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

Washington Monthly, July-August, 1986 by Chuck Stone

When scandals weren't in the news, rumors of wrongdoing were circulating. Most damaging in the eyes of the city's large black church-going community was the perception that Barry was an unrestrained philanderer. When I was covering city hall, sources and reporters would often chat about the latest Barry sex rumors before getting down to business. Barry's public actions only encouraged the rumors. For instance, Barry went to a 14th Street strip joint called "This Is It' and expressed frustration when reporters later asked him why he would go into such a place. That the owners of the go-go bar were under grand jury investigation at the time and that the entertainment consisted of naked women standing on tables and bending over to expose their genitalia didn't seem to convince Barry it wasn't a proper setting for the mayor. Barry's defense was that he went there seeking not erotica but campaign contributions.

Alter ego in the slammer

Perhaps the saddest chapter in the story of the Barry administration's shift in values is the career of Ivanhoe Donaldson, the mayor's most trusted aide. Donaldson, who masterminded Barry's two election drives, was the heart and soul of Barry's administration. He was the "hands-on man' in charge of the actual operation of the government while Barry took the ceremonial role of mayor.

Donaldson reveled in his role as the real power broker of the city government; he had always been cast opposite the white power brokers when he had worked with SNCC organizing blacks to register to vote. Now the rich, white K Street lawyers, lobbyists and accountants had to come to Ivanhoe Donaldson to do business. So did the black professionals who worked for the big, white companies--the same guys who for years had snubbed Donaldson and Barry as wild-eyed civil rights workers.

He was once asked why the District government wasn't doing more for the poor. His answer, the Post wrote, was that "government can't eliminate poverty.' Government can, however, give out patronage in the form of jobs and contracts, he added, explaining that contracts Barry gave to selected black professionals who were politically close to the administration would enrich a slice of the black community and might create some jobs for poor blacks. "Patronage isn't evil, it's just good politics,' Donaldson told me one day during the 1982 election. Distribution of contracts and jobs doesn't have to be bad; it can help struggling contractors and the unemployed, and can make government more accountable. The problem with the Barry administration's cronyism is that it has been blind to individual capabilities and needs, and usually lines the pockets of a small group of professionals with political connections. For example, about 40 percent of the city's housing acquisition money from 1979 to 1981 went to builder Theodore Hagen, the chairman of Barry's inauguration committee.

Donaldson used his power to subsidize an extravagant lifestyle, racking up huge debts with payments for his Mercedes Benz, limousines, custom-tailored suits and expensive restaurants. He left city government in 1983 to become a liason with black mayors for E.F. Hutton's municipal bonds division.