最新蜜桃影像

最新蜜桃影像
Cars drive down West Virginia Ave NE where a bike lane was constructed in October. Critics say it limits parking space but supporters say it makes a busy street safer. Bike lanes are just one of the issues candidates for Ward 5 councilmember will have to address as they try to reach voters. (Alice Berry / 最新蜜桃影像)

Meet the Ward 5 candidates for DC Council

Sitting councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie鈥檚 decision to run for Attorney General has kicked off the next election season early.

Five candidates are running for D.C. Council in Ward 5鈥攁n election that is nearly a year away.聽

Incumbent Kenyan McDuffie has decided to run for Attorney General rather than seek re-election, opening up a competitive race to fill his seat. McDuffie has sat on the council since 2012.

The candidates include Faith Gibson Hubbard, most recently the director of the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Community Affairs; Gordon Fletcher, ANC representative for single member district 5A08; Zachary Parker, president of the D.C. State Board of Education; and Vincent Orange and Harry Thomas Jr., both former Ward 5 councilmembers.

ANC 5E chairman Bradley Thomas has a suggesting he may run for Ward 5 councilmember, but it is unclear whether he will join the race.


Faith Gibson Hubbard

A former middle school teacher, Hubbard said she was inspired to join government service because of the frustrations she and her students felt in the classroom.

Policy showed up 鈥渋n ways that I knew were not beneficial to my students,鈥 Hubbard said. 鈥淧eople who actually knew what was happening on the ground needed to be a part of government service.鈥

Hubbard views her work as a teacher, executive director of Thrive by Five鈥攁 program that connects D.C. families to resources鈥攁nd Chief Student Advocate for D.C. all as fulfilling the same role. She said teaching in a public school was a kind of public service for her.

鈥淲hen you are in those types of roles, you are representative of the community,鈥 Hubbard said.

Hubbard said she wanted to involve Ward 5 residents in the policymaking process.

鈥淭here are a lot of really great ideas that are pushed forward, but oftentimes there鈥檚 no room for public times,鈥 Hubbard said during the . She proposed requiring community input while legislating.

Hubbard has also highlighted her position as the only woman and the only parent to young children in the race.

鈥淚 see that as both a small barrier, but a great opportunity for me to be able to connect with my neighbors and their reality,鈥 Hubbard said.

Public safety and transportation are top concerns for Hubbard and residents of Trinidad, which lies in the southern part of Ward 5.

鈥淏us lines aren’t equitable throughout the ward, there’s not train access everywhere,鈥 Hubbard said.

Hubbard said she plans to improve public safety through education, which would provide economic opportunity and help address the root causes of crime.

For Hubbard, all of the issues that Ward 5 and the city as a whole faces can be addressed through greater government responsiveness.

鈥淪o what could I do if elected in order to address those things? No 1. is to be present.鈥

Gordon Fletcher

An adjunct instructor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University, Fletcher said his experience as a student and a teacher have contributed to his decision to run.

鈥淪ervice is in my heart. I鈥檝e been big on it since I first came to D.C. at 17 to attend American University,鈥 Fletcher said.

Fletcher was born in Jamaica, grew up in New York and has lived in D.C. for the last 20 years.

鈥淭he most diverse ward in our great city needs a leader that represents diversity, and I represent diversity,鈥 Fletcher said.

Fletcher said his experience as an ANC commissioner for 5A helped him 鈥済et the pulse of the community,鈥 giving him knowledge of the issues that affect Ward 5.

鈥淚’ve been reelected three times to that position, every time garnering more votes, which shows that the trust of the public鈥 continues to increase,鈥 Fletcher said.

As a commissioner, Fletcher helped relocate more than 100 seniors into new housing. However, the new apartments were not large enough to accommodate seniors who wanted to live with their families and initially required residents to pay for parking. These issues, Fletcher said, made him passionate about housing reform.

To address increasing crime rates, Fletcher supports community policing. He brought back the Orange Hat Patrol, a kind of community policing, to his neighborhood, which he said helped reduce crime and which he wants to implement across the ward.

鈥淚 want to name it the Ward 5 Public Safety Squad,鈥 Fletcher said. Fletcher said he also supported reallocating resources to social service and mental health programs.

Fletcher said he hopes to help both long term and newer Ward 5 residents. 鈥淚 want to do this together.鈥

Zachary Parker

This sign supporting Zachary Parker has been posted outside a Trinidad home for weeks. Parker announced he was running for office Aug. 31. (Alice Berry / 最新蜜桃影像)

Parker, a former seventh grade math teacher, was elected to represent Ward 5 on the State Board of Education in 2018. His colleagues elected him president of the State Board of Education in January.

鈥淢y work has given me a front row seat to many of the challenges our families and parents face and the challenges our young people face,鈥 Parker said.

Parker continues to work in schools in addition to being president of the State Board of Education. The ward representative to the State Board of Education is the only ward-wide representative outside of councilmember. Parker said that being representative and president have uniquely qualified him for the council seat.

鈥淚 see just how fragile people鈥檚 lives are,鈥 Parker said.

Like Hubbard and Fletcher, Parker said he thinks the most pressing issues Ward 5 faces have to do with rising crime, public safety and housing affordability. Trinidad is seeing 鈥渞apid gentrification.鈥

Gentrification 鈥渕akes it hard for people who want a fixed income to afford to stay in the communities in which they鈥檝e lived forever,鈥 Parker said.

During the Ward 5 Council Candidates Forum, Parker said he supported greater funding for mental health and other social programs, as well as education. 鈥淲hat we’re seeing in this city is the result of the years of defunding our communities,鈥 Parker said.

Parker鈥檚 plan to address transportation and safety issues came after a 5-year-old girl was killed while crossing the street in a traffic crash in Brookland in September. Parker said the plan, called 鈥淪afe Streets,鈥 was drafted with neighbors. The plan calls for creating safer intersections around schools, removing Metropolitan Police from traffic enforcement to end biased stops and increased bus routes, among other things.

Parker described his vision for Ward 5 as emphasizing residents鈥 wellbeing.

鈥淲hat I’ve demonstrated in the past and what I lay out in my campaign is an opportunity for us to come together to help neighbors meet their basic needs.鈥

Harry Thomas Jr.

Harry Thomas Jr. was not available for an interview.

Thomas resigned from his position as Ward 5 councilmember and went to prison in 2012 for stealing more than $350,000 in taxpayers鈥 money earmarked for children鈥檚 programs, . He first won the office in 2007.

During the Ward 5 Candidates Forum, Thomas described himself as a 鈥渟hining example of restorative justice.鈥 He did not have to answer any questions about his past as all candidates received the same questions.

鈥淚鈥檓 running because my platform is 鈥楬arry puts people first,鈥欌 Thomas said.

Thomas underscored the importance of economic opportunity throughout the forum.

鈥淲e must connect people to opportunities in this city,鈥 Thomas said, referring to many native Washingtonians who have moved to the suburbs amid rising housing costs.

Like other candidates, Thomas said he supported allocating additional funds to programs that would address the root causes of crime.

鈥淧ublic safety is an important issue. I don鈥檛 care who you are, the first call you鈥檙e going to make is to 911,鈥 Thomas said.

鈥淲e have to help our people return to being productive citizens and away from crime.鈥

Vincent Orange

Vincent Orange was not available for an interview.

Orange, who served as Ward 5 Councilmember from 1999-2007, has run for office almost a dozen times since 1990. He resigned from his position as at-large councilmember in 2016 after receiving criticism from the public and fellow legislators for accepting the presidency of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce while simultaneously sitting on the council. The concluded that Orange did not break ethics rules when he accepted the job.

鈥淚鈥檓 elated for this opportunity to serve and provide, and restore pride in Ward 5,鈥 Orange said in the candidates forum.

Orange was the only candidate to say he would not support a that would provide residents $100 on a SmarTrip card every month. He said he thought the money should go to childcare instead.

Orange focused on his accomplishments during his two previous terms on council, during which he said he furthered economic development, expanded affordable housing and modernized schools.

He also emphasized what he had done to help workers, including helping to establish a $15 minimum wage and prohibiting discrimination against pregnant women and LGBTQ people in the workforce.

Orange most recently ran for an at-large council seat in 2020. He did not win, but leads in a September poll for this election.

Trinidad residents

Trinidad resident Lindsay Whalen shared candidates鈥 concerns about gentrification and safety in Ward 5.

鈥淚t’s alarming to see super expensive brand new housing complexes go up right next to existing businesses and homes with families that have clearly been in this neighborhood a long time,鈥 Whalen said.

Ward 5 was the second-fastest growing ward in D.C. over the last 10 years, . Housing developments have contributed to this rapid population growth.

Whalen also expressed concerns about 鈥渋nstability鈥 in Trinidad. Neighbors on the website Nextdoor post frequently about car break-ins, stolen packages, assaults and other crime.

鈥淚’m not informed enough to know what exactly is at issue here, but to me it speaks to a lack of resources for residents,鈥 Whalen said.

The Democratic primary is on June 21, 2022. The general election will be held Nov. 8, 2022.

Alice Berry

Alice Berry is a student journalist interested in longform reporting. She covers NoMa, Gallaudet and Trinidad for 最新蜜桃影像. In the past, she has covered hiring issues, health code violations and criminal justice as a staff reporter and editor-in-chief at Rhodes College.

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