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DEBBY HANRAHAN
DC Statehood Green Party (DCSGP)
FOR COUNCIL CHAIR
VOTE YOUR HEART AND YEAR HEAD,
NOT YOUR HABIT.
MAKE D.C. A REAL TWO-PARTY TOWN
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Why I’m Running
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To Serve As a Citizens' Advocate
I am running for D.C. Council Chair to serve as a citizens'
advocate. Under the leadership of the current Chair, the Council
is known for its handouts to downtown developers and investors to
the detriment of citizens, and for maintaining scant oversight of
projects that negatively impact on our city's neighborhoods and
fiscal health. The Grand Prix races, the unsuccessful 2012
Olympics bid, and the mayor's pledge to provide $200 million in
land and financing to build a baseball stadium, possibly near Mt.
Vernon Square, are cases in point. The recent closed-door
budget-cutting discussion by the Mayor and Council is another
example of "decisions first, citizen views later." We
need a Council Chair who advocates for citizens first and has a
true sense of our city's needs and priorities.
To Work for Full Funding for Schools, UDC
I pledge to work aggressively for full funding of the D.C. public
schools' and the University of the District of Columbia's budgets.
I would also work to develop special education programs within the
D.C. public school system, utilizing underenrolled and surplus
school buildings while continuing to make special placements.
To Establish a World-Class Public Hospital on Reservation 13
I would advocate for a world-class public hospital on Reservation
13, the 60 acres of federal land that will be transferred to the
District and that encompasses the site of D.C. General Hospital.
D.C. General was ordered closed last year by Mayor Williams,
leaving the city's 100,000 uninsured citizens at the mercy of a
privatized system.
To Spend the $30 Million in Low-Income Housing Funds
I would see to it that the $30 million in the Low-Income
Housing Trust Fund is actually spent on affordable housing. Even
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we are in the midst of a housing and
homeless crisis, the Mayor and Council slashed this fund from
$11.5 million to $ 5 million during their secret decision-making
on the $323-million budget shortfall.
To Expand Our Tax Base and Reform the Tax System
The key to future fiscal soundness is to expand our tax base and
reform the tax system, rather than cutting services. This must be
done in order to prevent future budget shortfalls and provide full
funding for schools and other vital programs. I would vigorously
lobby for a full-fledged reciprocal tax on suburban residents who
work here, and in the meantime would support the limited measure
pending in Congress to give us a portion of federal taxes
collected from those suburbanites. We must also pressure large
institutions, which currently pay no taxes to the District, to
make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) for all the free services
and benefits they get. These freeloaders include tax-exempt
private universities, Fannie Mae, World Bank, IMF. Without PILOT
contributions, no more city-backed, tax-exempt bonds should be
provided for these institutions.
To Increase Jobs for D.C. Citizens at RIK and Armory Events
I will force the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission to
increase to 76% the number of jobs required to go to D.C. citizens
working at its events. D.C. citizens are seriously shortchanged,
as a majority of these jobs are held by suburbanites. This is
especially critical since the youth summer jobs program has been
virtually eliminated.
To Win Statehood for D.C.
Partway measures will not suffice. As long as Congress controls
us, it can grant us some rights this year and take them away next
year. Only if we are a state can we permanently enjoy the same
rights that all Americans have. The current Council Chair supports
partway measures and doesn't agitate for statehood. I will. |
PUT A CITIZENS' ADVICATE IN THE COUNCIL
DEMOCRATS:
VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO REFLECT YOUR VALUES!
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To Democratic Party voters, I ask:
Do you recall when local Democrats fought for many of the
same things that the DCSGP stands for today? Well, no more. It was
Mayor Williams, a Democrat, who closed down D. C. General. It was
the Mayor and the Democratic Council that recently slashed budgets
for the public schools, housing, the disabled and other critical
social programs. Please vote your heart and your head, not your
habit. Make D. C. a real two-party city. Vote Statehood Green on
November 5.
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ABOUT THE CANDIDATE
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| Debby Hanrahan is a long-time community
and statehood activist. She grew up in the Washington area, and
has lived in the District of Columbia since 1967. For 30 years,
she has been a member of the D.C. Statehood Party and its merged
successor, the D.C. Statehood Green Party (DCSGP).
As chair of the DCSGP's sports committee, Debby has spearheaded
efforts against the D.C. 2012 Olympic bid, against public funding
for a baseball stadium, and against any stadium near Mt. Vernon
Square in Shaw. She has advocated for increased sports programs
and sports facilities for D.C. boys and girls.
Debby worked as a secretary to the late Julius Hobson, one of
the city's greatest civil rights leaders, and as a staffer for
former D.C. Council Member Hilda Mason.
Debby is a member of the Local School Restructuring Team (LSRT)
for Ross Elementary School, a public school at 17th and R Streets
N.W., where she has for many years been a volunteer and a
fundraiser running an annual Christmas tree sale. She is currently
trying to raise funds to reinstate Ross's after-school program for
which funding was removed for this school year. |
Debby served in the Peace Corps in
rural Chile. She was an organizer in the anti-Vietnam War
movement, United Farm Workers' grape boycott, and Nuclear Freeze
movement, as well as in against construction of the North Central
Freeway/Three Sisters Bridge in the 1960s and 1970s, and against
construction of the new Convention Center at Mt. Vernon Square in
the 1990s. She organized a 1995 national gun violence conference,
and was a signature gatherer in D.C.'s successful medical
marijuana initiative. She is former chair of the Education
Committee of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association, and a former
board member of Friends of Meridian Hill Park.
In July 2000, Debby and six other activists - subsequently
called the "D.C. Democracy 7" -- were arrested for
disrupting Congress when they arose to cast a loud, symbolic
pro-democracy "vote" during a House debate on the D.C.
appropriations bill. After a mistrial, they were acquitted in a
second trial by a D.C. Superior Court jury.
Debby is married to John Hanrahan, a journalist and legal
investigator. They have two grown sons: Tim, New York City; Frank,
Washington, D.C. |
VOTE
FOR THESE Statehood Green Party CANDIDATES
ON NOVEMBER 5
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Steve Donkin,
MAYOR
Michele Tingling-Clemmons,
AT-LARGE COUNCIL.
Edward Chico Troy,
WARD I COUNCIL
Adam Eidinger,
U.S. "SHADOW REPRESENTATIVE
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Debby Hanrahan,
COUNCIL CHAIR
Gall Dixon,
WARD 5 COUNCIL
Jenefer Ellingston,
WARD 6 COUNCIL
Joyce Robinson-Paul
U.S. "SHADOW" SENATOR
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For further information, to volunteer or to make
a contribution,
please contact Debby Hanrahan at (202) 462-2054 or at debosly@aol.com
The DCSGP accepts no corporate contributions. |
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