Politics: D.C.'s Ward 8
Marion Barry
Former D.C. Mayor and Candidate for City Council
Friday, June 18, 2004; 11:00 a.m. ET
Former mayor Marion Barry ended weeks of speculation and formally announced his candidacy for the D.C. Council seat in Ward 8. "I thought I had retired from electoral politics. I really had. Then I observed the scene in Ward 8 in particular and the city in general. And I was horrified about what's happening," Barry told supporters during his announcement. Barry will go up against two-term incumbent Sandy Allen in the D.C. primary later this summer.
Barry took your questions on the race, the city and politics.
The transcript follows.
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Marion Barry: I am glad to be able to do this. This is great to be able to chat with people all over the world.
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Washington, D.C.:
If you win, what will be your the first "project" that you will want accomplished in Ward 8.
Marion Barry: There will be a number of things working simultaneously. The time is too short and need to great to do one thing. I would probably introduce several bills regarding public education. Our schools are among the worst in the country even though we have some outstanding teachers and principals. Education is the key to liberation. Liberation from poverty. Liberation from ignorance. For instance studies have shown that a high school graduate is less likely to go to jail or commit a crime than someone who has not graduated from high school.
Also, housing prices in DC have gone through the roof. The average salary for a residence in Ward 8 is $16,000 a year. If you consider that 1/3 of a salary for housing, this person cannot live in DC, unless they find a chicken coop for $7,000. I would like to keep people in Washington from being forced out of their own neighborhoods.
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Washington, D.C.:
Do you think the city should be using taxpayer money to try and bring a major league team here? Where should they build the stadium?
Marion Barry: I worked awfully hard to keep the Redskins here. I don’t think we need a baseball stadium in D.C. I like baseball, play it myself, but it is not a priority. The owners of these teams are sticking these cities up for 3 or 4 million dollars and these cities are so anxious to have a baseball team that they are paying the price.
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Arlington, Va.:
What is your relationship with Mayor Williams and what impact would that have on your ability to help Ward 8?
Marion Barry: It is a good relationship. We are not buddy buddies, but we recognize the need for the mayor and council members to come up with an agenda and work together on it.
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Washington, D.C.:
Mr. Barry,
With respect to this quote:
"Then I observed the scene in Ward 8 in particular and the city in general. And I was horrified about what's happening," Barry told supporters during his announcement
Can you please describe, specifically, what horrified you? Also, I am curious what you see as the solutions to for Ward 8.
Thank you.
Marion Barry: Public schools. I am strong believer in public education. I attended public schools in Memphis, Tenn. In fact my former wife and myself made the personal decision to send our son Christopher, who incidentally turned 24 yesterday, he attended Jefferson Jr. High in South West and graduated from Wilson Senior High in NW. The school system, the test scores have gotten lower, dropout rate has increased. The teaching and learning process is not working well in most instances. That is the area that needs most attention. We have also had two shootings in schools. In Anacostia High School one many was shot down trying to come home. Another man was killed in a cafeteria. We cannot let these conditions continue to deteriorate.
Also, the bureaucracy is just not serving the public well at all. I took my neighbor to the health care alliance. You can’t find the Alliance. You have to wander around. There are no signs. You finally get there and wait for a little while before someone signs you in. This neighbor of mine was there for 4 hours only to be told to go back to the beginning of the process – station number one. Then they told her to come back tomorrow. She went back the next day and they gave her an appointment for Monday. Health care in this city is not where it ought to be and that is what DC residence are demanding. In my view it was a mistake to close DC General.
Too much emphasis is being placed on developers in downtown and attracting people who are very highly paid as opposed to trying to keep the residence that are here, some of whom are lower income and being forced out of their neighborhoods.
Unemployment is also too high.
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North Bethesda, Md.:
Mayor Barry--
Do you think the race will be close? If so, what are your reasons for saying so?
Marion Barry: In 1992 I ran against the incumbent and received 75 percent of the vote. When I ran for mayor in 1994 I received 80 percent of the vote. If that is an indication of how strong I am we are looking at anywhere between 65-75 percent. So to answer your question, no, it will not be close.
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Washington, D.C.:
Why isn't there a greater push for DC Statehood within the District's Government? As the license plate says "Taxation without Representation"
Marion Barry: It is a great idea to put that on our license plates. Everyone I know is fighting for statehood and we will continue to push until we achieve full self-government.
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Washington, D.C.:
There is all kinds of speculation about your health. Other than diabetes and high blood pressure, are you cancer free?
Marion Barry: Thanks to God and good surgeon at John’s Hopkins, on December the 5th of this year it will be 9 years of a cancer free body. Otherwise, I am in good shape.
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Waldorf, Md.:
Mr. Barry
I was born and raised in D.C. I got out of that city 15 years ago. The best thing I could have done for my children.
My question is: what do you think you can contibute/change in that city that you didn't do when in office for a period of 12 or more years?
Marion Barry: In terms of the second part, we can spend all day talking about the numerous changes I initiated or supported that brought DC from a sleepy southern-like town to a great metropolis. Through my administration downtown Washington was almost completely rebuilt by developers with encouragement and assistance from the DC government. We have almost 20 million square feet of new office space – the third largest in the country for downtown office space. Only Chicago and New York are ahead of us. Or senior citizens are living better, paying lower taxes because of my leadership. On the otherhand our youth have fewer summer jobs from when I was there, crime was greatly reduced, minority business got a substantial movement of DC contracts from 3 percent to almost 45 percent. These minority businesses were highly qualified, just discriminated against in the past.
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Anacostia, Washington, D.C.:
Do you have a plan that will both attract new homeowners and maintain housing for low-income residents? My husband and I purchased a home in Anacostia a year ago and are hoping that other young married couples will join us in the neighborhood. We see the need to retain a place for those who have lived in Ward 8 their whole lives and provide affordable housing for D.C. residents, but how will that fit in with the new luxury condo developments (e.g., Good Hope Road)?
Marion Barry: We can do both build upscale housing, get the government to subsidize lower interest rates for lower income people and create a wonderful diverse community. Rather than spend money on baseball and a baseball stadium, the DC government should be spending much more money on middle, moderate and low-income people.
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Santa Clara, Calif.:
Good Morning Mr. Barry,
I hope you are doing well. My wife and I moved to California in Jan 2001. After I had been working in New York for 5 years prior to that. I am a UDC graduate (Cum Laude Political Science). I graduated from Howard ROTC and went on active duty as a Tank Platoon Leader in Korea 2nd Infantry Division and I came out with an honorable discharge. I have an MBA from Howard University. I now work for one of the top computer chip manufacturers in the world in Silicon Valley. My wife has an Masters in Library Science from Catholic University and has been a librarian at Stanford for more than 3 years. We were both born and raised in Washington, D.C. (me in NW, she in NE) We could not find work in DC at all! What would you do to create job opportunities for black professionals who were born in the DC to secure employment in the DC government or private sector? We want to come home!
Marion Barry: That is a great testimony. Please come home. 70 percent of all the jobs in Washington, D.C. itself is held by 70 percent of non-DC residence. In my mayoral years I pushed and worked on a project called DC First whereby the DC government and the private sector would hire DC residence first. In other words, if two applicants were equally qualified for a particular job then the DC resident would get the job.
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Marion Barry: Barry for Ward 8 Council needs volunteers and contributions. The limit is $500 for individuals and corporations. Make checks payable to Barry for Ward 8 Council, 2921 Martin Luther King Ave. S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. Please include your phone number in order for the campaign to call you to get information required by the DC campaign finance office. For those who wish to volunteer please call me at (202) 250-7007.
Thanks everyone for their questions. Ward 8 needs a fighter.
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