Carol Schwartz proves she’s no empty suit.
by Colbert King
“Carol, aren’t we getting a little old for this stuff?” I was tempted to ask. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and did as I had done 28 years ago, when, as a Post editorial writer, I first watched D.C. mayoral candidate Carol Schwartz greet passers-by on upper Georgia Avenue NW.
There she was Wednesday morning, nearly three decades later, in front of the CVS and Safeway stores at the East River Park shopping center at Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue NE, selling her candidacy to shoppers.
Schwartz still has all of the moves: Advance with a broad smile, hand extended, and say to anyone who walks by: “Hi, I’m Carol Schwartz. I’m running for mayor. I hope you will consider me on Election Day.”
Her reception was positive, just like the one she received on Georgia Avenue in 1986. Nobody frowns and walks away from Carol Schwartz. People like her.
Still, what makes her run? There’s more at work than motive, opportunity and means. . .
Simply put, Schwartz is convinced that on the basis of experience, maturity and “ability to rally people,” she is the best person for the job.
She can recite a litany of legislation that she introduced and got passed while serving on the council, ranging from property tax relief to tighter campaign finance rules to reform of child welfare laws.
Schwartz, indeed, was no empty suit during her years as a council member. Because of her, the city has a Department of the Environment. She got the income tax rate lowered, passed the city’s first sick-leave law and fought against legislative earmarks, sole-source contracts and sweetheart government deals — all before opposition to such thievery became the correct position to take.
Schwartz is running for mayor, however, because she believes many voters still want her in the job. . .
The words tough, courageous and compassionate fit Schwartz like a glove. She is one candidate who can claim to be “unbought and unbossed.” Nobody pulls her strings.
And after close to 30 years of casual observation, this much I can say: Right or wrong matters to Carol Schwartz.
In this city, that’s saying a lot.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/colbert-king-carol-schwartz-proves-shes-no-empty-suit/2014/08/15/919391b0-23c1-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html
