A couple of miles away, Greg Justice, 33, an analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office who moved to the District from Houston several years ago, lives in a new condo development. From his balcony, he can see the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol. Justice regards Barry's advocacy on behalf of the poor as a regressive step for a ward that "cannot afford any more low-income housing. Have you seen the trash? That's because the people don't own. They rent. It's like Ward 8 is the city dump.
"There's a new breed of young professionals who are moving into this area and looking for opportunities," he said.
Arnita and Chris Smith, with their children, Christopher Jr., 5, and Cheyenne Victoria, 1, say they are concerned about Marion Barry's attitude toward Ward 8's emerging middle class. The Smiths live in Wheeler Creek.
(Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
|
_____D.C. Government_____
•
Kwanzaa Arrives to a Growing Following (The Washington Post, Dec 27, 2004)
•
For Travelers, Bagfuls of Sorrows (The Washington Post, Dec 27, 2004)
•
A Ringmaster in Perpetual Motion (The Washington Post, Dec 27, 2004)
•
D.C. to Pay Penalty, Use Stanford Test Again (The Washington Post, Dec 25, 2004)
•
More Stories
|
| |
|
Barry said that he plans to represent all of the ward's residents and that homeowners and renters share the same interest in "better schools, police protection and cleaner streets."
As he traveled the ward on a recent afternoon, lounging in the back seat with his driver at the wheel, Barry said he welcomes the new development. But he also said he opposes developers marketing property to what he laughingly described as "gentrificators."
"I don't want to displace people who have been living here for years," he said.
Though Barry did not win a majority in Ward 8 when he first ran for mayor in 1978, its voters soon became the bedrock of his support, helping him win by decisive margins when he campaigned for reelection in 1982 and 1986.
After being caught on an FBI videotape smoking crack and relinquishing the mayoralty, Barry chose Ward 8 to launch his political comeback and was elected to the council in 1992. Two years later, he recaptured city hall, only to depart in 1999 with the District's finances a shambles.
The demographic changes in Ward 8 -- the population declined from 93,000 to 70,000, more than half of it in the past decade -- led to predictions that voters had had enough of him. But in September, Barry trounced incumbent Sandy Allen in the Democratic primary. He won the seat in last month's general election easily.
His victory came even as admirers were hard-pressed to explain how Southeast has benefited in concrete terms under his leadership, when he was mayor or on the council. Their list of accomplishments includes his having appointed Ward 8 residents to commissions and panels, relocated the taxi and lottery commissions to Anacostia, initiated summer jobs programs for young people and rallied for economic development east of the river.
But Barry's administration also committed substantial missteps that hurt struggling neighborhoods, including those in Ward 8. On his watch, the District failed to spend tens of millions of dollars in federal grant money to rehabilitate housing for the poor, care for the homeless, provide homes for AIDS patients and pay for day care. During his first three terms as mayor, the District's public housing department was a revolving door for top leaders, as 10 acting and permanent directors came and went over a dozen years, creating turmoil that eventually prompted a judge to order the city to relinquish control of the agency.
And for all his calls for developers to migrate east of the river -- as mayor, he opened an economic revitalization office in Anacostia in 1986 -- the ward's main commercial strips remain defined by vacant storefronts, small liquor stores and convenience marts. Many residents shop for groceries in Maryland or Virginia rather than wait on line at the only Safeway, on the border of neighboring Ward 7.
"Anacostia today is just what it was when he first became mayor," said Carolyn Johns-Gray, president of the Frederick Douglass Community Council, the civic association that includes downtown Anacostia. "Every time he ran, he made the same promises."
The source of Barry's allure for Ward 8 voters is partly understood by O.V. Johnson, an advisory neighborhood commissioner and a longtime resident. "By supporting him, they're striking back at the establishment," Johnson said. "They don't go by his record; they go by his persona. He knows what the hot buttons are -- no shopping centers, no restaurants -- as if he's not responsible for it. I can't get over it."
But Johnson had another idea, too: "He's got something going on, a potion working."
