Responses of Brian Moore to
GLAA 1998 Questionnaire for Mayoral Candidates
Tuesday, October 13, 1998
Mr. Richard J. Rosendall
c/o Mr. Craig Howell
Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington
P.O. Box 75265
Washington DC, 20013-5265
Dear Richard:
In response to your questionnaire following are my responses to most of your questions. There are several responses that I have left blank due to my limited knowledge or unfamiliarity in that area.
Sincerely Yours,
Brian P. Moore
Part I. Conduct of Office
1. What lessons have you drawn from your own mistakes and the mistakes of others that will help facilitate a speedy return of home rule powers if you are elected Mayor?
A speedy return to Home Rule will best be facilitated by working through the Control Board in order to properly conduct massive audits of all agencies, revise the city charter, change public policy, establish agency missions, clarify and assign individual job descriptions and to ultimately hold agencies, managers and DC employees accountable. Candidates who want to eliminate the Control Board and want to run things in DC as they have in the past, are not offering our community any kind of a future. Being part of the system has not worked and will ultimately destroy Home Rule not enhance it.
Audits will bring to light the use of monies, to whom, how much, when, why and whether goals were established and accomplished. Massive amounts of monies will be uncovered that are being siphoned off and away from the common good. Home Rule will be returned once we can free these monies, reallocate and direct them and thereby rectify the horrendous operating ratios of most of our city services and social conditions that are presently the worst or nearly the worst in the nation.
2. As Mayor, will you actively lobby the Control Board for reforms in management, oversight and budgets, even for agencies and departments over which you will have no formal control for much of your term?
[See answer to Question 1.]
3. Gay and lesbian community leaders were heavily involved in the recent search process that led to the selection of a new Police Chief. Will you ensure that lesbians and gay men will be similarly involved in any search for new heads for the police department, health department, the Agency for HIV-AIDS, and other agencies of particular interest to our community?
Yes, they will be involved on an equitable basis with all other interests in the community.
Part II. Public Safety
4. What will you do to improve the often-strained relations between the various public safety agencies (police, fire department, corrections) and the District's gay and lesbian community?
I will ensure that the laws and charters of this city are enforced rigidly, correctly and fairly, no more nor less. There will be no favoritism toward any one group nor individuals, whether they be the police, citizens or interest groups. All individuals will be treated equally as citizens and residents of this city and not as members of ethnic, racial, gender nor sexual preference groups. It is time that we conduct our activities in this city toward the common good and general welfare. To act on behalf of one group or another is to set members of society against each other and to divide and polarize our city. That kind of condition will not be emphasized nor tolerated.
5. The federalization and privatization of the functions of the Department of Corrections have often resulted in the placement of D.C. prisoners in facilities that have no condom availability programs. To the extent possible, do you favor requiring private contractors to provide condom availability programs similar to those that have been in effect in D.C. facilities, and will you lobby federal and state prison officials to adopt similar programs in facilities where D.C. prisoners are housed?
I need to study and become more informed on the issue before I take a stand.
6. Do you support passage and full funding for the new civilian complaint review system to be established by Bill 12-521, the "Office of Citizen Complaint Review Establishment Act of 1998"?
As I mentioned above, all agencies and programs of the DC government will have to be completely audited and re-evaluated with regard to their mission, charter, objectives and achieved results. Clear job descriptions, establishment of success criteria and overlapping of agency functions will also require thinking anew as to how agency and staff will function more efficiently in the future.
7. 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?
I need to know the pros and cons of the bill and more background before I offer an opinion.
8. Will you veto any legislation similar to the recently defeated Bill 12-279, the "Arrest Without Warrant by Law Enforcement Officers Amendment Act of 1997," that would expand the right of police officers to arrest people for "quality of life" offenses on mere hearsay and without warrants?
Same answer as in #6.
Part III. AIDS and other Public Health Issues
9. 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 tend to favor this measure, but would need to know more about it in my capacity as mayor.
10. What will you do to combat the persistent failure of District health agencies to spend their full appropriated local funds to combat AIDS? Do you agree that these agencies should be required to monitor all their grant funding?
This answer is directly related to my response to questions # 1 & 2. The vast majority of our agencies and programs in the District of Columbia are mismanaged, and full of corruption and waste. Conducting audits will reveal a wealth of information on the use and abuse of monies, to whom it goes, for what purposes, when, and whether the agencies' goals are being accomplished. Since the D.C. AIDS rate is seven times the national average we can easily conclude that we have some very serious problems. There is obviously a shortage of funds being utilized for the right services. By the Control board conducting these audits we will be able to uncover a wealth of information on its infrastructure, management problems and financial condition. By implementing institutional reform in these agencies we will be able to clean up the poor conditions and significantly improve all services.
11. What will you propose as strategies for promoting AIDS-related education and services for underserved and high-risk populations?
Here is where I will work with the control board in assisting all agencies to re-organize their strategies in light of the revised charters, change in public policy, the agency's mission, etc. in order to become more efficient and to free up additional or new monies if possible.
12. 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 and drug-use partner 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, vetoing it if necessary?
Since I will be entering into the legislative arena for the first time I expect to conduct a highly educational effort to become more familiar with all of these laws. I am not prepared to take a stand on such a highly complex issue at this time. However, I will engage organizations like yours to participate in aiding my understanding of the issue.
13. Do you support an increase in District government funding to combat AIDS in line with the continuing increase in the caseload?
I fully expect to free up over 20% of the DC budget, which amounts to over one billion dollars, through my institutional reform efforts, massive audits, and reorganization of management practices in every aspect of the District government. AIDS funding, along with every other service in the District, will probably gain in new funding, either directly or indirectly from the opening up of all agency funding.
14. Do you support continued District government funding for the needle exchange program to combat the spread of AIDS? Will you actively resist Congressional efforts to end such funding?
In my political experiences I have not had the occasion to confront this issue nor spend a significant amount of time on the pro and cons of this issue. I will rely on organizations like yours to provide me your positions on this issue.
Part IV. Curbing Regulatory Abuse
15. In an apparent effort to bolster his standing with some segments of the District community, the recently ousted chief of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, David Watts, instituted a zoning regulation earlier this year barring video stores from deriving more than 15% of their revenues 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?
Same answer as number 14.
16. Will you support legislation to reauthorize and regulate the issuance of liquor licenses to establishments (in designated nonresidential commercial districts) that want to offer nude dancing as entertainment?
I will rely once again on your information to enable me to make an informed decision.
Part V. Defending Our Families
17. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
In my limited political activities, since I have not been an incumbent legislator, I have not become involved in the pros and cons of this issue and will rely on organizations like yours to assist me in this matter.
18. Will you lobby Congress to overturn the current Congressional restrictions on the District's funding of the D.C. Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992?
I am not familiar with this Bill and would need to study the matter before rendering an opinion.
19. Do you support the current District policy, sanctioned by a court ruling, of allowing adoptions by unmarried couples? Will you actively resist Congressional efforts to outlaw such adoptions in the District?
I will support any and all laws of the District of Columbia as mandated by the duties and charter of the District of Columbia.
Part VI. Upholding the D.C. Human Rights Law
20. Will you propose the reestablishment of the Office of Human Rights (OHR) as an independent, Cabinet-level agency whose Director has direct access to the Mayor? If the Control Board fails to act on this proposal, will you submit an appropriate reorganization plan for Council approval when your powers are restored?
(20-23) All of these questions assume that the candidate is thoroughly familiar with these matters. I do not pretend to be highly informed in this area and would have to become familiar with the various subjects in order to make an intelligent decision. Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
21. Do you favor an increased budget for OHR so that its heavy case backlog can be eliminated?
[See answer to Question 20.]
22. Will you propose legislation that would codify OHR's current practice of granting top priority to discrimination complaints from those afflicted with AIDS or other imminently life-shortening conditions?
[See answer to Question 20.]
23. Do you agree that District government agencies are indeed covered by the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977?
[See answer to Question 20.]
Part VII. Education and Youth
24. 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?
I generally have supported the voucher programs because of the various benefits it affords to lower income people giving them an equal opportunity for their children to have equal access to all kinds of quality schools. In addition, the voucher system fosters competition, rewards the schools that excel in education and ultimately punish or affect schools who have failed to educate their children properly. This is the very first time that I have ever heard of the voucher system encouraging aggressive homophobic behavior and would have to become more familiar and informed on this problem. I would ask your organization to provide me with the data to corroborate that condition and problem.
25. How do you propose to improve District government services for gay and lesbian youth?
All services in the District will be improved for all citizens, regardless of sex, age, race, ethnic makeup nor sexual orientation. All citizens will be treated equally and fairly.
I look forward to working with your organization in improving the living and social conditions for all citizens and residents of the District of Columbia.
[signed]
Brian P. Moore
Moore for D.C. Mayor
721 Delaware Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20024-4205
Phone: 202.863.9072
Fax: 202.863.1668
Email: briancns@ari.net
Web-Site:www.DC-Mayor.com
