Comments on: Loose Lips Daily—Is Nickles the New Cheney?

By: DC Voter

DC Voter — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:40:20 +0000

Interesting virtual ping pong you all have going here Al. But I just wanted to add that I was at Wizards game a few weeks ago in one of the luxury suites where Fenty also happened to be. Both me and my colleagues were sickened by the sense of entitlement and arrogance with this mayor. The profanity, inappropiate conversations, and ordering around of what we thought were Verizon center staff, but found out many where his aides. Instead of Fenty coming off as a mayor of a major city, it was more like watching Puff Daddy at a basketball game.

By: al gonzales

al gonzales — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:27:17 +0000

Fenty & the city council control the luxury suites, but Fenty has the true power, as anyone who read about the controversy earlier this year knows. "Pay to play" has never been more obvious - or more literal.
The reason the District will never have full voting rights here is that the peasants who live here just let the people in power do whatever they want to do.
In New York City, the people forced Bloomberg to give up the City's luxury suite at Yankee Stadium. People there know how to be responsible, effective citizens.
People in the District do nothing but put a poorly worded slogan on a license plate, & expect to be given voting rights. It will never happen - DC residents will never be given full voting rights [i.e., two senators & one representative].

By: Skipper

Skipper — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:10:10 +0000

Al - you realize that the City Council has its own luxury boxes at National Stadium and the Verizon Center?

By: al gonzales

al gonzales — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:39:02 +0000

The scandal re Fenty's "pay to play" luxury suites shows that an independent AG is needed in the District. Peter Nickels is Fenty's private attorney - in the past, & now. An independent, elected attorney general would be "the people's attorney". Independent, elected attorneys general are standard in the other fifty states. We need an independent, elected attorney general to investigate Fenty's "pay to play" luxury suites corruption. I'd like to see Mary Cheh, or any smart, ethical, & most of all, independent, attorney investigate Fenty & the council. Why should our taxes go up or our services cut just so Fenty & his favored few get to see Wizars & Capitals & Nationals games for free in luxury suites? Answer: there's no good reason we should pay for Fenty & his cronies to have luxury boxes at local stadiums.

By: al gonzales

al gonzales — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:21:06 +0000

NYC mayor Bloomberg was forced to give up "the mayor's luxury suite" at Yankee Stadium. See today's NY Times article for a great analysis of why giving city officials a "free" luxury suite at stadiums is improper. Let's see if the people of the District can force Fenty to give up his luxury suites at the Verizon Center & at the Nationals' park. People, we need to earn the vote here. Showing that we are responsible in fiscal matters, & that we have the power to force elected officials to comply with common standards of decency would go a long way to proving we can run the city without corruption. This would be a great issue for LL to investigate. Why should our taxes go up or our services be cut just so Mayor Fenty & his favored few can go to Wizards games & Capitals games & Nationals games for free? In the recent remodeling of the Verizon Center, city officials were given a luxury suite in return for approving a bond issue to finance the project. How is that different from the "pay to play" scandal unfolding in Chicago, or the scandals involving corrupt politicians in Alaska? Answer: there's no difference at all.