The election is on. How can we tell? Because at the Sept. 20 meeting of the D.C. Council, topic number one was voter anger over rising gas prices.
Mayoral candidates Adrian M. Fenty and Vincent B. Orange Sr. competed to present the most sincere display of fury on behalf of the city's beleaguered drivers. Fenty (D-Ward 4) proposed cracking down on price-gouging, while Orange (D-Ward 5) called for a 90-day break on city gas taxes.
Then again, maybe Fenty and Orange were advocating on their own behalf. After all, nobody must feel the pinch of higher gas prices more intensely than these guys.
Fenty races around town in a giant white Ford Expedition, which, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, gets a measly 14 to 16 miles per gallon in city driving.
Orange, meanwhile, just bought a brand-new Cadillac SRX, a sort of sport-utility wagon. It also gets about 16 mpg on city streets, according to the Energy Department.
Fenty declined to comment on his wheels. Orange said that at least his SRX "wasn't an Escalade" -- an even bigger Cadillac.
Depending on how the fundraising and campaigning go, perhaps one of them will soon be shoehorning his rump and ego into a tiny, fuel-sipping hybrid.
Pannell Draws a Crowd
More signs that the election is on: No fewer than six council members spent their Saturday night in Southeast Washington at the bar formerly known as Players Lounge, celebrating the 55th birthday of longtime Ward 8 activist Phil Pannell .
Noting the presence of Council members Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), Orange , Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) and Kwame R. Brown (D-At-Large), Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) joked that she nearly had a quorum.
Pannell, who hosts a birthday bash every year, said as many as 400 people showed up for this year's extravaganza, which featured a karaoke party on the first-floor stage, a live band on the second floor and a party canopy out back. Several council members come every year, including Orange, who "loves a good time," Pannell said, "particularly if there's James Brown on the turntable." Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) also also comes, Pannell said, though the former mayor skipped this year's party in favor of a Congressional Black Caucus event.
But several of the honorables were making their maiden foray to a Pannell party. Evans and Patterson, who both plan to run for council chairman in 2006, were there for the first time, Pannell said. So was Cropp, who recently announced her campaign for mayor.
Not content simply to show up and sip cocktails, Cropp even took to the karaoke stage for an impressive performance of the Motown hit "My Guy."
