Photo by LopezJuanDiego.
GM doesn’t normally do a lot of endorsements for elections. Typically, the elections around here are either uncontested or lopsided. And for the most part, Georgetowners will find most of the ballot that way this year too.
But not all of it.
There is one genuinely competitive race that Georgetowners will be able to vote in next week (or right now, if you want to vote early): the at large slots.
It’s virtually guaranteed that Vincent Orange will win the Democratic slot. GM wishes this weren’t the case, but it is. Who will win the second slot (which must go to a non-Democrat) is hard to predict. It will likely come down to a race between Michael A. Brown and David Grosso.
GM expected very little of Brown before he was elected. He failed multiple times to win an election as the Democrat that he is, so he “switched” to independent in order to win the less competitive second slot. (He still goes on TV billed as a “Democratic Strategist”).
His record on the council is probably slightly better than GM expected. He has made a priority of pushing for affordable housing in a city become increasingly unaffordable to the middle class. But between trying to sneak through online gambling with no debate, proposing retrograde ideas for transportation, and running a campaign that is at best incompetent, and at worst criminal, Brown has been unimpressive.
Oh, and don’t forget the fact that his drivers license was suspended five times over the past eight years.
David Grosso is a former staffer for the former Ward 6 councilmember Sharon Ambrose. He recognizes that the biggest challenge facing the council right now is a crisis of confidence and an encrusted culture of corruption that has already sent a councilmember and the chair to jail this year, and which might take down our mayor next. Grosso understands the vital importance of ethics and transparency.
So vote for David Grosso for At Large Councilmember.
GM recommends you spend your second vote on whomever you like (except Brown). Leon Swain is a particularly attractive candidate. When he was the head of the DC Taxicab Commission, he was approached with a bribe. Instead of taking it–or even just ignoring it–he went to the FBI and agreed to wear a wire. He was later unceremoniously fired by Vincent Gray when Gray became mayor. He is worthy of your second vote.
