Washington City Paper: Contents for Aug. 27

Musical Chairs
The losers of next month's contest fo the D.C. Council chair may find themselves poltical has-beens. Then again, they may find themselves running the same race in only a year's time.

Cover Story

On Friday the 13th, a hapless District government finally got lucky.

A week earlier, the city's Board of Elections and Ethics had mailed District residents postcards announcing the upcoming special election to complete the term of Council Chairman John Wilson. But a lawsuit in U.S. District Court now threatened to postpone the contest, which would mean another $50,000 mailing, a longer and costlier campaign, and voter confusion. More importantly, though, it would mean that a devastated legislative branch would be without a real leader for an indefinite period of time.

So it was with great relief that the board greeted the judge's decision that Friday evening: The election would go forth as scheduled. Oddly enough, however, no one else seemed to notice.

“Not that many people are paying attention to this race,” D.C. Republican Committee Chairman Julie Finley said not long ago, echoing the opinion of many. “You'd probably have to be Arnold Schwarzenegger or Barbra Streisand to get attention.”

That's about to change, however, as the candidates blitz their way through the city's eight wards—on some days participating in as many as four community forums—and the media pays increasing attention. But two weeks of intense campaigning will not be enough to bring large numbers of people to the polls. In fact, by most estimates, the turn out won't exceed 70,000. Some believe it could be as low as 50,000.... Continued

Issue of Aug. 27 - Sep. 2, 1993

News and Features

Musical Chairs
The losers of next month's contest fo the D.C. Council chair may find themselves poltical has-beens. Then again, they may find themselves running the same race in only a year's time.
Cover Story By Alan Green
Nothing to Sneeze At
Royden Brown Hawks His Unconventional Allergy Cure on Capitol Hill
The City By Susan Gregory Thomas
Laughable
The Mail By John Andrews
Poster Boy
The Mail By Heusted McNeill
Rock Solid
The Mail By Carol O'Halloran
Forum Furor
The Mail By Ann Hughes Hargrove