DC Mayoral Candidate Debates

By Liane Scott, on March 27th, 2014

Next Tuesday, April 1, 2014, is DC’s Mayoral Primary. Given that the District of Columbia has never elected a mayor who wasn’t a Democrat, so far as I know anyway, the primary can be counted on as a prediction of the election itself. A Google search of the District’s mayoral race reveals that most news outlets are reporting on who’s likely to win and not so much on their position on the issues. One exception is the Examiner.com article, D.C. mayoral candidate forum addresses sustainability and the environment.

If you were unable to attend any of the candidate forums but want to know what the candidates think about income inequality, the achievement gap, the wage gap, housing affordability, and other pivotal issues, you can watch the Un-Forums. These one-on-one conversations with the leading mayoral candidates were held on three evenings in March at the University of the District of Columbia Law School before a live audience. The forums were moderated by Mark Segraves of NBC4 and Marc Fisher of the Washington Post. Participating candidates were Muriel Bowser, Andy Shallal, Jack Evans, Tommy Wells and Vincent Orange.

Mark Segraves Interviews Andy Shallal and Tommy Wells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34dsTjuRN2Y

Mark Fisher Interviews Vincent Orange and Jack Evans.

Mark Fisher Interviews Muriel Bowser.

For those who want an opportunity to hear from all of the candidates, you can watch WAMU’s candidate forum.

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Independent News Media’s Take On The Large Retailer Accountability Act

By Guest Contributor, on September 5th, 2013

Cross-Posted from the DC Independent Media Center by Luke

Petitions for LRAA (living wage) act delivered to Mayor after press conference

On the 3rd of September, DC Councilmember Vincent Orange held a press conference in front of the Wilson Building along with supporters of the Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA).

They were demanding that Mayor Gray sign the LRAA instead of bowing to Wal-Mart’s brazen threats to leave the city if the bill is signed into law. Speakers pointed out that in 1963 during the Jobs and Freedom March, Dr Martin Luther King demanded a minimum wage of $2 an hour. In 2013 dollars, that is over $15 an hour, yet the LRAA only mandates $12.50 an hour inclusive of benefits.

Several speakers also pointed out that longtime District residents, who held out through the Crack Wars and the lean years to stay in the city, requires more than $8 and change an hour now that all those condos are going up.

At the conclusion of the press conference, a box containing 36,917 (according to speakers) signed petitions asking the Mayor to sign the LRAA were taken inside and delivered to his office.

 

Town Hall meeting in Anacostia demands that Mayor Gray sign Living Wage bill

On the evening of the 27th of August, community members and activists packed into the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church to demand that Mayor Gray sign the Large Retailer Accountability Act.

DC Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Vincent Orange both spoke to support the LRAA. Both Mendelson and Reverend Curry (senior pastor at the Church) held up pens and demanded that the Mayor sign the bill.

Phil Mendelson bluntly condemned the Mayor’s hypocrisy in appearing at the Martin Luther King and Statehood events on Saturday, yet leaning towards vetoing the LRAA.

Other speakers debunked the lies Wal-Mart has been spreading with facts about how states and cities that raised their minimum wages over the past 20 years have not had higher unemployment than those that did not.

One of the speakers pointed out that the $2 minimum wage demanded by organizers of the original 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom would be worth $15 an hour today, and the LRAA is only asking for $12.50 an hour.

Near the end, Reverend Hagler condemned Mayor Gray for taking “30 pieces of silver” from Wal-Mart. Those 30 pieces of silver will drag Mr Gray out of office and right into the gutter, ending his career if he vetoes a living wage for workers at Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot!

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