Government

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September 21, 2011 | 11:43 AM | By

Poll: Is the D.C. Tax Hike Fair?

Plashing Vole / Flickr

While the national debate on raising taxes on the wealthy rages on, D.C. has already made its move. On Tuesday, the City Council narrowly approved a tax hike on those making more than $350,000 a year. The measure raises the tax rate by 0.45 percent, affecting about 6,000 D.C. residents.

Despite the strong divide in the District between the rich and poor, the debate surrounding a tax hike on wealthier residents is quite contentious, with some officials calling it fair and others characterizing it as lazy government. So, what’s your take on the tax hike? Participate in our poll below — or leave your own answer in the comments below:

FILED UNDER: Government, Income disparity, Taxes, Wealth
September 19, 2011 | 4:06 PM | By

Does D.C. Need a Jobs Czar?

Mladen Antonov / AFP/Getty

Unemployment has reached a “nearly record high” in the District — it’s now at 11.1 percent — and lawmakers and experts are scrambling to figure out ways to tackle the problem.

So what about a jobs czar? That’s what D.C. Councilman Vincent Orange (At-large) will be proposing when he introduces legislation Tuesday to create such an office.

According to Orange’s press release, the jobs czar’s primary role would be to “develop a workforce that can be connected to jobs coming on line within the District of Columbia.” The jobs czar would also be responsible for ensuring compliance with first source employment agreements, which guarantees D.C. residents get priority in hiring for certain jobs. That’s been a particularly sore issue east of the Anacostia River, where two major development projects have been criticized for not hiring enough District residents.

So, tell us: do you think a jobs czar will help alleviate the District’s unemployment divide?

FILED UNDER: Government, Unemployment
September 15, 2011 | 2:50 PM | By

How Race Shapes Responses to Political Scandals

Do black politicians face greater scrutiny from the public while getting a free pass from some segments of the black community? Bill Lightfoot — a “squeaky clean” former D.C. councilman  — spoke with The Georgetown Dish about the role race plays some of the District’s current ethics scandals:

We have allegations that Councilmember Evans, white, has misused his constituent services funds.  We have allegations that Councilmember Jim Graham, who is white from Ward 1, was aware that a staffmember attempted to bribe him but did not report the bribe and he did not punish the staffmember.  That would certainly seem to implicate certain ethical rules that are in the existing law. We have allegations that Harry Thomas stole money from the DC Government and has now had to repay it and he’s a Black from Ward 5.  There were allegations that Yvette Alexander, from Ward 7, a Black councilmember, misused constituent services funds; allegations that Michael Brown, has been engaged in a conflict of interest in the manner and methods he used to pass online gambling and its relationship to clients he may have lobbied for in his law firm and he’s Black.

… Not one black councilmember has called for the resignation of Harry Thomas.  Not that they don’t condemn his actions, but I think there is a concern, and that is the complex part about these ethical violations, there is a concern in some segments of the Black community in this town to call for the removal of Black politicians will further the gentrification of the city.  And as we all know that is a complex issue with emotions on both sides.

Gentrification is certainly is a complex issue, and adding to that is the feeling that these black politicians have been treated unevenly by the public and media alike. Lightfoot goes on to say that there has been virtually no enforcement of ethics rules and that the only Alexander and Thomas, who are black, have been investigated.

However, The Washington Post‘s Mike DeBonis writes that there is some difference in these supposed ethical violations:

The tricky issue here, though, is that not all of these alleged misdeeds are equally serious, to my mind. The Thomas allegations, in particular, stand apart from the others, not only in the seriousness of the alleged wrongdoing but in terms of the credibility and evidence of the allegations.

Do you feel that some of the city’s white leaders haven’t been scrutinized as much as black leaders? Post your thoughts below.

FILED UNDER: Government, Bill Lightfoot, D.C. City Council, Mike DeBonis
September 12, 2011 | 3:04 PM | By

Jobs Bill and D.C: How Locals Could Benefit from Obama’s Plan

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

President Barack Obama in Detroit over Labor Day delivered a speech about creating jobs. He unveiled his jobs plan three days later.

While President Barack Obama is busy selling his jobs bill, D.C. could certainly use some help. The District faces an unemployment rate higher than the national average, and it’s at Depression era levels in the predominately poor and black wards of the city.

Here’s what may be in store for D.C., according to the White House, which has released state-specific provisions of the $447 billion bill:

  • Extending unemployment insurance for 5,500 District residents.
  • The establishment of the Pathways to Work fund to train and place low-income residents. It could benefit up to 400 adults and 1,400 youth in D.C.
  • Retaining or hiring 500 teachers and first responders using $45.1 million.
  • A possible $20 million to rehabilitate foreclosed and vacant District homes (which are concentrated in Wards 5, 7 and 8).

All of this is in addition to plans to cut business payroll taxes, intended to encourage hiring, and the infusion of $387 million to fund D.C. transit projects.

But before you get too worked up, keep in mind that the bill as it stands might not get passed. The White House wants the entire bill to get congressional approval, while Republican leaders have signaled they would support parts of the plan.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Education, Government, Public Transportation, Obama Jobs Bill, Unemployment
September 9, 2011 | 3:01 PM | By

Do We ‘Demagogue By Demographics’ in School Debates?

D Sharon Pruitt / Flickr

Why did the city shut down failing middle schools in mostly black neighborhoods in Ward 5, while parents in gentrifying Ward 6 successfully negotiated plans to improve and keep their schools open? Was it that working and middle class black parents gave up on these neighborhood schools and didn’t fight to improve them or keep them open?

Maria Jones, a black Ward 5 parent, says no; she argued during a  City Council roundtable on Wednesday that wealthier Ward 6 residents wielded their influence and power them in getting approval on a plan to improve and keep their schools open, the Washington Post reports. Meanwhile, Ward 5 still has no middle schools.

City Councilman Tommy Wells (Ward 6) said that Ward 5 deserves good schools, but the ones it had were failing students. “I don’t think it’s helpful when we demagogue by demographics each other’s wards” he told Jones, adding that Ward 6 has large segments of public housing and homeless families:

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Education, Race and Class, The Root, Ward 5, Ward 6
August 17, 2011 | 2:47 PM | By

Councilmember Michael A. Brown to Give Away 600 Backpacks in Southeast, Tonight

Courtesy of Office of Councilmember Michael A. Brown

D.C. Councilmember Michael A. Brown will give away 600 backpacks filled with school supplies tonight, between 6-8 p.m. while supplies last. School starts Monday.

The backpacks are strictly for District residents and will be distributed during the “Back to School Community Cookout.” The event, at 2845 Alabama Ave SE, will also feature food and entertainment.

Councilmember Brown is quoted in a press release as saying, “I look forward to meeting with students and parents as we prepare for the upcoming school year and am grateful I can assist in a small way with needed supplies. More importantly, I hope to encourage our youth to understand that anything is possible with a strong education.”

FILED UNDER: Government, Children, City Council, Schools
July 27, 2011 | 9:44 AM | By

Five Facts about High School Dropouts

Nearly a quarter of the nation’s teens don’t finish high school, and they go on to earn less money and require more public assistance than high school graduates. The problem is particularly pressing in D.C., which had a 68 percent graduation rate in 2008. Kids who skip school are more likely to eventually drop out, and the District’s truancy rate stands at 20 percent.


NPR is in the middle of a series about the cost of dropping out of high school. We’ve excerpted five of the most eye-opening facts about who drops out and why.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Education, Race
July 20, 2011 | 3:59 PM | By

Teen Curfews and Racial Undertones

William Warby / Flickr

A proposed curfew in Montgomery County would prevent teens under 18 from being out past midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. on weekdays.

On Wednesday’s Kojo Nnamdi Show, guests spoke about the merits of instituting a teen curfew in Montgomery County. And parts of the discussion centered around young people in nearby D.C. and Prince George’s County, the majority of whom are black.

Montgomery County’s curfew is intended to curtail crime, particularly gang violence. But guest Daniel Okonkwo, executive director of DC Lawyers for Youth, said after the broadcast that much of the debate is loaded with “coded language.” Some proponents want to keep D.C. and Prince George’s County youth from coming to Montgomery County because they believe they cause trouble.

“We want to keep our kids safe from those kids” is an underlying theme, says Okonkwo, an opponent of the curfew.

D.C.’s curfew, on the books since 1995, prohibits teens under 17 from being out past 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends. There have been other efforts to crack down on teens congregating in neighborhoods like Chinatown — including blasting classical music in favorite hang-out spots and installing other noise repellents.

Business owners say rowdy teens hurt them by driving customers away, particularly when violence erupts. But as Washington Post‘s Courtland Milloy writes, many young black people feel they “are being treated like suspects because of a misbehaving few:”

“My friends and I got locked up two months ago for walking across the sidewalk,” Ke’Shayla Thorne, 17, a student at Spingarn High School in Northeast, told me. “The police said, ‘Come here, you’re under arrest.’ But other people walk like that all the time and they expect black kids to move off the sidewalk and let them pass. Nobody locks them up.”

You can listen to the entire Kojo Nnamdi segment here.

FILED UNDER: Government, The People, Race, Youth
July 12, 2011 | 4:28 PM | By

Black Home Ownership and ‘the American Dream’ in Ward 8

D.C. Councilman Marion Barry wants to encourage home ownership in majority black Ward 8, where only 24 percent of residents are homeowners. How? By banning construction of new apartment buildings. He tells Washington City Paper‘s Lydia DePillis:

“The American dream is to own a home. And black people have not gotten the American dream as much as they need to,” Barry says. “Somebody can rent for 20 years, and has no equity in their unit at all.”

Scott Olson / Getty Images

Renters are the most vulnerable to forces of redevelopment and gentrification, since they can’t really profit from leaving a neighborhood with exploding housing prices the way a homeowner can. But owning a home, and having equity tied to it, doesn’t necessarily buffer one from poverty, either. As noted yesterday, one of the contributing factors to the decline of the black middle class is the fact that African Americans generally had more of their wealth tied up in housing than white people did at the start of the recession — 63 percent versus 38.5 percent. Declining housing prices and foreclosures meant the loss of a lot of black wealth — between 2004 and 2009, the median net worth for black households dropped by 83 percent. For white households, it dropped by 24 percent.

On the other hand, the value of homes in D.C. as a whole hasn’t dropped at drastic levels since the peak of the bubble. Only a few portions of Ward 8 saw home values decline at higher rates than the national metro area average.

Even still, there are plenty of questions as to whether banning new apartment construction would even be effective in increasing home ownership. Matthew Yglesias of ThinkProgress writes:

There’s just no way that zoning policy in Ward 8 of Washington, DC could possibly influence black people’s ability to own homes. Banning apartment buildings will reduce the supply of affordable housing and reduce construction jobs. That’s it.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Government, Housing, Marion Barry, Renters
July 8, 2011 | 2:26 PM | By

Seniors in Need Get Free Lawn Service

miggslives / Flickr

These humid summer months make mowing a lawn an arduous task, and District residents with grass more than 10 inches high could be slapped with a $500 fine. But not everyone is physically capable of mowing a lawn or can afford to pay someone else to do it.

Thankfully, there is some help out there. Starting Saturday, senior citizens in all D.C. wards are eligible to have youth mow their lawns for free. The D.C. Department of Employment Services’ youth division is expanding its free lawn cutting service, which started in Ward 5 last year. Supervised youth working D.C. summer jobs will mow lawns of any size.

If you have an elderly neighbor or relative who could use the help, act quickly — the deadline to ask for this service is 5 p.m., Monday. Priority will be given to disabled seniors who live alone. Contact the Office of Aging at 202-724-5622 or DOES at 202-724-7000.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Government, Seniors, SYEP, Youth