Gray's Ward 2 town hall sidesteps divisions

Education

Gray's Ward 2 town hall sidesteps divisions

by Ken Archer • October 15, 2010 1:16 pm

The warm reception given to expectant Mayor Vincent Gray at the Ward 2 Town Hall last night stood in stark contrast with the 27% Ward 2 support Gray received on Election Day. Ward 2 includes my particular Georgetown precinct which supported Gray's opponent more than any other in DC.

The event, held at Foundry United Methodist Church, was to have been 2 hours of discussion with Gray on the topics that matter most to Ward 2 residents. Gray has said, and said again last night, that the burden is on him to reach out to segments of the city that didn't support him.

While I voted for Fenty, Gray's stated commitment to honestly addressing divisions and unify our city has inspired me. Unfortunately, these divisions weren't really bridged last night, largely because they weren't discussed.

The event started 45 minutes late. After a rousing introduction by Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, who ~~endorsed neither candidate~~ supported Fenty in the primary, as well as 10 minutes of recognition of endless well-known audience members, many of whom live in other wards, Gray spoke for 15 minutes and took 40 minutes of questions.

Polls show that the top issue for Ward 2 residents is education. Ward 2 parents have reversed a decades-long trend by increasing enrollment of their children in public schools, largely due to changes implemented by Chancellor Rhee. The in-boundary kindergarten enrollment at my elementary school increased from 40 to 58 this year alone.

While Gray spoke in emphatic terms about his commitment to education reform, he offered no details about the labor contract, the IMPACT system for measuring performance, the basis for hiring and firing teachers or the fate of Hardy Middle School. While his web site indicates he agrees with Rhee on these issues, he has also challenged many of Rhee's teacher firings. Not a single question was asked about education, save for a question about a particular board that set standards for special education.

I appreciated Gray's vision for battling unemployment in Ward 7 (19%), Ward 8 (30-35%) and across the city (10%). Issues in Wards 7 and 8 affect everyone, as we are truly one city that rises and falls together.

The unemployed largely lack the skills required in most job openings, Gray said, and have few options for attaining skills. Gray wants to add skills training at the Community College of DC, add technical and trades classes in every public high school and revamp the Department of Employment Services. There's no reason that less than 20% of DC cops and firemen should live in DC while we have rampant unemployment.

However, when a question was asked about affordable housing, a challenge across the city, Gray again offered no details.

As I surveyed the audience, I noticed that, except for the elected officials, I knew almost none of the attendees. Virtually everyone I know in Ward 2, where I've lived for 12 years, voted for Fenty as I did. While Gray can't be blamed if folks don't show up to his Town Hall, after attending myself, I ended up wishing I had spent the evening with my family instead.

30 comments

Tags: DC, education, Vincent Gray

Go to Gray's town halls (Sep 29, 2010)
Gray promises transit and bicycle funding at first town hall (Oct 6, 2010)
Should urbanists be nervous about Vince Gray? Part 1 (Jul 20, 2010)
Should urbanists be nervous about Vince Gray? Part 4: What the heck happened with the streetcars? (Aug 17, 2010)
Should urbanists be nervous about Vince Gray? Part 5: Who would Gray hire? (Aug 19, 2010)

Ken Archer is CTO of a software firm in Tysons Corner. He commutes to Tysons by bus from his home in Georgetown, where he lives with his wife and son. Ken completed a Masters degree in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America.

Comments
Add a comment »

Evans wasn't neutral - he cut a commercial supporting Fenty.

by Fritz on Oct 15, 2010 1:18 pm • link • report

Why not ask Gray to meet with you as a blogger and ask your education questions. He met with you once, he might do so again. Or at least answer questions that are emailed to him. It is worth a try.

by dcblogger on Oct 15, 2010 1:23 pm • link • report

Doh- Had I known it was going to start late, I'd have made an effort to get their from my previous commitment!

by Bossi on Oct 15, 2010 1:33 pm • link • report

Funny, as I surveyed the audience I also didn't know many folks there, which made me think, "I need to get more involved in local issues!"

I wonder if that means there were a lot of people there like me, curious and looking for a way to get engaged.

by Jacques on Oct 15, 2010 2:04 pm • link • report

Sweet! So Gray agrees with everyone, but particularly the audience he's currently standing in front of.

Good to know.

by oboe on Oct 15, 2010 2:13 pm • link • report

More job training sounds great. How is he going to pay for it?

by jcm on Oct 15, 2010 2:57 pm • link • report

Funny, everywhere I looked in the room I recognized folks ... The same folks I see volunteering their time and effort over and over again to make the part of Ward 2 I know best, Dupont Circle, a better place. True the event was held in Dupont Circle, but despite that I suspect there were a lot of Georgetowners there. Probably the same kind of 'activist neighbors' that I saw there from my neigbhorhood. The fact you didn't recognize people there may speak more to your (maybe?) lack of involvement in all the events and good causes that each neighborhood's neighbors get together to make possible? Did you not at least see your ANC commissioners there? I ended up sitting near 2 of my ANC commissioners and I saw at least one more of our 8 commissioners on the other side of the room. Do you know your ANC commissioners? ... I'm pretty sure one of your Georgetown commissioners was one of the first to ask a question of Gray ...

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 3:41 pm • link • report

@jcm: The same way he will pay for more police, for more affordable housing, for more homeless housing, for more pre-K through college education, and for more mass transit.

Which is to say: We have no idea, since he won't tell us.

With Gray, it's all based on faith.

by Fritz on Oct 15, 2010 3:43 pm • link • report

@jcm More job training sounds great. How is he going to pay for it?

Well ... some woman there got up to tell him that she'd be okay with him raising taxes to ensure no programs got cut ...

He ran with that and said he'd heard over and over from the community that people wanted to raise taxes to pay for budget items such as education.

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 3:48 pm • link • report

Woo hoo- add me in among that community. Since moving in from the suburbs, I've saving money thanks to lower total taxes & getting more services for my money... so yeah I'd support raising taxes, too.

by Bossi on Oct 15, 2010 3:52 pm • link • report

Did you not at least see your ANC commissioners there?

As I said, "except for the elected officials, I knew almost none of the attendees".

My point is that I don't think Ward 2 residents who voted for Fenty showed up to the town hall. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened in Ward 3, and journalists misinterpreted it as some kind of reversal.

While that's not Gray's fault, it would help if he addresses issues at greater levels of detail to give folks more of a reason to come. As it is, I think Fenty supporters are responding to Gray's lack of detail by waiting to see what he actually does as Mayor.

by Ken Archer on Oct 15, 2010 4:02 pm • link • report

@Ken Archer My point is that I don't think Ward 2 residents who voted for Fenty showed up to the town hall.

well ... Evans showed up ;)

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 4:03 pm • link • report

@Bossi thanks to lower total taxes & getting more services for my money

just curious ... what additional services are you getting here that you didn't get in the 'burbs? Also, if you're experiencing 'lower' taxes, I'm guessing you mean property taxes? Every other District tax, including the Income Tax, is higher here than in either MD or Va.

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 4:07 pm • link • report

I'm not paying both County and State, and combined it's been less than what I'm just paying to DC. I rent, so no property taxes. Transportation expenditures have dropped considerably -- that's where I've saved a big chunk of $$$. I've also simply got more to do which doesn't cost me a dime to do it, so apart from my increased expense each week to go to 9:30; my overall entertainment & recreational costs have also gone down considerably.

by Bossi on Oct 15, 2010 4:10 pm • link • report

Oh- and my utility costs are a fraction of what they were in Maryland (perhaps owing to my smaller unit; which is exact the size I need). I pay about $30/mo for gas, elec, and water... I wasn't even expecting to find I'd save money there, but have been quite delighted that I'm now not paying the $120/mo I was paying just outside of Laurel or the $80/mo I was paying just outside of Greenbelt.

by Bossi on Oct 15, 2010 4:12 pm • link • report

@Lance,

That's one of those things that "everybody knows" which has the unfortunate (or fortunate) quality of being untrue:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/01/who_pays_more_taxes_virginia_m.html

I'd pay more taxes as well--so long as they weren't going primarily towards expanding services to attract poor MD and VA residents:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2010/10/06/nonexistent-home-not-in-d-c-dont-come-here/

by oboe on Oct 15, 2010 4:13 pm • link • report

Bossi, at first I thought you were being sarcastic. It's good to read there are residents paying less to get more in the District. I wish more people would move back to the city.

by TheDCWriter on Oct 15, 2010 4:19 pm • link • report

Continuing off oboe's comment, I second in that while I support increased taxes, it does come with some caveat in ensuring that it's well spent. Of course that's where the politics of it all really becomes tricky: what is "well spent" varies from person to person, as the differences on GGW alone help highlight.

For me, for example, while I'm not against health or social services it's certainly not my interest; but if I taxes went toward infrastructure (not even just transportation)- count me in.

Ensuring that revenue is well-used is another sticking point, as public agencies are often riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies; many a direct result of what we, the people, at some point voted for or perhaps sued for; though some also simply a result of not knowing any better way of doing things.

So I support paying more... but as long as it's well spent. Now if that's not a political statement, I don't know what is! :D

by Bossi on Oct 15, 2010 4:20 pm • link • report

>> "Well ... some woman there got up to tell him that she'd be okay with him raising taxes to ensure no programs got cut ...

He ran with that and said he'd heard over and over from the community that people wanted to raise taxes to pay for budget items such as education."

Many of us aren't ok with raising taxes. The city should spend the money for "programs" it has more efficiently. Rhee proved that the status quo needs to be challenged. She closed 24 schools and made the school system better in the process. There is a lot of waste in DC "programs".

But it wouldn't surprise me if years from now Gray's legacy is raising taxes and slowing down the momentum of progress.

by Jason on Oct 15, 2010 4:29 pm • link • report

How will Gray pay for things? Why not ask him?
info@vincegrayformayor.com

it is worth a try.

by dcblogger on Oct 15, 2010 4:42 pm • link • report

I suspect that many (not all) people who support raising taxes are people whose taxes won't be raised. Much of the talk on raising taxes has focused on increasing the income tax on the wealthy, which is very easy for most people to support, since most of us wouldn't be impacted. Would people be as keen to support a 1-percentage point increase in the sales tax, which will impact all residents and non-resident commuters/tourists? I think both options, and probably others, should be on the table, provided that new and existing city revenues are spent wisely.

by jg on Oct 15, 2010 6:07 pm • link • report

More than 40 years ago, when I was covering my first tax debate on Capitol Hill, my mentor Carter Manasco encapsulated the debate in a timeless rhyme, "don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fella under the tree."

People who say they support tax increases invariably are talking about first taxing that fella under the tree.

by Mike S. on Oct 15, 2010 6:57 pm • link • report

I am also against raising taxes in DC. Any of us who have dealt with District government know that there is a tremendous amount of waste which could be cut first.

I will give the benefit of the doubt to Vince Gray that he will not raise taxes (at least not immediately). Although I didn't vote for him, I think he's too smart to be pegged with the negative press that will follow. Just because a bunch of well-off people in a richer ward say that they want their taxes raised, it will be a hard sell in most parts of working class DC.

by mch on Oct 15, 2010 8:32 pm • link • report

@Bossi, thanks for the explanation ... and noting that a lot of your savings aren't actually in the way of reduced taxes (you'd said 'taxes' which got me wondering), but rather reduced 'expenses'.

And Oboe's links are interesting. I remember reading a similar analysis some 10 years back or so and even then (before Catania introduced legislation that lowered our upper tax brackets to rates comparable with Maryland's), it was found that for a family earning $100,000 per year (which I guess would be something like $150,00 nowadays) the overall tax burden was lowest in DC ... mainly because of the property tax differential. Of course that was before the frequent and significant assessement value increases of the last decade where even a low rate can translate into a 'high' tax bill since it's based partially on assessed value.

Yeah, I agree with you that the District's a good value ... even if we we've had some serious issues with tax dollar waste (e.g., the schools BEFORE Rhee) and even fraud (the tax office employee who embezzeled something like $200 million ... from best estimates.)

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 9:29 pm • link • report

@mch Just because a bunch of well-off people in a richer ward say that they want their taxes raised,

The meeting was held in Ward 2 ... not exactly a 'richer ward' on the whole given that it stretches from Shaw over to Georgetown ... with all levels of neighborhoods in between ...

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 9:34 pm • link • report

Just to expand on the last message, I don't think it's 'the rich folk' offering up to pay higher taxes ... As was noted above, the people who usually advocate higher taxes are those who don't expect to be paying the higher taxes themselves ...

Personally, I think before taxes get raised, we need to cut a lot of the inefficiences. I don't know how the District stands among other similar jurisdictions (i.e., 'urban' states) but I think I read that something like 2/3rd of our budget goes for social programs and educational expenses. If that figure is true, it's mind boggling. I hope I'm wrong about that figure.

by Lance on Oct 15, 2010 9:38 pm • link • report

The District is a state, county, and city combined. You can compare the distribution of DC spending with combined state+local spending in other states here:

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/California_state_spending.html

Use the pulldown to select the state you're interested in. DC doesn't look much different from other states. Nor does the distribution of spending seem unusual or objectionable to me, much less "mind boggling".

by David desJardins on Oct 16, 2010 3:16 pm • link • report

Wow, great website- thanks!

by Bossi on Oct 16, 2010 3:17 pm • link • report

There's no reason that less than 20% of DC cops and firemen should live in DC

Well, one reason is that the schools suck and middle class police officers and fire fighters would prefer that they get a better education for their children and more safety than is available in DC.

by Tyro on Oct 17, 2010 10:31 pm • link • report

Raising taxes is USELESS.

The so-called millionaire's tax, for example, would raise a mere $20 million. Doesn't really do much against a $400 million short fall, does it? Plus, it is a one-time fix and does not help to address future shortfalls.

I do not want to give even MORE money to the DC government to squander. The answer is budget cuts, plain and simple.

If we want to really address the issue, the Council has to grow a pair and start cutting from where we spend all of our money - education and social services.

by Ted G on Oct 18, 2010 11:27 am • link • report