Sierra Club Is Latest to Snub Patterson

By Nikita Stewart and Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 10, 2006

First, the Washington Teachers Union Committee on Political Education gave its nod to council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) to be the next council chairman -- a tremendous blow to the council's education committee head, Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3).

Patterson fought for teachers' raises and recently helped find the $1 billion in the city's budget to improve school buildings over the next 10 years.

Now, the D.C. chapter of the Sierra Club has also endorsed Gray, despite Patterson's longtime activism as an environmentalist.

During the past year, Patterson has worked extensively with local and federal lawmakers to try to ban hazardous materials carried by rail.

Patterson said she lost the Sierra Club endorsement because she said she would not push the D.C. Council to reconsider its decision to rebuild and reopen the controversial Klingle Road to traffic. The Sierra Club believes the road, nestled in Rock Creek Park, should remain closed.

"I am sorry that the Sierra Club is focused on a single roadway in upper Northwest instead of environmental issues that could have a positive impact on every D.C. resident," Patterson said in a statement.

There were other issues, including Patterson's refusal to support the club's efforts to close Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park, said James Dougherty, national secretary of the Sierra Club and an activist with the local chapter.

Dougherty recently quit as a volunteer with Patterson's campaign. "I was volunteering, but I'm a loyal Sierra Club activist," he said. "My environmental colors come first."

If the color's green, it applies to Gray in more than one way, said Laurie Collins, who has been pushing the council to reopen Klingle Road.

She said Gray, a freshman council member, lacks the experience possessed by Patterson, a 12-year veteran.

Collins also chided the Sierra Club for using Klingle Road as a campaign issue. "I'm a Sierra Club member. I'm an environmentalist. I was recycling before anyone. [Klingle Road] is not an issue anymore. Why are you beating a dead horse?" she said.

Jason Broehm, chairman of the D.C. chapter, said the group's leadership saw Gray as the best candidate. "We didn't get any promises from Vincent Gray on Klingle Road. We got a very positive sense that he is someone we can really work with," Broehm said.

Gray said that he was "surprised" to get the endorsement but also said that it was deserved; he noted his desire to utilize pollution-free streetcars as public transportation in the District.

The Sierra Club also endorsed Mary Cheh in Ward 3, Tommy Wells in Ward 6 and incumbent Jim Graham in Ward 1. The club already had given its support to incumbent Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) for reelection.

Speaking of Mendelson and endorsements, the whole process of straw polls and endorsements has been crazy this election season.

Philip Pannell, candidate for shadow senator and chairman of the Ward 8 Democrats, may be the official statistician to wade through the craziness.

Pannell was behind the decision of the Gertrude Stein Democrat Club to rescind its endorsement of Mendelson for reelection. Mendelson got only 59.82 percent of the vote of the membership. He needed 60 percent to clinch the endorsement.

Despite being a Ward 8 Democrat, Pannell also provided corrected numbers for the Ward 1 Democrats' endorsement meeting last month. Leaders in Ward 1 reported that lawyer A. Scott Bolden edged out Mendelson. Pannell issued a spreadsheet showing that Mendelson got 48 votes to Bolden's 41. He broke that down as 48.94 percent to 41.84 percent. No rounding.

Pannell said he's no math whiz but he likes to "play with numbers."

Remember that he managed to get his chief rival in the shadow senator election, incumbent Florence Pendleton (D), knocked off the ballot because she collected only 1,559 valid signatures to get on the ballot. She needed 2,000.

"Let's hope the voters will come out in numbers for me on election day," Pannell said.

Fighting to the Finish

If the polls are right, Election Day will not be good for council member Vincent B. Orange (D-Ward 5), who is trailing badly in the race for mayor behind council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) and council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D).

But Orange is not going down without a fight.

"Don't believe the hype!" Orange repeated, mimicking the rap lyrics to a late 1980s Public Enemy hit at a Ward 7 Democrats forum for mayoral candidates last Saturday.

Orange first set his sights on Cropp, challenging her record on economic development, especially in eastern parts of the city. He said he could do much better.

"I'm going to make some black folks rich!" he told the crowd.

Orange also went after Cropp's commitment to education, telling the crowd that the chairman was president of the school board for years but "she just now says, 'I Have a Dream.' "

When Fenty finally showed up, Orange quickly fired a few barbs at his Ward 4 colleague. "We're not running no homecoming queen contest," Orange said about Fenty. "That's not going to buy you nothin'. Let's get real."

In his closing remarks, Orange drove home his record of delivering for his ward, whether it was community benefits from building a new baseball stadium or opening a Home Depot.

And he revealed his trademark technique for securing those deals: "I was the spook who sat by the door," he said.