Raising "the Tommy Wells flag" at the Ward Six Candidates Forum

Charles Allen and Darrel Thompson, candidates in the April 1 Democratic primary to replace mayoral candidate Tommy Wells as Ward Six representative, met for a forum in the basement of Watha T. Daniel Library (1630 7th Street NW) in Shaw on March 12. The forum was moderated by Andrew Lightman, publisher of MidCity DC and other hyperlocal news outlets.

The candidates were urged to take off their ties.

The candidates agreed on many things. For example:

• There is an ethical crisis in DC government.
• They support new legislation on campaign contributions.
• They want to improve public transit in Ward Six.
• They will not seek outside employment if elected to the DC Council.
• They are against neighborhood preferences for charter schools.

"These wonderful men are very well behaved," Lightman said at the beginning of the evening. Throughout the forum, the candidates spoke respectfully to one another and the general tone remained civil.

Tommy Wells: absent but present

The most discordant note was when Thompson accused Allen of either adopting or rejecting the legacy of Tommy Wells according to political expediency. Allen has been Wells' Chief of Staff for more than six years.

"You can't raise the Tommy Wells flag when it helps you and lower it when it doesn't," Thompson said.

Thompson cited two instances when he thought Wells was insufficiently attentive to his constituents. The first involved the former Shaw-Southwest Circulator Bus, which discontinued service in 2011.

"It got yanked largely at your mentor's [i.e., Wells'] request," Lightman said.

Allen said he would fight for its reinstatement.

"You were there when we lost Circulator in the first place," Thompson said.

The second involved a question about increased demand for "walk-to" neighborhood schools.

"That's a difference between Tommy and me," Allen said. "I'll be a stronger fighter for neighborhood schools."

Thompson said Allen should have started fighting sooner as Chief of Staff.

"You have the ear of your boss," Thompson said.

The Culture of Corruption

The forum took place at the same time as Mayor Gray's State of the District address, and Gray's recent problems were a subject for discussion. In answer to a question about legislative initiatives to curb corruption, Allen suggested a complete elimination of corporate contributions.

As it stands now, a limited liability corporation (LLC) in D.C. can donate to a campaign, so people can and have anonymously established multiple LLCs to enable large but quiet donations.

"When someone is able to give once as themselves, and once for each corporation, that's wrong," Allen said.

At another point in the evening, Allen said: "The way you make sure you have accountability is that you have one name on the check."

Thompson did not come out for elimination of corporate contributions, but instead said "the [D.C. city] council should have some say so."

"We should hold corporations responsible," Thompson said.

Later, Thompson said, "We need new fixes and legislation. This comes back to integrity and character."

Graham, Nadeau, Weaver at Ward One Candidates Forum

The three candidates for D.C. City Councilmember from Ward One -- incumbent Jim Graham, Brianne Nadeau, and Bryan Weaver -- spoke to prospective voters at a forum on Thursday evening, January 30. It was held in the Good Will Baptist Church (1862 Kalorama Road NW) and sponsored by the Kalorama Citizens Association (KCA).

Topics included education, the future of D.C. United's stadium, and liquor license moratoriums.

Graham late so Weaver speaks

Bryan Weaver at the January 30 forum

The forum sponsors were reluctant to start without Graham, who was 30
minutes late. After some attendees agitated to start without Graham, moderator Dennis James, head of the KCA, announced that Bryan Weaver would be given five minutes to speak before the scheduled main event between Graham and Nadeau.

Weaver had announced the previous evening that he was dropping out of the Democratic primary scheduled for April 1. Instead, Weaver will run as an independent in the November general election.

"D.C. is a broken system," Weaver said. "We have a warlord problem. I know what you’re thinking. Warlord -- you're thinking of Joseph Kony. You're thinking Taliban. You're thinking right-wing death squads."

Weaver then went on to compare "political brokers" in D.C. to these warlords, in that each was close-minded and change-averse, and each exploit the existing political system.

"Our system is completely broken," Weaver said.

In response to an audience question, Weaver said he would make his candidacy official in June.

"We think we're well within the guidelines," he said.

After Graham arrived, Weaver concluded: "I'd like to thank Jim Graham for giving me the time to speak."

Education, charter schools, neighborhood schools

Weaver also got a question about education. He said there needed to be more resources and better quality education.

"I don't exactly agree with [D.C. City Councilmember] David Catania's plan," he said.

Later, the two Democratic candidates fielded a question about the state of childhood education.

Nadeau noted that, in Ward One, there were more children in public charter schools than neighborhood schools.

"What I'm afraid is happening in some cases is that parents are choosing [charter] schools simply because neighborhood schools aren't good enough," Nadeau said.

Nadeau said she wanted to make it easier for parents to choose a school.

"We want them to be choosing it because it's good for their kids -- not because the other option is bad for them," she said.

In reply, Graham noted his long history of support for bilingual and charter schools in D.C.

"I think that charter schools bring us great richness," Graham said.

Graham went on to say he thought D.C. could have an active charter school movement and good neighborhood schools at the same time.

Various stadium deals

The candidates talked about the competing plans for a new home for D.C. United: a plan by City Councilmember Vincent Orange renovating RFK Stadium vs. a new stadium at Buzzard's Buzzard Point. The latter deal would involve swapping Ward One's Reeves Center (14th and U Streets) for a parcel of land at Buzzard's Point in Southwest Washington.

"The deal for Buzzard's Buzzard Point cannot proceed until we've analyzed RFK," Graham said. Graham noted he had co-sponsored a proposed law by Councilmember Orange about the RFK renovation.

Graham listens, Nadeau speaks

Nadeau was more positive about the Reeves Center/Buzzard's Buzzard Point option, but also wanted to make sure that the successor to the Reeves Center included community space, not just high-end housing.

"I'd like to see that deal move forward," she said. Then she said: "We need to see more transparency."

Adams Morgan and liquor license moratoriums

KCA head and forum moderator Dennis James got into a quarrel with Graham about certain actions Graham may or may not have taken five or more years ago in connections with attempts to renew the liquor license moratorium in Adams Morgan. James eventually yielded to audience members who shouted: "Let the candidates speak!"

"I think one of the biggest issues we're having here is really not about whether there's a moratorium of not," Nadeau said. "It's about whether or not you've got enforcement of the laws on the books. You know, it's whether or not a nightclub -- which is prohibited under the moratorium but is effectively operating under a restaurant license -- is allowed to do that."

Graham said that, when he started on the council, city alcohol inspectors refused to work at nights, but during Graham's period of oversight they began to work at night. Graham also said he found money in the city budget for extra auditors. These auditors worked to ensure liquor licensees complied with city rules so de facto nightclubs could not masquerade as restaurants for licensing purposes.

"The enforcement is so much better," Graham said.

About the effects of moratoriums in general, Graham said: "I think by and large they have been positive." Graham said that, without moratoriums, the pressure of increasing rents would drive all non-alcohol-dependent businesses out of an area. This was why, Graham said, there were no hardware stores or antique shops in the area anymore.

Punch line

At the evening's end, the candidates were given a final opportunity to speak. Graham ended his speech by saying: "In the immortal words of FDR, 'Just one more term'."

"That's a joke," he added.

Read coverage of the same forum in Washington City Paper here.

Muriel Bowser on local Dupont/Logan/U Street Issues

Ward 4 City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser spoke last night (January 16) to a group of approximately 60 potential voters in the ballroom of the Chastleton Cooperative (1701 16th Street NW). The event was co-hosted by several Commissioners from midcity Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) and by the Bowser campaign.

Bowser spoke to the crowd about her biography, accomplishments, and vision for the future. See a one-minute YouTube sample of the beginning of Bowser's address below.

If video will not display, see it on YouTube here.

 

Here is what Bowser said about some of the issues of purely local interest, posed at a subsequent question-and-answer session.

16th Street Bus Traffic

ANC 2B/Dupont Circle Commissioner Kishan Putta (district 04) began the question-and-answer portion of the evening by asking Bowser about the difficulties that riders in his district were experiencing on the 16th Street bus (S1, 2, and 4). Putta told Bowser the buses were often full by the time they descended from Columbia Heights down to the area below U Street. Putta solicited another member of the audience to testify to the severity of the problem. The other member of the audience said on some mornings ten city buses pass by without stopping.

"We made some adjustments in the last year," Bowser said. "It sounds like we need to do more."

Bowser went on to say there was not a lot of extra space to add buses on 16th Street during rush hour, and special lanes were really not an option. However, Bowser said there could be improvements in "bus prioritization". Federal money had gone to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for this purpose. WMATA had in turn transferred to funds to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT).

"But DDOT hasn't done anything about it," Bowser said.

Bowser also mentioned "bus signalization". This would enable approaching buses to send signals to traffic lights, which would help keep buses moving more smoothly through congested areas.

Reeves Center Land Swap

Bowser touched on the state of the proposed land swap that would trade the Reeves Center (14th and U Streets) for a parcel of land in Southwest Washington, in order to allow the construction of a stadium for the D.C. United soccer club. (See SALM blog post of January 7.)

"With the soccer stadium, it's not a fait accompli," Bowser said. "There are many moving parts to that."

Bowser called D.C. United "good neighbors" in D.C. and said they had approached the land swap deal thoughtfully. However, she was not enthusiastic about the land swap deal.

"It's not perfect. A land swap is a bad idea because we don't know the true value of the Reeves Center," Bowser said.

Bowser concluded that the $150 million that D.C. is putting into this deal would be better spent rebuilding the District's middle schools.

"What we should be doing now is challenging all the council members not to rubberstamp a deal that they haven't seen," Bowser said. "That's number one: let's get a good deal for the residents."

Charter Schools vs. Community Schools

An audience member objected to the way charter schools were developing, especially the way the students with the most involved parents ended up in charter schools, and the rest ended up in community schools.

"This is the problem of not being able to put the toothpaste back in the tube," Bowser said.

Bowser said she expected to continue to see a lot of charter schools attempt to open, but not always serving the people who needed them.

"We ought to be able to limit the number of charters that open and be able to direct what part of the city they open in," she said.

She continued: "You also probably know I have the unpopular idea that charter schools have to educate kids in their neighborhoods."

Bowser recalled that she had a big argument with journalist Tom Sherwood on this issue on WAMU's "Kojo Nnamdi Show". However, her opinion was unchanged.

"I do think we have to have a neighborhood preference for charter schools," Bowser said.

At the end of the question-and-answer session, ANC2B Commissioner Stephanie Maltz (district 03) thanked Bowser for coming to speak.

Also attending were ANC2A Commissioner Jackson Carnes (district 07), ANC2F Commissioner Chris Linn (district 03), ANC2B Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06), and Jack Jacobson, Ward 2 representative on the DC State Board of Education.

David Catania on Education at ANC1B

DC City Councilmember and possible mayoral candidate David Catania addressed a meeting of ANC1B about the Council's Education Committee on December 5.

Catania at ANC1B December 5

Catania touted the achievements of the committee, which he has been chair of since January. He said he is still pursuing his goal to visit every school personally. So far he has visited 102 schools, he said.

Other achievements of the Education Committee included measures to promote test integrity and reduce truancy, Catania said.

Catania also said he was pleased about the passage of a bill ending the practice of social promotion in D.C. schools. Previously, he said, D.C. could only hold students back in the third, fifth, and eighth grades. As a result, when students got to high school level and had to take standardized test, one-third of ninth grade students failed. In ending the practice of social promotion, Catania said, he had returned responsibility for promotions to the teachers.

Another bill Catania explained was his attempt to get more city education funds directed towards at-risk students. He said the new funding system measures to what extent students are at risk and rewards increased funding based on how dire the at-risk student's circumstances were.

During a short Q-and-A session, a member of the audience asked, "What are you doing to keep me here?"

By this, the audience member meant that many D.C. parents enrolled their children in public elementary schools, but felt the need to move their families to the suburbs in time for their children to attend middle school.

He said the DC education system was "designed to defeat itself", because it does not support middle schools. Catania told an anecdote about middle-school students who preferred to travel across the city to one of the few adequate middle schools than go to an inadequate middle school that is across the street from their homes.

Improving D.C.'s middle schools was also the subject of a contentious Education Committee hearing earlier this month.