By Adam Pagnucco.
The massive, gilded doors close on the gleaming conference room inside. Steaks, lobster and caviar are brought out on silver trays while cabernet, single malt scotch and Courvoisier flow freely. Seated at the giant oak table are an array of fat, white and bald business executives in double-breasted suits discussing which of their political minions deserve to be reelected or promoted to higher office. Under a reeking cloud of cigar smoke, deals are cut, endorsements are made, cash is distributed and the county’s political leadership is anointed.
Progressives may think this actually happens. They may believe this is what they’re up against. But I have been in rooms full of business people and you know what I have seen?
Complaining. That’s right, the allegedly powerful are actually mostly powerless and have no plan to get power or wield it. Progressives are far more advanced in their understanding of the formation and use of political power than the county’s business community.
There was a time, nearly twenty years ago, when the business community was systemically involved in county elections. That time is long past. Most discussions of politics among business people, at least the ones in which I have participated, are dominated by hand wringing. “The business climate is terrible!” “They take us for granted.” “It’s almost impossible to get anything done here.” “It’s so much easier to do business in Virginia.” And on and on.
Whether such complaints are true or not, what’s missing is discussion of building a durable organization, hiring top-notch political operatives, building communication capacity, establishing alliances and participating in elections on a permanent basis. These are natural discussions for unions and progressive groups, which at least try to do such things. For the most part, county business people don’t even know HOW to have such a discussion.
The lack of political awareness among some in the business community can be truly stunning. About a year after public financing was passed, I had lunch with a prominent real estate figure and asked him what he thought about it. “I love it,” he said. “Politicians harass me for thousands of dollars at election time. Now all I have to give them is $150. I can write those checks all day long.” It didn’t occur to him that public financing was explicitly aimed at reducing his industry’s influence, but he still loved it because he could save a bit of cash. What about when his business interests were at stake? When I brought that up, silence prevailed at the lunch table.
Now we get to Charlie Nulsen, the president of Washington Property Company and initiator of Progressives for Progress and other forays into politics. I had no involvement with Progressives for Progress but I did do some brief work for Charlie years ago, so I know him. Charlie is fearless and aggressive. He does not care what most other people think about him. He is willing to stick his neck out when so many of his colleagues cower in fear of the politicians who wield power over their land use plans. He will put hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line while others will put in a couple hundred bucks, if that. Charlie is not perfect – for example, the name “Progressives for Progress” was awful – but he tries. That alone makes him unusual.
Because the business community is so apathetic about elections, they have essentially ceded almost all of their political activity to Charlie and his adviser, former County Council Member Steve Silverman. Let’s remember that Charlie is a developer. He doesn’t represent all the other parts of the business community: life sciences, manufacturing, finance, IT, health care, restaurants, retail and – most critically – the incredibly diverse small business community. Those parts of the business community are almost wholly absent from county elections because no one is organizing them. The result is events like Council Member Will Jawando’s rally against Progressives for Progress. If my business sources are unhappy with Charlie and Steve over that, it’s their own fault because they have done nothing to get politically organized.
And here’s the potential. What do business people in this county want? The ones I know want job creation, strong public education, robust investment in transportation infrastructure, support for small business, no tax hikes, regulations that are not out of line with the rest of the region and more efforts to stop crime. Guess what? An awful lot of Democratic primary voters want those same things. But those voters don’t know that they are in alignment with the county’s business community because business leaders don’t talk to them. For the most part, they don’t even try. And so the mythology about the smoke-filled rooms prevails and nothing changes.
Are you a business person who complains about the county? Great. Stop complaining. Get involved. Develop your policy agenda. Put up some money and help your colleagues get organized for the next election. If not, your other choices are to sell off your assets, go out of business or move to Virginia.