Jane Zara
DC Statehood Green Party member

Here are some examples* of what we, as community activists and as DCSGP members, have been fighting for in the nation’s capital, that serve to answer this question.  

Statehood for DC
We would push for DC Statehood.  DC will realize self-government only through Statehood.  Voting rights, without Statehood, still gives Congress control of our budget, our laws, and our justice system.   Congress regularly vetoes locally passed laws and imposes laws on DC without regard to the wishes of the local government or the people who live there.  Voting rights without Statehood is not enough.  In order to gain Statehood, the District has to petition Congress, draft a constitution with a republican form of government, and get a simple majority approval vote in Congress.  Then the President would sign the bill.  We would NOT COMPROMISE and settle for Congressional representation (a.k.a. voting rights), which would still allow the Senate to decide our budget, decide our tax rates, decide who gets to have an abortion, and decide whether a popular referenda gets observed, among other things.  

School Reform
We would stop the rampant privatization of education and the sale of public schools as a quick fix for educational reform and a short-term boost for our balance sheet. We would reassess DC charter school allotments, already costing about $68 million a year extra to induce families not to send their children to DC public schools.  We would place a moratorium on the closing of neighborhood schools, and on the sale of public school properties.  We would conduct town meetings and public hearings to tap the wisdom of parents, students, teachers and education advocates in determining their needs and concerns, and in properly allocating educational resources to those most in need.  We would bolster literacy programs in the areas of the city that have the highest poverty and illiteracy rates.  We would increase funding for apprenticeships for green jobs for students, and fulfill promises of a living wage in the future by transforming our economy to a peaceful economy.  An examination of the recently passed bill, DC Code § 38-2831, provides a good example of legislation requiring transparency and public participation in the DC school budget process.

Public Property Stewardship
An examination of Empower DC’s People’s Property Campaign provides a good working model for the public property struggle in our city.  Empower DC sponsored a public property bill providing layers of protection for public property in several ways.  Included are multiple layers of community planning and input, and a complete inventory of real property owned by the District.  Before disposing of any public property, the Mayor would have to explain why the property has no alternate use.  The Mayor would have to hold public hearings in the affected community. This public property bill also requires the implementation of an accompanying Master Facilities Plan which must include needed community services, including services for homelessness, mental health, drug treatment, literacy, community health care, youth programs, senior services, recreation and supportive housing.  The bill requires equitable distribution of neighborhood based services and facilities.  

In addition, this public property bill creates an accompanying Community Development Plan, which looks to broader community needs, such as affordable housing, child care.  This differs from present economic development model, which focuses on economic wealth and almost inevitably brings in big corporations.  The Community Development Plan, in stark contrast, brings in services that are truly needed in a particular community.  What’s more, this bill contains a clause which gives DC residents legal standing to sue the city if a disposition of public property occurs without compliance to the laws.

These are the sorts of reforms we would start seeing on a national level if the Green Party administration is elected to office, I would hope!

 

* The information provided has been excerpted from the following:  The difference between DC democracy and DC representation, from the Progressive Review, Sam Smith, http://prorev.com/dcrep.htm; Statehood vs. Voting Rights, DC Statehood Green Party, Special 2008 Election Edition, designed by Joyce Robinson-Paul; Marc Borbely’s Communication to Budgetplaintiffs on March 31, 2008; Changing DC Law to Save Public Property, Empower DC!, Jan. 19, 2008.