mr. sherwood, watching him over and over during that time period. the thing you learn here over time is the fact that there's a lot more to marion barry than what happened that day, and this is a man who was on the font lines of the civil rights movement, there's so many things historically, and i think in his obituary, people will remember this, what he did before he was mayor and what he did on the front lines of the civil rights movement, right up there with the john lewises and some of these other folks. it's that that is why i think there was so much loyalty in washington for him. so many washingtonians were willing to give r forgive so many of his sins because when it mattered to them, he was there on the front lines. >> that had to be a question that outsiders from washington would skrks how does this guy get re-elected and re-elected. >> you have to understand sort of this city, what it is today, africans americans getting the chance to govern and self-govern here in washington, d.c., it's marion barry that made that possible. it's marion ba

mr. council member, it's tom sherwood. thank you for joining us. he played the role, voted for the baseball team to build the stadium and the ball park. that was important. even recently he's been a factor and a vote for you on the council to try to get the soccer deal done. would this have any impact on the soccer deal going forward before the first of the year? >> he's the vote we were counting on. he's not there now, but i think we'll get the deal done. current mayor vince gray to get it done. >> you're the finance and revenue chairman. how many years have you been there? used to be charge of judiciary. how long have you been the financial revenue chairman? >> since 2001. 14 years now. >> barry, even if you talked to him this past week, he was aware, knowing the details of the budget and how to put things together. >> he certainly did. he was the very first finance chair of the council in 1975 when we first got an elected government. so he and i have sent countless hours talking about finances. that was his hallmark. he knew where everything was

mr. council member, tom sherwood here. >> yes, tom. >> before you were the elected council member from ward 1, you were whitman walker health. marion barry was one of the earliest politicians in the country to embrace and seek the support of openly gay and lesbian people in the city. he also was active on the aids issue when many people were clamoring that president rag reagan wouldn't even say the word. what can you say for him? >> he was of critical significance. he issued the first municipal age contract for services in the united states in august 1983. there was a lot of pressure on him at that time to perhaps choose another organization. but he decided on the merits. i had conversations with him at the time. it wasn't an easy decision for him, but it was a clear decision for him on the merits. he awarded the contract, $17,500 in august 1983 to whitman walker clinic. we had to spend the money before the 30th of september. it felt like the heavens had opened. >> more recently you've been trying to get the city to do more about homelessness in the city. the city has been responding slowly