LaRuby May

LaRuby Zinea May (born December 28, 1975) is an American politician and African American lawyer who formerly represented Ward 8 on the Council of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. She won the Ward 8 special election on May 10, 2015, succeeding Marion Barry, who died in office on November 23, 2014. May, who was sworn into office on May 14, 2015, served out the remainder of Barry's term, which ended on December 31, 2016. During her first council term, she was active on the issues of crime and violence, marijuana policy, assisted suicide, and improvements to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. She criticized the city's emergency medical services department, opposed the creation of a public electrical utility, and applauded the construction of a sports arena in her ward. She was one of the few council members to support the mayor during the FreshPAC scandal, and although she asked Congress to end its school voucher program she also supported a political action committee which supports an expanded voucher and charter school program in the District. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

She announced in January 2016 that she would campaign for election to a full, four-year term on the district council. She lost the June 2016 Democratic Party primary nomination election to Trayon White. As of 2018, she is chairperson of United Medical Center.

Life and career

Early life and education LaRuby May was born about 1975 in Pensacola, Florida, to Reverend Theophalis May and his wife, Mary. Her father owned a building firm, May's Construction Company, and was widely known in Pensacola for saving and restoring historic buildings. He was also pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.

May received a Bachelor of Arts degree in human development and family studies from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1997. She was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and The Florida Bar.

Early career work May moved to Ward 8 in 2002. While in law school, May took a position as the executive director of the Gift Family Resource Center, a program of Garden Memorial Presbyterian Church which provided after-school and summer educational and enrichment programs for children in elementary and middle school. She left the position in 2003. In 2005 and 2006, May served as a legislative intern and then as Director of Constituent Services in D.C. Council member Marion Barry's office.

May joined Vision of Victory Community Development Corporation in 2007. May served as a project consultant for the nonprofit, which taught workplace skills to at-risk teens and young adults and engaged in low-income housing development. Councilmember Marion Barry helped the program win funding from the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services. May was appointed executive director of the program in May 2008. She continued to hold the position even as she served on the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia Housing Authority, and was serving in the position at the time of her D.C. District Council special election.

May was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia Housing Authority in April 2009 after being nominated by Council Member Marion Barry. In November of the year, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty fired Bill Slover, chair of the Board of Commissioners, and replaced him with May. Mayor Fenty had transferred millions of dollars in capital funds from the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation to the housing authority, and ordered the housing authority to build several new city parks and recreation centers. Contracts for the new parks were awarded to Banneker Ventures, a firm owned by a friend of Mayor Fenty's. May not only continued to implement the parks construction scheme, she added another $50 million to the effort from housing authority funds. As May's term as board chairperson neared completion on July 12, 2010, May took over as head of the search committee seeking a new chairperson. She then replaced existing search committee member Ken Grossinger (who represented the Metropolitan Washington AFL-CIO) with Valerie Santos, Fenty's deputy mayor for planning and economic development. According to The Washington Post, this upset Fenty opponents, who saw it as yet another example of a power-grab by the mayor.

At some point in her career, May also worked for Capitol Services Management, a firm which provided management services to D.C. public housing buildings. May quickly became part of a very tight inner circle of Bowser supporters. Bowser defeated Gray in the Democratic primary on April 1, 2014, then easily won the mayoralty in the general election in November 2014.

Bowser named May to the Economic Development and Jobs Committee of her mayoral transition team.

2015 D.C. Council special election Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry died in office on November 23, 2014. Two weeks later, May filed to run for Barry's council seat in the 2015 special election. At the time, the leading candidate to replace Barry, The Washington Post said, was Marion Christopher Barry, the late council member's 34-year-old son. Brianne Nadeau, Ward 1 Council Member, was one of May's earliest supporters, publicly endorsing her in late January and fundraising for her.

By February 3, 2015, 14 other candidates had joined May in the crowded Ward 8 special election. May proved to be a fund-raising powerhouse, however. By January 30, she had raised $177,405 and had spent almost nothing. Her closest competitor was Sheila Bunn, who had raised $51,692 by the same date. Far back in the pack was Trayon White, a former D.C. Board of Education member who had raised a mere $2,562. The Washington Post asserted that May's fund-raising advantage was critical in raising her name awareness in Ward 8, where she was little known, and allowing her to stand out in the crowded election field. Most of May's 535 contributors were corporations, nearly all of whom had donated $500 (the maximum amount permitted under D.C. election law). Local political columnist Jonetta Rose Barras argued that this might actually prove a handicap to May's election, as she would have few places to turn for major donations later in the campaign. Efn|D.C. campaign finance law limited corporations to a single $500 donation to each candidate for office. However, if an individual controlled more than one Limited Liability Company (or LLC), each LLC could give a $500 donation—effectively allowing the individual to circumvent the law. May raised another $66,000 between January 30 and March 1, most of which came from real estate developers and construction firms. May had $130,000 on hand to spend during the last six weeks of the race, about four times as much money as her nearest competitor. May's fund-raising efforts were led by now-Mayor Muriel Bowser, who headlined several fund-raising meetings for her. Trayon White, meanwhile, raised just over $10,000 and $12,000 in his campaign coffere.

May received another boost in the crowded field of candidates when the D.C. Board of Elections randomly chose her name to appear second on the list of candidates. May's fundraising reached $239,621 as of March 10.

On April 3, May easily won a Ward 8 Democratic party straw poll, confirming her lead in the Ward 8 race.

May was endorsed by the editorial board of The Washington Post on April 12. Although mayors are expected to campaign for candidates they endorse, other candidates in the Ward 8 race felt Bowser went far beyond all previous efforts.

In April 2015, Candidate Stuart Anderson dropped out of the race and urged voters to support Trayon White. Candidate Eugene D. Kinlow mailed a flyer to residents accusing May of favoring the interests of big business and developers outside Ward 8 to those of the residents of Ward 8. A Kinlow press release claimed that the charter public school May led was failing its students.

In an interview published on March 9, 2011, May told independent alternative newsweekly Inweekly, "If there were opportunities for me, I would love to return to Pensacola. ... I would appreciate the opportunity to serve the community which helped me to become the person that I am. But I am also practical and understand that I have greater access to resources away from Pensacola than I do in Pensacola."

Hundreds of people volunteered for May's campaign between December 2014 and April 2015. They canvassed most of Ward 8, and hundreds of people registered to vote. As election day neared, canvassing increased, and May provided vans to drive voters in the city's most transit-dependent ward to early voting locations downtown. May also sponsored a free barbecue and concert on April 13, the first day of early-voting.

By the campaign's end, May had raised nearly $270,000.

Election results Turnout in the Ward 8 special election on April 28, 2015, was especially high, with more than 6,200 ballots cast by the ward's nearly 52,000 voters. That was nearly 75 percent of the turnout in the 2014 mayoral primary—far exceeding expectations. Preliminary election results released late in the evening on April 28 showed LaRuby May with 1,711 votes and Trayon White with 1,559 votes, a difference of just 152 ballots. Although May outspent White 16-to-1, election observers said White had surged late in the race as an "anti-establishment vote" and that he had consolidated much of his support by drawing it from other candidates in the crowded field. By May 7, with 823 provisional and absentee ballots counted, May led White by 80 votes. Two-hundred-and-seventeen provisional ballots remained uncounted, but the BOE said the deadline set by election law required voters to show proof of residency by 5 PM on Friday, May 9, to have their ballot count.

On May 9, the D.C. Board of Elections announced its final, unofficial ballot count in the Ward 8 special election. After counting 951 of the 1,031 provisional and absentee ballots, the BOE declared that LaRuby May won the election with 1,955 votes to Trayon White's 1,876—a margin of 79 votes, or 1.08 percent of all ballots cast. May picked up 244 votes (25.66 percent of all provisional and absentee ballots), and White 317 (33.33 percent of all provisional and absentee ballots cast). Under D.C. law, a winning margin of less than 1 percent creates an automatic recount, an outcome May avoided.

The BOE said it would certify the Ward 8 special election on May 14, 2015, and The Washington Post said May would likely be sworn in as a D.C. council member at that time. White said he would ask for a recount. But the BOE said that May would be able to take her seat immediately after the election is certified and she is sworn in, and that she would be able to begin council work right away. The BOE indicated that White's request for a recount would have to wait until the certification was made.

White initially asked for a recount on May 22. But just a few hours after the recount began on May 28, he asked the Board of Elections to suspend its recount. Efn|The BOE and several news outlets estimated the cost of a recount at $50 per precinct. This number was incorrect; as the BOE noted in a letter to White, the D.C. Code says $50 per precinct is only the down-payment required by law. The BOE advised White it estimated the cost of a full recount at $7,360. According to the Washington City Paper, a single day's recount cost $2,276.80, and as "White watched the recount bill balloon in May, he called off the recount early." White subsequently alleged that the BOE "duped him on the cost of a full recount". According to the Washington City Paper, May pushed hard to reopen discussions on council budget compromises reached (but not enacted) before she was elected. May then strongly supported Bowser's budget initiatives, helping to defeat a push by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson to phase in tax cuts in July 2015 instead of the planned February 2016 date.

By April 2016, the Washington City Paper said, May had become "one of Muriel Bowser's most reliable votes on the Council."

Crime and violence Violence in Ward 8 proved to be one of the biggest issues May confronted in her first term. By July 29, 80 homicides occurred in the city—30 of them in May's ward. "I've been a council member for 72 days, and I've already been to seven or eight funerals for people younger than me," May said. To respond to the sharp increase in violence, May began holding "pop-up" events in different neighborhoods of her ward once a week during the D.C. Council recess. Each pop-up had May on-site meeting with residents, free food, and representatives from city government agencies and job placement agencies to assist residents in obtaining social services, medical care, or employment assistance. Private donors paid for the pop-ups. The pop-ups, The Washington Post said, also served as means of bolstering support for May in the ward, and as a means of registering new voters and obtaining voter contact information for May's likely renomination in the D.C. primary in June 2016.

In June 2015, May strongly supported a proposal by Mayor Bowser which would allow the Metropolitan Police Department to temporarily close for 96 hours any business suspected of selling "synthetic drugs". Bower's bill would also allow for temporary closure of a business for up to 30 days if a business were caught selling synethic drugs a second time, and imposition of a $100,000 fine (five times the current penalty). The District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs would also be given the authority revoke the license of any business caught selling the chemicals. When the Council went back into session on September 16, 2015, after its summer break, May continued to strongly support the mayor's anti-crime package. During a Judiciary Committee hearing, May demanded that the council consider a "holistic approach" to the issue of crime and violence that would focus on education and jobs as well as traditional crime prevention and policing. May later voted in favor of compromise legislation whose centerpiece was a counseling, job training, and stipend program aimed at 200 of the city's most at-risk residents which would encourage them to avoid criminal enterprises. May worked with council member Jack Evans to amend the bill to enhance penalties for crimes committed on the Washington Metro, Metrobus, in city parks, and at city recreation centers. The amendment was defeated after Judiciary Committee chair Kenyan McDuffie pointed out that such penalties due little to deter crime and have not been enforced in D.C. The anti-crime package then passed the council on January 15, 2016. The bill would spend $3.9 million in fiscal 2016 and $25.6 million through fiscal 2019. The Bowser administration notified the council that it had no funds to implement the bill.

After D.C. special education teacher Alonzo Smith died in November 2015 while in the custody of security guards at an apartment building, May co-sponsored McDuffie's bill which to increase "special police" training to 24 hours from 16; require additional training in emergency procedures, interactions with tourists, and responses to terrorism to 32 hours from 24 hours; and require new training on how to de-escalate conflict, how to interact with people with disabilities or mental health problems, and how to avoid biased policing. During hearings on the bill, May characterized the training which the city's 17,000 security guards and special police receive as not rigorous, and suggested that landlords and employers tended to use such guards only in buildings which predominantly served or housed African Americans.

May also became concerned with graffiti, and in January 2016 co-sponsored a bill with Council member Brandon Todd (Ward 4) which would increase the fine for making graffiti to $2,500 from $250, and add a possible prison sentence of up to 180 days. The bill would increase the fine for "intent to graffiti" charge, to a range of $500 to $2,500 from an existing range of $100 to $1,000.

Cannabis clubs May also wrestled with the issue of "cannabis clubs". District residents had overwhelmingly voted in November 2014 to legalize the personal use of marijuana. But under federal law, landlords who received Section 8 money to provide subsidized or free housing to the poor could evict anyone who used marijuana in these homes. Members of the public attempted to establish "cannabis clubs", where people could smoke marijuana away from the home. Fearful of a backlash in Congress, Mayor Bowser convinced the district council to enact emergency legislation in March 2015 temporarily banning cannabis clubs for 90 days. But after 30 minutes of intense lobbying by Mayor Bowser, May reversed her vote.

Reporter Aaron C. Davis of The Washington Post implied that May dared not oppose the mayor on the issue for fear of losing Bowser's financial backing in her reelection campaign.

The council Judiciary Committee has oversight over the D.C. Fire and EMS Department. May missed the June 30, 2015, vote during which the committee voted to forward for approval the nomination of Acting District Fire Chief Gregory Dean to the full council. May also missed Dean's presentation on how he would improve the department. Dean was unanimously confirmed (with May present and voting) on July 14, 2015.

Dean identified an immediate need for more ambulances to meet city needs. Mayor Bowser asked the council for authority to contract with private ambulance services to provide this service. During hearings on the issue on October 1, May excoriated the DCFEMS for a "100 percent negative" experience while being transported during an emergency. "They mistreated me. They dogged me out. They said inappropriate language, inappropriate comments the entire time I was in the ambulance. Once they got me stable, I refused to continue to be transported by that ambulance." May also expressed her concern that private ambulance services would not treat African Americans or poor people with respect and dignity.

Basketball practice facility Ward 8 has long suffered from a lack of economic development activity on the part of the city and private enterprise.

To help boost economic activity in the area, in mid-September 2015 Mayor Bowser announced a deal whereby the city would build a sports arena on the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Congress Heights. The District agreed to pay $23 million of the cost of the $55 million arena, which would be used as a practice facility by the Washington Wizards Washington Mystics professional basketball teams. Events DC, the taxpayer funded quasi-public corporation which operates Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, agreed to provide $27 million, while the Wizards/Mystics organization said its share was $5 million, bringing the total taxpayer contribution to 90 percent of the cost. May said she completely backed the Bowser plan for the arena. In March 2016, May announced her opposition to legislation which would limit taxpayer spending in the event of cost overruns for the facility.

PEPCO study In April 2014, the midwestern energy utility Exelon announced it was merging with Pepco, the regional mid-Atlantic energy utility which provides most of the power and natural gas to District of Columbia residents. On August 24, 2015, the District of Columbia Public Service Commission denied Pepco's petition to merge. The commission expressed deep concern over Pepco's lack of representation on the executive committee at Exelon, Exelon's commitment to coal-fired electrical generation (which is not in conformity with the District's policy of sustainable energy), and the potential for Exelon to force rate increases on D.C. residents.

2016