Fenty in a Flash

By Taaq Kirksey
WI Staff Writer
Thursday, July 6, 2006

Photos By Joanne Jackson

Adrian M. Fenty can come off as a high-energy guy, quick to appear, say his piece and quickly vanish. If he says he’ll be back, he means it. The Democratic mayoral candidate and two-term Ward 4 Councilman is a rare breed in that he not only lives for politics, but is unafraid to admit it. He says so, confidently: “I love what I do … doing it in the city I was born and raised in.”

He sees his native city – under the Fenty Administration – as joining the list of “world-class” cities such as Rome and Paris, becoming a model of efficiency with a government that is “professional and responsive.

Like most candidates, he is dissatisfied with the less-than-sterling reputation of city agencies such as the Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs, the Office of Personnel and the Office of Contracting and Procurement. “It’s not hard to find a D.C. agency that is lagging behind in what most people expect as basic services,” he said in an editorial board meeting with The Washington Informer last week.

According to Fenty, the foundation of a more cosmopolitan District is a reinvigorated public school system. A product of the District of Columbia Public School system, he is proud of the School Modernization Financing Act of 2005 which he co-introduced with fellow Councilmembers Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) and Kwame Brown (D-At Large) to rehabilitate the DCPS through $1 billion in revenue bonds.

To bolster a “proven record of responsiveness,” Fenty has crisscrossed the city’s neighborhoods, knocking on doors to introduce himself to potential constituents. On this campaign trail, he said he is hearing that the biggest concern of often distrustful voters is that “[they] want to see the government.”

Fenty plans to show and prove his commitment to efficiency by hosting weekly public meetings in which he, the City Administrator and various department heads will have to answer to Washingtonians throughout the wards. “The city will be run like a business … it will be run as responsively as any resident would want,” he said.

He said that “government should always be aggressive” in regards to providing for its citizenry and his education plan is no exception. Referring to DCPS Central Administration as “a bloated nightmare,” he promises to trim that office as well as “shore up the budget” and create an Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education. “With this city’s school system being as dysfunctional as it is … I better be open to everything,” he said, noting that he is open to suggestions.

Fenty said his vision for education and other areas will be bankrolled by budget cuts to agencies prone to waste. Citing the economic non-sense of paying for a six-figure traffic study to decide on whether to replace a $500 stop sign, he warns that “people [in a wasteful, yet growing city government] will just spend the money unless [they] feel the sense of urgency to resist it.”

“Mom and Pop” stores – code for small businesses with strong ties to a particular community – are at the heart of Fenty’s economic vision and what he refers to as “community-based shopping.” The candidate – whose parents own and operate a sporting goods store, Fleet Feet in Northwest – envisions “family-based” chain stores such as coffee shops spreading throughout the city, yet coexisting with larger retail chains.

While Fenty the family man – a resident of Crestwood and father of twin boys – will push to keep the District fertile for local businesses, he said he is displeased with the lack of retail and parking in the city’s downtown area. “What’s hurting downtown retail is the fact that there is no downtown retail,” he said.

Communities will still come first under the Fenty Administration with the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development having “as much resources … focusing on true neighborhood development as [it will] on downtown development.”

To keep neighborhoods livable for middle and lower income residents – a demographic that he has referred to as “voting with their feet” by leaving the District for less expensive suburbs – Fenty suggested using the city government’s Housing Production Trust Fund to ensure affordable housing. With redevelopment projects raising the question of resident displacement in communities such as Barry Farm, the candidate points to “one for one return” as a safety net.

Despite the well-publicized disagreements between Fenty and outgoing mayor Anthony Williams (D), the former city lawyer had surprisingly – and politely – little to say about the former boss who – in a Washington Post article last month – criticized him for taking too much time away from City Council. “I think Williams has gotten a lot accomplished … obviously there is a ton of stuff that needs to be done … a myriad of human service issues that need much better management.”

If victorious, Fenty will have to oversee one of Williams’ biggest projects – the Washington Nationals Stadium along South Capitol Street in Northeast D.C., currently under construction. Fenty still calls it a bad deal. Fenty is skeptical of the extent to which local, small and disadvantaged District businesses will be able to benefit from the multimillion dollar project under current legislation. “There should be a real, aggressive holdout for local, independent businesses,” he said. “We’ve squandered all of our opportunity to leverage any of that.”

The idea of leverage means much to the candidate. He says the possibility of the District of Columbia receiving a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives – a push spearheaded by former boss Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC) – will give the city greater command over its affairs, including the right to levy income taxes for non-residents. Fenty suggested that in a “country … founded on all or nothing” the lack of statehood for his home amounts to “a real disgrace.”

The candidate’s eight years as a legislator leave him with a very inside view of the District’s economic upswing. When he talks about the $60 million in investments he has procured for his ward or his tenure on the Council, he underscores his presence in the city’s progress and receptiveness to fresh ideas.

To ensure that he is not condemned by disaffected voters who might see him – now a veteran of District politics – as “wedded to the problems of the past,” he suggested a spare, but effective mantra for his future administration. “We make sure that government works for those who are most in need … a great way to pick up from where the city is right now.”