Rice In Ward 3 Race
One of the worst-kept secrets in D.C. politics is finally out: D.C. Department of Transportation spokesperson Bill Rice will be a candidate for the Ward 3 D.C. Council seat. In a April 2 e-mail, Rice indicated he will resign his city post “this week” to begin his campaign. Rice had no further comment; the federal Hatch Act prohibits him from discussing the upcoming contest until he quits his government job.
Rice joins a crowded group of candidates hoping to replace Ward 3 Councilmember Kathy Patterson, who is giving up her safe ward seat to run for council chairman. The field is already crowded: Sam Brooks, Mary Cheh, Erik Gaull, Robert Gordon, Jonathan Rees, and Cathy Wiss have all declared for the Ward 3 seat.
Rice has cemented a position on D.C.'s political gossip circuit. His every-so-often political “Bullpen” has become a popular event for candidates, budding politicos, and other hangers-on. No word yet if the Bullpen will be bequeathed to another gadfly.
In 1998, Rice finished fourth in another crowded field for an at-large council seat. Phil Mendelson won that race and still holds that office.
11:38 am
Please keep your comments contained to the issue at hand: Bill Rice's entry to the Ward 3 race. Feel free to discuss Rice or handicap the race in general. But ad hominem attacks will be deleted.
12:45 pm
What on earth is he thinking? His name recognition as DDOT spokesperson will work against him. He's been the guy making the promises that DDOT (seemingly inevitably) mis-delivers on. He may be a good guy, and all, but I'll venture that no more than a handful of people will get the warm and fuzzy's over his campaign.
2:34 pm
Handicapping the race is acceptable, nay, encouraged--as long as it doesn't involve ad hominem attacks or libel. Feel free to give it another shot. And City Desk feels free to keep deleting offensive posts.
2:35 pm
I was informed that shadow Senator Paul Strauss and two ladies will enter the race before May 15 deadline.
With only 12,000 people voting on an average in any ward 3 primary, the winner of this race could be any one of these candidates for the taking of only 1,500 votes.
It will be a cliff hanger!
2:39 pm
Sorry City Desk,
Right now and only due to heavy advertising, if the election was held today Rees would be the winner as the public at large knows him better than any other.
Yet, as this race moves forward, I would say that it will be between Guall, Rees or Rice.
2:43 pm
Go away, Rees.
2:55 pm
All of the candidates that have announced so far execept Gaull and Rees come from the Upper Connecticut Avenue area and they have been fighting each other for votes there but none have done much of anything in the other 80% of the ward.
Eric Gaull has done some advertising in his Palisades area.
Jonathan Rees has hit the voters heavily in Glover Park, Cathedral,AU, Spring Valley and in between.
I think it will be more of a close finish between Bill Rice and Jonathan Rees for reasons most might not understand unless you are into marketing and voter attitudes.
3:03 pm
Ever heard of the movie Candyman?
If you say his name three times he will appear.
Please let's keep the mention of Rees down if you catch my drift?
Don't get me wrong. I think the guy has made this ward race exciting, given us things to think about and he will keep the others on their toes in an effort to keep up with him as his attacks are never end out their on the streets where it may pay off.
That said and done, let's keep him out there not here.
4:41 pm
Anyone know if Cheh would give up her GW law position to focus full-time on being a CM?
4:53 pm
From the GW Hatchet:
GW law Professor Mary Cheh is running for Ward 3 representative of the D.C. City Council. Despite the added responsibilities, Cheh expects to continue teaching her current courseload.
http://www.gwhatchet.com/media/paper332/news/2006/03/02/News/Law-Professor.Running.For.City.Council-1650191.shtml?norewrite200604031652&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com
6:25 pm
Despite the fact that there are now 7 candidates for ward 3 city council, most in ward 3 know little or nothing about them and probably 50% still will not know them on primary day.
I would venture to guess that despite the credentials of the candidates, the winner will be the candidate that does the best job of advertising her/his candidacy with the issues not being an issue which is common in a crowded field.
I will say that I think Gordon, Rice and Wiss are very weak candidates so it will come down to a battle between Brooks, Cheh, Gaull and Rees.
Putting all the BS, hate and stupid attacks taking place on some blogs aside, I see only Brooks and Rees really having a campaign as these two are out there while the others are still at home holding cocktail parties thinking their name alone will carry the day.
Look at one of these two psychos walking away the winner in September.
Erin
7:19 pm
So, Cheh would be another part-timer on the council. I think people deserve a full-time council member.
7:24 pm
If I was a campaign manager, I would strongly advise Rees to stay in the race, increase the pressure and point out to him how much people fear you by the sheer number of incredibly stupid postings.
I say this because if you guys did not fear Rees might win, then you would not be here talking bad about him. This is Rule #1 in politics.
It is common practice in politics that you always attack the front runner or the person who is in your way of winning.
Rees is not a quitter.
I have known Rees for over 25 years as we use to fight on the same USA karate team when he was rated in 1998 as one of the three fastest kickers in the world by several international karate organizations and it is this tough training he received from several of the top martial artists Bill Wallace, Chuck Norris, Benny Urquidez and Sam Chapman that sees him today doing what none of his rivals are doing and that is, he hits the streets running night after night distributing more of his campaign literature than all candidates combined.
Nobody out there can or will match him and he will not quit and the more you attack him the more you will see him intensify his actions.
TALK ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CANNOT STOP HIM!
Professor Gary Lee
http://www.sidekickkarate.com/gary_lee.htm
9:07 pm
As a Ward 3 constituent, i've seen Bill Rice at some of the local events I attend and he has always seem approachable and very friendly. I talked to him once about some problems in my neighborhood and received an email and a phone call. He not only addressed the problem but even emailed a month later to check on things. I am excited to see Bill Rice join the race. I will of course wait to hear from all the candidates, but having worked with Bill I think he would make a good councilman.
9:09 pm
As a resident of Ward 3, it is refreshing to see a candidate like Bill Rice who is more about the issues than he is about launching a giant campaign. He definitely has my vote.
9:19 pm
I dig Bill--he rides his bike around the hood. Not to mention anyone who wants to join the DC City Council has to be seriously dedicated to this town. Right on, brother!
9:21 pm
Yeah and didn't Sam run in a different ward? I mean is the kid old enough to vote? I don't know these guys, but I definitely want someone who is older than me (as in NOT a recent college grad...)
9:34 pm
Wow, all of this Ward 3 talk is great. I?ve been a resident of Ward 3 for close to 3 years. As a young professional that just bought a condo in the neighborhood I would love to see Bill address property tax issues. I did meet Bill Rice once at a neighborhood event for local condo owners. He gave out his card to just about everyone at the event. I talked to him about potholes on my street and he was very responsive and after two months of exchanging emails he addressed my issue. I have to admit that I was kind of testing the waters. I didn?t actually think he would fix the potholes. He laughed when I asked and said it was something he was used to dealing with. I liked him after that!
-Julie
10:30 pm
Lovely! We have another anonymous echo chamber! A while ago I joked on the WP City Desk blog that the latest topic (which hadn't been updated for a week) that it had degenerated into an "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here" type of thing. I suppose any post remotely tortable on ward 3, on any message board, is likely to do the same. Let alone a post actually *on* Ward 3.
I love how "erin" wants to put all the "BS" attacks etc aside, and then writes that both Sam and Jonathan are psycho...
Jonathan does not seem temprimentally suited to serve on the City Council.
Sam Brooks has a decent reputation among the old-time and good-government activists in my 'hood (Dupont).
Bill Rice... Nothing against him personally, it's just that he was just the mouthpiece for an agency which veered between unresponsiveness and incompetance. Some of us were happy to see Dan go, though we laugh sadley at the thought of him leading Metro... Were I in Ward 3, I'd need proof that Bill could perform beyond press announcements.
11:17 pm
I just love this mudslinging by the candidates and their workers.
Unless the candidates think we voters are complete idiots, we all know you guys or your workers are responsible for 99% of what is being posted.
12:30 am
Things that City Desk hates: (1) people who can't stay on topic, and (2) people who make City Desk sit at his computer at 12:30 a.m. deleting off topic, libelous, and bullshit comments. My thanks to Julie and a few others who contributed some nice thoughts to this thread. It's a shame it's now closed.
Might I point out we blog about things besides Ward 3 politics? We'd love to have some thoughtful comments on those posts, too.