Fenty, Gray Seats Up for Grab
Low Voter-Turn-out Expected

By Joseph Young
WI Staff Writer
Thursday, November 23, 2006

Ward 7 Democrats’ regular monthly meeting at Ward Memorial AME Church in Northeast has long been a highly anticipated, well attended-affair, and last Saturday, a notable number of potential candidates for the soon-to-be vacated Ward 7 council seat attended the meeting to pitch their platforms in private conversations.
  
They passed out glossy campaign literature, shook hands and tried to convince arrivals that they were the best candidates to fill the council seat that will be vacated by Council Chairman-elect Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7). 
  
“We want to reach out to the citizens and identify what they want and figure out what we can do to address it,” said Victor Vandell, who stood in front of the church, located on 42 Street, off Benning Road. He greeted arrivals and announced his attentions to seek Gray’s seat.

Neither Vandell nor the other candidates are official yet. They are in the exploratory stage right now. The Board of Elections and Ethics does not allow candidates to campaign for an open seat until the seat has been certified as open. Five days after the seat becomes officially vacant, elections officials can call a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term.
  
D.C. Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Council Chairman-elect Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) will be sworn in on Jan. 2, leaving their current positions officially open.
  
The special election to fill the outgoing council members’ seats will likely take place at the end of April, according to Board of Elections and Ethics officials. Candidates for Wards 4 and 7 Council seats must collect the signatures of 500 registered voters in their respective ward.
  
In the Ward 4 race, there are several stand-out candidates including Michael A. Brown, T.A. Uqdah, Muriel Bowser, and Renee Bowser. Fenty supports candidate Muriel Bowser to replace him representing Ward 4.  More are expected to announce their candidacies soon.
  
Meanwhile Vandell, who served as the Mayor-elect Fenty Ward 7 coordinator, told the Informer that he and Fenty both share the same ideologies, both share the same vision and both believe in the same initiatives that are going to be needed to move this city forward. Fenty has not publicly endorsed Vandell’s candidacy.
  
Cleve Mesidor formed her exploratory campaign committee to consider running for the Ward 7 Council seat. “I am running a campaign because I want to engage my neighbors,” she said. “I want to listen to them. “I believe that they want change.”
   
Ward 7 is a diverse community with about 70,000 residents, with middle-class and impoverished pockets. Mesidor would work to improve the public schools and provide work force training for low-income residents. She would work to help middle-class business owners hold onto their property in the midst of the economic boom underway in Ward 7. Also, she would work to provide vocational training for youth because, she says, that’s the best way to fight crime.
  
Yvette Alexander, a long time residents of Ward 7, told the Informer that she is running because she wants to move Gray’s agenda forward. “I’m interested in keeping the progress moving,” said Alexander.  She also noted the need for an African American woman on the D.C. City Council. “There will be no representation of African American women on the D.C. City Council. We have a large number of African American Women in Ward 7.  So we have a vested interest in that as well,” she said. “There needs to be diversity on the Council.” 
  
Some of the other names that are floating around for the Ward 7 seat include Emily Washington, Roscoe Grant, Paul Savage, and Sam Jordan.
  
Gray is not endorsing anyone to succeed him at this time, though he is not ruling it out.   
Although council seats are considered part-time jobs, Gray has devoted full time to it and believes his successor should be prepared to do the same. He would consider endorsing a candidate who goes to meetings and who is going to be responsive to constituent services. Also, he would support someone who understands the challenges of Ward 7 and use the legislative process to address some of those needs.
  
Gray is concerned about his Ward 7and Ward 4 being under-represented for several months. After Fenty and Gray are sworn in on Jan. 2, Wards 7 and 4 will not have a representative in place until after the special elections in the spring.
  
“There is no process for a board member who vacates,” said Gray. “I am committed to solving this, so we won’t have this kind of situation in the future. There will have to be a charter change.”