Responses: Bryan Weaver

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

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.

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

Yes. Long before our current troubles in the Wilson building and long before I decided to seek this At-Large seat on the Council, I have advocated for the creation of an independent ethics board or Office of Ethics. And that would just be a start. I would propose sweeping ethics reform for the Council including reforming campaign finance laws in the District.

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.

1. Create a Doing Business with District database that would list all companies that do business with the city that would essentially prohibit any of those companies or their subsidiaries from contributing to political campaigns in the District of Columbia.
2. Outlaw the practice of subsidiary LLCs ability to contribute to political campaigns. Currently subsidiary LLCs may each contribute to a political campaign thus skirting the maximum contribution limit.
3. Eliminate the ability for a councilmember or the Mayor to take third-party paid trips.

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 am not happy about Wal-Mart's attempt to open four stores in the District but how they are doing it is a matter of right and the Council and the community, under current law and procedures do not have many options. I am 100 percent in support of legislation to create a living wage law for stores larger than 75,000 square feet and this should have been done years ago.

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?

I think it's important that representatives from each jurisdiction actively participate in decisions being made by WMATA. I think Councilmember Tommy Wells is a good representative for our city's needs. Like many people, I am adamantly opposed to bag searches; however I am not sure how much control the Council can have over that. Ideally I think the District should have more input over civil liberties and civil rights, but the current General Manager does not share my view. Therefore, we must have a well-informed, strong-voiced advocate on the Board. As a frequent bus rider and Metro user, I would be happy to join CM Wells as a strong and vocal advocate for the people of D.C. I also firmly believe that more citizens' voices should be heard on the Metro Board, perhaps even going as far as having three at-large representatives elected to the Board -- by the residents -- from each jurisdiction.

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

I firmly believe the entire D.C. tax code needs to be re-written from top to bottom and at a minimum we need to expand our income brackets to at least six brackets. I would suggest one new bracket at $124K, another bracket at $350K and another bracket at $1.5M

While this would lessen the tax burden for some of our city's neediest residents, it would also more equitably distribute the burden and increase revenue without a dramatic increase in taxes.

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

I do support the District's push to build a streetcar network for several reasons:

1. I think that in many of the areas where they want to build the streetcars it will actually be conducive for economic growth;
2. That it's a far greener mode of transportation;
3. It fits into a mold that you will have an integrated transit system;
4. It provides another mode for people to have access to employment.

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

1. There was a $900,000 increase the Mayor's office in this budget and I would cut that immediately. Nothing within in the Mayor's office should require an increase -- especially salaries -- in this time of a budget crisis.
2. I would cut the 22 percent increase to the Office of Motion Picture and Television Development. The increase largely covers salary increases and again, in a time of a budget crisis, this office does not need an increase for anything, let alone salaries.
3. The budget includes a $9 million increase to the RTC (residential treatment centers) program for juvenile offenders. I would cut that $9 million increase and would ultimately like to cut that program altogether because I believe our young offenders can be better rehabilitated and for less in the District of Columbia instead of sending them to other states.
4. I would cut all council salaries by $25,000 for a total of $325,000. Our Council is the second highest paid in the country and while there is no doubt the D.C. Council handles different levels of administration than other city councils do, the salaries, in this economic climate, are just too high.

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

I have publicly stated that I will not use tickets to the Verizon Center or Nationals Park either for my own personal use or as giveaways. I would work to eliminate these perks altogether.

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

1. Reinstate the incentives for solar-panel installation on homes in the District.
2. Create a mechanism to enforce and fine commercial haulers who are not recycling.
3. Incentivize clean currents/clean energy cooperatives for homeowners and businesses.

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

I am a progressive.

The Washington Post may call me an “unbending liberal” but in my opinion, traditional "liberals" focus on using taxpayer money to help better society. As a "progressive" we focus on using the power of the government to make large institutions play by the rules.

Throughout my time in public service I have dedicated my life to the cause of human rights, economic justice and equality of opportunity for all Washingtonians. I have stood up for the rights of women, disadvantaged youth, championed affordable housing, the rights of the mentally ill, the environment, full public financing of elections, equitable funding of public education, access to child care and a safe, integrated public transit system.

The abolitionist Wendell Phillips was once asked, 'Wendell, why are you so on fire?' He responded, 'I'm on fire because I have mountains of ice before me to melt.'

So do we progressives.