No Step Too Small in Mayor's Race

In the past, Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) also expressed interest in the chairman's race. But Graham was still traveling in South America this week, and aides said he had no comment on Cropp's decision.

Now Appearing in NYC

In other political news, council candidate A. Scott Bolden has appeared in his first campaign commercial. But the television ad is not playing in D.C. And it doesn't even mention Bolden's bid to unseat council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large).

The ad is a testimonial Bolden recorded for Leslie Crocker Snyder , the former New York judge and prosecutor who is challenging legendary Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau in next month's Democratic primary.

Bolden worked for Morgenthau from 1987 to 1990 and waged a public campaign to persuade him to hire more minority lawyers. That campaign was largely unsuccessful, Bolden said, adding that Morgenthau refused to meet with a group of black attorneys organized by Bolden, the NAACP and the black bar association.

Today, Bolden said, the Manhattan district attorney's office remains the province of white guys. So Bolden readily agreed when his friend Chuck Thies asked him to film an ad for the Snyder campaign.

"I worked for Robert Morgenthau. He's been in office for over 30 years. But when it comes to hiring people of color for the top jobs, nothing's changed," says the recorded Bolden, who goes on to note that, of 117 senior attorneys hired by Morgenthau, just five are Hispanic and only four are African American. Morgenthau's campaign has disputed those numbers.

Bolden, the son of civil rights activists from Joliet, Ill., said he was happy to do the ad, calling it an extension of his father's work.

As for his own political campaign, it's still a little early to be recording television ads, he said. "We're still more than a year out."

Nader vs. the Tax Man

God help the government bureaucrat who traps Ralph Nader in voice-mail hell.

The consumer activist-cum-presidential candidate was brought to wit's end this week trying to get through to a human being at the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue.

"I tried every conceivable way. It's spectacular testimony to how modern telecommunications has turned into anti-communications," said Nader, whose efforts were rewarded by an unhelpful recording telling him that "because of an extremely high volume of incoming calls, we are unable to take your call at this time."