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Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser in the 2014 election. Prior to his inauguration as mayor in January 2011, Gray served as Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, and as Councilmember for Ward 7. In the 1990s he also served as director of the DC Department of Human Services. In June 2016, he defeated incumbent Yvette Alexander in the Democratic primary for the council seat he previously held in Ward 7. Early life and career Gray was born on November 8, 1942 in Washington, DC, and graduated from Dunbar High School. In 1964 he earned a B.S. in psychology at George Washington University, where he also took graduate courses. Gray was one of the first African Americans to join the Jewish fraternity Tau Epsilon Phi. While in the fraternity, he was the first to serve two consecutive terms as President. Other school activities included the Newman Catholic Center, as well as football and basketball intramurals. Gray is also an avid participant in hand dancing, a D.C.-area derivative of Lindy hop. Gray began his political career with the D.C. Arc, where he successfully advocated for innovative public policy initiatives on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities. In 1991, then-Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly appointed Gray to the post of Director of the DC Department of Human Services. Gray became the founding executive director of Covenant House Washington in December 1994. Over a decade, the agency grew from a van outreach program to a multisite agency serving homeless youth in the city's Southeast and Northeast communities. Council of the District of Columbia In the September 2004 primary election, Gray defeated Kevin P. Chavous, the incumbent Ward 7 member of the Council of the District of Columbia, and went on to win the November general election with 91% of the vote. He was sworn in as a member of the council on January 2, 2005, and was a member of the council's Committees on Health; Economic Development; Human Services; and Education, Libraries and Recreation. Chairman Linda W. Cropp also appointed him to chair a Special Committee on Prevention of Youth Violence. In 2006, when Cropp decided not to run for another term as chairman but to run for mayor instead, Gray ran for chairman. He defeated his council colleague Kathleen Patterson in the Democratic primary, 57% to 43%, and then won the general election unopposed. Gray ran his campaign under the banner "One City" and focused on unity among the disparate racial and economic groups in Washington, D.C. In 2008, Gray successfully led his Council colleagues in passing the "Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008", a program to provide universal pre-kindergarten to every three- and four-year-old in the District of Columbia by 2014, to increase early intervention and enhancement services for student success. Mayor of the District of Columbia 2010 campaign Gray formally entered the race for Mayor of the District of Columbia on March 30, 2010. His campaign adopted the slogan, commonly used during his time as Council Chairman, "One City. Leadership We Need". A Washington Post poll conducted in January 2010 showed Gray leading the incumbent mayor, Adrian Fenty, 38 percent to 31 percent among voters who were "certain" to participate in the September 14th Democratic Primary. The Washington Post noted that the poll's results were an indication of voters' disapproval of Fenty, rather than approval of Gray, because 36 percent of registered Democrats had no opinion of Gray. An August Washington Post poll found Gray with a 17-point advantage among likely voters and a 13-point lead among Democratic voters. In the event, Gray defeated Fenty by a 54 to 44 percent margin. Activities as Mayor In order to save the District $19 million in 2011, Gray proposed to furlough most District employees, including teachers. Workers would not be paid on four holidays, namely President's Day, Emancipation Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. The District Council voted in favor of the idea as part of a plan to save over $19 million for the District. On Presidents' Day, February 21, 2011, over 200 emergency calls made to 911 went unanswered since dispatchers were furloughed. In response to a proposal by Congress to restart a school voucher program in the District, Gray said he was against the idea. During the April 11, 2011 debates on the 2011 United States federal budget, Mayor Gray and several other D.C. elected officials joined city residents outside the Hart Senate Office Building to protest budgetary line items that restricted the city's ability to spend its own locally raised funds. In particular, the budget limits the city's ability to spend money on abortion services and reauthorizes a school voucher program that the city government opposes. U.S. Capitol Police arrested several protesters, including Vincent Gray, for blocking automobile traffic. Speaking to the press before the arrest, Gray said, "This is an absolute travesty. All we want to do is spend our own money... Why should women in the District of Columbia be subjected to a set of rules that no other woman is subjected to?" Sulaimon Brown controversy Amidst the reports of budget tightening and city employee furloughs in the early weeks of the Gray administration, an exposé in The Washington Post revealed that Gray had hired a larger senior staff than his predecessors, and for substantially more money. Among the newly hired top officials was Sulaimon Brown, who had been hired as a special senior assistant in the Department of Health Care Finance for $110,000. Brown was best known as a fringe candidate in the 2010 mayoral election (ultimately receiving just over 200 votes) who, despite being his opponent, encouraged voters to support Gray (if not himself) and denigrated then-incumbent mayor Fenty. The news of the hiring led to charges of cronyism from the local media. However, when the Washington City Paper four days later linked Brown to a 1991 gun charge, a 1995 conviction for unlawful entry, and a 2007 restraining order against a 13-year-old girl, Brown was fired and escorted by security from his office on the morning of February 24. In response to his termination, Brown made allegations to The Washington Post that he had made a secret agreement with Gray during the 2010 mayoral campaign to remain in the race and continue attacking Fenty in his public appearances, in exchange for a job with Gray's administration if Gray won the election. Brown also claimed to have received cash payments from Gray campaign aides Lorraine Green and Howard Brooks; according to the Post, Brown's cellphone records indicated 29 telephone calls to Brooks between June and September 2010 from Gray and Green, and text messages from Gray's phone number seemed to lend.... Discover the Jonice Webb popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jonice Webb books.