A dream deferred; a black mayor betrays the faith - Philadelphia mayor - W. Wilson Goode

Washington Monthly, July-August, 1986 by Chuck Stone

Barry was also showing signs that his revolutionary zeal had been replaced by a concern for money, clothes and status. I was then covering local politics for The Washington Post. His intimates told me Barry gained great pleasure from seeing his name in print and being recognized in public. He bought expensive new clothes, ate at fancy restaurants, and took trips to the Caribbean. Then he had his friends complain to the press that his $64,000 salary was inadequate. The complaints turned virtually into a full-fledged movement to get Barry a $500,000 mansion as an official mayoral residence.

He later complained that other mayors were allowed such perks, so why shouldn't he have them? "In Gary, Indiana, where the whole city is on hard economic times, with factories leaving, unemployment, if [Mayor] Dick Hatcher turned in his Cadillac people there would be outraged,' Barry said wistfully. "If someone donated a Cadillac here the city would be outraged.'

He travelled to a Sugar Ray Leonard fight in Las Vegas at city expense, at first telling reporters that he was trying to lure prize fighting to the District. He soon backed off that explanation as it became clear no one believed him. When city workers had failed to clear the streets following a snowstorm in 1979, Barry rode to work in his limousine. In a gesture of arrogance even Mayor Daley would have found offensive, he then told a reporter "there are more important things for me to worry about than snow,' and gave pithy advice to those who were unable to drive to work: "They can walk.'

As his first term wound down, another scandal hit close to home. Reports emerged that Barry's first wife, Mary Treadwell, Barry's wife until 1976, had diverted federal funds from Pride, Inc., the anti-poverty group that she had run with Barry, to her own bank account. Barry said he had suspected nothing about her alleged misuse of federal funds even though Treadwell drove a Mercedes, bought him a Volvo, and paid for trips to the Caribbean, art and jewelry--all on her $23,000-a-year salary. The government also charged that Treadwell had defrauded the government of money intended for Clifton Terrace, a low-income apartment complex. In July 1983, Treadwell was convicted and sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Since his 1982 reelection, the parade of scandals surrounding Barry has continued:

In mid-1984, reports emerged that Barry had bought cocaine from a campaign worker, Karen Johnson. In a phone conversation apparently taped by the police, Johnson reportedly told her boyfriend she had sold cocaine to the mayor. Barry admitted he had a "personal relationship' with Johnson but denied any drug use. In June, Johnson pleaded guilty to charges of using and selling cocaine. She was also cited for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating allegations that several city officials, including Barry, used cocaine. Barry testified before the grand jury in the Johnson case but was not indicted.