Grace and Grease

Dear Readers,

A cheering, exultant crowd of Porter S’porters filled the city council chambers Monday night to witness her swearing-in. The overflow number stood in the adjacent lobby straining to hear the mayor’s victory speech. Afterwards, traffic was forced to a halt as the celebratory mob left the building, burning an effigy representing Sustainable Takoma in the middle of Maple Avenue.

Er, no.

That’s not what happened. In truth, a surprisingly small crowd turned up for the swearing-in of Mayor Porter and the slightly new council. Three of the council members didn’t even show up- they were traveling, it was said.

The campaign fight echoed faintly through the speeches, though it was muted with conciliatory and inclusive statements - particularly from the mayor. The most chastening comment came from veteran council member Marc Elrich, whose support for the mayor surprised some observers (but, one speculated here on GranolaPark that this was a trade for mayoral support when Elrich runs again for county council).

A sedate scattering of about 20 people turned out for the event. Only three citizens took the opportunity to make comments. Catherine Tunis, a Grimes supporter, graciously congratulated everyone in sight. Pat Loveless, the tall, blind, handicapped peace activist from Ward 4 who is often seen perched in the audience with an American flag adorning his white cane, stood up and in good-ol’ Revolutionary Takoma Park fashion, called on the new council to focus on peace, social justice, and human needs.

When Heather Mizeur approached the microphone, there was a stir of anticipation on the council. Heather, having resigned her council seat when she moved to a different ward, would have been marking the end of her first term this night. She was not rising to reflect on this, or to contribute to the evening’s congratulathon, however. She was merely delivering a message from US Representative Chris Van Hollen, reminding everyone present that he was hosting a town meeting at the nearby middle school the same evening and time.

This was a graceless moment for her, especially since she did not use the expected political platitudes to lubricate the harsh insertion of her off-topic (and conflicting) announcement. Perhaps I am uncharitable to suspect her intent was to demonstrate to the city voters her association with Big Dog Chris Van Hollen just as she is preparing to run for higher office, herself. If so, she has to learn tp use more grace and grease.

The mayor and council demonstrated the lavish use of the 2 G’s as they said farewell to Mizeur’s appointed replacement Marie Ritzo. No superlative was left unturned as her efforts and the council’s support of her were praised by all parties concerned. A number of people urged her to run for the office in the future, overlooking the fact that the trend in Takoma Park is for council members to stay in office for many, many terms (unless they decide to try for higher office, of course), and Marie’s elected replacement, Colleen Clay, appears to be one of the younger council members with potentially many terms in her future.

The mayor pronounced the old council over and done (with what may have been a small glint of satisfaction). She was promptly sworn in.

The actual swearing-in ceremony is somewhat curious. Each elected person has to swear to protect the US Constitution and, among other things, “allegiance to Maryland,” whatever that means. Foreswearing all other states? The occasional night-raid on Delaware?

Freshly resworn in, Her Honor made a speech thanking the many people who worked on the campaign - more, she said, than were involved in any previous campaign. An interesting piece of information, conjuring images of The Porter Machine working the phones, calling in favors, dealmaking, and backslapping late at night in a smoke-filled room - actually, in Takoma Park, it would be an aroma-therapy-filled room.

One got a glimmer of how she achieved her impressive 60% win. She called in all the faithful and put them to work. Who are these faithful and where were they for the inauguration?

She thanked the voters, saying that going door to door, talking to people, and hearing their concerns was valuable. She even intimated it was transformative. She said to those citizens “I hear you”, and she pledged that she’ll make their concerns part of her priorities. She didn’t say what those concerns were, however, or whether they pushed her in any new directions. Her list of priorities that followed didn’t indicate much new, except perhaps her statement that she plans to be more proactive in development issues.

Her priorities list is:

• Finish the community center with a gym.

• Take a pro-active role in development. Hold a charette-type forum on city development. Shape development so it serves the community. Hold talks with the Washington Adventist Hospital about potential uses for the site if the hospital relocates. Work with Joy Austin-Lane on Metro development. Focus on the economic development of NH Ave (one of Seth’s big campaign promises).

• Oversee taxes/services, review TASDI recommendations. Take a more political approach rather than rely on persuasion.

She finished on a conciliatory note, urging all voters to remember that we are neighbors, that we agree on more areas than we disagree, and we should work on the areas of agreement. This is very much Kathy’s style, I think, in dealing with most of the issues, voters, and politicians she encounters. It looks like a successful technique.

Council member Seamens, who had supported Porter’s opponent, was nevertheless gracious in his congratulations. He kept his remarks short, but he did say he would be introducing legislative initiatives in the next few weeks, including a proposal to upgrade the recreation committee to a statutory body. Did I perceive an “uh, oh!” look on Kathy’s face?

Next to speechify was new council member Colleen Clay. She was also gracious, thanking her opponent for running and her family - apologizing to her children for not having much time for them lately. They happily ignored her, being too busy squealing and romping on the floor.

Clay, who late in the campaign allied with Seth, avoided bringing up any campaign issues or differences between herself and the mayor. She said her priority is to hold a series of four forums on: economic development, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and traffic and public safety.

Curiously, she did not include city taxes, services, or rebates on her list.

Mark Elrich, a vociferous Porter S’porter, made the most obvious reference to campaign issues. He also made the most modest proposal for his next term - to slow down traffic on Sligo Creek Parkway, and make the Sligo Creek Park more accessible to his constituents. These are the big issues on the minds of Ward 5 residents, he explained with a shrug.

He said he will also hold the line on the city’s rent stabilization and affordable housing. He also pledged to build a gym within 2 years.

Addressing those who would consider curtailing city services in order to bring down taxes, he came down strongly in support of city services. The services people want should set the tax rate, not the other way around, he said. This was a swipe at Grimes’ campaign. though Grimes denied that he would have cut services.

Elrich ended on a pessimistic note, saying he sees precious little good in development. Just because development brings benefit to the developers doesn’t mean it is a good thing for the people of the city, he said.

Now, that’s the attitude I want to hear!

The meeting adjourned in time to rush over to the Chris Van Hollen meeting

- Gilbert.