetings in Charlotte. The leader of a state-level delegation at the Democratic National Convention is the governor and in the District's case, the mayor.
Bonds said that she and the delegation will work to inform Democrats from other states about the city's lack of full political rights.
"As we have for the past eight conventions, we will continue to talk about the need for D.C. statehood and chip away at any resistance we encounter," she said.
The Democratic Party's national platform has supported D.C. statehood for decades. Bonds said that it’s a matter of convincing individual delegations to move forward on resolutions that support it in their states.
She said that she would like to specifically talk to New Hampshire Democrats.
"Earlier this year, the mayor, the chairman of the D.C. Council and other city officials went to the New Hampshire legislature to get support for statehood but we failed to get it," Bonds said. "When I am in Charlotte, I would like to talk to the Democrats in New Hampshire to find out what went wrong."
She said that might not be easy, logistically speaking.
"Democratic delegations are scattered in hotels throughout the city," she said. "Our hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn, which is located in Concord, N.C., outside of the city. We are not close to the Charlotte Convention Center, where the activities will take place."
She said that the delegation will meet at 8 a.m. in the morning and board buses at 9 a.m. that will take them to the convention center.
Among the speakers scheduled to address delegates at the convention are former President Bill Clinton, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mayors Cory Booker and Michael Nutter of Newark and Philadelphia, respectively. Bonds pointed out that no District Democrat has been asked to speak, but she knows who should fill that role.
"We feel that Eleanor Holmes Norton should be on the list of speakers," she said. "We put in a request for Norton to speak and we are hopeful that she gets the chance."

Friends, Supporters Celebrate Bowser's Birthday

Hundreds of supporters showed up, ostensibly to celebrate Muriel Bowser's 40th birthday on Thursday, August 2. But anybody familiar with the workings of D.C. politics would know that they're looking not at this event, but further down the road.

The party, hosted by Bowser supporters Daniel and Loretta Neumann Smith at their home in Northwest, attracted a formidable crowd who included D.C. Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), Council members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) and other heavy hitters.

"Thank you for coming to my birthday party," Bowser told the crowd. "I am so pleased that 212 people served on the host committee for this event and I am happy that the people of Ward 4 have given me their overwhelming vote of confidence. On the council, I do hard work for the people of Ward 4 because I am Ward 4," she said, flashing her perennial smile.

Bowser is running for re-election in the upcoming November 6 general election but faces no opposition. However, to many who attended the birthday bash, it had far more to do with her future political aspirations than the upcoming fall elections. It's been rumored that Bowser's is seriously contemplating a run for mayor in 2014. She and two of her colleagues have called for Mayor Vincent C. Gray's resignation because he's been embroiled in scandals that have led to guilty pleas by two of his aides and a longtime friend and associate.

Whatever political success Bowser enjoys she owes to former Mayor Adrian Fenty, who served one term as mayor from 2007-2011. Fenty, however, didn't make an appearance at his protégé's party.

Gladys Mack, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for 6A07, said that she thinks that Bowser should run for mayor of the District in 2014, if not sooner.

"She is the best person for the position," said Mack, 53. "She is not tainted by scandal and she shines wherever she goes. Plus, she could win in Ward 6."

While guests nibbled on spring rolls and sipped cool drinks, private conversations ran the gamut from who will jump into the mayoral fray first in 2014 to Bowser's squeaky clean record.

Sondra Phillips-Gilbert, who hopes to replace Mack as the commissioner for 6A07 in November, said it's understood among Ward 6 residents that their council member, Tommy Wells, will run for mayor whenever the opportunity presents itself. Nonetheless, Phillips-Gilbert said that she believes Bowser would be a better candidate and a better mayor.

"We want a person who we know is with us," she said. "We want someone who will be honest, for real and do the right thing."

W. Philip Thomas, an advisory neighborhood commissioner who represents 3D05 in Northwest, said "we'll see when that times comes" in regard to Bowser's future political ambitions. "Right now, I am trying to get re-elected myself," said Thomas, 27.

Ward 4 political activist Joshua Lopez, an ardent supporter of both Fenty and Bowser, said that "2014 is a long way out."

"First of all, we have to make sure that she wins in November," said Lopez, 28, laughing. "She is the best council member at the [John A.] Wilson Building and we need to make sure that she gets back in there."

There's speculation in Ward 4 political circles that Lopez will run for the Ward 4 council seat when Bowser moves on, but Lopez chose not to comment.

Frank Wilds, a candidate for the Ward 5 seat on the D.C. Council after the resignation of Harry Thomas Jr., showed up to "support Muriel."

"I have had a long working relationship with her," said Wilds, 65. "We were ANCs representing parts of Kennedy Street together, with her being in Ward 4 and me being in Ward 5. We also worked together on some things in the Lamond-Riggs area."

Ward 7 political neophyte Kevin B. Chavous, who crashed and burned during his bid for the Ward 7 seat on the D.C. Council against incumbent Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), claims to have ties to Bowser.

"I am a supporter of hers and I think she has done great work in Ward 4," said Chavous, 27. "She is about restoring integrity in government and yes, I have heard rumors about her running for mayor. But for now, I am here at this party to show my support for her."

A wide cross-section of the District's political, social and civic luminaries wished Bowser well on her special day.

Former D.C. City Administrator Michael Rogers and Claude E. Bailey, one of the District's most well-known attorneys, both said that they are represented by Bowser on the D.C. Council but declined to speculate on her political future.

"I think highly of her and I think she is doing a good job on the council," Rogers said.

Geneie Beverly, a business owner in Ward 7, said she admires Bowser and plans to support her "no matter what she does."

"She's not just for Ward 4 but for me too," said Beverly who lives in Southeast.

Pannell Will Run for Ward 8 State Board of Education Seat

Ward 8 political activist Philip Pannell said recently that he's a definite contender for his ward's seat on the D.C. State Board of Education. The election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

"I am running because overall Ward 8 collectively can improve education," said Pannell, 61. "You have heard the saying that it takes a 'village to raise a child.' Our village is not engaged."

Pannell ran for the vacant Ward 8 position in the special election that took place on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 due to the death of Board of Education member William Lockridge earlier that year. He finished second to Trayon White in a field of nine candidates.

White, 28, said that he intends to run for re-election.

Nonetheless, Pannell cited an example of low engagement in the ward regarding education. He noted the "appalling low attendance" for the ward's PTA meetings and said that the ward's recent town hall meeting on education that featured D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson had a dismal turnout.

"I noted that on the flyer for the town hall meeting that the chancellor and the Ward 8 D.C. Council member [Marion Barry] were listed as the sponsors but the Ward 8 Board of Education member was not listed as a sponsor," he said. "This is an example of not having people actively engaged. I have a history of involvement of three decades in this city and I can really get people involved."

Pannell has been elected president of the Ward 8 Democrats five times and is a former member of the District of Columbia Library Board of Trustees. He's the president of the Congress Heights Community Association and works as the executive director of the Anacostia Coordinating Council in Southeast.

Over the years, Pannell has served as an adviser – on a formal and informal basis – for candidates vying for various political offices throughout the District. He remains one of the city's most well-known gay activists.

Pannell said that his single status and the fact that he doesn't have children shouldn't be a deterrent for residents who would otherwise vote for him.

"I worked to revive Ballou Senior High School's PTSA which was defunct at one point" he said. "I raised $7,000 for the school and became treasurer of the PTSA for five years. I worked to see that the Anacostia Coordinating Council serves as the fiduciary agent for Ballou's marching band."

Pannell said that "public education affects us all and we as parents, students, teachers, [and] community members need to do what we can to help."

"I will bring the same type of energy and commitment to the State Board of Education that I have brought to the community," he said.

Alexander, Dismissive Regarding Moten

D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), who faces Republican Ron Moten in the Ward 7 D.C. Council member general election on November 6, isn't excited about debating her opponent.

"What debate?" Alexander, 51, said during a Tuesday, July 24 ribbon cutting at the Nannie Helen Burroughs Great Streets Project in Northeast. "Ward 7 is 98 percent Democratic."

However, Moten said he will be glad to take Alexander on.

"She has a past to explain to the voters," said Moten, 42. "In the Democratic primary, she had 5 candidates to go against and the issues never got addressed."

Alexander and Moten have had a tense relationship. A few years ago, in the D.C. Council chambers, Moten criticized Alexander's performance as a legislator during a hearing and the council member responded by walking out of the room and summarily dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

At the grand opening of the Deanwood Recreation Center in Northeast in 2010, Alexander encouraged District residents to support then D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray for mayor. When Moten pointed out that the endorsement at that venue may have been a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits District employees from engaging in politics while participating in city business, she responded with one word: "whatever."

Alexander handily defeated five challengers in the Tuesday, April 3 Democratic primary but polled only 41 percent. Moten easily defeated Don Folden Sr. in the Republican contest with 56 percent of the vote.

Moten said that the heavy Democratic numbers in the ward don't discourage him.

"I am a better candidate than she is," he said. "I would like to have the chance to explain to the people of Ward 7 why they should not have a problem voting for a civil rights Republican. We need a public debate in front of the people, not just on television."

Alexander will stand her ground.

"If there is a debate, let me know," she said. "Bring it on."