1998 Questionnaire for Council Candidates
Before you complete and return your questionnaire, you should call us to request a Briefing on the issues we have raised. These briefings typically last about an hour. Call us on (202)667-5139 to schedule your briefing. Also be sure to read through GLAA's Agenda: 1998.
July 9, 1998
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COUNCIL CANDIDATES
1. If elected, what will you do to encourage the Council to exercise its powers more responsibly and thereby facilitate a speedy return of home rule powers to the District?
2. The Council has seldom aggressively exercised its oversight powers over the District government. Instead, too often it has been passive and reactive in addressing the mismanagement problems that routinely plague the District government’s administration. What will you do to improve the Council’s performance of its oversight responsibilities?
3. Do you support passage and full funding for the new civilian complaint review system to be established by Bill 12-521, the “Citizen Complaint Review Act of 1998”?
4. Do you support Bill 12-612, the “Opened Alcoholic Beverage Containers Amendment Act of 1998” (a.k.a. the “Chardonnay Lady Bill”), that would allow people to drink alcoholic beverages on their own porches without fear of arrest?
5. In an apparent effort to bolster his standing with some segments of the District community, the recently-ousted chief of the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, David Watts, instituted a zoning regulation earlier this year barring video stores from deriving more than 15% of their revenue from sexually-oriented videos. Do you agree that this attack on the rights of adult consumers is utterly unwarranted and that there should be no limits on the proportion of video store revenues derived from adult videos?
6. 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?
7. Do you support Initiative 59 (or similar legislation) to legalize the use of medical marijuana when a patient’s doctor recommends it as a means to combat some of the effects of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases?
8. The New York State Legislature recently passed legislation saying that: (1) doctors must report the names of people who test positive for HIV to public health officials; and that (2) health workers must attempt to have infected patients identify their sex or drug-use partners and then must notify those partners of possible exposure . Such measures are invariably counter-productive and discourage those most at risk from being tested and treated for HIV. Will you oppose any such legislation in the District?
9. Do you support an increase in District government funding to combat AIDS in line with the continuing increase in the caseload?
10. Do you support continued District government funding for the needle exchange program to combat the spread of AIDS?
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
12. Do you support the current District policy, sanctioned by a court ruling, of allowing adoptions by unmarried couples?
13. Do you support both an increased budget for the Office of Human Rights (OHR) so that its heavy case backlog can be eliminated, and the reestablishment of OHR as an independent, Cabinet-level agency whose Director has direct access to the Mayor?
14. Will you support legislation codifying OHR’s current practice of granting top priority to discrimination complaints from those afflicted with AIDS or other life-shortening conditions?
15. Proposals for establishing a system of vouchers for private schools, whether here or elsewhere around the country, would funnel taxpayer dollars to religious schools controlled by denominations that frequently are aggressively homophobic. Will you oppose any legislation authorizing vouchers for religious schools?
Your answers should be typed on separate paper rather than on this form. You must sign your name on your answer sheets to indicate your personal commitment to your answers. Please return this questionnaire by Friday, August 14 to GLAA, Attn: Craig Howell/Elections Coordinator, P. O. Box 75265, Washington, D.C. 20013-5265. FAX submissions are acceptable. In addition to your signed hard copy, please submit an electronic copy (emailed or on IBM-format diskette, in any major word processor or text format) for loading on GLAA's web site.