Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Endorses Clark Ray For D.C. City Council Calls His election “Essential” for Good Government
To the right, and below, please find our gallery of photos of the very successful fundraiser held last evening by the Clark Ray, Democrat for Council-at-Large campaign.
Photos courtesy of Luis Gomez Photos, LLC
The event featured special guest, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The fundraiser was held at the beautiful home of Dr. James D’Orta and was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 150 people.
Guests included a long list of Clark Ray supporters; Former Congressman and environmentalist Phil Sharp, DC Real Estate Executive and politico Ted Carter, GLBT activist Lane Hudson, Dan Katz from Williams and Connelly, Nesra Abaza, Jason Turner, Eric Magwood, Roach Brown, former Clinton-Gore activist Yolanda Carraway, and activists from east and west of the river.
Dr. Jim D’Orta welcomed all of Clark’s supporters to his home and said, “I open my home tonight because I know how important it is that we elect Clark to the Council.” Kathy Silva, leading proponent of Dog Parks for the City said of Clark, “until Clark Ray became Director of Parks and Recreation we had given up on ever moving forward on building the dog parks. Clark brokered the deal that let us move forward with guidelines for the parks. Every dog owner in the city owes him a huge debt of gratitude.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, “I rarely endorse in primaries and this is only the second time I am doing it this year. I believe it is essential that we elect people of Clark Ray’s caliber and integrity to government. I know of his work with the Clinton/Gore administration and his commitment to the people of the District.”
Former DC First Lady Cora Masters Barry introduced Clark and said, “Clark’s honesty and integrity is what drew me to him. She went on to say, “Clark will be a breath of fresh air on the Council voting on issues not personalities, a true representative of the people.”
Ray talked about his background that has prepared him to be on the Council including the fact that he will be the only member of the new Council who will have successfully managed a DC city agency, its staff and budget. He spoke of his family’s union background and his education degrees and his unwavering support for education reform. He was explicit that continuing reform will require both continuity and total transparency when it comes to budgets and policy. Parents, teachers and the community must be brought into the reform movement.
He spoke of his service in the MPD as a Reserve Police Officer and committed to joining the reserves again when he is on the Council. He called for fiscal austerity and said his first initiatives on the Council will be to take action to change the system of how we deal with violent juvenile criminals now preying on communities. He committed to taking action to close what some call the revolving door, but which Ray refers to as the DYRS “open door”.
