As We Recall
Dear Recallers:
Recall petitions have been filed against Mayor Gray and Council
Chairman Brown by Frederick Butler, who also promises to file more
petitions to recall other councilmembers. Dorothy, below, outlines the
recall process and points out some reasons why a recall is difficult,
even under the most favorable circumstances. But she also quotes Butler’s
proposed language for his recall petitions, and finds it very
unconvincing. Be sure to read what Butler has written in her message
below. Whether you’re predisposed for or against recalling any
particular elected official, these recall statements don’t present a
convincing or even a comprehensible argument for recall.
On the other hand, there are a lot of people who have their own good
reasons for being dissatisfied with our current elected officials, and
it would serve Gray and Brown well to use this proposed recall as an
opportunity to make the best possible cases they can for themselves. We
asked Gray’s and Brown’s offices for their responses to the recall.
Brown’s council office said that any response would have to come from
his campaign operations, and Gray’s office sent the following
statement: “My focus remains where it should, with the work the
citizens of the District elected me to do. During my campaign for Mayor,
I promised voters that I would focus on growing the economy, putting
people back to work, fixing our schools, improving public safety, and
getting the District back on a firm financial footing, and that’s
exactly what I will continue doing. Just last month the Census confirmed
that DC was now the most desirable place to live in the United States, I
intend to keep it that way.”
Is that really Mayor Gray’s best argument for his performance in
office? Misrepresenting the Census?
#####
Important reading:
Courtland Milloy, “After Thomas’s Resignation, There’s No Trust
in DC Council Left to Restore,” http://tinyurl.com/7qlg6l3
Jonetta Rose Barras, “Harry Thomas’s Tag Team,” http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2012/01/harry-thomas-tag-team/2082751
Tom Sherwood’s Notebook: “Harry Thomas, Jr.”, http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Tom-Sherwoods-Notebook-Harry-Thomas-Jr-137072223.html
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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A “notice of intent to recall” was filed by Frederick C. Butler
against Mayor Gray (http://www.dcwatch.com/election/init22.htm)
and Council Chairman Kwame Brown (http://www.dcwatch.com/election/init23.htm)
on Wednesday morning, just prior to the monthly convening of the Board
of Elections and Ethics. The two recall documents are virtually
identical, except for the names of the individuals and their offices.
Butler’s statement against both officials, which will appear on the
recall petitions and on the ballot, should the measure reach the ballot
stage, is rambling and incoherent. The statement for the Gray petition
follows. (The Brown statement is identical, except for the name and the
office.)
“We, the petitioners, attest that we are duly registered voters in
the District of Columbia; do hereby expect the execution of the
discharge of said duties under “Oath of Office” by of the District
of Columbia. Mayor Vincent Gray willfully and knowingly accepted the
responsibilities to enact this sworn, first law of the United States,
enacted in the first session of the first Congress on July 1, 1789 was
statue 1, chapter 1,: an act to regulate the time and manner. This oath
is more than a mere formality. It provides the foundation for leadership
decisions that all individuals, take before assuming and fulfilling the
duties of any elected office. An other is a solemn appeal to God to
witness the truth of the statement or the sincerity of a promise coupled
with an imprecation of divine judgment in the event of falsehood or
beach of obligation.
“We are recalling Mayor Vincent Gray for the stated reason above
including, the multiple times that the National and social media
outlets, highlighting their breach of office through unethical behavior
as an elected official of the District of Columbia.”
The District’s recall process is summarized on the BOEE web site at
http://www.dcboee.org/regulations/recall_process.asp.
Further detailed information is provided in Chapter 11 (Recall of
Elected Officials) of Title 3 of the District’s Municipal Regulations
(Elections and Ethics) at http://tinyurl.com/7z36hju.
Contrary to initial news reports, the recall process was just begun by
today’s filing by Butler of his notice of intent to recall. There must
be a formal hearing by the BOEE to review Butler’s filing, consider
any response from Gray and Brown, and approve the language for the
recall petitions (which will include a copy of the above statement
detailing the reason for the recall and any response by Gray or Brown).
Only following that step can the BOEE authorize the circulation of the
recall petitions. Butler will then have 180 days to circulate the
petitions and gather signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters
in the District, approximately 45,000. (The signatures must also meet a
ward distribution requirement, with signatures from at least 10 percent
of the voters in at least five of the city’s eight wards.) If the BOEE
certifies that the requisite number of signatures appears on a petition,
then a special election to recall Gray and/or Brown will be scheduled
within 114 days. If Gray or Brown loses a recall election, then another
special election will be held to fill the position vacancy. In that
election, the person who had been recalled could be a candidate to win
the office back.
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I want to comment on three separate issues. First, some of you may
have noticed a Metro controversy concerning whether bus drivers should
be projected by plastic shields that will enclose them while they’re
driving. An amazing number of assaults on bus drivers took place last
year. Councilwoman Muriel Bowser opposes the notion because she thinks
plastic shields will mislead people into believing our busses are
unsafe. If she had taken the X-2 or some of the other busses whose route
lies in ghettos, she would know they are not safe.
My opinion is that the shields are equivalent to a placebo prescribed
by a doctor. The passengers are in at least as much danger at the
drivers. What we need are more cops on the busses. At present, there are
exactly twenty Metro police to protect the fifteen hundred busses on the
street at rush hour. The other one hundred eighty Metro cops are
assigned to Metrorail. Why are so few cops assigned to the busses? I’d
like to know what you other subscribers think is the reason.
Second, Kwame Brown wants to introduce legislation requiring that DC
students won’t be able to graduate unless they take either the SAT or
ACT exams and apply to one college at least. This is the sort of
feel-good legislation that all good liberals love, so the council will
probably vote for it. I believe the legislation is nonsense because
probably two thirds of the school kids will flunk the tests and an
equally dismal number will be rejected by any decent school they apply
to.
Third, it looks like Harry Thomas is gone from the Council and off to
jail. Do people think the same fate will befall any of our other
politicians?
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When the Clock Got Sick
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Back in 1997 I wrote this amusing children’s story when I noticed
that the public clock on the Suntrust Bank in Cleveland Park was sick
for more than a year (http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/sick.clock.html).
Last week I drove by that bank and their public clock is sick again! I’m
going to have to write another story: “When the Clock Needed to Go
Back to the Clocktor.” Cleveland Park people — kindly print out a
copy of this story and hand it to the manager at that bank. Suntrust
needs to know that this particular branch is becoming a literary
landmark in the city.
Incidentally, do you know who is a big fan of this story? The
students at a school for the blind in India. They printed out the story
in Braille and sent me a nice E-mail telling me so.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Federation of Citizens Associations, How Safe
Is Your Neighborhood, January 24
Anne Renshaw, milrddc@aol.com
Chief of Police Cathy Lanier will address the vexing question, “How
Safe is Your Neighborhood?” at the DC Federation of Citizens
Association’s January assembly, Tuesday, January 24, 6:45 p.m.-9:00
p.m., at All Souls Memorial Episcopal Church, 2300 Cathedral Avenue, NW
(entrance off the church parking lot on Woodley Place, NW). Chief Lanier
will address residents’ worries about crime, thefts, violence, and
continuing traffic/pedestrian issues which negatively impact DC
neighborhoods. Questions for Chief Lanier will center on MPD coverage of
the Occupy Movement’s (possibly) removing police officers from
neighborhood patrols, street robberies, flash mobs, purse snatchings,
confrontations with panhandlers, lack of neighborhood traffic
enforcement, thefts from autos, home break-ins, and serious crimes such
as a neighbor held up at gun point on his front porch and a tragic death
over sneakers.
While MPD has forged a partnership with communities through citizen
committees, its use of neighborhood listservs, and officers’
appearances at civic meetings to report and warn about crime, many DC
residents remain on edge, fearful, living behind locked doors,
grillwork, and security alarms.
Chief Lanier will respond to residents’ concerns about neighborhood
crime that impacts their quality of life and sense of security. To that
end, what more can MPD do to safeguard DC neighborhoods and, in turn,
what more can DC residents do to protect themselves?
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