jonetta rose barras: Choosing sides and coalescing in DC politics

Politically progressive activists and advocates were among the first to choose sides in a few of this year’s DC Council races. Even before anyone has officially qualified for the ballot, several organizations have announced endorsements. Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund and DC Working Families, for example, have backed Jordan Grossman in Ward 2.

Now, some business leaders in Ward 2, including former at-large Council member David Catania and lawyer/lobbyist David Julyan, seem to be launching a similar maneuver that could serve as a counterbalance in that contest. They have planned a major fundraiser on Monday, March 2, for Patrick Kennedy, one of eight Democrats running for the council seat; John Fanning, Daniel Hernandez, Brooke Pinto, Kishan Putta, Yilin Zhang, Jack Evans and Grosssman are the others vying for the Democratic nomination in the June 2 primary. 

The Ward 2 race is part of progressives’ obvious machine-building agenda. Over the past several years, they have united, flexing their muscles with the intention of gaining control of the legislature. Moderates, particularly business leaders, have been pushing back, endorsing candidates in the last two elections that they believed might be more favorable to them.

I have written multiple times about the need for a politically and ideologically diverse local legislature to represent the city’s more than 700,000 residents. There is a danger, I think, to having individuals who speak primarily from the far-left wing of the Democratic Party controlling the agenda. 

Consequently, I fully appreciate efforts by the business community to ensure their interests and needs are adequately represented by whoever is elected this year. Many people, myself included, did not expect Catania, Julyan and others who had been friends or supporters of Evans to abandon him. He had been the Ward 2 representative for nearly three decades. In fact, Kennedy was co-chair of Evans’ 2016 reelection campaign.

I suppose some might say that’s politics. Others cue the O’Jays: “What they do / They smile in your face / all the time they wanna take your place / the back stabbers.”

Evans resigned from office last month, after a council investigation concluded that he had violated its rules and codes of conduct at least 11 times. His voluntary departure came as his 12 colleagues prepared to expel him from the legislature — an unprecedented move. 

Within weeks of his resignation, Evans circled back, announcing his intent to run in the primary — as well as the June 16 special election to fill the unexpired term for the seat he left vacant when he resigned. (All of the prospective candidates in the primary except Hernandez are hoping to qualify for the special election. Katherine Venice, who is vying for the Republican nomination for the full term, has indicated she also may run in that special election contest.)

Undoubtedly, Evans thought he stood a good chance of winning, especially with a potentially crowded field — why else would he run? His hopes may have been dashed and his base of support decimated by a poll was conducted in January. I have not seen it, but knowledgeable sources told me that Evans had an unfavorable rating as high as 70%, and that his strongest base of support was among African Americans. 

Reached last week at his home office, Evans declined to comment for this column.

According to sources, Catania — who used to work side by side with Evans on the council — decided after the poll results were privately shared with him to publicly announce his support for Kennedy. Julyan, a lobbyist for the Washington Parking Association, jumped on the bandwagon — although Evans had aggressively protected parking-garage and lot owners against multiple attempts over the years to increase taxes on those businesses. In 2015, for example, Mayor Muriel Bowser sought an increase on the parking sales tax from 18% to 22%.

Speaking over the past week with business insiders, I’ve heard repeatedly there is concern that with Evans off the council, there could be a renewed or sustained push to increase taxes. That fear of being unprotected against an imminent assault permeates a Feb. 18 letter written by Julyan — first published on my Twitter account — inviting “employers” to the March 2 fundraiser for Kennedy.

“[Evans] is not going to return to the council and supporting his effort will bring confusion and likely ensure a far-uber progressive will take the seat,” Julyan wrote. He said he has been working with “colleagues in the DC employer community and allies on the council to vet the Ward 2 candidates and identify the one most likely to be open to the concerns of our constituencies.”

Apparently, Kennedy is the guy. 

“We are encouraging folks to coalesce and support [Kennedy]. … The council is at a crossroads and the need for a fiscally responsible councilmember is desperately needed,” continued Julyan. “Without that balance, it is likely that DC employers will be the brunt of, and pay the price for, many expensive, unprecedented and unnecessary costs and intrusions in the workplace.” 

Who are the council allies and who are the business leaders he consulted? Julyan declined to provide me any details when I spoke with him last week. However, he insisted that I was wrong when I wrote on Twitter that Russell “Rusty” Lindner, owner of Colonial Parking and The Forge Co., and Cherrie Doggett, head of Doggett Enterprises, which includes Doggett Parking, were involved behind the scenes. Julyan declined to indicate to whom he sent his correspondence. He also seemed offended that I would stitch him to Lindner, whose name figured into last year’s investigations of Evans’ ethics violations. 

Kennedy told me during an interview that he has “never met Rusty Lindner or Cherrie Doggett.” He said the first time that he heard they might be involved in the March 2 event was “in your tweet.” Kennedy said he has dealt with Julyan only once, a few years ago, when Julyan appeared before the Foggy Bottom/West End advisory neighborhood commission, on which Kennedy sits. “I voted against the proposal he presented,” he said.

Catania was his sole contact in planning the fundraiser, Kennedy said, adding that he “can’t be in control of what people email as an ancillary matter.” When I asked whether he would cancel the event, he said no.

Kennedy said that there was never any “litmus test” and that Catania “never brought up any parking-related matters.” Kennedy said that he believes the business community is supporting him because he is “open-minded and fair.” He added that his campaign also has attracted progressives; that could be partly because he’s participating in the District’s new public financing program, which means no corporate contributions and $50 donation limits for individuals.

“I have a pretty broad tent. I have been focused on running an inclusive campaign,” added Kennedy. 

Some Ward 2 residents — and some of Kennedy’s opponents — don’t believe Evans’ former allies should be under that tent, however. 

“As a Ward 2 voter, I’m very concerned about Kennedy’s judgment and policies, given that he was Jack’s campaign co-chair. Even without the corruption issues, he still signed on for Jack’s politics,” Elyssa Feder tweeted. (It’s worth noting that Feder tweeted last fall that she had joined the Grossman campaign as an organizing director.)

“Upsetting to see him also courting Jack’s donors. We deserve a clean break,” she added.

“It seems pretty clear that the folks behind Jack and his corruption of a long time seem to be picking a candidate,” Grossman told me during an interview last week, adding that “one of the biggest lobbyists in town is throwing him a fundraiser.”

The Ward 2 candidates are slated to square off next week on March 5 during a debate at Foundry United Methodist Church.

While Doggett’s name may not be radioactive in DC politics right now, the mention of Lindner raises serious concerns. Lindner and his company, Colonial Parking, surfaced during the ethics investigation of Evans that was conducted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority when he served as board chairman. According to allegations, Evans sought to block a Colonial Parking competitor from receiving a Metro contract. At the time, Lindner was a client of Evans’ NSE consulting firm. 

Since Evans failed to disclose his relationship with Lindner, among other things, Evans was cited for violating the transit agency’s code of conduct. Kevin Byrd, the lawyer for Forge, has challenged the implication that Lindner or Colonial did anything wrong, arguing as well that they had not been contacted by Metro during its investigation. “As such, its characterizations of the company’s and Mr. Lindner’s intentions relative to the 2015 and 2016 Metro parking solicitations are inaccurate and misleading,” Byrd said in a statement last year following the release of the Metro board’s ethics report.

Understanding that the local and active political class in DC is small and sometimes incestuous, some people have a hard time swallowing Julyan’s denial that Lindner and Doggett are involved. It’s not as if they haven’t worked together before. 

In fact, Julyan and Doggett are longtime friends and business associates. They have sat on nonprofit boards at the same time, and were among a group of Democrats, independents and Republicans calling itself BUD’SPAC, which in 2011 supported Patrick Mara for an at-large council seat in a special election. 

Catania confirmed in an email that his company, Georgetown Public Affairs, “[currently] represents Rusty’s company with public affairs.” 

During the 2018 election, business leaders also sought to create a firewall against progressives by backing S. Kathryn Allen for an at-large council seat. Catania was behind that effort; he was co-chair of her campaign, which was also supported by Lindner, according to previously published reports. Allen’s bid failed when incumbent representative Elissa Silverman successfully challenged the legitimacy of her qualifying petitions; that meant Allen’s name could not appear on the ballot.

It could be that Kennedy didn’t know any of that history. Perhaps, when he embraced Catania, he saw himself as being inclusive, soliciting support from a part of Ward 2 that may feel alienated. It also brings the imprimatur of a former legislator who enjoyed a solid constituency. Kennedy’s naivete or innocence shouldn’t be confused with the intentions of his business backers, however.

Consider Julyan’s instructions to those who received his email and might contribute to Kennedy: “If you do donate on line, let me know so DC employers and their supporters gets ‘credit’ for the donations,” wrote Julyan. “It helps with Patrick’s political education.”

This post has been updated to note Elyssa Feder’s connection to the Jordan Grossman campaign and to clarify Patrick Kennedy’s statement regarding his prior contact with David Julyan. The wording in the first paragraph has also been clarified to omit DC for Democracy and Black Lives Matter DC and to reference only those groups that have made endorsements in the Ward 2 race.

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jonetta rose barras is an author and freelance journalist, covering national and local issues including politics, childhood trauma, public education, economic development and urban public policies. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.