Barry's Challengers in Ward 8 Race Eager to Take the Community Into a New Era

People constantly stop Marion Barry to ask whether he remembers giving them a job, visiting their home, making a call on their behalf, helping them get food stamps or keep their child in school. Graying men, fresh-faced boys and young girls flock to shake his hand.

A caricature and embarrassment to some, Barry remains a living legend in Ward 8, where he is running for reelection to the D.C. Council. At 72, Barry's campaign slogan is "Always fighting for the people," a nod to his populist appeal and willingness to mix it up.

Love him or hate him, Barry is the District's most recognized leader, and as he seeks another four-year term on the D.C. Council, a small army of challengers is painting him as a relic of the past, a man whose time has come and gone. Three have been advisory neighborhood commissioners; some could be his grandchildren. Eager to enter a new era, each envisions a Ward 8 with less crime, better schools and a leader not named Barry.

But the former mayor is predicting a landslide victory, saying he relishes the competition because it "makes everybody sharper." A frequent critic of the current mayor, Barry sought to keep poverty at the forefront, gathering 200 business and community leaders for a summit and pressing for more funding for housing and health care and battling homelessness.

Nearly all people Barry met during a recent 24-hour period pledged their support, and some wondered why he bothered campaigning. But one shopper at Giant Food, where he was shaking hands and registering voters, set aside her metal cart and laid into Barry about past crack cocaine use, tax problems and not living by God's law. " Marionbarry," she said, "why you always up in some mess?"

Unphased, Barry asked where she lived and traded Bible scriptures until campaign aide, former council member Sandy Allen, rushed over. The woman, who turned out to be Allen's cousin, smiled at Barry and said, "You know we love you."

Barry has been through enough to know that a vote is a vote, tough love and all.

"Politics ain't tiddlywinks," he said, moving on to shake the next hand.

Ward 8 is east of the Anacostia River and has long been known for all the wrong things: high crime, poor schools and unemployment. It was the site of two of the city's worst incidents in the past year: the shooting of a 14-year-old by an off-duty police officer and the deaths of the four Jacks sisters, allegedly at the hands of their mother.

Part of the problem is that leaders such as Barry have told residents what they wanted to hear, said Barry rival Darrell Gaston. At 22, Gaston preaches personal responsibility and argues that Barry might have given some residents their first internships but that he wants to give them careers.

"Our problem is we put too much faith in other people to help us," Gaston said. "We can't keep blaming other people for our mistakes. You can't sit around waiting for people to knock on your door to take the first step."

His comments came during a forum sponsored by the Fair Budget Coalition, which advocates on behalf of the poor. All seven candidates attended, including Gaston and Yavocka Young, both of whom were booted from the Democratic primary because they lacked enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions. Both, however, have filed to run as independents in November.