Arrington Dixon is an American politician who is a former Chair and Member of the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Early years

Dixon was born in

Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is nam ...

, to James and Sally Dixon.

Council of the District of Columbia

1975–1979

In November 1974, Dixon was chosen to represent Ward 4 when voters elected the first members of the

, the legislature of the city's new

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

government. The initial term for the Ward 4 seat, like those for half the council seats, was only 2 years, to provide for staggered council elections in later years, but in 1976 Dixon was reelected to a full four-year term.

1979–1983

In 1978, council chairman Sterling Tucker ran for mayor rather than seeking reelection. Dixon, who was halfway through his Ward 4 term, decided to run for Chair of the Council and won. He served 4 years. In 1982, Dixon ran for re-election, but he was defeated in the Democratic primary by David A. Clarke. Dixon was later appointed by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

to serve as a public member of the

National Capital Planning Commission The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...

1997

More than a decade later, Dixon returned to the council as an at-large member for a few months in 1997 when he was chosen in August by the

District of Columbia Democratic State Committee The District of Columbia Democratic State Committee (DC Dems) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the District of Columbia. As of March 31, 2016, Democrats make up 76 percent of the registered voters in the District of Columbia, while 6 p ...

to replace Linda Cropp, who had vacated her at-large seat to become chairman. The appointment lasted only until a December special election, in which he was defeated by then-

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

David Catania David A. Catania (born January 16, 1968) is an American politician and lawyer from Washington, D.C. He was formerly an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia, which he gave up to pursue an unsuccessful run in the 2014 mayor ...

. Catania was sworn in on December 15, 1997.

Personal life

In 1966, he married

Sharon Pratt Kelly Sharon Pratt (born January 30, 1944), formerly Sharon Pratt Dixon and Sharon Pratt Kelly, is an American attorney and politician who was the third mayor of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1995, the first mayor born in the District of Colum ...

, and they had daughters Aimee and Drew. His daughters were born in 1968 and 1970. The couple divorced in 1982 after sixteen years of marriage."Sharon Pratt Dixon."

Notable Black American Women ''Notable Black American Women'' is a three-volume series by Jessie Carney Smith profiling 1,100 Black American women. The first volume, with 500 profiles, was published in 1992, the second in 1994, and the third in 2003, all by Gale. Smith spent ...

, Book 1. Gale Research, 1992. Updated: 12/20/1992 Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.

Farmington Hills, Michigan Farmington Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the affluent suburbs northwest of Detroit, Farmington Hills is the second most-populated city in Oakland County, after Troy, with a population of 83,986 at the 20 ...

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Fairfax County Public Library The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) is a public library system headquartered in Suite 324 of The Fairfax County Government Center in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Hennen's American Public Library Ratings ...

2009-04-10.

References

External links

Arrington Dixon Papers finding aidOld D.C. Council Campaign Posters
- Ghosts of DC blog African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics Members of the Council of the District of Columbia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Washington, D.C., Democrats 2004 United States presidential electors 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians {{WashingtonDC-politician-stub