Missteps in Crash’s Aftermath Dull Fenty’s Luster

With shouts of “Praise the Lord!” more than 1,000 worshipers flooded a Baptist church in the District on Tuesday to honor Dennis Hawkins, one of nine people killed in the Red Line train crash last month. But when Pastor A. Michael Black introduced the next speaker listed in the program — someone from “Executive Office of the Mayor” — a worried hush swept over the sanctuary.

No one came forward.

A day later, a sort of instant replay occurred at the funeral for crash victim Veronica DuBose when the minister’s call for an aide to D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to speak was again met with no reply. The aide had apparently left the church.

In the days that followed, the mayor and his staff were noticeably absent from a string of memorials, funerals and wakes. Seven of the nine people who died were D.C. residents. Fenty showed up at services for train operator Jeanice McMillan, but he was an hour late and was wearing a light-colored summer suit that some said was inappropriate.

Welcome to the party.  What took you so long?

According to The Washington Post more than 500 people gathered yesterday to mourn the loss of Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr. and his wife Ann in last Monday’s Metro crash.  The room was packed with politicians as well according to City Paper’s Loose Lips Daily including Eleanor Holmes Norton, Phil Mendelson, Tommy Wells, Harry Thomas Jr., Mary Cheh, and Bill Hall.

But where pray tell was Mayor Fenty?

In every single news report on the memorial service there isn’t a single quote or mention of the mayor in attendence.

I get the feeling our beloved mayor is more than happy to take front row center when the national media is watching, but decidely less than excited when it comes to low key events.

P.S. The mayor has no public events scheduled for today.  Road trip?

“In politics, strangely enough, the best way to play your cards is to lay them face upwards on the table.”

H.G. Wells

I’m not a big fan of conspiracy theories.  Most of them are total crap. But when a politician is dragged reluctantly into preserving records for future scrutiny by concerned citizens, the press, and of course political enemies then you have to at least be concerned.

Case in point: Fenty administration routinely destroyed government e-mails

In late 2007, Mayor Adrian Fenty tried to give himself the authority to destroy electronic records every eight weeks. After hearing months of outrage from government watchdog groups and facing emergency legislation that would have forbidden the practice, Fenty announced that he was withdrawing the proposal early last year.

But the administration was destroying the records every two months until at least May 2008, Office of the Chief Technology Officer program officer Robert Mancini said in a recent affidavit obtained by The Examiner.

“Because there is no retention schedule for e-mails for the District of Columbia government and because of cost and storage considerations, it was the general practice of OCTO to retain backup tapes [of e-mails] for [a] period of 8 weeks, after which the tapes were recycled and copied over,” Mancini wrote in the June 15 affidavit.

Did you catch that political B.S.?  “because of cost and storage considerations” we got rid of the stuff after 8 weeks.

Are we really to believe that the city government actually took into consideration cost?  This from the same government who has routinely screwed program budget after program budget by spending without concern for costs.

The Examiner continues:

After The Examiner began asking questions about his affidavit, Mancini issued a statement, which he said he hoped would clear up the “confusion [that] has ensued relative to the e-mail data backup practices” of his agency. The practice of routinely erasing e-mail tapes, he said, ended in May 2008.

That’s good timing: The following month, the D.C. Council passed a law forbidding the government to destroy e-mails until Fenty came up with some kind of preservation policy. The law gave Fenty 60 days to draw up the rules. He still hasn’t submitted the rules.

So the council gave the mayor 60 days to come up with a policy and now a full year later the policy hasn’t been submitted.

It’s pretty simple, Mr. Mayor.  If you have nothing to hide then let the people know how those documents are being preserved.  Otherwise the people have no choice than to believe you don’t want them seeing what you are really up to.

Perception is reality–especially in politics.

How much is a life worth?  I’m not talking about money here.  I’m talking about in time.

Let’s say you are the mayor of a major metropolitan area that has tragically lost an employee.  Is 2 hours too much to ask for you to properly pay your respects?

Apparently for some (see photo to the left) it is.

The Washington Post reports:

Train operator Jeanice McMillan was eulogized as a hero today at an emotional two-hour service at her church in Southeast Washington.

——-

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who arrived more than an hour into the service, said in his remarks that the city “lost a fantastic public servant. Her title was conductor, but as this service has shown us, she was really a leader. That is how she will be remembered.”

I know, I know.  Important government business and all that.

To me, this is just one more screw up to add to the Fenty Files list for this week.

On this morning’s “Connecting with the Mayor”, the question arose about the incorrect body count Fenty stated at a Tuesday presser.

You can almost hear the skin smacking from whoever is responsible for advising the mayor how to act in a crisis situation as they facepalm themselves over and over.

Here’s a little tip, Adrian:  Now is NOT the time to be an arrogant asshole who can’t admit mistakes.  You’re trying to play a role (that clearly is foreign to you) of the decision making leader.  What that brain in that veiny bald head of yours fails to grasp is that the best leaders have a great sense of humility.

A classy, humble, and true leader would have said something more like this:

“There was a miscommunication between myself and those conducting the investigation.  We are all striving to provide the press and the public with the most timely and accurate information possible.  However, from time to time in a complex situation such as this, communication lines can get crossed and inaccurate information was relayed to the public and for that I apologize.”

Case closed.  You never have to answer the question again and you come out of it not really admitting fault for anything as well as appearing classy and humble.

Much to learn you still have, my young padawan.