Half a decade into hosting DC’s edition of the annual Ride of Silence, I’m starting to get a little better at actually advertising the thing. It’s almost always on the official international list, and there’s once again a listing on the GGWash calendar.
This year, I even managed to write to 10 members of DC Council1 (and their Schedulers and/or Chiefs of Staff) to invite them to join us in early January — this is the time of year when usually I start thinking about the thing, but figure four months out is still way too early to expect anyone else to. This year, I just went for it the evening of Monday, January 5… and by the end of Wednesday had received responses from almost half:
1 Council member Kenyan McDuffie had just resigned his seat, and I did not bother writing to Anita Bonds or Trayon White
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s scheduler wrote back to say “Thank you for the invitation and greatly appreciate the advanced notice! I will circle back closer to the ride to let you know if the Councilmember and any of our team members are available to join.”
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker’s Deputy Chief of Staff said, “Thanks for the early reminder to get this on the calendar!”
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen’s Chief of Staff replied “Thanks so much…. We’ll hold that date on the Councilmember’s calendar.”
Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder’s Office Manager & Scheduler replied that “Unfortunately, the Councilmember will be out of town on this date, but I will pass the invite along to the rest of our staff.”
As of February 7, the offices of Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin, Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, At-Large Councilmembers Christina Henderson and Robert White, and Council Chair Phil Mendelson have not responded.