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Former Mayor Sharon Pratt shines light on Gray's past

As much as he has tried, incumbent mayoral candidate Adrian Fenty has not been able to gain much traction when he brings up his opponent Vincent Gray’s performance in the Sharon Pratt administration. 

The jeers from the audience frequently drown out Fenty’s allegations that Gray led his agency into further collapse.  What is the "real" story?

Former D.C. mayor Pratt sent a letter to the Dish in which she lists Gray’s achievements, including closing Forest Haven and Cedar Knoll (under court order) and establishing a “totally community-based system for persons with developmental disabilities.”
 
Read Pratt’s letter:

September 2010
 
To the Editor:
 
Now that Vince Gray is leading in the polls for the District's top job, I am getting lots of queries regarding what it was like to work with him?  What was his record at DHS?  What kind of mayor do I think he might make?
 
My Transition Team, chaired by Vernon Jordan, did a great job of identifying exceptional talent. I chose Vince to lead the Department of Human Services (DHS) because I knew he possessed the talent and commitment to both  trim the agency and tackle its many long-standing  challenges.   No one could “out work or out think” Vince Gray.
 
Vince and his team can take credit for many improvements, including:
 

1. Closed Forest Haven in 1991. This initiative established the District as one of the only two states with a totally community-based system for persons with developmental disabilities.

2. Closed Cedar Knoll in 1993 (the court-ordered mandate to shut down the facility had been in place at least five years before Vince came on board).

3. Created the Commission of Health Care Finance (CHCF) in 1992, resulting in numerous improvements, including a Managed Health Care program for Medicaid recipients.

4. Improved foster care system under the Family Services Administration (FSA). FSA addressed the shortage of certified social workers and the District’s inability to track youth in foster care with an automated tracking system.

5. Addressed HIV/AIDS epidemic by distributing condoms in prisons and schools and dispensing disposable needles;  established  the first comprehensive medical center for District residents with HIV/AIDS  in Ward 1.

6. Reduced the infant mortality rate by implementing the Healthy Start Infant Mortality Project in 1992 resulting in the city’s lowest  rate in a decade.

7. Established the Mayor’s Task Force on Health Care Reform in November 1993, with the prescient mission of reviewing and analyzing the  impact of national health care reform on  residents.

 
Vince would be the first to say that he was supported by an outstanding team of committed individuals, including Drs. Mohammad Akhter and  Georges Benjamin, both of whom later served as executive director of the American Public Health Association; and former DHS official Clarice Dibble Walker, Professor Emeritus, Howard University, who continues to contribute to the challenges of foster care  serving as a member of the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care.  Vince and his team did a remarkable job of addressing entrenched and difficult issues, many of which pre-dated Home Rule.
 
When I think of Vince, I am reminded of  Hubert Humphrey’s observation that the moral test of government is determined by “how that government treats those in the dawn of life; those who are in the twilight of life; and those who are in the shadows of life.”
 
Sharon Pratt

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Early voting strong over Labor Day holiday

As of 7:00pm September 6, more than 9,000 voters have cast early ballots in the D.C. primaries.
 
Here are the numbers provided by the D.C. Office of Elections and Ethics that emphasizes these are “estimates of the number of voters who have visited each early voting center, based on the take-a-number system being used at each early voting center. These numbers include everyone who has taken a number at the door of an early voting location, even if they did not cast a ballot.”

More than 9,000 voters have been served at one of the following location:

• 2,175 at Chevy Chase Community Center
• 1,526 at Hine Junior High School
• 1,363 at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center
• 684 at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Cente
• 3,674 at One Judiciary Square

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Serendipity faces challenge from ANC, OGB

Serendipity, the New York chain concept set to open where Nathan's once stood at Wisconsin and M Street, hit a snag Thursday when the Old Georgetown Board, a committee of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, had questions about proposed awnings for the historic building.

Serendipity owner Britt Swan, who also owns Sign of the Whale and Rhino Bar & Pump House and hopes to open the new restaurant within weeks, was encouraged by a 6-0 vote by ANC 2E Monday which supported the "concept" of the awnings modeled after those that adorned the building for many years.

But the ANC resolution, as conveyed by Commissioner Tom Birch, was apparently not the slam-dunk for Serendipity that the restaurateurs thought.  "ANC 2E appreciates the concept of the awnings," the resolution said.  "ANC 2E does want OGB to take a look at the awnings on the smaller windows to ensure that it does not mask historic fabric.  ANC 2E has no objection to the awnings over the doors."

"When we went out doing our survey, we recorded what's already in the neighborhood. There are numerous examples of the same design, which was on the building for 40 years," Swan told The Georgetown Dish. "We didn't introduce anything that should have caused any surprises."

ANC2E Chairman Ron Lewis rescued himself from the matter as his wife Anne Lewis, an architect, sits on the Old Georgetown Board.

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Phillips closed after morning fire

Although the fire was rapidly extinguished, the Phillips Collection, America's first museum of modern art near Dupont Circle, has closed its doors and canceled this evenings programs.  Spokeswoman Cecilia Wagner said,  “All artwork is safe and secure. Museum conservators are currently evaluating the artwork, but nothing has incurred significant damage.”

The museum is closed until further notice.

The Post reports:  "Fire alarms went off at the building, located at 1600 21st Street NW, around 8:30 a.m. according to D.C. Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer. A small fire broke out on the roof and in the ceiling of the top floor of the four-story building, Piringer said."

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