The next day, Barry called a meeting of his cabinet to explain the unexplainable: why he was at the Ramada Inn with Lewis. He told us he went to the Ramada Inn because Lewis was an old friend looking for a job. He didn’t explain why Lewis didn’t go to the civil service office or the mayor’s office during regular business hours.
Everyone was silent as Barry spun his tale. We were accustomed to hearing Barry tell tales. We were not expected to challenge the lie and we didn’t.
After a few days of stonewalling the media, I suggested we hold a press conference to talk about the Ramada Inn incident without taking questions. It was a big gamble, but at least we would avoid the charge that the administration was trying to duck the issue. The press conference was held in the city council chamber. Barry insisted on lining up his cabinet members behind him. I had Barry heavily made up to avoid sweating. Every time he wiped his brow a dozen camera’s clicked. During the emotional news conference, he vowed to "fight for my character, fight for my integrity and fight for my commitment" to the city and he said, "I have been tried, convicted, sentenced and doing time by some members of the media and the community."
He believed he could talk his way out of most situations. After he returned from a secret visit to a New York health spa, he called a Washington Post reporter to his office to brief him about the benefits of colonics. He denied that he went to the spa to deal with a substance abuse problem. It was a gambit that didn’t work. The Post story said he spent thousands of taxpayers’ dollars to try to kick a drug habit.
Despite all of the stories about drug use and womanizing, history will show that Marion Barry left Washington, D.C. a better place than it was when he first became mayor.
Thousands of Washington youth got their first jobs through Barry’s summer youth jobs program that guaranteed a job to all who applied. He convinced developers to rebuild downtown. The gleaming Verizon Center where the Wizards play was built under Barry. And while many have forgotten, he had made sure every city homeowner got the large trashcans known as “super cans” that allowed for uniform trash pickup.
Barry also gets credit for expanding the city's black middle class.
From security guards to janitors, to the police chief, the deputy chief, city administrator and most of the heads of the city agencies, the faces in charge were black.
There were the mostly white reporters scampering for quotes and stories. And although there was always a gripe about some city workers, by and large I found D.C. workers were dedicated and took seriously their role of delivering services to Washington’s black community.
For most of my professional career, I worked on jobs where I was a distinct minority. It was good sometimes to be surrounded by black folk.
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