Candidate Responses

UPDATE: Responses from Dorothy Douglas and Patrick Mara have been added (1 pm, April 20). We also sent the questionnaire to Arkan Haile, Vincent Orange, and Tom Brown but did not receive a response.

The special election for the open at-large Council seat is next Tuesday, April 26! Four Six candidates responded to our questionnaire, and their answers are posted in separate entries below. All answers have been posted without editing, except for edits necessary for coding and formatting on this site.

You can read their responses candidate by candidate, or question by question:

Sekou Biddle
Dorothy Douglas
Josh Lopez
Patrick Mara
Alan Page
Bryan Weaver

1. You are elected to the DC Council. Will you be a full-time councilmember and not take any outside employment?

2. Will you introduce legislation establishing an independent Office on Ethics that would vet hires and oversee both the executive and legislative branches of DC government?

3. You have been named chairman of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment. Name three initiatives you would introduce to improve oversight of DC government.

4. Do you support Wal-Mart opening stores in the District? How will you vote on legislation recently reintroduced in the DC Council that requires stores larger than 75,000 square feet to pay a living wage?

5. DC contributes a sizable taxpayer-funded subsidy to Metro, and many residents depend on Metro for transportation. What role should the DC Council play in shaping Metro policies, such as the bag search policy?

6. Do you agree with DC’s current income tax structure? Check Yes or No. If No, how would you change it?

7. Do you agree with DC’s push to build a streetcar network? Check Yes or No. Explain your answer.

8. DC is facing a $320 million budget shortfall. Name three cuts you would make, the amount, and why.

9. You win office. How will you use your tickets to Verizon Center and Nationals Park?

10. What are your top three legislative priorities to make DC a more sustainable, energy-efficient city?

FINAL QUESTION: Are you a progressive? Please give us your personal definition of progressive politics.