Greater Greater Washington

Politics


Live chat with Jacque Patterson

by David Alpert   •   February 14, 2011 12:50 pm

Jacque Patterson, candidate for DC Council at-large and a resident of Ward 8, is joining us today for a live chat.

 Live chat with Jacque Patterson(02/14/2011) 
12:49
David Alpert: 
Welcome to our live chat. Mr. Patterson will be joining us in a few minutes. Please enter your questions now; we'll try to get to as many of them as we can in the hour.
Monday February 14, 2011 12:49 David Alpert
1:01
David Alpert: 
Jacque Patterson has now joined us. Welcome!
Monday February 14, 2011 1:01 David Alpert
1:03
jacque patterson: 
Hello, thanks for having me on.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:03 jacque patterson
1:04
David Alpert: 
Thanks for joining us! First, what would your 3 top priorities be on the Council, if you are successful in winning election?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:04 David Alpert
1:05
jacque patterson: 
My first 3 priorities are the Budget Deficit, continuing Education Reform, and Job Readiness.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:05 jacque patterson
1:05
David Alpert: 
We can start with the deficit. Would you raise taxes? What programs would you cut?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:05 David Alpert
1:07
jacque patterson: 
Before I'd look at raising taxes, I'd like to look at where we need to become more efficient in claiming what's owed us by the federal government, such as medicaid reimbursements.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:07 jacque patterson
1:08
David Alpert: 
On education: What do you think Michelle Rhee and the Fenty Administration did right, and what did they do wrong?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:08 David Alpert
1:09
jacque patterson: 
I think former Mayor Fenty and Michelle Rhee did a great job of right sizing our facilities and IMPACT, they didn't do well in engaging the communities that were impacted.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:09 jacque patterson
1:10
David Alpert: 
And Denise asked about the 3rd:
Monday February 14, 2011 1:10 David Alpert
1:10
[Comment From DeniseDenise: ] 
When you say "Job Readiness" what does that mean?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:10 Denise
1:10
jacque patterson: 
Job Readiness, making sure DC Residents are prepared to take and keep the jobs that we create in the District....
Monday February 14, 2011 1:10 jacque patterson
1:11
jacque patterson: 
We created over 28,000 jobs in the District over the last two years, but only about 20% went to District residents. We have to do a better job at preparing our residents for jobs.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:11 jacque patterson
1:12
David Alpert: 
Given that we have such budget deficits, what do you think DC should specifically do? Each new job training program costs money, doesn't it?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:12 David Alpert
1:13
jacque patterson: 
We need to make sure that each appenticeship program has a 6-8 wk life skill proponent to make sure that applicants are truly ready to do the work.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:13 jacque patterson
1:15
jacque patterson: 
Budgetary wise, the life skills should be paid for by those who get government dollars (tax breaks) from the city.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:15 jacque patterson
1:16
David Alpert: 
A number of people posed questions about east of the river, where you live but few or none of your fellow candidates do.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:16 David Alpert
1:16
[Comment From Ms VMs V: ] 
As a leader East of the River, can you speak to 2 specific accomplishments under your tenure that have had a positive impact East of the River?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:16 Ms V
1:18
jacque patterson: 
I'll do you one better and give you three. As an ANC for 8 years, I worked with the Williams C. Smith Co. to bring THEARC, the Giant grocery store, and a federal credit union to an area that didn't have one grocery store in the Ward, few recreational facilities, and was being victimized by check cashing joints.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:18 jacque patterson
1:21
David Alpert: 
Speaking of that Giant, it's great for the neighborhood to have it, though it was designed in a way that is very much oriented around cars and driving, and not around creating a pedestrian or bicycle friendly neighborhood. Do you think that any more needs to be done to guide the design of developments in needy areas east of the river?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:21 David Alpert
1:23
jacque patterson: 
Yes I do. We could have done a much better job in the design of the Giant to make it more pedestrian and bike friendly. In the future, we need to ensure that we take those thoughts into consideration.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:23 jacque patterson
1:26
David Alpert: 
Did you push for any of those types of changes during that particular project's design?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:26 David Alpert
1:28
jacque patterson: 
We did discuss with the first design team that many of the shoppers would be using the public transportation to get to the store, but teams changed during administrations (Williams to Fenty) and it was lost in the final decisions.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:28 jacque patterson
1:28
David Alpert: 
Thanks. Let's get a few more great reader questions in there.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:28 David Alpert
1:28
[Comment From TheAdvoc8teTheAdvoc8te: ] 
New Question: Ward 8 is definetly on an upswing both economically and socially but there is still this negative perception by most DC residents that Ward 8 has a lot of problems. How would you address DC residents who may be wary of electing an At-Large candidate from a Ward that many people feel has a lot of problems?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:28 TheAdvoc8te
1:32
jacque patterson: 
As an Ward 8 resident also (TheAdvoc8te), we have both worked to ensure that the great things that are happening in Ward 8 are being told as loudly as the issues that affect all neighborhoods. In the end, I believe as people meet me and discuss the issues with me, it will reasonate that many of the concerns they have are city wide issues, not just East of the River.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:32 jacque patterson
1:33
David Alpert: 
We have 2 reader questions about different groups that sometimes seem like shadowy overlords controlling the people of DC:
Monday February 14, 2011 1:33 David Alpert
1:33
[Comment From DWard4DWard4: ] 
Gay marriage in DC, as well as medical marijuana and our needle exchange program, seem threatened by the new GOP majority in the House of Representatives. How do you plan to fight for our sovereignty against the Right's social agenda?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:33 DWard4
1:35
jacque patterson: 
At the end of many of question is Congress having the Constitutional authority over legislation passed in the District. We need either a constitutional amendment or statehood. That is the only way to have sovereignty over our social agenda.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:35 jacque patterson
1:36
[Comment From DeanwoodenizenDeanwoodenizen: ] 
What has been your role with the Federal City Council, which is often derided as the hidden hand behind DC? Will you keep this job?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:36 Deanwoodenizen
1:37
jacque patterson: 
There is a lot of misperception of what the Federal City Council is and isn't...
Monday February 14, 2011 1:37 jacque patterson
1:39
jacque patterson: 
My role at the Federal City Council is as a managing director of projects that are driven by elected officials. I specialize in Economic Development, Libraries, Public Safety, and Government Operations.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:39 jacque patterson
1:40
David Alpert: 
Can you give some examples of programs you've managed?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:40 David Alpert
1:43
jacque patterson: 
Yes, I'm currently working on an ecomomic development project that would like to redevelop 10th Street SW in the L'Enfant community into the country's first Eco-District. It would call for the restructuring of that whole avenue.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:43 jacque patterson
1:44
David Alpert: 
There's an exciting-sounding public meeting on this project on Thursday, by the way: http://www.ncpc.gov/ncpc/Main%28T2%29/Planning%28Tr2%29/SouthwestEcodistrict.html
Monday February 14, 2011 1:44 David Alpert
1:44
David Alpert: 
Let's talk about communities some more.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:44 David Alpert
1:44
[Comment From Ms VMs V: ] 
Moving forward how do we balance creating livable-walkable communities East of the River when desire of some residents to keep it "suburban"?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:44 Ms V
1:48
jacque patterson: 
We balance that by taking advantage of our beautiful topography East of the River. Connecting Anacostia Park with bike lanes along Suitland Parkway. And then connecting walk-ways that will lead to Martin Luther King Jr. Ave in increase economic development. And I'm looking forward to getting streetcars East of the River.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:48 jacque patterson
1:49
David Alpert: 
Speaking of bike lanes, you served on the bicycle advisory council. Some other Ward 8 ANC commissioners have said they don't want any bicycle lanes and basically speak derisively about anyone bicycling east of the river. How do we move forward with cooperation and consensus instead of divided?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:49 David Alpert
1:51
jacque patterson: 
The putting in of bike lanes to this point haven't had great community outreach. To that point, I don't believe residents and businesses don't want bike lanes, they want to be included in the discussions of where and how they will be put in. I think that's true East of the River and anywhere that bike lanes are planned....
Monday February 14, 2011 1:51 jacque patterson
1:53
jacque patterson: 
We move forward by having DDOT reach out to ANC's during the planning phase and take into considerations the "great weight" that is afforded to ANC Commissions to set the tone of the conversations.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:53 jacque patterson
1:55
David Alpert: 
Does the same go for the Anacostia Streetcar? It seems that not everyone can get everything they want, even if there is outreach, and DDOT has had a number of meetings. If you're on the Council, would you push for 1. the project to be continued as planned on MLK Street, though with more outreach, 2. the streetcar to go on some other street, or 3. not to go through historic Anacostia?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:55 David Alpert
1:57
jacque patterson: 
As an At-Large Councilmember, I would push for the streetcar project to continue East of the River. With any proposal, you're going to have opposing sides, and I would work to mitigate as many of those concerns as possible, but the project will go a long ways in the revitalization of downtown Anacostia. And I can't wait to ride a streetcar down MLK Ave.
Monday February 14, 2011 1:57 jacque patterson
1:58
David Alpert: 
Last transportation question, and maybe last question:
Monday February 14, 2011 1:58 David Alpert
1:58
[Comment From DouglasDouglas: ] 
In your opinion, how should Metrobus service be improved East of the River?
Monday February 14, 2011 1:58 Douglas
2:01
jacque patterson: 
We need to look at which routes are being heavily used and which aren't and make sure we are restructuring our routes around those areas that have new development....
Monday February 14, 2011 2:01 jacque patterson
2:04
jacque patterson: 
We have a number of new housing projects that have come on line in the last few years and many of the new residents would like to use Metro, but the routes are not conducive. As At-Large Councilmember I would look at this issue city-wide to encourage higher usage of Metro.
Monday February 14, 2011 2:04 jacque patterson
2:04
David Alpert: 
And that's all the time we have. Thank you so much for joining us!
Monday February 14, 2011 2:04 David Alpert
2:05
jacque patterson: 
David, I appreciate you having me on and I'd like to ask those...
Monday February 14, 2011 2:05 jacque patterson
2:06
jacque patterson: 
who joined us to visit our website at www.jacquepatterson.com or our HQ at 2917 Georgia Ave. NW.
Monday February 14, 2011 2:06 jacque patterson
2:07
David Alpert: 
And thanks to everyone who was reading along and who submitted questions!
Monday February 14, 2011 2:07 David Alpert
2:08
David Alpert: 
Come back Thursday for our live chat with Vincent Orange. Also, please give your thoughts in the comments. What did you think of Mr. Patterson's ideas? Are you considering voting for him? What else would you like to hear from him?
Monday February 14, 2011 2:08 David Alpert
2:08
 

 
 
 
2 comments
Tags: DC, DC Council, Jacque Patterson, live chat, politics
Related posts:
David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater. 

Comments

Interesting and impressive responses from Patterson.

by Fritz on Feb 15, 2011 9:04 am • link • report

Patterson never attended a single BAC meeting. I wish I'd been in on this chat to ask him about it.

by David C on Feb 23, 2011 10:16 pm • link • report

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