Phil Pannell Officially Launches Write-In Campaign for Ward 8 Seat

D.C. Councilmember Trayon White’s (D-Ward 8) legal troubles continue to raise questions, among some people, about his ability to effectively represent communities in his ward that are weathering storms in the realms of education and public safety. 

Those inquiries intensified after White’s office, days after assuring constituents that it will continue to provide services, canceled an annual back-to-school event that was scheduled for Aug. 24.

Longtime Ward 8 leader Phil Pannell called that recent development a further indication of what must be done. 

“He’s not operating at 100% and you see that with what’s happening with his office,” Pannell, executive director of the Anacostia Coordinating Committee, told The Informer. “You cancel your annual back-to-school event, even though there are families counting on this. This is a gut punch to this community.”

Given these circumstances, Pannell explained he and others are having trouble supporting White.

 “I can’t vote for him as a nominee and there are many folks who can’t. But leaders and activists have been reluctant to call for his resignation,” he said.

On Wednesday night, Pannell announced his write-in candidacy for the Ward 8 D.C. Council seat. In a message he circulated to community leaders, Pannell lambasted those he accused of excusing White’s alleged behavior.

Kymone Freeman, co-owner of We Act Radio and one of many who’ve analyzed White’s situation in the context of law enforcement antagonism, expressed support for Pannell’s candidacy, calling it the best means of avoiding a Republican victory in November. 

Barring any decision by White, or the D.C. Council, to vacate the Ward 8 D.C. Council, this general election contest will mark the second time that Pannell and White vied for the same seat. In 2011, White defeated Pannell in a special election to succeed the late William O. Lockridge as the Ward 8 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education. 

Pannell’s write-in candidacy bears some similarity to an endeavor that former  D.C. Mayor Anthony Williiams successfully embarked on in 2002 after he failed to collect enough petition signatures to appear on the Democratic primary ballot. 

On Thursday, Pannell, who will turn 74 on September 29, one day before D.C. Board of Elections mails out general election ballots, expressed his hope that his efforts would encourage other Ward 8 leaders to throw their hat into the ring and protect their council seat from what he called detrimental general election candidates. 

“We’re in a political crisis where the two choices on the ballot are conservatism or corruption,” Pannell said in reference to White, the Democratic nominee for the Ward 8 seat, and Nate Derenge, the Republican nominee. “I hope that I can convince other folks to run. I am willing and ready to step aside if someone else comes forward.” 

Questions about the Future Make the Ward 8 Council Race a Free for All 

White’s office declined to comment about the council member’s intention to resign and Pannell’s write-in candidacy.  

On Aug. 19, a day after the FBI arrested him near his luxury apartment in Ward 6, White appeared before a federal judge who revealed the findings of a criminal complaint alleging that White agreed to accept $156,000 in bribes to steer millions of dollars in violence interruption program contracts to a local business owner. 

Responses poured in from constituents and elected officials alike, most of whom questioned whether White really lived in the ward he represents on the council. 

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced the launch of an internal investigation into White’s dealings with the D.C.’s violence interruption programs. D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, chairwoman of the council’s Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said that she will hold public hearings in the fall to determine the scope of the allegations, as it relates to violence interruption programs under her purview. 

In a statement, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) expressed plans to strip White of his chairmanship of the council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs. That committee has oversight authority over the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, two agencies that are named in the charging documents. 

Mendelson’s statement also included mention of an ad hoc committee that, once launched, will investigate the federal bribery charge and White’s Ward 8 residency. On Thursday, Mendelson told The Informer about a soon-to-be-circulated memo that outlines the timeline and other specifics of the committee. 

Though the D.C. Democrats haven’t taken an official position on Mendelson’s actions, Charles Wilson, chair of the D.C. Democrats said that he’s sure that much of the membership supports it. He too has given thought to launching a write-in campaign, but declined to speak in detail about those discussions. 

“As a party, we are incredibly disappointed in what we read about the allegations against Councilmember White. If they are true, it harms the public trust in our elected officials,” Mendelson said.

With the Ward 8 D.C. Council office in a state of limbo, some leaders, like Markus Batchelor, say that Ward 8 residents continue to lose with an apparent leadership vacuum. 

“Ward 8 would be better served with new leadership in the short term and the long term. We want to move quickly,” Batchelor said, pointing out that a protracted process distracts from critical issues the ward is facing. 

Batchelor, a former Ward 8 D.C. Council candidate who suspended his campaign earlier his year, discussed the potential of a write-in campaign with some D.C. Democratic Party colleagues while in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention. 

Though plans haven’t been solidified, Batchelor told The Informer a write-in campaign increasingly appears as an option, even with the legal and political processes just getting underway. 

“I thought we needed [new leadership] then and I’m convinced that we need it even more now,” Batchelor said. “I talk very clearly on my platform about waste, fraud and abuse in our violence interruption programs. We’ve been focused on the right issues from the start and I think Ward 8 deserves that option.” 

While Rahman Branch, one of two candidates White defeated in the June 4 primary, acknowledged that some people have approached him about launching a write-in campaign for the Ward 8 D.C. Council, he stopped short of saying he’s throwing his hat in the ring once again. 

Branch’s focus, he told The Informer, is more so on how White’s federal bribery charge affects Ward 8 residents.

“We do need to consider what happens in respect to… addressing the ward’s needs on the council,” Branch said, alluding to Eagle Academy Public Charter School’s recent closure. “Families are still in crisis. Schools are closing and parents don’t have answers about where their children are going next week. I’m concerned that our representative can’t be a voice for those sorts of things.” 

As it relates to White’s future in the John A. Wilson Building, Branch said that the Ward 8 council member has to do some “soul searching… and come to an understanding within himself” about his next move. 

“I know how much he loves the ward,” Branch said. “I know how much passion he has for his community. I wonder what his thoughts are around that move to step down and allow the ward to get support. I choose not to make those decisions, but I have confidence that that’s something he’s considering.” 

Ward 8 Leaders Step Up as the Legal Process Gets Underway 

On Aug. 27, Sandra Seegars and Ronald Williams, Jr. of Concerned Residents Against Violence will conduct an online meeting where community leaders, business leaders and activists will discuss the future of their ward. 

This meeting will follow a similar meeting of the minds that Salim Adofo, chairman of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C, conducted with other Ward 8 ANC chairs on the evening of Aug. 21. As Adofo recounted, he and his ANC colleagues outlined a strategy in advancing budget recommendations and boosting constituent services in their jurisdictions. 

Adofo also expressed plans to invite Mendelson to explain to the community the actions that the council will take in response to the allegations against White. He described this as part of a greater effort to work more closely with Mendelson and the at-large council members. 

That same courtesy, he said, extends to White’s office. 

“He’s still a council member until he’s not,” Adofo said. “We talked about him being afforded the opportunity for due process. We want to support him as a human being [who’s] going through something mentally, physically and spiritually.” 

Adofo, who White also defeated in the June 4 primary, said he has no plans to launch a write-in candidacy for the Ward 8 D.C. Council. He called the move cumbersome and premature, given the current stage of the investigation. 

“You never want to jump out there without all the facts,” Adofo told The Informer. “Many Ward 8 residents are aware of the FBI Counterintelligence Program that sought to neutralize our leaders from the Black freedom struggle and that never left us.”

Adofo said that Ward 8’s tenuous relationship with law enforcement continues to this very day. 

“Though we are deemed conspiracy theorists, there are conspiracies to diminish our community and we must acknowledge them,” Adofo said. “That’s why some people would feel uneasy about believing an FBI investigation.”