Responses of Councilmember Hilda Mason to
GLAA 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?
As a member of the Council of the District of Columbia I have and, if reelected, will continue to vote responsibly on fiscal matters as they arise. For example, I voted against government funding of the new convention center on the ground that our government is responsible for provision of core services traditionally provided by governments instead of capitalist ventures such as the proposed center. I believe our government should not be in the business of assuming the entire risk in capitalist ventures involving enormous sums of tax dollars, in this case over $700 million. Those risks should be assumed by the private sector where the risk can be diversified. In the early eighties, I voted against the currently existing center, now obsolete and with a remaining balance due of $65 million, for the same reasons.
In general, I believe that our government should spend its money very carefully. There has never been a question in my mind that balanced budgets, year after year, are essential. However, I do not believe that spending on education, social services, and other core needs should be the first areas of sacrifice in order to balance our annual budgets.
I think two basic questions arise from the question you have posed. First, what should be this government's spending priorities? My spending priorities include improvement of our public education system and improvement in the provision of basic government services, particularly in the area of human services and public works. Second, how will the District overcome its structurally inadequate revenue system? As you know, the District is unable to tax federal property, which comprises 40% of taxable property values in the District. Congress denies our government the right to tax income at its source. The federal payment has been phased out. Consequently, this government't revenue sources do not meet the needs of this jurisdiction. The result has been a $500 million accumulated debt from the operating budget (which is manageable and has been reduced significantly by the past two annual surpluses) and a capital budget debt that is unmanageable. This capital budget debt is the most probative evidence that is unmanageable. This capital budget debt is the most probative evidence that the District has been consistently underfunded for the past twenty to thirty years: this debt is measured by billions, not millions, of dollars and our infrastructure and other capital needs remain woefully unmet. Members of the control board have repeatedly concurred with councilmembers that the District is substantially under-funded.
The issue of fiscal responsibility is a matter separate from the revenue issue.
This government needs to spend tax dollars responsibly but, without solutions to the revenue problem, financial recovery will not occur.
With regard to dealing with Congress on this problem, I have issued numerous letters, made numerous phone calls and voted for such bills as a non-retroactive residency requirement for District government employees. This summer, Congress put a rider in the 1999 budget denying this revenue measure. As a councilmember, I will maintain humanist spending priorities and I will continue to actively petition Congress for solutions to the revenue problem.
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 which routinely plague the District government's administration. What will you do to improve the Council's performance of its oversight responsibilities?
Although the public's perception that the Council exercises poor oversight may remain, I believe that Council oversight as a whole has improved over the past eight years or so. My staff members and I spend significant amounts of time every work week probing the effectiveness of executive branch agencies and independent agencies. Included in my office's efforts are unannounced site visits, phone calls, and in-depth research necessary to question witnesses thoroughly at hearings. If reelected I will continue to take the Council's oversight responsibilities very seriously.
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"?
I have supported this bill and, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, I worked with Councilmembers Jack Evens and Sandy Allen, as well as with other interested parties, to arrive at a compromise bill that would meet the various concerns posed by the three proposed bills that came before the committee last fall. I have urged members of Congress to include the $1.2 million startup funding for the new board in the 1999 budget.
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 porches without fear of arrest?
I voted against this bill because I believe it would pose more problems than it would solve. While I have been a staunch defender of civil liberties, on this particular question I believe reasonable discretion should be prevail on the part of police officers rather than changing the law. I have also urged Chief Ramsey to take a second look at the Department's "zero tolerance" policy and he has indicated that he is doing so.
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?
Based on my commitment to civil liberties and First Amendment values, I oppose this regulation and will follow-up on this matter.
6. Will you support legislation to authorize and regulate the issuance of liquor licenses to establishments (in designated non-residential commercial districts) that want to offer nude dancing as entertainment?
I will not commit to supporting such a bill until there is a public hearing where all the issues are brought forth. While I believe strongly in the protection of civil liberties, I believe that other values, such as quality-of-life concerns, must also be considered.
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?
I support Initiative 59.
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 of or drug-use partners and then must notify those partners of possible exposure. Such measures are invariable counter-productive and discourage those most at risk from being tested and treated for HIV. Will you oppose any such legislation in the District?
Again, I would prefer not to commit myself on such a different question without a public hearing. However, my sense is that I would oppose such a measure.
9. Do you support an increase in District government funding to combat AIDS in line with the continuing increase in the caseload?
The AIDS epidemic is one that has taken a great toll, not only on the residents of this city but on peoples throughout the world. Extensive funding for HIV/AIDS research by our federal government is morally mandatory in my opinion. As mentioned above, humanist-oriented spending is a high priority of mine and I support an increase in District government funding, in addition to federal funding, to combat AIDS.
On a personal note my husband, Charlie, and I contribute generously every year to the Whitman Walker Clinic and to other HIV/AIDS causes.
10. Do you support continued District government funding for the needle exchange program to combat the spread of AIDS?
In addition to supporting funding for scientific research efforts directed at the AIDS virus, I also support funding for efforts to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus. The needle exchange program has been found to be an extremely effective deterrent to the spread of HIV and I strongly support the program.
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
I think that individuals of legal age should be able to make their own decisions as to whom they choose to marry. Before Loving v. Virginia, a Supreme Court case that struck down a statute prohibiting interracial marriages, I would not have been able to marry Charlie Mason in the state of Virginia. It is that type of inappropriate, indeed morally wrong, governmental interference that I strongly oppose. I feel the same way about governmental interference with same-sex marriages.
12. Do you support the current District policy, sanctioned by a court rule, of allowing adoptions by unmarried couples?
I opposed a law that prohibits per se adoptions by unmarried couples. I do not opposed adoptions by unmarried couples as long as those couples are deemed suitable parents based on the same standards on which married couples are judged. As with adoptions by married couples, extensive screening measures of prospective unmarried adoptive parents is essential and in all instances the child's best interests must be the primary consideration.
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 re-establishment of OHR as an independent, Cabinet-level agency whose Director has direct access to the Mayor?
The Office Of Human Rights {OHR} has had an enormous backlog of cases for many years. Consequently, numerous cases end up being dismissed because by the time a case is reviewed, the parties and witnesses are no longer available. Funding should be made available to process the backlog and to ensure that current cases are handled in a timely manner. I feel that the work of the OHR is so vital to the civil and human rights of the residents of the District of Columbia, that I do support its establishment as an independent, cabinet-level agency.
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?
Fair adjudication of OHR cases is crucial to maintain a just society. In addition to serving as an instrument for enforcing our discrimination laws, OHR provides relief to injured individuals. I am not sure that one type of discrimination victim merits expedited relief at the expense of another type of discrimination victim.
To put the cases of terminally ill discrimination victims ahead of other cases might be a form of unfair discrimination in and of itself. After a public hearing on this proposal, I would weigh carefully all of its implications and then decide whether such disparate treatment among discrimination victims is warranted.
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?
For the reason cited in your question, as well as for other reasons, I oppose the use of government vouchers for private education.
Hilda Mason
Councilmember At-Large
