Campaign 2006 Is Here ...

Here's an assortment of political items as we ramp up 2006.

Mayor's Flaps His Coattails

District Mayor Anthony Williams vowed late last year to campaign hard either for or against council members based on how they vote on his prized baseball stadium deal.

The crucial vote won't come until early February. But it looks like Ward 3 Council Member Kathy Patterson -- who's running for council chairman -- is going to pass muster with the mayor and vote for the stadium.

Williams is headlining a $1,500 per person breakfast reception for Patterson's campaign on Jan. 23.

The big bucks event is being held at the Manatt Phelps law firm. The co-host is none other than former D.C. Council member and now lobbyist John Ray. And for whom does Ray lobby? A recent client is Major League Baseball itself.

It must be a busy time at the law firm. The breakfast is scheduled to last only an hour. The Notebook wonders if any of those aspiring baseball team owners will show up.

Kaine's Key West Congrats

New Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine got a lot of warm wishes as he took office this past week. Williams' office put out a press statement that quoted the mayor as personally "looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with (Kaine) on issues of mutual concern" to the two jurisdictions.

Had Kaine wanted to pick up the phone and immediately chat with Williams, he would have had to call a lot farther than Williamsburg to D.C.

Although the mayor's office datelined his message from Washington, the mayor actually was in winter-friendly Key West, Fla., for a long weekend with the National League of Cities.

The Notebook has mentioned this sleight of hand before. If the mayor is not in town, his office should not be sending out press releases as if he were.

Turn Out The Lights

The mayor joked at his last news conference that he didn't want his top staffers to rush for the exits now that he's not running again.

But the mayor lost another top official this past week.

Dan Tangherlini, head of the transportation department, is leaving to become interim head of the aging Metro system.

Tangherlini has overseen a determined remake of the city's streets and transportation system. He properly credits the mayor's initiative and the sharp oversight of D.C. Council Member Carol Schwartz, who chairs the public works committee, for most of the improvements. That's fair and accurate, but Tangherlini deserves a lot himself.

Judy & Marion

Gary Imhoff, who usually has a sharp and dismissive style on political foibles, had a remarkable column item in DCWatch this past week on the trials and tribulations of Marion Barry, or, more accurately, his enabling friends.

"I've been thinking today of Judy Garland," he wrote last week. "Brilliant, radiant, supremely talented. A wreck of a human being, enslaved by drugs and drunkenness and by her own personal demons. ... Insecurity crippled her career.

"Her fans became her apologists and her enablers, turning a blind eye to her fragility and illness, to her deterioration. They never learned, even after she disappointed them time after time, that apologizing for her behavior, ignoring her faults and trying to depend on her, would always break their hearts. They never learned that they were part of her problem ..."

Imhoff said that's the problem. Apologists "never realize the damage they do."

Some folks wrote back this week that attacking drug-troubled people, or abandoning them, doesn't make them better. But radio host and activist Joe Madison has a simpler take on Barry and those who protect him or enable him. Maybe, Madison told The Washington Post, they are "loving him to death."

Drink A Toast To This

But drink water. The city's often maligned water and sewer authority finally has something to cheer about. Residential tap water has met EPA standards for the past 12 months for possible lead and copper contamination.

"We've successfully met the (requirements) and will continue in our commitment to go beyond regulatory requirements," said Jerry Johnson, the WASA general manager.

All very nice, but don't you know that in private he is just whooping for joy after the beating WASA took in The Washington Post series of articles some time back?

Fenty And The Schools

Ward 4 council member and mayoral candidate Adrian Fenty is sure to make a campaign issue of making schools better. Although his exact ideas for repairing worn-out schools has been amended and changed, the council has stepped up its school oversight. And Fenty gets credit for being on top of the issue.

D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp and Ward 3's Patterson both can claim a fair share of the credit themselves. It may turn out that schools won't be such a big campaign issue after all because so many will be on board.