Ward 8 Democrats President, Jacque Patteson

The Advoc8te missed the first hour of the Ward 8 Dems meeting and vote to recall embattled Ward 8 Democrats President, Jacque Patterson which by most accounts quickly disentegrated into yet another display of Ward 8 political tomfoolery. Now I wasn't there for the "airing of grievances" portion of the meeting but attendees who were recounted how what was supposed to be an awkward yet mature explanation of the reasons for the recall quickly turned into a personal attack on Jacque  Patterson's character,  launched by - no surprise here- Mary Cuthbert member of the Executive Committee. Needless to say, I have sat front row on that show before so I wasn't really sorry I missed the theatrics.

Whether the accusations or assessments of Jacques leadership (or lack thereof) are accurate, one thing for sure is that the vote to issue the recall wasn't even close. Jacque easily rebuffed the recall without breaking a sweat. Out of the 75 votes that were cast by Ward 8 Democrats Jacque Patterson only needed 25 "No" votes to defeat the recall - he got 45. Not exactly the level of outrage that you would expect considering the Executive Committee voted unanimously for the recall in their Febuary executive meeting. Either Jacque isn't really that bad or the Executive Committee just wasn't as good in securing votes to support the recall and by all accounts Jacque launched an effective on and offline campaign to secure his votes. I've said it once and I will say it again, never underestimate the power of Facebook.
It's unclear if the 45 "No" votes to defeat the recall effort were more an endorsement of Jacque Patterson personally or more an illustration of the disapproval that many Ward 8 residents feel about the continued shenanigans of the “old guard" that tends to dominate most Ward 8 groups. More than one Jacque suppporter at the Ward 8 Dems meeting reiterated their opinion that the Executive Committee's dispute with Jacque was based more on age than accomplishments. That despite his years living in Ward 8 he is still considered "new" and “arrogant” and that his real crime was trying to move the Ward 8 Dems toward being more inclusive and more relevant to the new and younger democrats that are moving into the Ward. No idea if this assessement is  true but that is definetly the perception and anyone who lives in the Ward that calls Marion Barry king knows that often time perception trumpts reality.

Whatever the real reason for the recall, one thing is clear. Jacque Patterson remains the Ward 8 Democrats President - for now at least. The $64,000 question is "can Jacque and the Executive Committee work together moving forward and can anything really save the Ward 8 Democrats from their current path toward total irrelevance?" If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me (and I was unable to answer), "What does the Ward 8 Democrats actually do?" then perhaps I would have the $64,000 to answer the aforementioned question.

 FYI - Leo Alexander (Candidate for DC Mayor), Clark Ray (Candidate for City Council At-Large), Councilmember Kwame Brown and Councilmember Phil Mendolson were in attendance. Perhaps Ward 8 Democrats aren’t the only ones who consider the Ward 8 Democrats to be irrelevant, no surprise but the ultimate Ward 8 Democrat - Councilmember Barry - was a no-show although The Advoc8te did see Cora Masters-Barry.


P.S. It was announced at the meeting that Phil Pannell was not in attendance at the meeting because he had recently lost his mother. I am sure I am not alone in offering my heartfelt condolences to Mr. Pannell and his family for his loss.


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