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Adrian Fenty is a man who believes in getting things done. Period. One need look no further than the laundry list of development projects he boasts at campaign events, and his desire to be at the forefront of each of his ribbon cutting ceremonies, to see him hell-bent on demonstrating his achievements.

The first-term mayor brought the city together to win the 2006 election. He swept each of the 142 precincts in the primaries by personally approaching residents in all eight wards, and creating a sense of unity behind a banner of change in economic development, healthcare and public safety. After entering office, he tore down the dividing walls of his Wilson Building office to create an open bullpen for his staff to work together.

But “Fenty the Unifier” soon gave way to “Fenty the Chief Executive,” reeling in power spread throughout the city–particularly in education and economic development–under the command of the Office of the Mayor.

This apparently explains why this year’s mayoral primary will be hotly contested. Many constituents are concerned about Fenty’s arrogance – causing him to adopt a more conciliatory and self-effacing attitude in these last few weeks of the campaign.

With Vince Gray promoting a long-term vision for the District with a significantly more thoughtful and inclusive approach to the main issues of the day, residents of the DC will ask themselves at the ballot box: how do you want to see change in your city?

On Background
A native Washingtonian, the professional background of Adrian Fenty, 39, is steeped in politics – after graduating from Oberlin and Howard Law School, he was staff member for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Mass.), and former Council member Kevin Chavous (Ward-7) before winning a seat on the Council himself in 2000 representing Ward 4. He was reelected to the position in 2004 before successfully running for mayor in 2006.

Vincent Gray, born in the District 28 years before his main opponent, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from George Washington University. He began his career working in local social service non profits, such as the DC Association for Retarded Citizens and Covenant House Washington as the founding executive director. He was first elected to the Council as the Ward 7 representative in 2004. Two years later he successfully ran for chairman.

Raise the Roof
Much of the meat of Fenty’s campaign, both in public forums and through his campaign materials, has focused on expanding the control of central government, specifically development projects he has pushed through during his four-year tenure as mayor.

He cites the completion of many of these projects as a direct result of his closing the semi-governmental development organizations like the National Capital Renovation Corporation and the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation that were in control of the projects.

Fenty does not believe these, like many other smaller projects throughout the city, were operating efficiently and so he instead transferred their authority to his administration under the city’s Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

“Mayor Fenty has a proven track record of delivering results as the executive,” said campaign spokesman Sean Magidan. Fenty’s campaign staff was not able to schedule a time for the mayor to speak with The Capital Community News directly. “We have pushed this city much farther than anybody has ever pushed it before in three and a half years.”

Within just the southwest waterfront district, Madigan points to completed projects like the Diamond Teague park, where water-taxis ferry in and out from the area around the new Nationals baseball stadium; the completion of the Yards Park; the near completion of the Arena Stage renovations and the groundbreaking for Canal Park.

“Columbia Heights is probably the best example of what became of NCRCs projects,” Madigan added, explaining how the complex was completed under the Fenty administration. “There are, something to the tune of in the last 10 years, now a billion dollars invested in Columbia Heights.”

Madigan cited the Columbia Heights DC USA shopping center as “the last piece of the puzzle” for that project, which he said put “a thousand people at work, at Target and Best Buy and some of the other stores there because of that project.”

However, Gray supported the existence of the NCRC and AWC and believes that the mayor’s recent development projects may not have benefitted the city as much as they could have.

“There have been projects, there have been initiatives, but what is the strategy?” Gray inquired. In the economic development plan Gray posted on his campaign website, he lays out an eight-step plan for economic development, including restructuring the Office of the DMPED into two separate roles, one to manage real estate development and another devoted to area businesses.

“There really needs to be a component that focuses on business development, especially small businesses in the city,” he told The Capital Community News, “because they really have not gotten the focused attention that they deserve.”

Gray also cites the importance of reforming the Department of Employment Services to make it a “leader in adult training, especially when you look at the level of unemployment in the city at this stage, especially east of the [Anacostia] river.” 

Schoolhouse Rock
Gray has pushed for a “birth through 24” education plan with a particular focus on a universal pre-kindergarten program available to all DC children, a greater “parity” of funding and resources between charter and public schools and continuing to develop undergraduate institutions.

Gray also suggests the potential for co-mingling the public and charter school systems into one building in some instances.

“It would save everybody money, it would be an opportunity for them to share best practices, and to improve the collaboration between the two approaches to governing,” he said.

Gray calls for the expansion of the DC community college, which currently has more than 2,000 students in twelve locations by the end of the next school year, and making UDC a “flagship,” “first class university.”

While he has not committed to keeping Michelle Rhee as schools chancellor under his administration, Gray will maintain this “new governance approach,” which he voted in the City Council, and help it “continue to evolve.”

“It’s not just about a chancellor,” he said, “it’s about a new role for the Board of Education.”

Fenty, on the other hand, has based his education platform around his unwaivering support for Chancellor Rhee, who he said “makes touch decisions: she closes schools, she holds people accountable. We’ve been waiting 30 years for someone to do that in DC.”

Rhee has fired hundreds of teachers, including 165 earlier this summer, for “having poor appraisals” under a new evaluation system she established.

The mayor also cites particular schools programs the chancellor has put into place, such as the arts integration program at Ludlow Taylor Elementary, the world cultures catalyst program at Payne Elementary and significant renovations to schools throughout the District, like the $90 million projected upgrades to Anacostia High School.

“The mayor supports the chancellor 100%,” Fenty’s spokesman Madigan said. “She is at the very vanguard of school reform.”

“She is hands down a national leader in fixing America’s urban schools, and the mayor has supported her without wavering on any of her tough calls,” he added.

Mo’ money
Fenty has maintained the campaign promise he made four years ago to not raise taxes during his first term. However, facing significant budget shortfalls and a nationwide recession, he has signaled recently that he is open to shifting that approach.

“It’s OK to consider raising taxes,” Fenty said at a recent mayoral forum in Ward 6.

“His approach is that the District of Columbia forever has had an efficiency issue,” spokesman Madigan said of Fenty. “We have to continue to keep spending within our means and raising taxes is a last resort for him.”

“At the same time, we can’t allow service delivery to fall through the floor,” he said.

The mayor also defends the “tough decisions” he has had to make during his tenure by firing more than 2,000 city employees, which he acknowledges makes people angry, “but it’s the right thing to do.”

“We can’t go back to the days when we overspent on budget, when politicians wouldn’t make touch decisions and the federal government…thought they needed to take over the city,” he added.

Fenty has approached the cost-overruns in many of the city agencies under his purview by shifting monies to where he believes they will be better used; last spring he pushed to divert the funds raised from the recently implemented bag tax – slated to go to Anacostia River cleanup efforts -- towards paying for municipal street sweeping, which he argued would help protect the river.

“I think the first thing we have to do is convince people we’ve reduced expenditures down to what is absolutely necessary,” said Chairman Gray of the possibility of raising taxes under a larger umbrella plan for the city. “People are going to be more supportive of…increased taxes if they feel like there are no other options toward being able to retain certain important services.”

Gray pointed out the gasoline, cigarette and sales tax increases the City Council passed last summer after making the case that they had “squeezed a lot of reductions, first.”

The chairman has also publicly criticized the Fenty administration for raising “every fee and fine in sight,” specifically referencing increased parking meter fees that affect local businesses and force drivers to keep “nine rolls of quarters” in their pockets.