My candidates questionnaire to Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO
Submitted September 22, 2008
1. Candidate Last Name Schwartzman
2. Candidate First Name David
3. Office Seeking At-Large Council
4. Ward if Applicable
5. Party (DC) Statehood/Green
6. Campaign Address:
Committee Name: - Committee to Elect David Schwartzman
Street Address: - 1634 Montague St. NW
City: - Washington
State: - DC
Zip: - 20011
7. Candidate Contact Information:
Phone: - 202-829-9063
Fax: - 202-319-7193
Email: - dschwartzman@gmail.com
8. Treasurer Name & Address:
Treasurer Name: - Philip Barlow
Street Address: - 1852 Columbia Rd NW, Apt 405
City: - Washington
State: -DC
Zip: - 20009
9. Does your campaign accept PAC contributions? No
10. Restrictions on PAC contributions (n/a)
11. Previous Elected/Appointed Office (none)
12. Term of Previous Office (n/a)
13. Have you ever received the Metropolitan Washington AFL-CIO endorsement? No
14. When? n/a
15. Have you ever assisted a labor organization to achieve any of its goals?
Yes
16. Please Explain:
Justice for Janitors and Local 25 campaigns, participated in many picket lines since becoming a DC resident in 1976.
17. Please explain why you seek labor's endorsement?
As Councilmember, I will work with all my energy to empower DC 's working and middle class majority, creating a more just and healthful environment for all residents, especially for DC's children.
18. The current District of Columbia minimum wage of $7.00 per hour will not rise again unless the federal minimum wage plus $1 exceeds the $7.00 per hour threshold. Would you favor indexing the current minimum wage of $7.00 to inflation?
Yes
Comment: Further, I would vigorously support elevating the minimum wage to at least $8 per hour (now the rate in California, Massachusetts and Washington) and take steps to require a living wage for virtually all employees in the District
19. Community Benefit Agreements is legislation that would require economic development projects of $200,000 or more in public funding to abide by certain community standards, that include, at a minimum labor peace & project labor agreements, but also affordable housing, first source hiring, job training, certified apprenticeship programs and other community amenities, such as community centers, youth summer jobs,recreation facilities, etc. Would you support such legislation?
Yes
Comment: As Councilmember, my office would be a resource center to help organize for passage and implementation
of this legislation.
20. Many prospective workers in DC face challenges getting hired because they do not have a high school diploma or GED, have substance abuse problems or lack transportation or basic job readiness skills. Would you support additional supplemental funding to DC DOES (Department of Employment Services) that is targeted to community based organizations that work to help District residents overcome barriers and get their high school diploma or GED and provide job placement assistance?
Yes
Comment: Our FY 2009 budget is wholefully inadequate, the Council should pass supplemental funding asap.
21. Less than 1/3 of DC's unemployed actually receive unemployment compensation (UI) benefits. Part of this is due to an extremely short time (10 day) period to appeal benefit denials. The 10 days start when the denial is made, not when notice is received by the applicant. Would you favor extending the current 10 day period for appeal to 30 days?
Yes
Comment: Especially urgent given the economic distress driven by recession and the higher cost of living.
22. Once a contract agreement has been reached between a collective bargaining agent and the city, do you commit to fully funding those contracts and requiring the Mayor to send the contract to the City Council for approval within 30 days?
Yes
Comment: Mayor Fenty must be forced to cease and desist his anti-union policies and to fully respect collective bargaining process and agreements.
23. Councilmembers have used substitute amendments to make last minute changes to important legislation many times in the past year. These amendments allow Councilmembers to completely change the nature and intent of the original bill, without input from the public. Would you support the City Council adopting a rule requiring a public hearing on bills changed by a substitute amendment before it could be given a final vote?
Yes
Comment: Public input is a necessity! Even consideration of emergency legislation should require a public hearing.
24. Do you support a “Workers Freedom Act” that would prohibit employers from compelling workers to attend mandatory meetings to listen to their employers’ religious and political beliefs, including the employer’s beliefs about joining a union?
Yes
Comment: Of course. We should return to full empowerment of workers and union organizing.
25. Right wing interests and large corporations have tried in recent years to stifle labor’s political and legislative voice through a friendly sounding proposal called “paycheck protection.” It seeks to tip the balance of power to corporations by requiring unions to get annual approval of each individual member for any monies spent on political activities but puts no restrictions on corporations or other businesses. Do you oppose “Paycheck Protection” in the District of Columbia?
Yes
Comment: Another example of the rightward trend in employer power that must be defeated.
26. The City Council voted 9 to 4 on a labor compromise bill that set a limit on "non-commercial public speaking" at 80 decibels when measured inside the nearest residence.If elected, will you pledge to oppose any future attempts to restrict free speech rights in the District of Columbia?
Yes
Comment: I recall the effective use of bullhorns in the Local 25 picketing of the Jefferson Hotel in the 1980s that resulted in a contract for the workers.
27. The D.C. School Personnel Reform Act as amended by Chairman Gray stripped non-union workers in D.C. Public Schools, the State Board of Education and the newly created Department of School Maintenance and Modernization of their right to defend themselves if they believed that they were unjustly fired from their job . This travesty resulted from making non-union workers, " employees without tenure" or "at will" employees. This law also prevents any of these "workers without tenure" from ever being able to join a union. Incumbents: How did you vote on this legislation and please explain (n/a). Non-Incumbents: How would you have voted for this legislation and why?
I would have opposed this law as a blatant anti-worker and anti-union measure. The change in school governance making Rhee Chancellor by having Congress amend our Home Rule Charter instead of requiring a referendum was a betrayal of our residents' self-determination. Then the Fenty/Rhee regime backed this legislation to purge workers and teachers without any due process. I fully support the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO for their forceful opposition to our Mayor's policies (see my statement on my campaign website:
http://www.statehood4dc.com/schwartzman/fenty).
28. Do you favor a city-guaranteed universal health care initiative for the District of Columbia?
Yes
Comment: Yes, a single-payer, universal health care program should be established. Maryland Legislature Universal
Health Care bills HB 441 and HB 1510, introduced in FY 2006-7, are models for this effort. The first steps should include the immediate creation of a representative advisory board charged with producing a state of the art plan to be presented for Council Hearings for implementation in FY 2008-9.
29. Many low income working District residents do not have health insurance. At the same time, many large employers are shifting health care costs to the District government. In order to provide more coverage to uninsured District of Columbia residents, do you support expanding medicaid, DC Healthy Family and Healthcare Alliance coverage from 200% of the federal poverty level to 250% of the federal poverty level while requiring businesses with more than 500 employees in the District to pay at least 8% of their payroll toward employee healthcare costs?
Yes
30. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of the District (GHMSI) is chartered as a non-profit charitable company, yet does little charitable work. Maryland passed legislation that requires the parent corporation, CareFirst, to provide certain services. Would you favor legislation that would require GHMSI to contribute more toward disease prevention in the District of Columbia?
Yes
Comment: I support Mary Cheh's initiative announced on September 16.
31. Many large companies are believed to have employees on public health programs because of their failure to provide adequate health insurance. Do you support ‘Health Care Disclosure’ legislation that requires annual reporting on employers and the number of employees and/or their dependents using public health programs?
Yes
32. The City Council has passed a number of measures to insure that school modernization will be adequately funded over the next 15 years, however there is no requirement to have the work done by contractors providing "good jobs" and health benefits, hiring local residents and having registered training programs with proven track records. Do you support the City Council requiring the Mayor to ensure that all work done by any contractor must meet these conditions?
Yes
Comment: This is a "no brainer".
33. Do you support DC-government issued vouchers for District students to attend private schools?
No
Comment: This would be an abridgment of the separation of church and state and an attack on teacher unions.
34. Charter Schools drain money and resources from Traditional Public Schools but do not have the same controls and reporting requirements as Traditional Public Schools. Do you support requiring immediate and annual audits by the Chief Financial Officer of all Charter Schools and calling for a moratorium on the opening of new Charter Schools until proper controls and fairness has been incorporated in the system?
Yes
Comment: Here is my statement given as a candidate to the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools: I share every parent’s desire to get the best education for his or her child. Charter school enrollment has grown because of substandard public schools. But I respectfully submit that charter schools undermine public education. Why close neighborhood schools and give first rights to replacing them with charter schools? Partial/full privatization of public schools is the corporate agenda, profit first, accountability last. DC taxes should go to fully accountable public education. Making DC millionaires pay their fair share of taxes will help sharply reduce child poverty, the root cause of poor school performance, and create first rate public schools city-wide.
35. Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee promised the community and labor transparency and inclusion in the process in reforming the D.C. Public Schools. Do you believe the Mayor and Chancellor Rhee have kept their promises?
No (please explain)
Comment: Emphatically NO! Parents and teachers have been talked down to and excluded from real decision making.
36. Do you support continuing strong rent control in the District of Columbia?
Yes
Comment: Further, rent control should be strengthened eliminating loopholes that favor big landlords. In particular, rent control should be expanded to cover apartment buildings constructed since 1975.
37. Would you support a program that would exempt seniors on fixed incomes that own and live in their own homes, without any other income, from paying property tax?
Yes
Comment: Further, the circuit breaker entailed in Schedule H should be expanded as advocated by Fair Budget Coalition and DC Fiscal Policy Institute.
38. Many corporations pay only the minimum corporate franchise tax. This may be due in part to some corporations receiving tax benefits who don't actually need them. Would you favor a bill that would require a single publicly accessible annual report that disclosed: 1. The tax benefits, in dollar terms provided to D.C. corporations 2. The actual taxes that corporations pay 3. The profit/loss that the corporation reported?
Yes
Comment: And sunshine should be expanded to real property assessments, especially commercial property, as provided by Initiative 51 that passed by DC voters in 1996 and never implemented.
39. An efficient and effective mass transit system is essential for economic growth in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area, and the growing cost of such a system cannot be borne by the riding public. The federal government and local business are both beneficiaries of mass transit. Based on the high cost of gas do you support efforts to require the federal government to commit funding to the operating cost of WMATA based on the number of federal workers who ride mass transit providing: 1. such dedicated funding will not be an excuse for modifying the labor protection features of the WMATA compact 2. such dedicated funding will not be the sole source of government support and 3. will also focus on raising money from the business community?
Yes
Comment: Further, I support a regional corporate tax to lower the cost of Metro and make it more convenient.
40. Incumbents: Please list legislation that you have supported from January of 2005 until June, 2008 now that supports labor's agenda.
(n/a)
41 and 42: Yes to all questions:
41. For the measures above that you have agreed to support, would you be willing to:
Co-sponsor legislation
Work with our lobbyists to pass the bill
Testify at a hearing in support of legislation
Speak at public events in support of legislation
Write a letter in support of legislation
Other (please specify) - Once on the Council my office will be a resource center for all these efforts.
42. In order to help strengthen working people’s interests, would you be willing to:
Urge employers to respect their employees right to form a union by remaining neutral during a union organizing
campaign?
Urge employers to recognize a union voluntarily when the majority of their employees choose to form one?
Write a letter to unorganized workers endorsing an organizing drive by a labor union?
Write a letter to urge an employer to re-hire a worker fired because he/she supported the union during an organizing drive?
Urge the public to utilize union produced products (like Cingular Wireless)?
Walk a picket line in support of a labor union?
Other (please specify) - See answer to 41.
