Fenty being voted out because of "The Plan"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a transcript somewhere of "the plan" or perhaps some kind of drawings in cave dwellings? Anything that doesn't involve having to listen to an entire radio show just to hear the remarks germane to this thread?

I really hate podcasts and audio files. I'm not a luddite, I just don't want to invest THAT MUCH TIME in something that's only going to be worth an eye roll.

Try the link in the very first post in the thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hasn't been tried? What do you think DC's 30 year experiment in rent control has been? DC has by far the most stringent rent control laws of any local jurisdiction. And there is not a lack of affordable housing in DC. It just may not be in the neighborhood that you would prefer to live in. There are far too many renters (and tenant advocates) in DC who believe in the proposition that renters should have some inalienable right to live in the neighborhood of their choice at the price they want to pay for as long as they want.

NYC has the strongest rent control laws. Now, does the tenant/landlord laws of DC need changing? Yes, they are terrible from a landlord's position, but the profits are great. From a tenant's point of view, I suggest you talk to many of the long term tenants removed from Columbia Heights during the last decade. The landlords refused to make repairs, pay utility bills, etc. Because the landlords wanted to convert the units into condos they placed their tenants into hazardous conditions by allowing the units to rot and become inhabitable. There is a need for landlord/tenant laws. DC simply needs to get it right for both parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are people in this country and especially parts of this city that have been taught to expect everything in life from the government. It is a dangerous mentality and is ultimately leading us down the road to bankruptcy. The entitlement mentality of this city is astounding. People who believe they have some god given right to own a home, people who belive they should be given income and that they can have as many children as they want without any consequence. I believe that even many liberals would agree that the District is a perfect example of what happens when that entitlement mentality spreads through the government and is part of the fabric of the community. You get: unecessarily high taxes, high user fees, untamed budgets, high crime, low productivity, little to no entrepreneurship etc. When you take the basic competitive edge away from people they lose the drive to achieve and eventually succeed. Why should they? After all it will be given to them for free. Instead of a level playing field end the game all together and just make everyone celebrate second place.

Where have you been. There is plenty of entrepreneurship in this city. It is called Kelly Valentine, Karim, Skinner, Moten at el. They are great business people.

[Anonymous]

Regardless, for a long time it's been clear that the most racially divisive individuals are anti-Gray and intent on scaring the crap out of White voters.

Interesting. It's unfortunate--but not unusual--that the haves and have nots of this city break so starkly along racial lines. There are no poor whites to speak of and affluent blacks have mostly moved out. Throw in the fact that DC residents have always been self-segregating and it's easy to "scare the crap" out of anyone who wants to believe that they're meant to be excluded from positive change or who wants to believe that the poor are lazy and only looking for hand-outs.

I first came here in 1988 as a freshman at Howard, have lived in various neighborhoods near the school ever since, and never would have believed the diversity I now see on my street in Petworth, in restaurants and night spots in Midtown, at shops in Columbia Heights. And while I can see the potential for things to tip too far in the direction of affluent and white, I get the sense that the young people in their 20s and 30s and across racial lines who are putting down roots here feel as I do that the diversity we have right now is the most appealing.

As with any hot-button issue (and race is the hottest) ignorance thrives on both sides of the divide and I'm wary of a candidate who tries to capitalize on that ignorance.. My observation of the rhetoric in the mayoral race has been the exact opposite of the quote from jsteele above, with Gray supporters--and Gray himself--perpetuating the racially-divisive belief that Fenty wants to cut blacks out of the picture. If Gray hasn't said it directly he certainly has made statements in support of that belief. As someone noted above, not all Gray supporters believe it but all believers support Gray and he knows that.

[Anonymous]

PP, there are lots of affluent black DC residents. Maybe you just don't know many.

[Anonymous]

Affluent, I guess by many standards, Black person who did not move out of the city. I also attended HU. I don't know the circles in which you travel, but there are many of us in this city. Many will be voting with Gray and have contributed to his campaign. Unlike Fenty, Gray's contributions did not come from the good folks of NYC, but WDC.