Rob Robinson
Democrat, Ward 6
Candidate for Ward 6 DC CouncilmemberSpecial Election: April 29, 1997
Response to GLAA 1997 Questionnaire
for Ward 6 DC Council Candidates
1. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between persons of the same sex?
I do.
2. Will you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to stop the District of Columbia from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in Hawaii or other places?
Yes, I will oppose such efforts.
3. Do you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to outlaw or restrict adoptions by unmarried couples in the District of Columbia?
Yes, I oppose such efforts.
4. If Congress ever repeals the D.C. Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992 that established the registration of domestic partnerships, will you vote to reenact the same law?
Yes, I will.
5. As a member of the Committee on Government Operations, you would have oversight responsibilities for enforcement of the D.C. Human Rights Law of 1977. Do you support the reestablishment of the Office of Human Rights as an independent, adequately-staffed, Cabinet-level agency whose Director has direct access to the Mayor?
Yes. However, the budgetary restriction on FTE's are an obstacle. Immediately, I support contracting out the mediation, investigation, and adjudication of the existing backlog. I would legislate the creation of a council-appointed panel to oversee the disposition of the backlog.
6. Do you agree that the Boy Scouts of America is violating the D.C. Human Rights Law's ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by excluding gays from participating either as scouts or as leaders?
I believe, though I am not an attorney, that the Boy Scouts of America probably are in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Law. As Councilman, I would encourage GLAA and the Boy Scouts of America to agree to a formal mediation process to resolve their disagreements. At the very least, this might help define what constitutes discrimination.
7. Will you vote to repeal the Armstrong Amendment, which allows religiously-affiliated private educational institutions in the District to discriminate against student clubs that promote equal rights for lesbians and gay men?
Yes I will.
8. Will you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to abolish or restrict the right of our public school students to form clubs that promote greater understanding between gays and others?
Absolutely. It is clear to me that such clubs are designed to promote understanding about behaviors and sexuality, not to evangelize gay or any other behavior. The only way we can inoculate people against hatred and discrimination, or promote healthy sexual attitudes or behavior, is by helping them to understand these issues while they are young.
9. Do you agree that our own elected officials, past and present, bear much of the responsibility for the District's current financial plight because of their reluctance to make tough budgetary decisions, to establish priorities, and to demand maximum efficiency and productivity (rather than political loyalty) from all District government gencies and workers?
Everything I have worked for as Councilmember Brazil's campaign manager, and as his chief of staff, has been geared toward curtailing the fiscal and managerial excesses that have brought the District to the verge of bankruptcy. In its review of nominees for conformation [sic], oversight of government operations and in the budget process, our elected officials have consistently failed to confront the challenges of government. As Brazil's chief of staff, I was instrumental in working with the Gay/Lesbian HIV/AIDS community on issues pertaining to privatization, payments for HIV/AIDS service providers, procurement and personnel reform. None of the other candidates in this election, as staffperson, or in their personal capacity, evinced any interest in these issues which have life or death impact for persons living with AIDS.
10. As a member of the Committee on Human Services, you would have oversight responsibilities in the public health struggles against AIDS and breast cancer. It has recently been revealed that the District failed to spend $1 million of its own appropriated funds to combat AIDS in the last fiscal year, jeopardizing our city's federal funding from the Ryan White Act and contributing to the District's failure to award a contract for an effective needle exchange program. What will you do to safeguard against such bureaucratic bumbling by our health agencies?
Unlike all the other candidates, I have been struggling to rectify the payment and contracting problem with the likes of Hank Carde, A B and Jim Graham. It has long been my position that an independent fiscal agency should receive these funds. As councilmember, I will push for the creation of such an agency; I will need the support of GLAA, the Ryan White Planning Council; The D.C. CARE Consortium, the Stein Club and others, however.
11. Do you support the legalization of the medical use of marijuana when a patient's doctor recommends it as a means to combat the effects of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases when more conventional treatments for alleviating symptoms fail?
I support the legalization of marijuana if it is prescribed by a physician, for AIDS, cancer, and other terminal and chronic diseases.
12. Do you support the condom availability programs that have been established in the District's public schools and prisons?
Yes I do. As in question 7, above, I believe that children, youth and ~certainly~ prisoners are in dire need of programs that help them understand about sexuality and sex, sexual behavior modification and their consequences.
13. In 1995, the Council summarily abolished the Civilian Complaint Review Board, thereby allowing the Metropolitan Police Depoartment to handle all public complaints about excessive use of force or abusive language by the police. Last year the Council failed to enact the Police Conduct Review Board Act of 1995, to establish an improved system for civilian review of such complaints against the police; the Council claimed there were no funds for establishing the new board. Will you vote to establish and fund the Police Conduct Review Board for FY 1998?
Yes I will. I will add that I support a radical reform of the Boards, Committees and Commissions process that reduces the number of unnecessary bodies and prevents the politicization of the apportional process.
14. Do you support sensitivity and community relations training for all elements of our public safety system (police, fire department, etc.) that includes strong recognition of gay and lesbian community concerns, so that the District will never again tolerate the kind of insensitivity and incompetence reflected in the Fire Department's handling of the Tyra Hunter case and similar incidents?
Yes, I support sensitivity and community training for police, fire and emergency medical services personnel. This type of training has been successfully provided to some public safety employees in the past. In my opinion, training of this type for all public safety personnel should be provided to all public safety on an ongoing basis. I plan to introduce legislation to require such training, by law, since the human responsiveness of our public safety personnel, to victims of crime, as well as those who have been injured, leaves a great deal of improvement. I am also considering whether this legislation should provide for an openly gay/lesbian position for these services. I'd like to see the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender and sexual minority community take a lead role in designing the overall syllabus for this training program.
15. Will you support legislation to authorize and regulate the issuance of liquor licenses to establishments (in designated nonresidential commercial districts) that want to offer nude dancing as entertainment?
There is currently a moratorium on liquor licenses for establishments that want to offer nude dancing. I am prepared to support legislation that revisits this issue. It should be pointed out, that any such legislation is likely to create a wealth of opposition, from the anti-business to the anti-gay/lesbian ends of the spectrum. Accordingly, I would want to support a bill that is crafted carefully enough to blank any unnecessary opposition and to gain as many allies as possible.
[Signed]
Rob Robinson