Why?
I decided in January not to run again for the Adams Morgan ANC. I've been a commissioner in Adams Morgan since 2006. Being an ANC commissioner is a thankless job for no pay, for which you are often harshly criticized by people who contribute nothing but problems to the life of the community. It is also an opportunity to serve and occasionally have an impact on the quality of life in the community. I also served in the early 80s, when we got La Casa Shelter started. In the last four years, we got HD Cooke built and began a community market in Unity Park that is still a work in progress.
Many things did not change. The rat population of Adams Morgan always seems to be growing. The madness and mayhem of 18th Street continues unabated, where MPD is still not allowed to give a citation ticket to someone who litters. The schools are still disconnected from the community. There is still no public recycling in Ward One. Some youth of Adams Morgan are still engaged in gang violence. We still do not have Statehood, which makes us second class.
The incumbent in the Ward One DC Council race represents the status quo. He brought us the big box stores in Columbia Heights and large condo developments. Yes, he has worked for low income housing in the ward, but he is letting La Casa Shelter close, in spite of a promise 8 years ago to keep a shelter component as part of the new development in the same land parcel. The incumbent has become too closely alligned with large corporate entities, where a lot of his money comes from.
A search of the incumbent's donors listed on his campaign finance filings revealed that the incumbent is not filing online, like his opponents in the primary election did. By filing online, one's campaign finance records are searchable and truly open to public scrutiny. Councilmember Graham files a hardcopy of donor records, listed in an almost illegible form to make it difficult to read. They are scanned and then posted. When they appear online, you have to tilt your head 90 degrees to be able to read them. By filing this way, staff from the OCF must eventually input the information, which costs the taxpayers money.
From quality of life issues to life and death issues, Ward One needs a change in leadership to address the issues differently and more wholistically. As the DC Statehood Green Party candidate I think I can offer just the right balanced approach to solving the problems, and I clearly offer the voters a choice.
The inalienable right of every citizen in the Ward and the City to have true democracy in the form of Statehood is still a dream for District residents. If we accept something/anything less than statehood, we accept less than what we deserve as people.
The pictures below are some of the people who came to my photography show: "What's Up With the Homeless?" -- recently taken photos of homeless men standing in line outside 3 different shelters. I had planned to make an announcement that I was on the ballot and running for the Ward One Council seat, but by then, it was already known because I had to declare my candidacy by close of business on Friday September 17th.
Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world.
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