CAROL SCHWARTZ
MAYORAL CANDIDACY ANNOUNCEMENT
JUNE 17,1998

I'm Carol Schwartz and I'm here to announce that I will not run for Mayor of Washington, D.C. again . . . Unless I win this time.

The reason I wanted to make my announcement here at Freedom Plaza is to show the importance I put on freedom — for all people around the world and especially here in our Nation's Capital. I also wanted to be in this plaza where we can see the restoration of the Wilson Building, formerly the District Building. I want to restore the District of Columbia as well.

I've lived in D.C. for 33 years. My late husband and I raised three wonderful children here. And the only thing I love more than those three children is my adopted city, Washington, D.C. It's a love based on mutual respect. A love that has lasted through good times and bad times, through poorer and richer, through personal tragedy and public triumph.

A year ago, a reporter said to me, "Carol, I have met your family, your friends and I see your level ego. I see your lifestyle and I want to know, Why do you do this?" No one had ever asked me that question a second later, I answered, "this city is my passion". You could give me the mayor's job in New York, Baltimore, San Francisco or anywhere else and I'd say no thanks. It's this city and its people that I am passionate about — not the job.

Never before in our city's history has the need for this kind of unrequited love — and passion — been stronger. The next mayor must be an optimist not a pessimist, a bridge builder not a wall builder, a doer not a talker. And I do feel optimistic about our city. I see so many people willing to put aside partisanship and division in a united effort to make Washington, D.C. the great city we know it to be. And I'm flattered that things I said 12 years ago have become part of the stump speeches of other candidates. But they didn't get it quite right.

This is what I said, exactly, in my mayoral speech of 1986 — and I believe it to be even more true today — I stand a chance because there is no Republican or Democratic way to pick up the trash; there is no female or male way to do something about our housing shortage or to stimulate economic development of our neglected neighborhoods; there is no White or Black way to fix our potholes or to create work for our youth. The issues, which confront this government, are not racial or partisan issues — they are people issues.

And speaking of people issues, there are real problems that need to be fixed. Starting with education. I recently read a tribute to the late Shirley Povich. In it the writer uses a famous quote by the French Statesman Clemenceau. Clemenceau said, "Wars are too important to be entrusted to Generals." We can now add public education to the list of things not to be entrusted to generals. We need real educators, not generals. We need to clean out the bureaucracy and help the teachers. We need schools that are clean, safe places where children can learn. The city didn't do the job, the control board didn't do the job, the generals didn't do the job. It's time to let a parent who was a teacher and who put three kids through the D.C. Public School System work with our new superintendent to clean up the mess we have.

The two terms I spent on the Board of Education from 1974 to 1982 were when real change for the better took place — the Banneker Academic High School; the restoration of the Sumner and Duke Ellington Schools; increased graduation requirements, competency based curriculum, and promotional standards which led to a turnaround in test scores. You know I will make education a priority.

We also need our streets to be safe and I will do everything in my power — working with the new police chief — to accomplish that, starting with visible officers and foot patrols.

We need housing and shelters and drug treatment centers for those who need them and I want jail space for those who prey on us. And I will work with the Council and community groups in getting these vital facilities.

We need economic development — shopping in our neighborhoods and not just liquor stores but clothing stores and shoe stores and barbershops. We need jobs for our people and job training — real training for real jobs.

We need our taxes to be fair — not punitive — and I will work to reduce those taxes. And I want our citizens and businesses to feel that they are getting their money's worth for the taxes they do pay.

I have served a total of five and a half years as an at-large member of the D.C. Council. In my first term in the eighties I voted against irresponsible budgets and I urged my colleagues to do the same — a warning which, unfortunately, they did not heed. I sponsored the pieces of legislation that put our estate taxes in line with other states and lowered our income tax from the horrendous 11% it was then to the still too high 9.5% it is today; I promoted enterprise zones and I spoke out and voted against the "coddle the criminal" bills long before either was fashionable. During the year and a half that I have been back on the Council, I have proposed and gotten passed free parking on Saturday, which goes into effect in July, in addition to the toughest whistleblowers protection act in the country that led to the Council's ongoing Police Department investigative hearings. I have also helped get two balanced budgets with large deficit reductions attending every grueling meeting that got us there.

And all the while I've remained responsive. Throughout my political career, I am proud to say that I have had a well-earned reputation for answering every letter and every phone call that has come my way. And I consider it to be my job — not a favor.

As mayor, I believe I could keep, as well as attract, good people to government service. I will work with Congress, the President, the federal government to get the support we need - but will fight for the right to manage our own home. The next mayor must be allowed to run the city.

The question is no longer whether I can win. I've beaten the odds before. The real question is if the political establishment is ready for the kind of changes we are going to make. Are the people who like to control things going to let us control our own destiny? Is Congress or the President, Republican or Democrat, ready for leadership that says we demand control over our civil, personal and political rights?

I believe I offer that leadership because of all I bring to the job.

I bring optimism. You know I am an optimist, always have been. It's what kept me going for years when I was a lone voice fighting for social justice and fiscal accountability. And my spirit, my optimism, my commitment, my hard working nature, my compassion — and my passion — are needed today more than ever before.

I bring a history of standing up on the issues but not personalizing the debate, and a willingness to compromise if that's what it takes to get the job done.

I bring strong ethical principles and no patience for anything less.

I bring open-mindedness and no prejudice. I am only intolerant of intolerance.

I bring a seriousness to the task at hand but I also bring a sense of humor.

I bring long term, consistent commitment — a commitment which is and has always been there whether you pay me or not.

I bring straightforwardness and accessibility. You will know where I stand and you can find me to discuss it.

I bring the fact that the people of our city know me — and have since I entered public life almost 25 years ago — and they trust me. They know I am an individual who will put our city's needs first at all times — not just at election time.

I bring a love of all our people. I truly believe that whatever our race or national origin, whatever our gender or sexual orientation, whatever our religion or political affiliation, whatever our financial circumstances or neighborhood, we are all in this together. We have common hopes, common dreams, common needs. We all want safe streets, good schools, a clean environment, decent housing and a government that manages our hard earned tax dollars efficiently, effectively and humanely. The bonds that unite us are far stronger than those that divide us.

I also believe there is a new spirit in Washington, D.C. A spirit born of opportunism, a spirit that celebrates our diversity, a spirit and a will to prosper and succeed, a spirit that no control board or Congress can beat down.

I feel that new spirit in D.C. every day. At Kenilworth Park, on Martin Luther King Avenue, during the Capital Pride Parade, at the Latino Center on Columbia Road, in Glover Park, at the Wendy's on New York Avenue and at our headquarters in Shawl Hardworking, good, solid people willing to take a chance, willing to take on the powers that be, willing once again to dream, willing, waiting for the chance to say we're ready for real change, for real leadership. For someone to love our city and fight for us. Ready to make our city the greatest city in this country, in this world. Our rightful place.

I believe this time those good people will choose me to restore our city and bring true democracy to it.

But now it's up to the voters all across our city to decide for themselves. I offer my candidacy again with the hope that they and you here today will join with me in steering our future course toward a brighter tomorrow for all of us.

Carol Schwartz for Mayor
1005 7th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 393-7300

Paid for by the Carol Schwartz for Mayor Committee, Richard A Smith Treasurer. A copy of our report is filed with the DC Office of Campaign Finance