Statehood Greens to Mayor-Elect Adrian Fenty: Side with D.C.
Voters, not with the Federal City Council and Other Corporate Lobbies
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
Monday, December 18, 2006
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty@greens.org
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Federal City Council seeks takeover of the D.C. School Board and expansion of D.C. failed charter
school program
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D.C. residents Mayor Williams' real estate giveaway scheme for D.C.'s main library, face
loss of tenant protections, and new multi-million-dollar stadium boondoggles
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- DC Statehood Green Party leaders challenged Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty today
to represent the people who elected him on November 7, rather than the Federal City Council
and other corporate lobbies.
"We know that the Federal City Council, real estate and big landlord lobbies, and other
wealthy interests are pressing Mr. Fenty to enact their agenda," said Statehood Green Party
activist John Ely. "We remind Mr. Fenty that he was elected because of his dedication to the
needs of the people of the District of Columbia, especially their housing, education, and
health care."
The Federal City Council is a secretive, elite roundtable of local business leaders. It has
consistently promoted policies leading to gentrification, displacement of D.C.'s chiefly
African American middle- and low-income working population, and privatization of services and
resources.
Among the Federal City Council's recent accomplishments have been the closing of D.C.
General Hospital, the District's only full-service health care institution, and the
enactment of school vouchers and a charter school system; these goals were
sought in cooperation with Congress, which holds veto power over District legislation, policies, and budgets. On
September 13, the day after the Democratic primary, Mr. Fenty met with Federal City Council
chair Terry Golden.
Statehood Greens listed several issues in which the agenda of Federal City Council and other
corporate lobbies are in conflict with the interests of D.C. residents:
. Adrian Fenty has named a Federal City Council employee, Victor Reinoso, as Deputy Mayor for
Education. Mr. Reinoso advocates a takeover of the D.C. Board of Education, transforming it into
an appointed advisory body. Mr. Fenty, after he won the Democratic primary in September, said
that he would consider a takeover. Mr. Fenty also chose Neil Albert as his
new Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. Mr. Albert was C.E.O. for Ed Build, a private education services and
construction firm created by the Federal City Council and the New Schools Venture Fund, an
investment group tied to the national charter school movement.
"Bureaucratization of the School Board would be a serious blow to the democratic rights and needs
of D.C. residents -- especially our children," said Gail Dixon, Statehood Green and former
elected at-large member of the School Board who lost her seat because of Mayor Williams' partial
privatization. "It would be an attempt to use the Board to enact Federal City
Council policy, especially the expansion of D.C.'s failing charter school program. We opposed Mayor
Williams partial bureaucratization a few years ago, and we now oppose the takeover bid just as
strongly. We need our public schools to be modernized and provided with up-to-date equipment
and textbooks, not privatization schemes and a toothless, unelected School Board."
For further information on the School Board takeover, visit
<http://www.saveourschoolsdc.org>
and <http://www.saveourschoolsdc.org/newsflash.html>.
Statehood Greens expressed disappointment that Adrian Fenty has acquiesced to current Mayor
Anthony Williams' proposal to close the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown D.C. and
build a new central library on the site of the old Convention Center.
Mayor Williams, with the help of Council Chair Linda Cropp and Ward 3 member Kathy Patterson, is
seeking emergency legislation to convert the current downtown library site into a lucrative
giveaway for real estate and development cronies, say Statehood Greens. Meanwhile, four
neighborhood libraries (Benning, Anancostia, TenleyTown, and Shaw) have been
closed for two years, with little to no interim services, and other branch libraries are in serious need of
repair.
"D.C. taxpayers' money should be spent on improving the existing central and branch
libraries and keeping them open, rather than for lining the pockets of real estate firms with a
land grab at the MLK, Jr. Library site," said Statehood Green Party member Maya O'Connor.
"Mayor Williams' Library Transformation Act, which has been defeated twice already, would
lease away the MLK, Jr. Library building for 99 years at $1.50 a square foot -- a real estate
handout on prime downtown D.C. land. We urge Council to defeat any such legislation, whether
it's introduced next week or next year."
Petition to Preserve Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library As Our Central Library:
http://www.mlk2stay.org/
TENAC (D.C. Tenants' Advocacy Coalition <http://www.tenac.org>)
has reported that the Office of the Tenant Advocate has less than $400,000 to help tenants in legal trouble, and
the District, with more lawyers per square foot than anywhere else in the world, has a severe
shortage of lawyers willing to assist tenants on a pro bono or nominal fee basis.
Meanwhile, 49,000 D.C. tenants face eviction. Because of the high cost of lawyers, low income African
American and Latino residents are especially vulnerable.
"Will Mayor Fenty side with AOBA [Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan
Washington], which wants rent control and tenant protections repealed, or with D.C. tenants?"
asked Jane Zara, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC 1D01) and Statehood Green.
NBC4's Tom Sherwood reported on November 29 <http://www.nbc4.com/politics/10416500/detail.html>
that Jack Evans, chair of the Council's finance and revenue committee, had begun informal talks
about bringing the Redskins back into Washington, D.C. from their Maryland suburbs. Mr. Evans
claimed that "once the Nationals baseball team vacates old RFK Stadium after 2008, the site
could be demolished and prepared for a 100,000-seat football stadium."
Statehood Green Party member Debby Hanrahan has noted that the Sports and Entertainment
Commission is seeking new soccer and lacrosse stadiums, presumably to be built at taxpayer
expense <http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/2006/06-11-15.htm#hanrahan>.
Statehood Greens express hope that Mayor Fenty will maintain his resistance to taxpayer-funded
stadium boondoggles, especially after news that the price of the South Capitol baseball stadium
has climbed over $700 million.
MORE INFORMATION
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
"The District's power behind the scenes: Washington Post-connected business group wields
influence over city's legislative agenda" (expos on the Federal City Council)
By Kathryn Sinzinger, The Common Denominator, December 13, 1999 http://www.thecommondenominator.com/121399_news1.html