Posts tagged ‘mayor adrian fenty’

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?

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.

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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.

Apparently our smart car driving, swimming pool loving, baseball ticket hogging mayor can add another complaint to the growing list against him.

He doesn’t know when to shut his beak.

In this morning’s Washington Post, Nikita Stewart writes an interesting piece detailing the mayor’s insistence on being the face of leadership during a crisis.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has long been criticized for seeking the spotlight, but his performance during the past two days rubbed already raw nerves, causing friction between Metro and city officials.

His penchant for control was also blamed for inaccurate information he gave at a news conference yesterday, when he said seven people had died in the crash, even though Metro and public safety officials had confirmed nine deaths.

“The spirit of cooperation is not what we would like it to be,” Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said.

So what’s the deal?

Maybe Fenty has no faith in the people working in various sectors of D.C. government.  Let’s be honest, the government is filled with incompetent boobs.

Or, this is just another fine example of playing the political game at the expense of providing accurate information and true leadership to resolve a crisis.

I’m going with the latter.