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State News Release - October 29, 2002 |
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DC Statehood Green Party |
| Candidate Gail Dixon Calls for Revitalization of Ward 5. |
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THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gail Dixon, the D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate for the Ward 5 seat on D.C. Council, demanded to know what kind of economic development plan the District has in store for her ward, which includes a large section of northeast D.C. Dixon noted the empty storefronts and lack of development along Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue, and Rhode Island Avenue's dramatic change when it crosses the border from D.C. into Mt. Rainier, Maryland. "You can't help noticing that all the business begins in Maryland," said Dixon. "Mount Rainier has the kind of businesses we'd like to see here in Ward 5 -- locally owned neighborhood stores that D.C. parents, children, and senior citizens can visit by taking a walk down the block or around the corner. There's no reason that we in Ward 5 should spend all our money in Maryland." Dixon has criticized the current stagnation and secrecy about any future plans for Ward 5 development during Democratic incumbent candidate Vincent Orange's term in Council. Recent financial reports from the Orange campaign show at least 46% of his money coming from corporations, law firm partnerships, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, and other PACs. Among Orange's donors are the D.C. Building Industry PAC and the John Akridge Companies, a major construction firm. Dixon, like all Statehood Green candidates, accepts no corporate contributions. "Real community development means grocery stores and other shops within walking distance, the kind of stable neighborhoods we remember from decades ago," added Dixon, who was elected to the D.C. Board of Education in 1998, and lost her seat when the Board was partially bureaucratized. "It means involving fully informed residents in decisions about neighborhood improvement." "But for Democrats and Republicans on Council, economic development usually means convention centers, stadiums, hotels, luxury apartments, and the taxpayer-funded giveaways to big developers and real estate firms to make these projects possible. The result is skyrocketing rents and property taxes for the rest of us, and money taken away from public schools, libraries, UDC, affordable housing, and health care, as we saw in the recent budget shortfall." Gail Dixon and other Statehood Green candidates call these policies typical of the exploitative speculation and gentrification that have displaced or threaten to displace many residents. "Under the current property tax plan, the owner of a boarded-up, abandoned building get a tax break, while an owner who improves and rents to tenants gets hit with a heavy tax," said Dixon. "It allows the big landlords, real estate firms, and developers to let neighborhoods deteriorate so badly that they drive out many of the current low- and middle-income residents, who leave because of the crime, trash, and rats that vacant buildings attract." "That's why we see so many empty storefronts. We need solutions like the split-rate property tax." The split-rate property tax inverts the current structure, penalizing owners of vacant buildings and giving a break to owners who improve and rent buildings out to tenants who need a place to live. Hilda Mason, who served on D.C. Council as a Statehood Party member before the D.C. Statehood and Green Parties merged in 1999, called for the split-rate property tax while in office. "Democrats are afraid of it," said Ward 5 resident Maya O'Connor, who supports Gail Dixon for Council. "Vincent Orange won't talk about it. Why? Because of AOBA [Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington] and other real estate lobbies who contribute to Democrats and Republicans each election. But Statehood Green candidates accept no corporate money. If tenants and homeowners who care about their neighborhoods can get Gail Dixon elected to Council, we might succeed in introducing the split-rate plan and getting it passed." MORE INFORMATION
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