Is This Bizarro World?

I don't even know what to think about this bit of news.

Former Mayor Anthony A. Williams joined Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Council member Jim Graham Tuesday morning in Columbia Heights for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in honor of all three of them and the nonprofit that helped make DCUSA possible.

But the event in the lobby of the building anchored by Target resembled a campaign endorsement of Fenty (D) and Graham (D-Ward 1).

I admit that Mayor Fenty has done some fine work during his tenure as mayor. He also has some worrisome errors in judgment and ethical missteps that paint a troubling portrait for the future should he be reelected. The only thing Gray detractors say against him is that we don't know enough about him to know how he will actually lead the city should he be elected ... that we still have too many questions about him that need answering.

And, yes, we don't really know how Mr. Gray will behave, should he be elected. Will the improvements started during the Williams Administration continue to move along smoothly, or will they be weighted down by consensus-building? Will the city government go back to the days of corruption and ineptness? Will the District become the Crime Capital of the nation once again? Will the public school system fall back to its pre-Williams days? Will the city become the model for public transportation or will needed improvements like bike lanes and streetcars be scuttled?

Mr. Gray needs to continue engaging "new media" folk and continue making himself available to the public in order to make himself more real to the voters. Because, as a friend put it to me recently, the city will "vote for the known evil".

What's Good For The Goose Is Good For Th ... Oh Look, A Penny!

Mayor Fenty, whatever shall we do with you? You are turning out to be everything I thought (and hoped you would not) be. Just like another certain recently-elected official, you said a lot of pretty, popular things during your campaign but your actual governance is ... how shall we say ... radically different.

Let's take a look at one thing in particular over which you were very harsh with your predecessor: traveling.

The mayor's traveling habits are getting so bad ... so secretively, shadowy bad ... that he is receiving unsolicited advice on how he should be handling it.

"It comes down to making people understand the priority being served, and the connection of where you are going will be a benefit to the city," said D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), who has attended two car shows in Europe and a shopping convention in Las Vegas with other city officials. The Washington Auto Show organizers paid for his trips to Europe, which were aimed at drumming up support for the D.C. show, and his council budget paid for the trip to Las Vegas.

I think it goes down deeper than that.

Still, Fenty's approach has left him open to the kind of second-guessing that he used to do to former mayor Williams (D), who was dogged for leaving town too often. Williams, who served as the head of the National League of Cities, traveled 137 days during one year.

See, Anthony Williams had good cause, open cause, appropriate cause for his traveling. What cause does Fenty have? Who knows. The mayor isn't saying much about it.

Oh. And if you think I'm the only one raising stink over this, think again.

Fenty Seeks To Undo All Williams' Initiatives

With a headline like that, I could work for the MSM. *smirk*

On 04 January 2005, Mayor Anthony Williams signed into law the District of Columbia Emancipation Day Amendment Act of 2004, making Emancipation Day a legally recognized city public holiday.

The holiday commemorates the day in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and freed more than 3,000 slaves. This act was passed nine months before President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It was the first time that the government of the United States acted formally to abolish slavery and telegraphed the eventual end of slavery to the rest of the country.

Mayor Adrian Fenty, as stated in his proposed fiscal 2010 spending plan, wishes to put the holiday back into private observance. His rationale is to "save the city about $1.3 million" in holiday pay for city workers who have to work on 16 April, beginning in 2010. Obviously, not everyone is happy about the proposal.

“I think it is just disrespectful of what I think is one of the most important holidays we can honor,” Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. said Tuesday. “I will fight to ensure that it stays in the budget.”

Personally, I don't really care one way or the other. On one hand, taking away a holiday from people is a rough thing to do. On the other hand, which would you rather have ... one less holiday or a cut in services?