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Washington Interfaith Network
SIGN-UP & TAKE CHARGE
1998 ELECTION SCORECARD

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Rating chart Press release Fact sheet

Rating Chart

  Harold Brazil Kevin Chavous Jack Evans Anthony Williams
Crime and Public Safety
  • 900 Foot & Bike Patrol Officers
  • Crime Statistics Audit
Y U/Y Y Y
Education
  • $30 Million Fund for After-School Programs
  • $3 Million for 10 WIN After-School Program
Y N/Y Y Y
Homeownership
  • 1,000 Nehemiah Homes
  • Easter 1999 Groundbreaking
Y N Y Y
Jobs/Economic Development
  • Wage and Jobs Summit
  • Living Wage Ordinance
Y/N Y Y Y
Democracy for DC
  • Accountable to citizens
  • Restore self-governance
Y Y Y Y

KEY: Yes (Y); No (N)); Unclear (U)


Press release

WASHINGTON INTERFAITH NETWORK
1226 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 518-0815

For Immediate Release
Monday, July 20, 1998
Contacts: Rev. Lionel Edmonds, 202-347-5562
Father Moises Villata, 202-234-8000
Jocelyn Breeland, 202-736-7786
Rev. David Argo, 202-546-1000

700 CHURCH LEADERS TO HOLD TOP MAYORAL CANDIDATES ACCOUNTABLE

700 Washington Interfaith Network leaders will gather tonight at Asbury United Methodist Church, 11th & K Streets, NW from 7:30--9:30 PM for a Candidates' Accountability Rally. The top four democratic mayoral candidates have pledged to attend: Harold Brazil, Kevin Chavous, Jack Evans, & Anthony Williams. WIN is a multi-racial, multi-faith, non-partisan, District-wide citizens' organization with 45 congregation members, representing 20,000 families in every section of the city.

At the rally, each candidate will be asked to commit to implement WIN's 1998 Election Agenda within a specific timeframe, if elected. WIN will grade candidates publicly based on their detailed plan to implement WIN's Election Agenda. WIN's 1998 Election Agenda includes:

  1. establishment of a multi-million dedicated fund for after-school programs for DC children.
  2. construction of 1,000 new homes for working families earning $20,00045,000.
  3. community policing that places foot and bike patrols in every neighborhood.
  4. creation of living wage jobs for DC residents by private developers receiving public subsidies.
  5. democracy for DC.

At a May 11th rally held at Israel Baptist Church and attended by 800 leaders, WIN pledged to sign up at least 15,000 DC residents to support its election agenda. WIN will present these signatures to the candidates at the rally. 15,000 votes were the difference between the winner and loser in the 1994 mayoral primary. WIN leaders have gathered signatures in every ward of the city over the last 8 weeks.

"WIN's agenda seeks to provide a ladder of opportunity for poor and working-class persons in the District," said Rev. Lionel Edmonds, Pastor, Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church and a WIN Co-Chair. "Persons earning $15,000–$45,000 are fleeing the District. They have been forgotten in this campaign. WIN aims to rebuild the city by providing teachers, police officers, restaurant workers, construction laborers, data entry clerks, cashiers, janitors, and others with an opportunity to own their first home, to reside in a neighborhood free of violence, to have after-school programs for their children, and living wage jobs to support their families," Rev. Edmonds asserted.

"WIN is introducing a new ethic of accountability in DC's public life," said Father Moises Villalta Associate Pastor Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, a WIN member congregation. "We will educate our parishioners about where candidates stand on WIN's Agenda and will distribute a WIN Election Scorecard to voters who signed-on to WIN's Agenda," Father Viallata stated. WIN plans to have 200 election Workers on the street during Primary Week to educate voters about and to turnout voters to support WIN's Agenda.

Founded in 1996, WIN is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the oldest and largest community organizing network in the United States. Founded 50 years ago by Saul Alinksy, the IAF works with more than 60 congregation-based community organizations across the nation, including BUILD in Baltimore, MD and IAC in Prince Georges County, MD.

For more information, contact WIN at (202) 518-0815


WASHINGTON INTERFAITH NETWORK

“SIGN-UP AND TAKE CHARGE”

1998 ELECTION CAMPAIGN FACT SHEET

WHAT IS WIN?

Founded in 1996, WIN is a multi-racial, multi-faith, strictly non-partisan, District-wide, citizens' organization, rooted in local congregations and committed to the training and development of neighborhood leaders to address community issues in Washington, DC. WIN's 45 member congregations represent 20,000 families in every section of the District and reflect its theological, racial, geographic and economic diversity. Membership in WIN is open to all faiths, as well as other organizations -- schools, unions, non-profits, hospitals, business associations. WIN is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the oldest and largest community organizing network in the United States. WIN's aim is to make the nation's capital work for its citizens by providing them with the training and power with which they can address issues affecting their lives and hold their elected officials accountable.

SIGN-UP & TAKE CHARGE CAMPAIGN

VOTER EDUCATION & CANDIDATE ACCOUNTABILITY

WIN's 1998 Election Agenda is focused on those issues and actions that have been identified by WIN, through more than 2,000 individual and group meetings with parents, neighborhood residents, business owners, teachers, nonprofit leaders and others, as primary concerns for the District. WIN believes that the District can only be rebuilt with the active participation of citizens without whom all the management and fiscal reforms needed in the District will be incomplete. Therefore, WIN is asking mayoral and council candidates, appointed officials, DC residents and all others interested in making DC a better city to sign-on to WIN's 1998 Election Agenda and become part of WIN's Sign-Up and Take Charge Campaign for voter education and candidate accountability. WIN leaders will sign-up 15,000 voters this spring/summer and hold a series of candidate accountability nights in July and August to secure pledges from mayoral and council candidates to implement WIN's agenda once elected.

WHY?

Washington, DC is in crisis. The President and Congress suspended home-rule -- DC's limited self-government -more than one year ago, installing a Financial Control Board to manage the city and to return it to financial solvency. In the process, the wishes and needs of DC residents have generally been ignored by Washington decision makers and power brokers. DC is being scrutinized and "reformed" by outside management consultants who have no stake in the results of their myriad of costly studies, hearings and proposals. Washington, DC is a city that does not work:

  • major agencies (public housing, education, mental health) are in receivership;
  • residents are leaving the District at the rate of nearly 1,000 people per month;
  • basic services such as trash collection and road repair are poorly delivered;
  • the child poverty rate (37%) is the highest in the nation;
  • the home-ownership rate (38%) is the lowest of any US city of comparable size;
  • who is in charge of the city is a moving target — Control Board, Congress, City Council, Mayor, City Manager, Federal City Council?

WIN 1998 ELECTION AGENDA

  • Crime & Public Safety. Accountable leadership and a community policing strategy that guarantees foot and bike patrols for every neighborhood.

Facts: The District has one of the highest violent crime rates in the United States despite having the highest number of police officers per capita in the country. Crime is often cited as the number one reason people leave or chose not to live in the District. Last year, WIN research uncovered that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has failed to re-deploy, as promised, 900+ officers from administrative jobs to neighborhood patrols. Only 1,500 of the MPD's 3,600 member force are deployed in neighborhood patrols. The MPD cannot provide accurate information on how its officers are deployed. The MPD claims that DC's crime rate has dropped by 20% over the last year. Yet District residents do not perceive their neighborhoods have become safe. WIN interviews with neighborhood residents document substantial non- and underreporting of crime by the MPD.

Need: Make police leadership accountable and all our neighborhoods safe by increasing the police presence in and cooperation with the community.

WIN Proposal: Develop an effective community policing strategy to redeploy officers to foot and bike patrols in every neighborhood. Conduct an audit of the MPD's crime statistics. Require MPD officials to account for officer deployment.

WIN's Accomplishments: WIN has demanded reforms in the MPD for the last 18 months. In March 1997, WIN called for the removal of Police Chief Larry Soulsby for his poor performance and complacency in the midst of a soaring crime rate and a homicide rate five times that of New York City. After Chief Soulsby's resignation in November, WIN successfully pressed the Control Board and other District officials to hire a new chief who could reform the MPD, reduce crime, and implement city-wide the kind of community policing strategies that WIN has initiated in the Brookland neighborhood in Northeast.

  • Housing. 1,000 new, Nehemiah homes in the next three years for sale to working families earning $20,000–$45,000.

Facts: Washington has the lowest home-ownership rate, 38%, for any city its size in the nation. Working- and middle-class wage earners cannot afford to live in the District. As a result, the District's population and tax base have declined significantly. Efforts to revitalize the District cannot succeed unless more working families have an equity stake in the city's future.

Need: Affordable, owner-occupied housing in viable communities of 250+ units, particularly in areas of the city with low home-ownership.

WlN's Proposal: Build over the next five years at least 1,000 owner-occupied homes for sale to individuals and families earning $20,000–$45,000 annually. Make home-ownership a top economic development priority for the District.

WIN's Accomplishments: WIN has raised $2.5 million in 0% loan funds from the Catholic Archdiocese, the Episcopal Diocese, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Methodist Church. WIN has identified several potential sites of 15+ acres suited for the construction of 250+ Nehemiah homes, in particular a 25-acre site at South Capitol Street and Southern Avenue, SE. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced H.R. 2700 to transfer this land from the Federal Government to the District to build Nehemiah homes. WIN is organizing with residents in Ward 8 to develop this site. WIN has been pressing the Control Board, the Mayor and the DC Housing and Community Development Agency to develop a viable strategy to promote home ownership in the District. Last year, WIN uncovered $50 million in unspent federal funds available to DC for housing and economic development, which led to a Washington Post investigative series on mismanagement in DC government.

  • Youth & Education. Establish a multi-million dollar dedicated fund to support after school, education and recreation programs for youth city-wide.

Facts: National research has documented that how young people spend their non-school hours has a direct effect on academic performance and their success in other life endeavors. It also shows that unsupervised time can be disastrous for kids: Most juvenile crime and teen pregnancies occur between the hours of 3 to 6 PM. DC has the highest juvenile violent crime arrest rate (ages 10-17) in the country. The number of children dying in DC increased by 91% from 1985 to 1994, higher than any other state. The DC Office of Early Childhood Development estimates that only 4,500 of the District's 49,000 elementary students have access to after-school programs. The percentage is even lower for middle and high-school students. The graduation rate in DC public schools was 49% in 1996. Most DC public school students perform at below basic on national achievement tests.

Need: Universal access to affordable and enriching after-school programs for DC youth. District officials claim there is no money to support after-school programs even as the District plans to spend $10 million to operate a massive summer school for the estimated 15,000 students who are expected to fail this academic year.

WIN's Proposal: A youth investment fund, similar to Baltimore's Child First Authority, funded with revenues from a dedicated source, such as a downtown development surcharge, lottery percentage, Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) for tax-exempt organizations in DC, or liquor/cigarette tax. The fund would support after-school and other youth programs throughout the District on a long-term basis.

WIN's Accomplishments: WIN leaders pledged to organize with principals, teachers, and parents to establish 10 after-school programs over the next five years involving more that 2,000 students. WIN launched its first after school program in January 1997 at the J.O. Wilson ES in NE with a $150,000 grant from the Fannie Mae Foundation. More than 240 students are currency enrolled in the program. Recently, WIN received a $66,000 grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to launch a second after school program at Hine JHS in SE. WIN is working with parents, teachers and school administrators to start ocher programs, including Whittier ES, NW and Terrell JHS, NW. WIN is also organizing with parents and teachers to address ocher issues. For example, WIN helped Hine JHS secure $81,000 due the school from the Federal Title I program to purchase computers. The District had withheld these monies from Hine since 1996.

  • Jobs & Economic Development. Increase employment and create living wage jobs for underemployed city residents by requiring this of all private economic development supported by public subsidies from DC government agencies.

Facts: In February 1998, the District's unemployment rate increased to 9% from 8.4%, while the unemployment rate in metro area hovered at around 3.6%. Unofficial estimates put the percentage of unemployed, underemployed, and discouraged DC workers being close to 15%. The President, Congress, the Control Board and DC officials have placed a high priority on DC economic development initiatives. Congress authorized up to $1.2 billion in tax exempt financing and ocher tax incentives to spur business development in the District over the next 5 years. In April, the City Council passed legislation to create a new Economic Development Authority to spearhead downtown development as well as select neighborhood revitalization using dedicated tax revenues from Tax Incentive Finance Districts. The President's FY 1999 budget proposal for the District would provide $50 million to capitalize the new Economic Development Authority. A recent study by McKinsey & Co. urged Federal and DC officials to make training and creating jobs for DC residents a top economic development priority. Given Congress' prohibition against a DC commuter tax, McKinsey & Co. noted chat employing 100 additional DC residents would provide almost two times the financial returns than creating 100 new jobs for non-resident workers.

Need: An effective jobs and training policy for DC residents as a central part of the District's economic development initiatives.

WIN's Proposal: Make it a requirement that all recipients of public subsidies for private development initiatives create and maintain jobs for District residents that pay a "living wage."

WIN's Accomplishments: WIN is developing a strategy to insure that DC agencies use public subsidies for private development projects to create living wage jobs for DC residents. WIN has researched the failure of the District's job training programs to place graduates in jobs.

  • Democracy DC. Accountable public officials. Vote in Congress. Restore Home Rule in three years.

Facts: Congress, District of finials, business — no one is willing to be held accountable. Elected and non-elected officials make decisions behind closed doors. Congress passes laws rejected by the voters of the District. DC citizens are denied their constitutional right to representation.

Need: Democracy. Accountable of ficials. Voters with hope for change and the power necessary to hold officials accountable for their promises and actions.

WIN's Proposal: "Keep the deal" — return democracy to the District after three years of a balanced budget, as required by the Control Board law. Obtain commitments from candidates for the WIN 1998 Agenda, for a start. Educate and organize voters to hold elected officials to their commitments. Work towards the District's securing a vote in Congress.

WIN's Accomplishments: WIN defied all pundits and political experts who said we would not last and could not succeed. Despite these predictions, WIN has united blacks, whites, and Latinos — Catholics and Protestants — Ward 1- 8 in a common vision for rebuilding the District. WIN has a strong trackrecord of change. WIN has demanded and obtained meetings for neighborhood leaders with District, Congressional and federal government members to address the needs of the District. WIN has organized its Sign-Up and Take Charge Campaign.

WIN/IAF CONNECTION

The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), founded 60 years ago by Saul Alinsky, is a national network of more than 60 faith-based community organizing projects across the United States. The IAF has worked with local leaders to create multi-faith, multi-racial, non-partisan citizens' organizations capable of achieving real world change benefiting the whole community, particularly working families, poor people, and youth:

  • East Brooklyn Congregations (EBC) in New York has built 2,500 homes for sale to working families, established two community health clinics, founded two neighborhood high schools, and led the fight with seven other IAF sister organizations to expose significant corruption in New York City's job training programs and to pass a living wage bill that guarantees public contract workers $11/hour plus benefits.

  • Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) has pressured the city and corporations to create a $20 million scholarship fund for city high school graduates to attend college, obtained legislation requiring vendors doing business with the city to pay their workers a living wage of a minimum $7.80/hour plus benefits, built 600 Nehemiah homes and led the fight to establish Baltimore's Child First Authority, the first government- related agency created nationally to fund after-school programs for economically disadvantaged youth.

  • Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) in San Antonia, TX, a major political force in the city over the last 25 years, has secured significant public infrastructure improvements (sewers, roads, etc.) for poor neighborhoods, has launched a major job training and placement initiative--QUEST--to prepare marginally employable individuals for and to place them in living-wage jobs, and, along with its 12 IAF sister organizations in Texas, has developed the pioneering Alliance Schools movement to reform public education.

For more information on or to participate in the Sign-Up & Take Charge Campaign
Call WIN @ (202) 518-0815

WIN, 1226 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC; (202) 518-0815; (202) 667-0037 fax

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