BLOG CALL: LET'S RAISE $1,000 FOR CHARLES WILSON!!!

This just came in over the wire from Congress Heights On The Rise. To read the original post click HERE.

Asking/Begging/Pleading for all of our The Barry Stops Here! readers to support this young man and donate and donate quickly.

In order to be rid of Marion Barry once and for all we are going to have to support this young man. He has been doing very well but he needs more support.

From the Congress Heights on the Rise post:

With the primary only 11 days away we are teetering on the cusp of a NEW day for Ward 8. In order to do that we need to rally as a community behind one candidate...our BEST candidate, CHARLES WILSON.CHARLES WILSON (http://www.wesetthetone.com/) needs YOU.

He needs your financial support and your time! Volunteers of all ages are needed at the voting polls on Tuesday, Sept 9th. I am reaching out to ALL my wonderful readers and I am imploring my brother and sister blogs to please get involved and encourage their readers to donate to the Charles Wilson campaign ASAP. Let's raise AT LEAST a $1,000 this week! A donation of even $25 will go a LONG way in driving the campaign! There is $500 donation max PER person. Please dig deep and give what you can spare. This is for the good of the ENTIRE ward. Please make your donation ASAP - time is running out! We can not afford another 4 years with Marion Barry!

The campaign could also use business support. If you work for or own a printing company, a catering company, a transportation company, etc you could provide a VALUABLE service. Please contact the Charles Wilson campaign at ward8forcharleswilson@gmail.com

WE CAN DO IT WARD 8!!! WE SET THE TONE!!!

The Barry Accomplices - For Shame!!!!

From Loose Lips of the Washington City Paper. Click HERE for the original article.

What exactly is Marion Barry doing for you?

WARD 8
Marion BarryIn: $87,850 ($196,395 total); Out: $119,269 ($194,192 total); Debts/Loans: $0; Cash on Hand: $2,203

The Skinny: A Marion Barry council campaign, if nothing else, is an opportunity to give back for all those opportunities given in the past. Consider the many thousands donated by concerns that got very rich during the Barry mayoralties: for example, the accounting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates, or Chartered Health Plan, both associated with Barry acolyte Jeffrey Thompson and both benefiting from millions in city contracts. Or take R. Donahue Peebles, who’s become a millionaire many times over as a hotel developer thanks to Barry. Now based in Florida, he donated $2,000 though various Florida-based business concerns. Some other fun names: Former Ward 1 Councilmember Frank Smith ($100), PR consultant and former Barry aide Raymone Bain ($500), schools construction czar Allen Y. Lew ($200), lobbyist and council candidate Michael A. Brown ($100), and megalawyer Donald Temple ($250).

Who’s benefitting from all this largesse? Paid consultants Hakim Sutton, Sandy Allen, Joe Ruffin, and Andre Johnson, as well as a favored cause of the Barry campaign: the Marion Barry Scholarship Fund, which won a contribution of $5,000. (Notably absent from the list: son Christopher Barry, who had been paid last reporting period and has been listed as treasurer on campaign materials.)

Washington City Paper - Loose Lips

Barry to LL: You’re Still Banned
Posted by Mike DeBonis on Aug. 26, 2008, at 11:44 am

DENVER—This morning, LL grabbed Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry outside the elevators here at the Crowne Plaza. He saw an opportunity for détente on his longstanding ban from the mayor-for-life.
Things started out auspiciously with Barry extending his hand to LL, but turns out Barry didn’t recognize him: “Who you with?” he asked. LL pressed Barry, arguing that perhaps outside of the District of Columbia, the ban might be relaxed.
“Nope,” he said. “Same rules.”

EIGHT FOR WARD 8 DEMOCRATIC COUNCIL CANDIDATES SELF PROMOTE AT ANC SPONSORED FORUM

Just spotted this in the August edition of the "East Of The River" magazine. Excellent article - so on point with the lack of follow up and follow through that is Marion Barry. This council forum was in July. One correction - my understanding is that Ahmad Braxton Jones is still in the race.

To link to the original article click HERE.

Eight for Ward 8Democratic Council Candidates Self-Promote at ANC-Sponsored Forum
by David Garber

It wasn’t long ago that Marion Barry was on top of his game. Always cracking a smile at eager constituents, always ready to kiss a cheek and tip a hat – to the right people, of course. But when he didn’t show up at the forum of candidates for the Ward 8 DC Council seat, not even the presence of his bright-green t-shirt fan club could do much to stir the crowd. This was a forum of candidates willing to take time out of their hectic schedules to verse the public on where they stand on important issues such as development in Ward 8, fixing the city’s school system, and the problem of unemployment. Although many were hoping that the aging incumbent would show up to express his views on these and other pressing matters that rarely see political action, five out of the eight vying for the seat did their best to impress on voters why they were the best fit for the job.
Impressive in his black business suit and with a fresh-out-of-political-science-class motivation to remake Ward 8 into an equal opportunity area, Darrell Gaston began the evening by admitting, “I have no experience.” Interestingly, Gaston has since dropped out of the race.
Charles Wilson, current president of the Historic Anacostia Block Association, whose dynamic red and black signs have blazed across the Ward 8 landscape in recent months, set the tone by suggesting that “the improvements and enhancements that we want for our ward start with us.”
Independent Democratic candidate Yavocka Young, current president of Main Street Anacostia, focused on job creation, citing recent statistics that show Ward 8 struggling with over 10 percent more unemployment than the rest of the city.
Also in attendance was Ahmad Braxton-Jones, who has since withdrawn from the race, and Sandra “S.S.” Seegars, the long-time “also ran” who showed up late for the forum and focused on bringing public restrooms to Ward 8’s main streets."

Chris Rock on Marion Barry

'Nuf Said!

Barry's still "mum" on debate challenge

VS.

Still no word from Barry or his camp to Charles Wilson's challenge to the councilman to debate him on the state of the ward.

Perhaps MB's new slogan should be "Always fighting (but not debating) for the people".

What do you have to hide Marion?

TWO WEEKS TO GO!

Just TWO MORE WEEKS until Ward 8 residents go out to the polls and either "warm up" another serving of this...

or elect some REAL change with REAL direction.

Color between the lines

Found this on the Washington City Paper website.

If only this could be 2008.

Today's Washington Post: Barry's Challenger's in Ward 8 Eager To Take The Community Into A New Era

To view the entire article click HERE.

Excerpt:

By Robert E. Pierre

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, August 25, 2008; Page B01

"People constantly stop Marion Barry to ask whether he remembers giving them a job, visiting their home, making a call on their behalf, helping them get food stamps or keep their child in school. Graying men, fresh-faced boys and young girls flock to shake his hand.
A caricature and embarrassment to some, Barry remains a living legend in Ward 8, where he is running for reelection to the D.C. Council. At 72, Barry's campaign slogan is "Always fighting for the people," a nod to his populist appeal and willingness to mix it up.
Love him or hate him, Barry is the District's most recognized leader, and as he seeks another four-year term on the D.C. Council, a small army of challengers is painting him as a relic of the past, a man whose time has come and gone. Three have been advisory neighborhood commissioners; some could be his grandchildren. Eager to enter a new era, each envisions a Ward 8 with less crime, better schools and a leader not named Barry. "

Good mention on Charles Wilson:

Another challenger, Charles Wilson, 32, moved to Ward 8 three years ago, settling in historic Anacostia. He is the co-founder of the Historic Anacostia Block Association, which draws new and old residents to monthly meetings to socialize, get updates on crime and hash out major issues. Wilson counts as his, and the organization's, biggest accomplishment bringing nearly $1 million in city grants to fix porches, repair roofs and spruce up 53 historic homes in his neighborhood. It was a little-used program that Wilson rallied neighbors to utilize.
In the midst of the election campaign, hammers are flying and concrete is being poured, spicing up homes that needed a touch-up. Not bad for candidate Wilson.
But incumbency has its privileges.
When a city agency tried to tax the grants of up to $35,000 to homeowners, Barry got a bill passed to stop it. And even without such help, Wilson said, residents remain emotionally attached to Barry. "People are afraid to let go," Wilson said. "But the ward is bigger than one person. Ward 8 needs youthful, bright and energetic young leadership to bring us together."