They promote programs like inner-city entrepreneurship, government vouchers that allow parents to choose their children's schools, and tenant management or ownership of public housing.

Ms. Gray's place in Republican iconography has upset some who support the concept of tenant management - an idea that arose on the political left.

But what will happen under tenant management in places without a Kimi Gray?

The council has generated proposals for clean air legislation, tenant management of public housing and limits on medical malpractice lawsuits.

Why does the housing agency insist on tenant management?

He argues that tenant management offers "one of the most powerful manifestations of revolutionary ideals since 1776."

A visit to Cochran Gardens leaves no doubt that tenant management has made that housing complex a better place to live.

"The worst tenant management in the country is 90 times better than the Housing Authority," Gilkey says.

When Cochran started its experiment with tenant management in 1976, she was elected its unpaid chairman.

She tells the story of Frances Gibbs, an early leader in the drive for tenant management who also happened to be her mother's best friend.