Opinion

These days, most of us probably associate gerrymandering with the Republican Party and snake-like boundaries established to create districts that enhance conservatives’ efforts to dominate the political landscape in perpetuity. The most…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many DC residents to lose their jobs and erased years of employment progress. In February 2020, just before the pandemic began, the District’s unemployment rate had fallen to a five-year low of 4.9%. Two months…

The legal battle fought by Walter Smith and his organization DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice to ensure a regional nonprofit corporate giant, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, contributes its fair share to improving the quality of…

Uncertainty has been a consistent theme for so many of us since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Progress has occurred since the virus’s initial introduction into our daily lives, but emerging mutations and variants make the course of the…

During the recent kickoff for his mayoral campaign, Ward 8 DC Council member Trayon White led his supporters in a chant: “We are going to take our city back. We are going to take our city back.” It was a dog whistle as loud as any…

Ward 5 DC Council member Kenyan McDuffie is in the proverbial political catbird seat. He is the legislature’s chair pro tempore; chair of the powerful Committee on Business and Economic Development, holding sway over significant financial…

In February, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a $9 million investment to “support outdoor learning and learning partnerships” — spending that was intended to prepare city schools for the fall reopening. Two months into the school year, the $9…

In cities across the United States, local government officials are worried about rising violent crime, and DC is no exception. In addition, pandemic-related court backlogs have led to claims that the courts are not working fast enough,…

At-large DC Council member and newly announced mayoral candidate Robert White is right in asserting that the District government has essentially aged out. “We have been on autopilot for years,” he said during an interview with me last…

Ask that question of most DC tenants and the answer is sure to be a resounding no — although last week Mayor Muriel Bowser kicked off her annual feast for developers to entice more affordable housing projects. Using federal and local tax…

Passage of the Clemency Board Establishment Act of 2018 gave the District the opportunity to create its own, local clemency board and to ensure that applications from people convicted of DC Code offenses have a direct route to the…

Next week when legislators return from their summer recess, the DC Council is expected to approve the “Contracts with Managed Care Organizations for the Provision of Health Care Services to District Residents Emergency Approval and…

Many of the District of Columbia’s early childhood educators ― who are predominantly women of color ― don’t earn sufficient wages and benefits to support their own families while they care for and educate the children of other families.…

There are many labels that have been slapped on DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson throughout his decades-long political career. He has been accused of suffering the all-trees-no-forest syndrome, of being a nitpicker, and of being a…

When Mayor Muriel Bowser issued her recent order declaring a “Health Care Resources Emergency,” she tore a page straight from former President Donald J. Trump’s book on how to create and exploit a crisis for personal political benefit. She…

As we approach Labor Day, many workers in DC are out of work, going hungry and falling behind on rent because of the pandemic. Black residents especially have felt the grip of the pandemic downturn in an economy that has been built on…

Growing up in Southeast DC with limited good public education opportunities, I was fortunate to attend Friendship Public Charter School’s Collegiate Academy. My late mother told me I would be attending Woodson, which excited me as some of…

For the past year, Mayor Muriel Bowser and her Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage have presented a master class in government and financial mismanagement marked by political and self-centered motivations. They — and…

In 2019, only 30% of fourth grade students in DC performed at or above the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam in reading, ranking us 47th nationally. This does not even account for subsequent COVID-19…

Life for more than three dozen low- to moderate-income Ward 8 homeowners just went from bad to worse — much, much worse. The engineering consulting firm they hired, The Falcon Group, is recommending a complete evacuation of all units at…