Q&A with Ward 8 candidate Stuart Anderson

Part of our Ward 8 voters guide

What made you decide to run for this position?

“I initially thought I’d pursue the seat in 2015 after the passing of Marion Barry. I was encouraged by members of the community. Being a strategist, I felt no one had the financial means to go against the mayor’s candidate in 2015 … [so then] I decided to step back and support the current council member. … The current council member has been in office not doing a very good job. Now community members have said, ‘Stuart, you got us into this mess, you can get us out of it.’ So I decided to run.”

What differentiates you from the others in the race?

“There are three other people on the ballot: two lawyers and the incumbent. The lawyers have nothing to stand on but that they are lawyers. They have no footprint in the community. … The council member’s job is to find out what is urgently needed by members of the community and take it to the Wilson Building. … You’re the representative. You’re the voice; you’re the person to carry the message. … I intend to work within the ward, the ANCs, the civic associations, going to their meetings, giving counsel where counsel is needed, encouraging them to work together. … That’s my mission: 35 ANC commissioners in lockstep with the council. We don’t have that [right now]. … The current council member is a top-down leader.”

What do you hope to accomplish in this position if elected?

“When we see development, people start talking about gentrification, but the goal for Stuart Anderson and Stuart Anderson’s administration will be that … development supports the people who actually live here. … You get a room full of Ward 8 people together and the first thing that comes up is the violence. But violence is the symptom. We’ve also got to be able to talk about housing, and other feeders of violence in the ward like the lack of grocery stores. That is feeding the trauma on multiple levels. And if this pandemic has done one thing, it has said to the leaders of this city that it is unconscionable that there is no [Level II trauma center] in Ward 8. Each of these things feed each other, and they also feed the violence.”

What are the top three issues you would focus on if elected?

1. Health care: “The top issue is health care. Health care for senior citizens is the most important thing going forward. We have to have a health care system that’s focused on the people.”
2. Housing: “It comes directly from the first campaign meeting that I had. … There was a tie between the health care issue and the housing. The second tie was between education and employment. … Ensure that our seniors can age in place. … Maintain public housing and subsidized housing. … That’s a statehood issue. We get statehood and there’s a lot we can do with housing.”
3. Education: “I think we have some of the best educators and best instructors. … I think we have behavioral trauma. … We don’t have the luxury of mothers who can come into the classroom to help and volunteer. … I got a plan and idea for all of these. I’m trying to get it down to a one-pager. … Our children want to learn. You get 19-20 children in a classroom and you get six of them cuttin’ up, no one learns.”