For Hill scandals this ain't illicit
No diapers, nor photos explicit
A word to the many
Who owe quite the penny
The IRS really does miss it

The pen is your weapon of choice?
Then here is a cause to rejoice
The Mall ain't for jogging
'Cause now you'll be blogging
When WiFi enables your voice

Oh hey, there's a Tuesday election
The District must make its selection
My vote goes to Gray
But why, do you say?
Because his name rhymes to perfection...

Dismay, go astray, cabaret?
There's little his rhymes can't convey
And then there is Fenty
(One rhyme just ain't plenty)
Compared to the Vincent buffet

Though cringe moments, I have enjoyed
Real Housewives just left me annoyed
They're filled with self-loathing
Have got way too much clothing
Their heads? Just a huge gaping void

Vince Gray's full of vigor and vim
(Or that's what he says with his trim)
The man with new glasses
Says Fenty half-asses
When jobs in this city are slim

They ranged from type II diabetic
To needing some real anesthetic
But even a cynic
Observing this clinic
Would deem these guys nearly prophetic

I'll finish this rhyme with a quiz:
This guy stood outside of what biz?
But wait, it's a trick
Two stores? What a prick!
For covering shoppers with jizz

Where did Mayor Williams stand on the issue of go-go? "No one would be surprised that I'd ask, 'What's go-go?'" Hizzoner replied.

Oh, how far we've come. For all its shortcomings, the Fenty Administration at least knows what go-go is.

Go-go vets Sugar Bear and Junkyard Band are endorsing Fenty at a press conference Sunday at the Old Congress Heights School, according to a media advisory (pictured).

No word yet as to which candidate Chuck Brown is endorsing.

City Desk was scheduled to meet up with D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray for an interview Tuesday afternoon. The venue? The Thomas Sweet ice cream parlor in Georgetown, a place the chairman's mayoral campaign picked. In the process, City Desk–with photographer Darrow Montgomery in tow–may have ruined an ice cream outing for President Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, who are said to have a soft spot for Thomas Sweet's sweets.

Sorry, but City Desk did not have any advance knowledge of a White House ice cream outing. We promise!

As City Desk was waiting for Chairman Gray to arrive at Thomas Sweet, security agents with ear pieces came in to check out who was hanging around. Clearly they were trying to be low key. Was it Mayor Adrian Fenty's security detail? Nah. Staffers told City Desk later that the casually dressed guys with buzzcuts and earpiece wires were indeed the Secret Service's advance team.

With Montgomery's cameras out on the table, ready to shoot some new photos of the D.C. Council chairman, City Desk surmises that the Secret Service assumed we were there waiting to capture a priceless ice cream moment involving the first family. Not the case! After a few minutes of procuring some ice cream, the entourage disappeared. Whoever was eating the ice cream would not be doing it inside Thomas Sweet's air conditioned bliss.

After City Desk told the Thomas Sweet crew we were there to interview the D.C. Council chairman, the one Secret Service guy lingering around left as well.

Gray was running late. But he had a very good reason: Earlier in the day, there was an attempted burglary at the chairman's Hillcrest residence across town. We're waiting on an official statement from the campaign on the attempted break-in, but Gray told City Desk that the would-be crooks weren't able to gain access to his home. Police are investigating.

"They probably heard the alarm and I guess they took off. ... They never got in," Gray told us. "I don't know who did this this, but I don't put aside any possibility to tell you the truth."

Maybe it's time to build a big fence around the chairman's home? Oh wait ...

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

"The caller advised Officer Edelen that a guy named Demitrius Eccles was selling crack cocaine in the 6200 and 6300 block of Georgia Ave. NW and advised officer Edelen of Mr. Eccles cell phone number."

Armed with info from the mysterious tipster (a Vincent Gray supporter, maybe?), the officer had an undercover cop call Eccles on his cell and set up a buy.

Sometime later, the undercover officer and Eccles met beside a car wash in the 6300 block of Georgia Avenue NW.  Eccles allegedly sold the cop two pieces of crack for $45. The hand-off thus completed, Eccles walked away. Cops moved in to arrest him. Spotting the advancing threat, Eccles ran for it, court papers show. Cops pursued and had almost cornered him when a wily Eccles ducked behind a fence. He was eventually spotted, however, and took off running again–this time cops grabbed him.

Eccles has a criminal record that includes a 2005 conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to NBC Washington, Helen Hare, campaign spokeswoman for Mayor Adrian Fenty, was none too happy about the idea of Fenty campaign workers selling drugs and dodging police: "The Fenty campaign does not condone this alleged behavior. Our canvassers are constantly supervised. Mr. Eccles was not working at the time of his arrest and is no longer on the campaign."

It's a story the young and nervy Weaver likes to tell as proof that the incumbent is a "dinosaur" who still plays old-style politics. Weaver most recently told a version of the story at the D.C. Democratic State Convention: In 2006, Graham investigated the questionable dealings of a particular developer, Perseus Realty, only to accept campaign donations from the very same developer years later. Graham also acquired a 20-year tax abatement for the company, Weaver says.

That particular narrative could frustrate Graham, who's still seeking to get out from beneath the shadow cast over his office by the arrest of his former chief of staff, Ted Loza, on bribery charges. But the incumbent councilmember isn't shrinking from the insinuation.

"There ain't no corruption in me," Graham tells City Desk. "I'm very sorry about what happened to one of my staff members, but I don't do that stuff."

Graham says Weaver's version of what happened between him and Perseus Realty is all mixed up. He's the hero of the story, not the bad guy: "I'm not the villain, nor was I associating with the villains," Graham claims.

In a February article, the Washington Business Journal attributed Graham's success at campaign fund-raising to two things: His cozy relationship with powerful developers and the ability of corporations to side-step the District's $500 political contribution cap:

"The good news for Graham and other city politicos, is that LLCs – limited liability corporations – each have their own contribution limits. So what do some developers do? Contribute the max for each one of their companies."

Though donating at $500 a pop won't amount to millions, it doesn't take a lot of green to have an impact on cash-strapped local races.

2010 fund-raising records appears to show Perseus Realty, responsible for various projects around the District, as one of the companies willing to ante up. City Desk came across contributions to Graham from Perseus Realty Investments, LLC; Perseus Stillman, LLC; Perseus Realty, LLC; 1110 Vermont Renaissance Assoc,VII/SCH-Perseus M Street; LLC and 14W Member, LLC. All have names that appear to be related to either Perseus Realty or a Perseus Realty project. Each LLC gave the maximum contribution of 500 bucks, save VII/SCH-Perseus M Street, LLC, which contributed only $250.

Perhaps Perseus has good feelings toward Graham because of the 14th and W project, a $97 million mixed-use Perseus development that Graham backed and which he readily acknowledges began a "new acquaintanceship" between the politician and the company.

Some five years ago, the acquaintanceship between Graham and Perseus was close to that of the hunter and the hunted. Back then, Graham was handing out subpoenas to Perseus leadership and employees. "Nobody hit them harder than I did," Graham says of that time. Graham was then chair of the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which oversees the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). DCRA, in turn, regulates District housing.

Graham was after the company because he suspected them of strong-arming renters and misusing a district law, one the City Paper wrote a cover story about in 2006. The law –501(f)–allows landlords who need to make major repairs to an occupied building to vacate the building of tenants while the repairs are made. Though such evacuations are supposed to be temporary, most tenants opt to move on rather than wait the length of time it would take for the landlord to invite them back. After that, the owners are free to develop or sell the property sans pesky tenant rights.

“It’s a sham process,” Jim McGrath of the DC Tenants Advocacy Coalition then told City Paper. “There’s nothing more permanent than temporary removal.”

That's perhaps how it might have gone for Perseus at 1846 Vernon Street NW in 2005: But the tenants of the building wanted to stay and fought the so-called temporary removal. That's when Perseus, a co-owner of the building, allegedly got rough.

According to a final report issued as a result of Graham's investigative hearing on the matter, bad stuff started happening to the tenants in fall of 2006:

In October and November 2006, the tenants of 1846 Vernon Street, NW stated to the Committee that since September 2006, they had observed an increasing number of incidents of violence seemingly directed against tenants and/or the building.  On October 16, 2006, vandals smashed glass panels on the doors of several apartments, and, the Committee was told, selectively cut electrical cables so that only occupied units were affected.

The report reveals that in that same year, tenant Latif Sarkar, who lived Apartment 23, "reported having received threats within the building from strangers, who told him to move out within 48 hours or else." The report also offers an account of the most dramatic moment in the battle, a late night arson:

Even more seriously, on November 5, 2006 between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m., a fire broke out at 1846 Vernon Street, NW.  Chairperson Graham and Committee staffers inspected the premises the next morning and discussed the incident with tenants, who reported the following. Three tenants of unit #28, Mahmuduel Hoque, Nasimuel Hoque and Rabia Begum, stated they were watching television with relatives when they heard two loud bangs in rapid succession, the second of which was far louder and shook their apartment "like an earthquake," according to Ms. Begum.

The bangs turned out to have a source, a blaze outside their apartment.

No one was severely injured in the fire. But tenants nevertheless slowly gave up and left.  Probably because they felt their lives were in danger. According to the report:

A fire investigator from the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department stated that the remnants of an exploded gas can was found in front of #28, and indicated his belief that the cause of the fire was arson. Tenants generally were of the opinion that whoever set the fire did so at the direction of the owner and/or the management company.

Though the arson prompted no criminal case against Perseus, Graham says he went after them "hammer and tong" and would have kept going except for having switched committees. He says Councilmember Marion Barry then took over the Committee for Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. When that happened, the investigation screeched to a halt. Graham says he asked Barry to continue pursuing Perseus, but got no response from the Ward 8 councilmember.

In any event, when the YMCA selected Perseus for the 14th and W Project, Graham put all that business behind him. Graham says that when the YMCA told him about its decision, it brought up the bad blood: "We know you've had some bad experiences with Perseus," Graham recalls YMCA officials saying. The organization explained that there was little chance for the kind of trouble that emerged on Vernon Street as there were no tenants to evict as far as their project went, Graham says.

Asking Graham about the Perseus campaign contributions seems to elicit an answer that's tantamount to "Hey, that's politics."

"Am I happy with this? No," Graham tells City Desk. "Am I a pragmatist? I have to be." Graham says he would prefer it if corporations weren't allowed to donate. Still, City Desk notices from recent records that Graham  hasn't sent back any of the money.

Weaver, meanwhile, considers Perseus too tainted to deal with.  He says an associate recently offered to introduce him to someone from the development firm. Weaver says he didn't mind the intro as long as it was understood that he would never take money from the company. Weaver says Graham losing the committee that was investigating Perseus was no excuse for no longer fighting the company. "He didn't lose the Ward," says Weaver. Weaver asserts that Graham lost interest in pursuing Perseus when the media stopped paying attention. "While the Washington Post and everyone was focused on it, he was great," says Weaver.

What happened on Vernon, Weaver says, was extremely upsetting. "It was almost old-school gangster," he says.

Graham shoots back that Weaver is just electioneering: "For Bryan, this is just simply trying to get some votes."

Photo by dbking/Creative Commons Attribution License

In a 25-minute speech delivered inside the Carnegie Library building in Mount Vernon Square, Gray took repeated swipes to Fenty in a speech rife with references to "sweetheart deals" and "cronyism." The crowd of hundreds, which included councilmembers Yvette Alexander, Michael Brown, Phil Mendelson, ate it up.

"There are some who say, 'Who cares if the mayor ruffles some feathers? He’s getting results.' To them, I have a simple message: That ain’t good enough," Gray said in a challenge to Fenty's governing style. "You know what happens when you’re always knocking heads? People walk away with a really big headache. And I don’t know about you, but I never work effectively when I have a headache."

Gray also made it clear that he's willing to go toe-to-toe with Fenty on his signature issue: education. In the speech and in remarks to reporters afterward, the candidate made it clear that wants to be judged on an issue where Fenty can and will claim serious progress as mayor.

"I remain committed to school reform," Gray said, but added that "we need a mayor who understands that the best way to achieve real and lasting change is to involve the community, not just impose his will."

On education, as well as the other issues he addressed, Gray promised to adopt holistic strategies to addressing key problems without offering much in the way of detail. "We can’t just look at government as a bunch of separate initiatives," he said. "We need to connect the dots and look at a comprehensive and robust approach to solving our problems." Detailed policy proposals, he promised, would be issued in the coming weeks.

He did offer some specifics: On education, Gray promised to work to improve the District's special-education programs, in order to reduce the number of D.C. kids sent to private programs—a huge budget drain for both tuition and transportation. He took a page from the Kwame Brown playbook, emphasizing a return to vocational and technical education. He said he'd reduce emphasis on standardized testing. And he pledged to "stop neglecting the University of the District of Columbia" and to make it a "first-class state university."

Gray was less specific on his jobs strategy, if more biting in his critique of Fenty. "We’ll restore fairness, integrity, cost-efficiency, and transparency to the economic development process by putting an end to 'pay to play,'" Gray pledged, adding that "a mayor should create jobs for everyone in D.C., not just friends and cronies."

Same deal on public safety: Gray called nebulously for "effective partnership between law enforcement, the communities they serve, and the mayor's office." And then came the nod to the incumbent: "When violence erupts on our streets, people shouldn’t have to ask where their leaders are"—a clear reference to the fact that Fenty was on vacation when four were killed in last month's drive-by shooting on South Capitol Street.

The hits kept on coming: "It seems like every day there’s another story about mismanaged public dollars and shady deals," Gray said. "We read about a school system that can’t even figure out if it needs to fire teachers because it has a deficit, or give them raises because it has a surplus. We were promised transparency and openness, but read about sweetheart deals and cronyism....People want a mayor who works with the [D.C. Council] and with residents to get results. Sadly what they see is childish bickering over silly things like baseball tickets, and contempt for the will of the people."

And the coup de grace: "As your mayor, my sincerity doesn’t end when I knock on your door, asking for your vote."

In a rare personal note early in the speech, Gray described a hardscrabble upbringing in a one-bedroom apartment near Gallaudet University, having to share a rollaway bed with his brother. He described his time at Dunbar High School and his integration of the George Washington University fraternity system, before describing his advocacy on behalf of the developmentally disabled.

Even those warmhearted stories morphed into Fenty slams: As a member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Dunbar, he said, "I learned you can work hard and achieve a leadership position, but you have to work hard and be a leader in order to keep it. That's a lesson some of our public leaders could stand to learn."

Even more subtly: "I was an athlete, where I learned the importance of working together as a team," he said—no doubt aware that Fenty, too, is an athlete, albeit in individual-oriented sporting endeavors.

Gray read his remarks for a teleprompter, often inserting "my friends" in the text, John McCain-style. Repeatedly he was interrupted by the hundreds-strong crowd with chants of "Go Vince Gray" and once instance of "Send Fenty home."

He closed his speech with an invocation of his long-running "One City" campaign theme. The PA then blasted the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started."

After the speech, in brief comments to reporters, Gray addressed the tone of his speech: "I think a lot of people who voted for this mayor feel like they voted for somebody who turned out to be different than the person they voted for," he said. "There's a lot of anger out there–anger I haven't seen in the past in the District of Columbia, and I've been here my entire life."

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, seeking a third fourth term this fall, is facing another motivated challenger.

Bryan Weaver, a community activist and advisory neighborhood commissioner in Adams Morgan, is set to announce his run at noon on Saturday. The kickoff is being held in Weaver's stomping grounds—Walter Pierce Park, home base for the basketball fanatic and his Hoops Sagrado nonprofit.

A message distributed to supporters today touts Weaver's "new vision and bold leadership for a better Ward One that answers to Ward One residents."

The message continues: "We need better accountability and transparency, smarter crime prevention and youth programs, strategies to grow and revitalize Ward One’s diverse small business community, ways to nurture and support Ward One’s vital multicultural identity, a strong Green Economy led by Ward One residents and businesses, a true recycling program worthy of Ward One’s and the District’s progressive identity, better partnerships with parents and guardians for strong schools at every level, a safer Metro system, and more."

Weaver joins Jeff Smith, a school board member turned nonprofit executive, in challenging Graham. Smith made his run official last month after a short exploratory period. Weaver established an exploratory committee back in November. The committee's last finance report, filed in late March, showed $29,268 in cash on hand.

Smith, in a report filed in late February, showed a $38,831 balance in his campaign account. Graham, meanwhile, had more than $189,000 on hand as of March 10.

Both Weaver and Smith are hoping that, after re-electing Graham twice by large margins, voters have soured on the bespectacled, Volkswagen-driving incumbent. His longtime chief of staff, you will no doubt recall, was arrested for taking bribes last fall; prosecutors recently added a plethora of new charges. But none of the allegations has yet touched Graham personally.

Graham's campaign spokesperson, Chuck Thies, says that Weaver's priorities, as listed in his announcement, "are the very things Jim Graham has been actively engaged in and accomplishing for the past 12 years."

"Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery," he says, "but it's not the best campaign platform."

UPDATE, 4/23: At Graham's request, LL is happy to make this crystal-clear: There is no evidence, allegation, or charge that suggests that Graham had any knowledge of or role in Loza's alleged crimes, and LL has no knowledge of any evidence, allegations, or charges yet to be disclosed.

Another sign that campaign season is well underway: A D.C. Council candidate says he's been victimized by political dirty tricks.

In the above YouTube video, candidate Delano Hunter, who is challenging incumbent Harry Thomas Jr. in Ward 5, says that his signs have been damaged and stolen—evidence of the "dirty politics that continue to distract from addressing meaningful issues within our ward."

Hunter, in the video, says more than 100 of his signs were destroyed at Rhode Island and South Dakota Avenues NE, and that supporters have had signs "ripped from their homes in the middle of the night.

At one point, he holds up a sign that appears to be torn and riddled with bulletholes.

Hunter makes no specific accusation in the video as to who is responsible, but he says, "We are calling on Councilmember Thomas to denounce these actions."

Which he did: "Absolutely I denounce any behavior like that," Thomas tells LL this afternoon.

He notes that during his last campaign, in 2006, he issued a release calling for clean campaigning after a similar rash of sign vandalism.

Thomas notes he put up 600 of his own signs this weekend. "I stand on my record," he says. "We're just gonna outwork those guys."

Invitations are circulating for Vincent Gray's first mayoral fundraiser, set for next Wednesday at the home of Ward 4 socialite Judith Terra.

The host committee includes such notables as philanthropist Peggy Cooper Cafritz, superlobbyist David Wilmot (who has also hosted a Fenty fundraiser), former city technology chief Suzanne Peck, former Deputy Mayor Stan Jackson, and mayoral mom Virginia Hayes Williams.

Terra's home, of course, was a frequent setting for Gray's opponent four years ago. "Ample parking" provided; $250 suggested donation.

In an appearance this afternoon on WAMU-FM's Politics Hour, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty made as stinging a rebuke to his political ankle-biters as he ever has.

"The difference, I think, between a councilmember and an executive is, you know, I'm the one making the tough decisions," he said in a lively conversation with host Kojo Nnamdi and reporter Tom Sherwood.

Shades of "I'm the decider" perhaps?

But, more than that, he gave what could prove an effective response to critics who say he's too arrogant, aloof, and personally out-of-touch to deserve a second term as D.C.'s mayor: "We're taking on issues that aren't just tough, we're taking on issues that are intrinsically not politically popular," Fenty said, citing D.C. Public Schools closings, mandating at-will employment for DCPS employees, and implementing taxi meters as examples.

In a version of an answer he deploys often, Hizzoner characterized concerns about his style, his bedside manner, as far removed from the concerns of everyday citizens.

"When they talk to me," Fenty said, "this is what they say: They say, Mayor Fenty, I want to you to keep continuing fixing the schools; I want you to keep driving the crime rate down; I want you to keep renovating schools, liberties, recreation centers. Keep building new construction in the city. I want you to keep the population growing. I want you to keep fixing up hospitals like Greater Southeast. Keep reducing the backlog in child welfare....They say deliver results because that's what we elected you to do."

In another portion of the show, Fenty addressed allegations of malfeasance involving allies Omar Karim and Sinclair Skinner and tens of milliions in parks contracting.

Without once mentioning Karim or SKinner's name, Fenty denied any wrongdoing and called for ongoing investigation by the D.C. Council and city inspector general to run their course. Any contract awards, he said, were "completely removed from the executive branch of government, completely followed the procurement law, and very high-quality work [is] being done."

Behold an election-year budget season.

That key part is the Budget Support Act, which is the package of legislation that makes all the necessary policy changes to "support" the budget request. It contains details on fee increases, tax modifications, changes to legislative initiatives, and, at least in past budgets, earmarks.

Today Gray dispatched a letter to Fenty saying, in essence: WTF dude?

"I am writing to you on an issue of basic government transparency, for which I have substantial concern with the actions of your administration," Gray writes. He points out that council staffers asked Fenty staffers for a copy, and that the Fenty staffers said that it would not be completed until next Monday.

"If the Budget Support Act is not completed," Gray writes, "how could the Chief Financial Officer have certified your budget submission?"

The legislation, he continues, "contains over $100 million in tax and fee increases which the Council and the public need to examine." (Note the use of "tax" increases—a challenge to Fenty's claim that his budgets contain no such thing.)

By law, the budget is due to the council on April 1.

UPDATED 5:45 P.M.

The Office of Campaign Finance, after reviewing allegations aired late last year concerning D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, has dismissed complaints against the now-mayoral-candidate.

One matter that the agency investigated was his engagement of William C. Smith & Co., a major developer engaging in various dealings with the city, to coordinate repair work on his Hillcrest home. The inquiry found that his "receipt of and payment for services and repairs to his home...was a transaction made at fair market value and in the ordinary course of business" and "that there was no evidence to suggest that the public official’s actions or vote would be influenced by WCS in exchange for the work performed in his home."

In the second matter—Gray's 2008 solicitation of Comcast to support voting rights activities at the Democratic National Convention—officials found that the letter, sent on council stationery was acceptable because the request "was not campaign related" and because Gray was "acting within his duties as Chairperson of the Council of the District of Columbia."

The finding will come as great relief to Gray, who has had to spend part of his first week as a mayoral candidate answering questions about the incidents. Still to be resolved: A permit dispute with the D.C. Department of Transportation over an unpermitted fence erected around his house.

UPDATE, 5:45 P.M.: One key fact on the home renovations: OCF consulted a number of contractors and the city itself to determine if Gray paid market value for the work. The agency concluded that Gray indeed paid a fair price.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

"I've had a lot of conversations," Robinson told LL last week. "It is something I am considering very seriously."

Robinson eased back into public life last year, when he won a special election to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A, which covers the neighborhoods stretching east and north of Capitol Hill. Earlier this year, Robinson was elected chair of the body.

Scuttlebutt dating back a year had Robinson setting himself up for a run against Ward 6 council incumbent Tommy Wells, but that potential seems to have faded. Robinson did not rule out a ward run last week but said he's "leaning toward" the at-large race. (For what it's worth, he also attended Wells' campaign kickoff last month at Eastern Market.)

Rather, Robinson said he'd be looking to replicate the surfeit of council leadership in Ward 7, which boasts not only Yvette Alexander, but at-larger Kwame Brown and Chairman Vincent Gray. "There might be some value in having two members from Ward 6," Robinson said. "That's a consideration of mine."

Robinson's entry as a Democrat would put him in direct competition with incumbent Phil Mendelson and former parks director Clark Ray, adding a new element to a downticket race now sure to be obscured by the mayor and chairman tilts. In the oft-cynical racial calculus of District politics, it is worth nothing that Robinson would represent the first black entrant into the at-large race. (The Rev. Carolyn Graham, another Williams administration official, was also toying with an at-large run last year.)

If Robinson were to run, he'd have to face questions about his fundraising while working for Williams, which earned him a Hatch Act investigation and an unexpected exit from Mayor Bowtie's employ.

But Robinson, a consultant by trade, would put that fundraising experience to work and draw on ongoing connections to the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and other business types. Of course, a similar resume didn't help Mendelson's last opponent much—the well-financed A. Scott Bolden went down in 2004 2006 by landslide margins—but Robinson may be counting on Ray to draw white votes from Mendelson.

Says Mendo: "Kelvin is an old friend. I welcome his getting into the race and I look forward to the campaign."

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Nelson, ANC 6A

"I think that is very premature...We need to get through an election, we need to get through a transition, we need to get through the appointments process, and then we will establish what we will do."

Asked for three policy goals, Gray said: "I'm a planner!...I will look at the first 100 days and the entire four years as a part of my planning experience and my planning background. And, you know what, we'll do that in concert with people. This campaign will elucidate the concerns of people. This campaign will raise issues that I think will substantially inform additionally what a Gray administration will do."

Thanks to WAMU and Kojo Nnamdi for having LL on and shooting the video.