Responses: 1. Outside Employment

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

Biddle: Yes, but I can not ignore my responsibilities to the education non-profit where I have served as executive director for nearly four years. If elected, I will work with them to ensure there is a timeline for a change in leadership and then step down from my position with the organization.

Douglas: Yes. When elected, I will be a full-time council member and not take any outside employment.

Lopez: Yes, I will be a full-time council member. I do not agree with council members having outside employment. If you are elected to serve the public then you must do so full-time. The city is always in need of improvements and having part-time council members does not help the city enough. If each member gave the position the full time it deserves the city might not be facing the problems it is today.

Mara: Yes, I will serve as a full-time Councilmember. Any given day you can turn on channel 13 and watch committee meetings where the only person asking questions is the Chair. It is a major problem that no other council members attend these hearings to ask tough questions. As a member of the Council I will be at these meetings, asking tough questions, and making sure the city's programs are operating efficiently and effectively.

Page: I will be a full time councilmember and I will not take any outside employment. I also will propose legislation requiring fellow councilmembers to do the same and lobby for its passage. The city deserves our full attention and not taking outside employment avoids the appearance of impropriety (and signals the primacy of service to the city over all other callings).

Weaver: Yes, part of my campaign platform is that I will be a full-time councilmember and not have any outside employment. I will introduce legislation that would officially make being a councilmember a full-time job. In addition, I am willing to take a $25,000 per year pay cut in my Council salary while the city has a deficit and I would work to encourage my fellow councilmembers to join me. I would ask that my forfeited salary (and the salaries of whoever else chose to join me) would go directly to the city's social safety net.