WASHINGTON — “Everyone who lived in Washington, or around Washington or in
Prince George’s County has a Marion Barry story,” says Prince George’s County
Executive Rushern Baker.
And that includes Baker himself.
Like thousands of people spanning a generation, Baker got his first “real” job
thanks to the summer youth program Barry started.
Baker laughs when he says late-mayor and council member Barry never failed to
remind Baker of how he got his start. Baker says he was with his son on
election day this month, when they ran into the man many called D.C.’s “Mayor
for Life”.
“I introduced my son to the mayor, and Barry said, ‘You know, I got your
father his first real job!,'” Baker recalls.
Baker says he knows that all many people see is a scandal-prone mayor when
they look at Barry, but Baker says the four-term mayor had a rare gift for
retail politics: he genuinely connected with people and that engendered fierce
loyalty.
Baker says even Barry’s blunders were instructive.
He recalls Barry’s decision to stay put in sunny California after the
Superbowl in 1987. Barry remained in sun-soaked California while the District
of Columbia was first pounded, then crippled, by a snowstorm.
Baker insists Barry learned from his own mistake.
After that storm, “he reconfigured how his emergency operations responded.”
And Baker kept that lesson in mind when he took office. That’s why when
there’s a weather report that snow’s coming, Baker says he makes sure he’s not
headed out of town on vacation.
Baker says the late mayor never missed an opportunity to meet people where
they were: whether it was just shaking hands of front line workers in a D.C.
office, or showing up at community meetings.
Barry was a flawed man, but one who worked to give .D.C residents a sense of
pride in themselves and their home.
Later this week, funeral services will be held for Barry. The funeral will be
part of a series of tributes scheduled over a period of three days.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
