They Ought to Cut it Out!

May 15, 2019

The sideshow shenanigans between ANC Chairman Clarence Lee and former Commissioner Kathy Henderson is increasingly more of a carnival act minus the ringmaster and clown car. The pervasive eye-rolling, call and response, ignored raised hand for acknowledgment, and refusal to take questions disguised as keeping the meeting on schedule is increasingly transparent. The ANC 5D community deserves better than this from its leaders; past and present. It was no more apparent than at last night’s meeting.

Although there’s a lot to be said for a cleanly run, on-time meeting, it can’t mask the seeming animosity between these two community leaders. It’s beginning to permeate through other members of the commission as well. Even these rivals proximity to each other with the Chairman at the front of the room and Ms. Henderson in the back and constituents caught in the middle makes the situation even more obvious.

This post isn’t designed to take sides or try to unveil the underlying cause for this melodrama. We have great respect for both parties. We enjoyed our interview with Ms. Henderson when she ran for the Ward 5 city council seat.  The DC Voice was even there when she declared it was an “Exciting Time to Be in ANC 5D!” We were also there when Chairmen Lee made a “Call for Unity” at the January meeting earlier this year. The goal of this post is to point out the childish antics between two community leaders. What exacerbates the situation is the changing demographics evidenced by the meeting attendees and the stream of developers who stroll before the commission every month changing the landscape with this Ward.

ANNC 5D has some of the most compelling changes taking place in Ward 5. It typically has a topic-rich agenda that requires that the meeting stay focused and on time. However, the community is ill-served by this public display of contempt month after month.  The elders would say “They ought to cut it out” or “They ought to act like they have some sense!” I’ll leave it to their elders to properly chastise them. All the constituents of ANC 5D ask is that these two community leaders find a way to settle this issue and achieve the unity Chairman Lee called for at the first of the year.