Responses: Alan Page

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

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).

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?

I will introduce such legislation and will also incorporate a voluntary donation option on local tax forms, similar to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund optional donation box that taxpayers can check off on federal tax forms, in order to create a dedicated stream of revenue for the proposed Office on Ethics.

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.

First, the process of city contracting should be completely transparent and the Office of Contracting needs a real-time updated website displaying the name, address and tax identification number of all entities seeking city dollars through responses to RFPs. Second, I would propose funding to establish a joint task force between the DC Board of Elections and Ethics and the Office of Contracting to generate a database accessible to the public that identifies corporations or private persons who have sought city contracts and have also donated money to the campaigns of elected officials in the District, to increase transparency. Third, I would propose funding for the Office of Attorney General to hire an ethics prosecutor who would be charged with investigating and prosecuting all current and future cases where elected representatives in the District are accused of violating local or federal elections or ethics laws, in addition to investigating any other legal violations purportedly committed by elected officials in the District.

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?

I do not personally support Wal-Mart due to its abyssmal record on preventing gender and race discrimination throughout its organization, its deplorable record of labor violations (both accusations and matters that have been settled out of court), and its effect on local wages and on local businesses wherever Wal-Marts have opened. I would vote in favor of legislation requiring stores larger than 75,000 square to pay a living wage. To do otherwise would lead to the District essentially underwriting Wal-Mart underpaying its employees whenever those employees seek social services such as Medicaid and rental assistance, because they cannot afford to live on the salaries Wal-Mart regularly offers its store employees. To do otherwise would lead us to face a threat of wage suppression for retail employees citywide.

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?

The City Council should oppose the bag search policy because they are sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution, the bag search arguably constitutes a constitutional violation, and the District is a party to that violation because we are a major contributor to WMATA. Besides being morally wrong, this situation exposes the District to liability should an individual deprived of the right to use Metro decide to sue to protect her/his rights.

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

No.

I do not believe the top tax bracket should start at $40,001, as it does currently. This is fiscally unsound and I think it is morally questionable to ask residents who earn $41,000 a year to pay the same tax rate (8.5%) as residents who earn $41 million a year. I would add a new tax bracket of 9.5% for annual income over $200,000.

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

Yes.

Streetcars spur development along the rail line in a way that bus lines (which can be altered at any time) never could. Further, streetcars are more environmentally friendly than the buses used by WMATA. Streetcars also hold more riders than a single bus could. Finally, empircial data indicates that streetcars are the most preferred form of public transportation. Since getting more residents to use public transportation and out of their cars is a key component to neighborhood-level smart growth and an environmental plus, streetcars are definitely a smart option for the District.

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

Cuts are painful but necessary in our fiscal climate. First, I would cut funding to the DC National Guard, since DC has a range of federal and military options for its protection in the case of emergency. Second, I would sharply reduce the funding for homeland security expended by the District because the federal government amply provides for homeland security needs in the city. Finally, I would put new building construction for District buildings on hold for FY2012, although I would fully fund all ongoing projects so they make their scheduled completion date, since we cannot afford to sacrifice social programs people rely upon to survive day to day in the District to pay for construction projects that can be delayed or paid for through the sale of bonds on the private market.

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

I would give them to honor roll students who receive free lunch, so that the poorest but most successful students in our city get to see a tangible reward for their hard work in school.

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

First, I want to fully fund the SRECs (Solar Renewal Energy Credits) so that homeowners who elect to install solar panels on their homes can do so and receive the tax credit previously promised by legislation passed by the Council that has since been underfunded. Second, I want to fund the installation of smart meters in every District office so that we can track energy usage by agency and tie annual budget "bonuses" to agencies that are the most energy efficient. This ties into my third and final legislative priority in energy efficiency: I want to create a system analogous to IMPACT for all District employees that grants incentive pay to workers who eliminate the most waste in their position, from spending the least amount of time idling in District owned vehicles to conserving the most energy in one's office, according to the smart meters mentioned previously).

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

Yes, I am a progressive.

I define a progressive as a person who views government service through the lens of social justice, sees government revenue as money held by them in sacred trust by the taxpayer, and vows to fight in the best interest of the people rather than corporate or monied interests.