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Schwartz Receives Endorsements of The Current and Intowner Newspapers

Washington, D.C. Mayoral Candidate Carol Schwartz on Wednesday received the endorsement -- over Mayor Anthony Williams -- of the Current Newspapers (Northwest, Georgetown, Dupont and Foggy Bottom), and today that of the Intowner newspaper. Excerpts from both endorsements can be found below. 

The Current - October, 2002

"We see major weaknesses in (Mayor Anthony Williams') financial and management arena -- particularly the unacceptable 92 percent growth in the past three-and-a-half years of high-level managers earning more than $100,000. These officials should have borne much of the pain in the recent budget cutting, but the administration largely kept them off the chopping block. We also see ethical lapses, beginning with Mr. Williams' failure to report income he earned from consulting work during his 1998 campaign. More recently, the mayor used government employees to promote his position in favor of the referendum on a new school board structure."

"We do not believe that any of these problems would arise if Carol Schwartz were mayor. In her years on the school board and city council, we know of no ethical lapses. Mrs. Schwartz has an enviable record of service to her hometown, including leadership positions at charitable organizations when she did not hold elected office. In the past four years, as chair of the Committee on Public Works and the Environment, she has ensured additional resources for two key agencies -- the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works."

"Mrs. Schwartz obviously enjoys the edge in the charisma necessary to make people inside and outside the District feel better about the city, as we said four years ago. She seems to have more heart. We believe that she would carry out her often-expressed commitment to basic service delivery, favoring frontline workers over consultants and high-level managers."

"Overall, we believe Mrs. Schwartz is far better suited to move the District forward. While Mr. Williams has clearly produced improvements in the past four years, we believe Mrs. Schwartz would be a superior manager. She would continue to increase the tax base through an emphasis on economic development but would see that our citizens could get to their churches or synagogues and not be driven out of their homes by roaring auto races."

The Intowner - October, 2002

"What we hope for is a mayor who can relate to our neighborhoods and its people, who feels comfortable with them and they with . . . of course, we mean none other than . . . Carol Schwartz! Not only is she a genuine 'people person,' to use a shopworn label, but she's an incredibly savvy person who understands the fine points of municipal governance and appreciates the myriad competing interests that only a culturally diverse city like ours forces its leadership to continually confront. With her many years of public service, as a member of the school board and as a member of the city council, she understands those challenges and has, in our opinion, the skill, perseverance, and depth of knowledge to make her an outstanding mayor for this city."

"Mrs. Schwartz is a person of supreme substance and critical understanding of matters of public policy. And, on top of everything-maybe, for this city, given past experience with politicians it would be just 'icing on the cake,' but we believe essential-she is a person of high ethical standards without the slightest inclination to even allow for actions by herself or her subordinates that might give even an appearance of conflict of interest. What a refreshing thought for DC!"

"There is also one other matter of grave importance: Mrs. Schwartz hasn't a racist bone in her body. Unlike other politicians we have suffered with in this city, she would never, ever play the "race card" for the purpose of making political points with one group or another. My, how wonderful that kind of leadership would be!"

A complete copy of the Current endorsement is attached to this press release. [Not available on-line.] The Intowner endorsement can be found on page 2 at: http://www.intowner.com/fr/pdf/2002October.pdf.