“What two recommendations of the Tax Revision Commission would you commit to including in your first budget? What two recommendations would you want to change?” That was the super tough question the moderator at last night’s mayoral candidate forum at Sixth & I asked that had the crowd scratching their heads and the candidates tripping over their words. Sadly this time around, there were no surprise candidates crashing this debate.
The wonky question prompted most of the candidates to spew out a series of vague buzzword-laden responses, like At-Large Councilmember Vincent Orange who said “whatever we do, it should be in the best interest of the citizens of the District of Columbia.” But, to be fair, no one in the audience really understood what the hell the question was about anyway. Still, it was by far the highlight of an otherwise dull, truncated mayoral forum that probed candidates— Mayor Vince Gray, Councilmembers Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Vincent Orange (D-At Large), and outsider candidates Reta Jo Lewis and Andy Shallal—on issues surrounding tax reform, minimum wage laws, and education.
The tensest moments of the evening came from Wells, who repeatedly took shots at Gray. In his opening remarks, Wells said that, as mayor, he’d get rid of the city’s “culture of corruption,” calling out the current investigation surrounding an alleged 2010 shadow campaign. Later in the evening, Wells, in response to a question about how to solve D.C.’s chronic homelessness problem, criticized Gray again for his handling of D.C.’s overcrowded homeless shelters, which resulted in families being sent to hotels in Maryland. In Shallal’s response to the question, he suggested creating permanent supportive housing for homeless residents, saying “we have the money.”
The issue of banning corporate contributions and pay-to-play politics is certainly one of the most ubiquitous topics to come up in these mayoral debates thus far. In response to a question of banning corporate contributions, Orange said that he not only supports banning them, but he doesn’t think corporations should have Councilmembers on their payroll. Orange’s 2011 campaign was under investigation for allegedly accepting $26,000 in money orders from various companies controlled by Jeffrey Thompson, the person who allegedly funded a 2010 shadow campaign on behalf of the mayor. Gray also said he supported banning corporate contributions last night.
The question that found all of the candidates on the same page was about whether or not they support “banning the box” legislation for job applications, which means banning companies from asking potential employees if they have criminal records. While all the candidates support such legislation, Gray said that, while he supports it, employers should still be allowed to conduct background checks.
The forum—which was co-hosted by DC for Democracy, DC Jobs with Justice, Fair Budget Coalition, Jews United for Justice, DC Working Families, and Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington, D.C.—concluded with a question about standardized testing in D.C.’s public schools, of which most candidates agreed that is has gone too far. “We’ve gone from no child left behind, to no child left untested, to no teacher left unstressed,” Shallal said, adding that “we’ve gone way too far with this so-called school reform.” Orange agreed that standardized testing has gone too far and said that boosting the city’s education needs to be focused on properly preparing pre-K kids for education at an early age. “Our three- and four-years need to be prepared kindergartners,” he said.
