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THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release:
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
Contact:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator
202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com
Index of candidates and their contact information below
D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN CANDIDATES CALL FOR A VOTERS' REBELLION ON ELECTION DAY
In front of The Washington Post, Statehood Greens will challenge D.C.
voters: "Don't endorse the Williams agenda, the taxpayer-funded ballpark,
Council's drastic cuts in funding for public services, and the destruction
of D.C. General Hospital!"
WHAT: Press conference, featuring D.C. Statehood Green candidates
WHEN: Thursday, October 10, at 4 p.m.
WHERE: In front of The Washington Post building, at the corner of 15th and L
Streets NW, in downtown Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- D.C. Statehood Green Party candidates will call on
District voters who are outraged about planned cuts in services, revelations
of sweetheart deals, and the agenda of Mayor Williams and D.C. Council and
urge them to stage a 'Voters' Rebellion' on Election Day. The candidates
will kick off the final campaign month with a press conference on Thursday,
October 10 at 4 p.m. in front of The Washington Post building in downtown
D.C.
"We're challenging voters and we're challenging the media," said Steve
Donkin, Statehood Green Party mayoral candidate. "There's a lot of anger
over the budget cuts and overall mismanagement of city funds while wealthy
special interests drain the public treasury. We're urging D.C. voters to
rebel on Election Day -- to stop voting for all these incumbents, and to put
some Statehood Greens in office this year."
Statehood Green candidates have proposed the 'Fair Taxes for D.C. Plan',
which would reverse the drastic funding cuts of the budget plan for Fiscal
Year 2003. Statehood Greens have accused Mayor Williams and Council of
designing a budget that will hurt poor people, working people who need basic
services, tenants, people with AIDS and other illnesses, and the District's
children.
"We need to maintain and expand funding for D.C. public schools and
libraries, UDC, Interim Disability Assistance, the Housing Production Trust
Fund, Tenant Assistance, and other necessities," said Joyce Robinson-Paul,
the Statehood Green candidate for U.S. ('Shadow') Senator. "We can do this
through the Fair Taxes for D.C. Plan, which asks D.C.'s wealthy to pay their
fair share and grants relief to middle- and low-income residents. Fair
Taxes for D.C. would repeal the Tax Parity Act, lower the sales taxes on
essentials, and make our income tax more progressive. We should also use
the $110 million rainy day fund to help cover the budget shortfall."
The Statehood Green Party, which accepts no corporate donations, calls
Democratic and Republican candidates compromised by the massive amount of
big business money that pours into their campaign coffers. Current D.C.
government policy thus serves the interests of major real estate,
development, and out-of-town companies:
*** The Common Denominator has revealed that the FY2003 budget proposed by
Mayor Williams and Council was negotiated with participation from the
Federal City Council, a secretive and elite roundtable of area business
lobbies.
*** Mayor Williams supports a taxpayer-funded ballpark, likely to cost
$400-600 million according to today's Washington Post. "This is an outrage
when a moratorium was declared in FY2002 on the purchase of school supplies,
and when the school system has inadequate, or in some cases no, physical
education in our elementary schools," said Debby Hanrahan, Statehood Green
candidate for Council Chair. "We call for abolition of the D.C. Sports and
Entertainment Commission for operating in secret and spending taxpayers'
money on projects that have (or would have) severe impacts on D.C.
neighborhoods -- the Grand Prix races, the now-dead 2012 Olympics, and a new
baseball stadium."
*** At a September 28 fundraiser for Statehood Green candidates, Ralph Nader
noted that if tax-exempt Fannie Mae, one of D.C.'s top campaign contributors
(according to the Center for Responsive Politics), were made to pay its
share of the Franchise Tax (up to $340 million), the $325 million budget
shortfall would be erased.
*** Mayor Williams concealed $200 million dollars in the D.C. General
Hospital budget to make it appear insolvent, justifying his plan to
privatize and dismantle the District's only full-service public health
facility. Similarly, the plan to privatize CareFirst will mean cost-cutting
measures, higher rates, and fewer services for the public, in order to
guarantee a return for investors -- and to finance multi-million-dollar
bonus packages for CareFirst execs.
"We need to raise the shortfall resulting from the millions diverted from
D.C. General in a lie to the citizens -- the $200 million diverted from D.C.
General's Medicaid/Medicare reimbursements," said At-Large Council candidate
Michele Tingling-Clemmons, "as well as the $47.9 million planned in
executive bonuses from the planned sale of CareFirst, and the millions spent
to put forward the Olympic bid. We demand that those funds be returned to
city coffers, rather than left in the pockets where they seem to have
disappeared."
Statehood Green candidates call the underhanded means that Mayor Williams
used to privatize D.C. General and CareFirst typical of his 'ethically
challenged' first term, and foresee even greater corruption and cronyism if
Williams is reelected. Party members plan to assist a ballot petition
effort to restore D.C. General, to begin after the 2002 election.
"We need a Statehood Green in office to facilitate the reestablishment of a
full-service public hospital when the initiative passes," said Gail Dixon,
Statehood Green candidate for Ward 5 member of D.C. Council. "Otherwise,
Council may overturn it, as they did with the Sunshine Law and term limits
when these were passed by ballot initiative."
The press conference will take place in front of The Washington Post as a
challenge to the media to provide fair coverage for Statehood Green
candidates.
"Statehood Green candidates have drawn increasing numbers over the past few
years, defying the claims that there's a citywide consensus behind incumbent
Democrats and Republicans and what they stand for," said Adam Eidinger,
candidate for U.S. ('Shadow') Representative. "In the 2000 election, all
our local candidates got double-digit percentages, comparable to Ross Perot
in 1992. And we did it without the media saturation that Perot enjoyed.
We're not marginal, we're marginalized -- but we still draw thousands,
sometimes tens of thousands of D.C. votes. Imagine how we'd do with some
coverage!"
MORE INFORMATION
The D.C. Statehood Green Party http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
1314 18th Street, NW, lower level, Washington, DC 20036, 202-296-1301
Fair Taxes for D.C. ("Where's the Money?)
D.C. Statehood Green position on taxes and finance
http://dcstatehoodgreen.org/testimony/2001/ftx1001.htm
"The D.C. Lobby: Private business group acknowledges active role in
officials' budget talks"
The Common Denominator, September 23, 2002
http://www.thecommondenominator.com/092302_news1.html
The Center for Responsive Politics: Contributions to Democratic and
Republican candidates for the 2002 election cycle
http://www.opensecrets.org/states/summary.asp?State=DC&cycle=2002
Index of 2002 D.C. Statehood Green candidates
MAYOR
Steve Donkin
202-986-9438, sdonkin@smart.net
http://www.donkinformayor.org
AT-LARGE MEMBER OF COUNCIL
Michele Tingling-Clemmons
202-397-2277, Mirico5@aol.com
CHAIR OF COUNCIL
Debby Hanrahan
202-462-2054, debosly@aol.com
WARD 1 MEMBER OF COUNCIL
Edward Chico Troy
202-986-7733, Liberalgladiator@aol.com
http://www.troy2002.org
WARD 5 MEMBER OF COUNCIL
Gail Dixon
202-248-9643
WARD 6 MEMBER OF COUNCIL
Jenefer Ellingston
202-546-0940, jellingston@erols.com
U.S. ('SHADOW') SENATOR
Joyce Robinson-Paul
202-462-4908, AJPaul@bellatlantic.net
U.S. ('SHADOW') REPRESENTATIVE
Adam Eidinger
202-232-1724, enrages@bellatlantic.net
http://www.Adam4Shadow.com
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