f// Thursday, May 3, 2012

Rae Zapata - Candidate Opening Statement

Save the best for last. Good evening, I am so pleased to be here this evening, this is a great opportunity to speak with you so that you can get to know me. I have lived in Brookland for over twenty years. I have two teens, who keep me busy and a dog. I believe, my platforms ideas with quality education, the cornerstone of our community, without a sound education our children will not get good jobs; they will turn to crime, drugs and pregnancy. In fact that whole city should have quality education. I am also concerned about vocational training and twenty-first century education; I believe that we need well-planned economic development, something that you just dont wake up one morning and find a hole and wonder who put it there; I believe in senior citizens, elder care, it is a critical issue for Ward 5, most people want to stay in their homes as they age, and I advocate for that, it is economical, they live better and enjoy life; I also want to see family center services, we need services for children, we have a lot of Title 1 services, they got services, we need to make sure our most vulnerable we need to provide dental and health care. I have had service in the district and federal governments. My proven track record of integrity; I have done constituent services, I have even had a day named after me, and I have served on Capitol Hill. Q&A 1. What is your vision for the pace and character of community economic development in light of the changing demographics of Ward 5, particularly in the neighborhoods situated west of the train tracks? Economic development is going to come, the question is, is it the kind the residents want? My vision is the vision of my constituents. I believe that residents have the right to be included in the vision of constituents; residents deserve the right to voice what they want and need to come in their community, as the City Council Member, it is my responsibility to make sure that constituents get what they want and what they need. Even though we have bad economic times, we are coming out it, we need to make sure with Ward 5s growth, and we need to ensure that all citizens are included. FOLLOW-UP a. How do you propose to revitalize our major corridors? I believe in small business and encourage them, they hire more often residents; at the rate of unemployment in the Ward 5, we need to grow healthy and get the city more involved in helping entrepreneurs. Have parking that does not infringe on residents within the communities. b. What kinds of businesses would you encourage, and conversely, what kinds would you seek to limit or restrict? I would restrict strip clubs. I think I would like to see dress shops, restaurants, arts and crafts, fabric shops; many go to PG Plaza and Connecticut Avenue to seek goods and services, we need to encourage local involvement.

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c. What steps will you take to make sure our seniors will not get displaced? I believe the whole City Council has to ensure safety nets are in place to support this, such as Christmas in July; making sure health care services are readily available; continue to do as many tax abatements and give incentives to keep our seniors in to help keep them in their homes. But, seniors need additional services, not cut senior programs out of the budget. 2. How would you advance public safety so that residents (both long term and more recent arrivals) will feel safe in their homes and on the streets without fostering an environment which has the look and feel of a police state? I believe we must walk together, the orange hats program that is one of the greatest deterrents. We need to go back to knowing our neighbors; the best system we have to deter crime is the nosey neighbor is the best security system. This fosters good policing. When we have pockets of crime, I believe we have need for cameras to come in, if people have gotten mugged in the same couple of blocks within the last two weeks, I believe that police should come in and say we will use cameras for a couple of weeks, I am not advocating that they become permanent, but stay until the culprits are caught; we need manpower, and to get kids involved , we used to have police cadets in schools, kids need to learn how to not be afraid of police, because when I grew up the police was our friend.. We need to work together for the security of all. Security is something you feel when you know other people are watching your back. FOLLOW-UP a. What ideas do you have for reducing juvenile crime and delinquency? Very near, and dear to me, having two teens. Truancy is a problem because we have a lot of kids that are disengaged from schools, classrooms are taught with disinterest, with the one size fits all mentality; one size does not fit all, I have a son with special needs that require special services. To address Juvenile crimes, we need community centers to stay open later with programs that are attractive to youth to keep them off the streets. b. What do you propose to do to ease racial tension? Its here and its is a problem, and I dont know if it is racial or if newbies vs. oldies (who feel that they are pushed out). As a Council Member, I think its incumbent for me to bring people together and talk about the commonalities, we need to hold more town hall meetings and break down tensions, that doesnt happen unless, Leadership takes on that role model. We have to say we are all in this together and we have to work together. c. How will you address the need for substance abuse treatment? We have quite a few halfway houses and residential facilities in Ward 5, more than I think we deserve to have. But, we are going to have to have programs all over the city; we need to streamline them to ensure they work better. When you have Juveniles who have substance abuse, they need programs immediately and more drug education. 3. What will you do to help insure that children in Ward 5, and for that matter, adults who are so inclined and so motivated, have the opportunity to attend quality schools without leaving their community We are going to have quality schools in Ward 5, I would prefer to have it as your Council Member, but whether or not I do, I will continue to work to make sure we have quality schools and quality programs
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for adults. We need to make sure Spingarn; an adult education center gets funding and is better quality to serve our young adults and drop outs. I will make sure enough money exists; we need to think smarter, and work leaner and we have to get programs that already work. In DCPS there is a free program that teaches ethics and morals, Anthony Williams mother is on the Board of Directors of this program, it is implemented at Langdon Educational campus, they learn things like values, what it means to be forthright, honest and to tell the truth. We could have this in all of our schools. When I become City Council Member, I will ensure it is implemented in all DCPS, rather than paying a hundred thousand dollars for another program that is proposed by DCPS. We need to look at whats available and makse our schools better. FOLLOW-UP a. What is your position on the tension between regular public schools and the public charter school movement? We have to have some equity in this, charter schools are a federal mandate, the problem that we face is that charter schools get to say who can come and who can stay, they end up getting rid of special education students, while keeping the funds. They must pay their fair share of the high cost of education for our children. There are some very good charter schools. My daughter with special needs attends a charter because she needed the special setting and small classes; but with charter schools that can expel 30 first graders, please tell me what a first grader can do to get expelled from school, we also need to have a level playing field, where Charter school teachers need to have credentials and they have accountability. I am tired of DCPS renovating one year, and the next year they are selling off to charter schools, or adding the schools to surplus, it is despicable. b. What strategies would you implement to prepare our children for college or vocational training beyond secondary school? Way back in the day, I remember hiring a young Chamberlain Vocational school student, a great vocational school in the Capitol Hill area, who is still in DC government today she is either a GS-11 or 12. We also need to keep our Eyes on the Prize; looking for twenty-first century jobs, and see what the needs are, we also need to take our specialized academies and high schools (hotel services, nursing) to offer people opportunity to get a taste of what kind of programs these are, and whether or not they want to be involved. 4. How do you propose to address the mounting issues of traffic gridlock and walkability in Ward 5, particularly west of the train tracks, especially given the significance of development projects that are either already underway (Rhode Island Row), or planned for the near future (McMillan), inside or just outside the boundaries of our neighborhoods? Quite frankly, just looking at the traffic in Brooklyn, it is amazing to me that there have been no real traffic studies conducted, no pre-planning on how we will get from A-Z. We may have to look at other modes of transportation alternatives with future planning. We need better planned economic development that requires that all of these studies be put into place before the holes are dug, look at Monroe Street, undergoing development. We have to be more vigilant to make sure DDOT does its job and make the Developers understand that everybody is not going to use metro. We have got to look at alternative means, folks are not going to give up their cars, they are not ready yet, we have to do a better job to make sure these things are in position first.
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FOLLOW-UP a. What is your position on bike lanes and bike sharrows? With bike lanes, the problem is, folks have to follow the laws, I am sure anyone in this room have had near misses; bikers cut into lanes, and run traffic lights. We have to hold bikers accountable for the same safety regulations on the road, because no one wants to hit a biker, or they cause accidents. I am big on environmental green space advocate, and this is one way to do this, biking and walking. b. What do you believe the city can and should do to increase pedestrian safety for our seniors, especially those whose diminished mobility leave them particularly vulnerable at street crossings? I like the new safety street crossings that we have, they are bright. Those intersections near hospitals, need facilitating the increase of timers, I am a big believer in common sense measures. I want to say lets go back to a gentler time, when it used to be you see folks, seniors in the crosswalks, you stop and WAIT for seniors to cross, or you need be ticketed, because thats just what you do in a civilized society. c. What is your take on the parking space conflict between some of our longstanding traditional churches and some of our newer residents? I just did a forum at New Samaritan Baptist Church, on this unfortunate situation, thats another issue that City Council needs to take ownership for with reason. I suggest vertical parking; work with local businesses that are not open on Sundays, or government buildings. We have for i.e. St. Anthonys Church on 12th and Monroe, and Luck C. Moore Academy around the corner, parishioners can use these, they need to set down and work with the neighbors to work out parking plans. Lots of people come from outside of DC to attend churches, maybe churches could provide some kind of parking permit, a lot of services come from the church to the community, so we want to respect both our churches and the community residents. {Audience Questions] a. Why does Ward 5 need middle school or junior high school? It needs one because when we closed Bertie Baccus and made our elementary schools K-8, our kids have been graduating without algebra, foreign languages, sports, and physical education. It is not the trend to do K-8, and another thing we have not had certified middle school teachers. Since this has happened, we have had so many problems; middle school children are smoking marijuana at 12 years old and all types of other problems. Middle school youth need their own environment as they go through prepuberty craziness, as they break out of their shells. There was an article in the paper that said AWWE! These middle school kids please put them in a room by themselves, thats because they do need a space to transition by themselves. If you talk to Principals they will tell you that it is not a good mix to have middle school and elementary school together. b. Are you aware that DYRS sends some of its youth to other states for rehabilitate services and at the tune of $110,000 with little parental involvement? It needs an overhaul. It needs not to start at DCPS because studies have shown that 80% of youth at DYRS have some form of ADHS severe enough to lead them to impulsive control that leads to high risk behaviors. If you go down to the court system, you will see a lot of kids and no parents, we need parental involvement; we need better programs, and this has to start with DCPS: bring back counselors, deal with mental health issues, either due to parents being on drugs, or deplorable situations. DYRS does not have the capabilities, nor do we have the programs in house to provide that kind of treatment. Some kids
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need anger management, drug abuse treatment; we need to provide what our children need. They are neglected by the schools as well as DYRS, and if a parent is not there to advocate and is knowledgeable they end up falling through the cracks. c. The Dave Thomas Circle at Florida Avenue and New York Avenue is a nightmare, what would you do to get DDOT to look at this problem? I sure hope they do, the first time I came through the circle, people were blowing horns at me because I didnt know where to go, I dont why people design these things, they dont make any sense. If an average citizen cant get through a traffic light without out five horns blowing, something is wrong. I go to farmers market and turn around and to where I need to go; otherwise I may cause an accident. Yes, we need to call DDOT back to the table. d. Earlier this week, someone issued a statement insinuating that the City Council seat is a mans job, what is your thought on this? This is a tragic statement, but a lot of people believe that, I have been at forums where a female would say, its time for a woman, and a gentleman would fall out laughing, thats ignorant and a bias statement. I hope Ward 5 constituents would look for someone who has the ability, the desire, and the commitment to serve. I think as a woman, I have some advantages because I am also a mother; I have broad-based experiences, the ability to do constituent services. As an ANC worker on Capitol Hill, I worked for sixteen different commissioners, I learned how to get sewages cleaned, cats out of trees; when I was at DCRA, I oversaw the ticket infraction program and got to meet staff in each division in DCRA, it gave me a real good understanding of what we do and what we need to do. I developed relationships that will afford much good. e. How is your relationship with Harriet Tregoning, Director, Office of Planning, and do you think small planning area is valid or bogus? I have no relationship with her, I know her and I know the office. I have worked in the District of Columbia; and I was on the advisory Board for planning for twenty years. I will say this, we need a comprehensive plan for Ward 5 that if we dont things wont mesh, and we are not going to have a comprehensive and cohesive plan for Ward 5 f. Should city resources be used for new or redevelop old areas in Ward 5? City services are part of any development, in terms of transportation or alley cleaning. Yes, it depends on what development is bringing into the community, particularly if it is new and provides a benefit. And nobody else has stepped up to the plate to do it. But with McMillan, I am very much concern, the city is the Developer, policing itself, and saying no is quite hard to do, it would be hard to avoid cutting corners and doing some of the things they might be tempted to do. We need to stay on top of this, and ensure citizens get what they need and want, and that it does not overwhelm Ward 5 and cause more problems than its worth. g. What programs would you cut to support funding education (vocational) and senior services? I would probably, cut and rework two different things; I look at the way we do things, and think we need to rethink about how we do things. DDOT have contractor tear up sidewalks, followed by PEPCO two weeks later, then WASA, coming in and doing the same. While we are doing replacement with several utilities, we need to think how we could do this at the same time, and stop wasting money and inconveniencing citizens. We could save a lot of money when utilities come to the table to talk with one another, government, and work smart. As City Council Member it would be incumbent upon me to say we need to set at the table to come up with comprehensive plans first. I would rework programs that dont work efficiently, and retool some things and make it work more efficiently.

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Closing statement First of all, Thank you very much, this has been a really great evening, its not often that I get to have a real conversation and to get to talk to people in this way. For thirty years, I have been dedicated to community service and fought for things that are right for the community of Ward 5, but when I lived in. Anacostia I helped to make Union Town a Historic District. I have proven my integrity; I will do the right thing. A vote for Rae Zapata will give you quality education. I believe the right to know whats going on in the Ward, is everyones business, and everyone doesnt have emails to keep in contact, whether emails, US postal delivery, I will stay in touch. I will include Ward 5 in the advisory council which is something I thought of last year and was so glad citizens got together and put it together. I want to make sure we have regular conversations both listening and to communicate the actions that are happening at the Council meetings and nonprofits at least once per month to ensure that citizens, including making sure that seniors are more involved. . Thats what a good City Council member does. I ask for your vote. You will get a good Council Member, Rae Zapata @2 on the ballot.

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