DC Mayor: Tell me if you are supporting Robert White and why

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime has gotten appallingly bad under Bowser. The homicide count this year is 72, a 6 percent rise over this time last year. Homicides in D.C. are now rising for the fifth consecutive year; in 2021, killings surpassed 200 for the first time since 2003.

Bowser is doing absolutely nothing about the rampant car jackings, robberies and general violence in the city. I absolutely do not feel safer than I did before she was elected. She panders to the left without working to enact any policies that might have an effect on crime, so it’s literally the worst of both worlds.

It may be a protest vote, but I think Bowser needs to understand that people are unhappy with her leadership. Given that Trayon is a complete whack job, I’m voting for Robert.

Robert is a left wing nut job and left wing nut jobs, generally speaking, do not give a fig about crime

Again, crime has gotten very bad during Bowser’s EIGHT YEARS. She took a historically low crime situation and turned it into a city where crime is at a 20 year high and folks are scared. She has acted like a “left wing nut job” without implementing any “left” policies that might have had an effect on crime. Shes the worst of both a republican and a democrat. I’m not rewarding her terrible leadership with my vote.

[Anonymous]

I get that people are tired of Bowser and that Robert White seems to be an agreeable person but for the most part he has put out very few proposals or platforms which means either that he's not ready to govern or that he's going to be overtaken by special interests - or both.

In my neighborhood (upper northwest) he seems to attract the support of far left liberals who talk a good talk but then don't want to stand behind their platforms - "We need more affordable housing...but also please preserve our nice low rise commercial strip and single family home lots and don't build denser!" I honestly think that if R. White wins these folks are going to have some serious buyers remorse.

Myself, I am particularly concerned about Robert White's statements in support of the WTU and giving more control over schools to the school board. I find neither of these institutions to be looking out for the interests of students and families - they are both teachers' advocates. So I think I'm going to have to hold my nose and vote for Bowser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just crime. Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities have steadily increased under Bowser. She was asked about that at a news conference yesterday and her only response was “I don’t believe that.” What??? So not only does she not have a plan, she doesn’t even understand that there is a problem.

A child died in our neighborhood. We have Maryland temporary tag assholes speeding through our streets, racking up fines that they never pay, putting people in danger, and Bowser doesn’t even understand that there is a problem.

Robert White once directly told me that we had to think of the MD drivers attending DC churches when opposing a bike lane that wouldn’t even affect church parking on Sundays. He’s not going to be better. To the extent there even are any remaining consequences for reckless driving, he’s going to remove those too, for equity’s sake (or some other hot BS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Robert White's "jobs guarantee" scares me enough to not vote for him. I do not want to go back to the bad old days when DC government was packed with incompetent, unhelpful employees who could not get fired. No way.

People who have jobs don’t commit crimes. On the one hand you’re complaining about crime but now you’re upset that the government is proposing to give nonworking people a helping hand. Police don’t solve crime. The point is to prevent it which means keeping kids in school and youth active and the unemployed with an income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert White's "jobs guarantee" scares me enough to not vote for him. I do not want to go back to the bad old days when DC government was packed with incompetent, unhelpful employees who could not get fired. No way.

People who have jobs don’t commit crimes. On the one hand you’re complaining about crime but now you’re upset that the government is proposing to give nonworking people a helping hand. Police don’t solve crime. The point is to prevent it which means keeping kids in school and youth active and the unemployed with an income.

Not subsidizing the multigenerational public housing in hot locations prevents crime, in those locations. I hear locking up the violent criminals helps too.

[Anonymous]

Bowser more moderate than the rest of the field. She's experienced and I think she does the job well.

Public safety is a huge priority. Robert Whites plan is to hire people off the street and have them make community gardens. This is not an acceptable solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robert White's "jobs guarantee" scares me enough to not vote for him. I do not want to go back to the bad old days when DC government was packed with incompetent, unhelpful employees who could not get fired. No way.

People who have jobs don’t commit crimes. On the one hand you’re complaining about crime but now you’re upset that the government is proposing to give nonworking people a helping hand. Police don’t solve crime. The point is to prevent it which means keeping kids in school and youth active and the unemployed with an income.

I'm going to take a very safe guess to state that you have never known someone who has committed a violent crime. You are incorrect. Very much so. Go to the Real Estate or Relationships forum where actual lived experience might provide value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

People who have jobs don’t commit crimes. On the one hand you’re complaining about crime but now you’re upset that the government is proposing to give nonworking people a helping hand. Police don’t solve crime. The point is to prevent it which means keeping kids in school and youth active and the unemployed with an income.


Not subsidizing the multigenerational public housing in hot locations prevents crime, in those locations. I hear locking up the violent criminals helps too.

No kidding. People under the age of 40 do not remember the days of Marion Barry's governance. The patronage job system resulted in a dysfunctional DC government where people barely came to work and when they did, they didn't do very much. The middle class fled the city because of the high taxes imposed to support this "government as employer for all approach"---the white middle class had largely abandoned the city by the mid 80s, and the middle class AA abandoned the city in droves in the 1990s---resulting in Prince George's becoming the most affluent majority minority county in the US.

When I moved to DC in early 1994, the city was a study in income inequality---a highly affluent, predominantly white minority who lived in upper NW and sent their kids to private school, and a mostly poor minority majority who lived everywhere else and sent their kids to schools that were run by a school board (and a Marion Barry patronage jobs central office) that was dysfunctional in the extreme. The school buildings were completely falling apart, textbooks sat undelivered in warehouses, and the schools couldn't even start on time. It was almost Soviet in its incompetence---when no one can ever get fired, no one does any work. Eventually the city fell apart financially (no surprise there) and was run by a federally appointed control board, with Tony Williams as the person charged with digging the District out of its financial hole. Tony Williams went on to become DC's mayor and most, if not all, of the city's re-attracting middle class residents and revitalizing previously burned out strips like 14th Street NW and H Street NE occurred as a result of his initiatives. It confounds me that so many millennial progressives---who enjoy the vibrancy of areas which were open-air drug markets not so long ago---want to elect people who will take us right back to those bad old days.

[Anonymous]

PP, I am the person you are quoting and I am a millennial under 40 FWIW. Some of us kids are alright. Agree most of us are not though. I am the one who’s also considering voting for R White to increase my suburban property value. We move less than a week after the primary. We sold and left, despite planning to remain in DC indefinitely, because of the expense, quality of life issues, and safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime has gotten appallingly bad under Bowser. The homicide count this year is 72, a 6 percent rise over this time last year. Homicides in D.C. are now rising for the fifth consecutive year; in 2021, killings surpassed 200 for the first time since 2003.

Bowser is doing absolutely nothing about the rampant car jackings, robberies and general violence in the city. I absolutely do not feel safer than I did before she was elected. She panders to the left without working to enact any policies that might have an effect on crime, so it’s literally the worst of both worlds.

It may be a protest vote, but I think Bowser needs to understand that people are unhappy with her leadership. Given that Trayon is a complete whack job, I’m voting for Robert.

Robert is a left wing nut job and left wing nut jobs, generally speaking, do not give a fig about crime

Again, crime has gotten very bad during Bowser’s EIGHT YEARS. She took a historically low crime situation and turned it into a city where crime is at a 20 year high and folks are scared. She has acted like a “left wing nut job” without implementing any “left” policies that might have had an effect on crime. Shes the worst of both a republican and a democrat. I’m not rewarding her terrible leadership with my vote.

You’re free to vote for whomever you like, for whatever reason you like, but it just seems strange to pick a candidate who would make all the issues you say you care about worse. Seems like you’re cutting your nose to spite your face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

People who have jobs don’t commit crimes. On the one hand you’re complaining about crime but now you’re upset that the government is proposing to give nonworking people a helping hand. Police don’t solve crime. The point is to prevent it which means keeping kids in school and youth active and the unemployed with an income.


Not subsidizing the multigenerational public housing in hot locations prevents crime, in those locations. I hear locking up the violent criminals helps too.

No kidding. People under the age of 40 do not remember the days of Marion Barry's governance. The patronage job system resulted in a dysfunctional DC government where people barely came to work and when they did, they didn't do very much. The middle class fled the city because of the high taxes imposed to support this "government as employer for all approach"---the white middle class had largely abandoned the city by the mid 80s, and the middle class AA abandoned the city in droves in the 1990s---resulting in Prince George's becoming the most affluent majority minority county in the US.

When I moved to DC in early 1994, the city was a study in income inequality---a highly affluent, predominantly white minority who lived in upper NW and sent their kids to private school, and a mostly poor minority majority who lived everywhere else and sent their kids to schools that were run by a school board (and a Marion Barry patronage jobs central office) that was dysfunctional in the extreme. The school buildings were completely falling apart, textbooks sat undelivered in warehouses, and the schools couldn't even start on time. It was almost Soviet in its incompetence---when no one can ever get fired, no one does any work. Eventually the city fell apart financially (no surprise there) and was run by a federally appointed control board, with Tony Williams as the person charged with digging the District out of its financial hole. Tony Williams went on to become DC's mayor and most, if not all, of the city's re-attracting middle class residents and revitalizing previously burned out strips like 14th Street NW and H Street NE occurred as a result of his initiatives. It confounds me that so many millennial progressives---who enjoy the vibrancy of areas which were open-air drug markets not so long ago---want to elect people who will take us right back to those bad old days.

You believe it would be a path to the bad old days. I don't. I hope that helps you understand why we differ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


No kidding. People under the age of 40 do not remember the days of Marion Barry's governance. The patronage job system resulted in a dysfunctional DC government where people barely came to work and when they did, they didn't do very much. The middle class fled the city because of the high taxes imposed to support this "government as employer for all approach"---the white middle class had largely abandoned the city by the mid 80s, and the middle class AA abandoned the city in droves in the 1990s---resulting in Prince George's becoming the most affluent majority minority county in the US.

When I moved to DC in early 1994, the city was a study in income inequality---a highly affluent, predominantly white minority who lived in upper NW and sent their kids to private school, and a mostly poor minority majority who lived everywhere else and sent their kids to schools that were run by a school board (and a Marion Barry patronage jobs central office) that was dysfunctional in the extreme. The school buildings were completely falling apart, textbooks sat undelivered in warehouses, and the schools couldn't even start on time. It was almost Soviet in its incompetence---when no one can ever get fired, no one does any work. Eventually the city fell apart financially (no surprise there) and was run by a federally appointed control board, with Tony Williams as the person charged with digging the District out of its financial hole. Tony Williams went on to become DC's mayor and most, if not all, of the city's re-attracting middle class residents and revitalizing previously burned out strips like 14th Street NW and H Street NE occurred as a result of his initiatives. It confounds me that so many millennial progressives---who enjoy the vibrancy of areas which were open-air drug markets not so long ago---want to elect people who will take us right back to those bad old days.


You believe it would be a path to the bad old days. I don't. I hope that helps you understand why we differ.

No, that does not help me understand at all. Why would you think that being lenient on crime and handing out "make work" jobs while simultaneously raising taxes would somehow be different when tried in 2022 as opposed to 1988? What specific reasons can you point to that would make me believe that trying this agenda again would yield a different result?

You know what might though---instead of expecting the government to be the provider of jobs, the District should spend the equivalent amount of money in recreating a true vocational training educational program that would teach young adults the type of skilled trade work (plumbing, electrical, HVAC repair) that is in high demand in the private sector. Those jobs come with benefits, retirement options, etc.---all the things that progressives want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


No kidding. People under the age of 40 do not remember the days of Marion Barry's governance. The patronage job system resulted in a dysfunctional DC government where people barely came to work and when they did, they didn't do very much. The middle class fled the city because of the high taxes imposed to support this "government as employer for all approach"---the white middle class had largely abandoned the city by the mid 80s, and the middle class AA abandoned the city in droves in the 1990s---resulting in Prince George's becoming the most affluent majority minority county in the US.

When I moved to DC in early 1994, the city was a study in income inequality---a highly affluent, predominantly white minority who lived in upper NW and sent their kids to private school, and a mostly poor minority majority who lived everywhere else and sent their kids to schools that were run by a school board (and a Marion Barry patronage jobs central office) that was dysfunctional in the extreme. The school buildings were completely falling apart, textbooks sat undelivered in warehouses, and the schools couldn't even start on time. It was almost Soviet in its incompetence---when no one can ever get fired, no one does any work. Eventually the city fell apart financially (no surprise there) and was run by a federally appointed control board, with Tony Williams as the person charged with digging the District out of its financial hole. Tony Williams went on to become DC's mayor and most, if not all, of the city's re-attracting middle class residents and revitalizing previously burned out strips like 14th Street NW and H Street NE occurred as a result of his initiatives. It confounds me that so many millennial progressives---who enjoy the vibrancy of areas which were open-air drug markets not so long ago---want to elect people who will take us right back to those bad old days.


You believe it would be a path to the bad old days. I don't. I hope that helps you understand why we differ.

No, that does not help me understand at all. Why would you think that being lenient on crime and handing out "make work" jobs while simultaneously raising taxes would somehow be different when tried in 2022 as opposed to 1988? What specific reasons can you point to that would make me believe that trying this agenda again would yield a different result?

You know what might though---instead of expecting the government to be the provider of jobs, the District should spend the equivalent amount of money in recreating a true vocational training educational program that would teach young adults the type of skilled trade work (plumbing, electrical, HVAC repair) that is in high demand in the private sector. Those jobs come with benefits, retirement options, etc.---all the things that progressives want.

There are vocational training programs in a number of DCPS high schools, and they are great for some of the kids who go through them.

What exact programs on crime leniency did we run in the 1980s/1990s? That was when we declared a nationwide “war on crime” because of super predators or some BS like that.

The setting we’re in is important to the approach we take. Lead in the water was affecting a lot of kids (now adults) back then. It’s not gone, but I don’t think it’s as much of a driver citywide.

I think that you and I are too far apart on what the relevant facts are, so any real discussion is going to be pointless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get that people are tired of Bowser and that Robert White seems to be an agreeable person but for the most part he has put out very few proposals or platforms which means either that he's not ready to govern or that he's going to be overtaken by special interests - or both.

In my neighborhood (upper northwest) he seems to attract the support of far left liberals who talk a good talk but then don't want to stand behind their platforms - "We need more affordable housing...but also please preserve our nice low rise commercial strip and single family home lots and don't build denser!" I honestly think that if R. White wins these folks are going to have some serious buyers remorse.

Myself, I am particularly concerned about Robert White's statements in support of the WTU and giving more control over schools to the school board. I find neither of these institutions to be looking out for the interests of students and families - they are both teachers' advocates. So I think I'm going to have to hold my nose and vote for Bowser.

As a far-left Ward 3 liberal who wants density and upzoning and all of the affordable housing things, I am confident that the people you’re describing are NOT supporting Robert White. I wish they were because I think then he’d win. But they are going to vote for the least possible change, and that’s Muriel Bowser and Eric Goulet.

[Anonymous]

A thread from Robert White answering questions about his stances on police, schools, affordable housing, and bike lanes:

https://twitter.com/robertwhite_dc/status/1529466054430294017?s=21&t=qsBXvkmVzXJlRnZp9L8SIA

If you’re still undecided the mayoral race (or even if you’re not), give it a read.