Carolyn C. Steptoe's Responses to WAMU's 2014 Voter Guide Questionnaire

WAMU will publish its 2014 WAMU Voter Guide candidate profile. The station will initiate a strong push to get WAMU listeners to the voter guide so they can read the candidates' own words, unfiltered by the media.

Responses will be published on WAMU website: www.WAMU.org.


STEPTOE'S RESPONSES TO WAMU VOTER GUIDE QUESTIONNAIRE
(Responses cannot exceed 1000 characters)

AGE: 54

FAMILY: Divorced. I have a very large nuclear family. I am one of twelve children; 8th child; 2nd eldest girl.

PHONE: 202-281-4362

LENGTH OF RESIDENCY: Somewhat transitory. I was born in Freedmen's Hospital (Howard University) and I am a 3rd generation Washingtonian on my father's side. My parents divorced when I was six and, being reared by my father, my siblings and I left DC with him and headed south. He was an executive so we landed in Houston, Dallas and Atlanta. I returned to DC when I was 14 but left again at 18 for undergrad (New Orleans). I returned in my late 20s and I have been home ever since.

EDUCATION: • Maple Springs Baptist Bible College and Seminary, MD – Doctor of Ministry (D.Min./candidate), Biblical Counseling • Keller Graduate School of Management, Bethesda, MD – Master of Human Resources Management (MHRM)• The University of the District of Columbia – Bachelor of Arts (BA), History • The Catholic University of America – Nursing• Dillard University, New Orleans – Social Work

OCCUPATION: I have worked my entire career in different capacities within various private sector corporate industries including legal, medical, higher education and telecommunications. I own and operate Twilight Legal Services, Inc., a boutique legal staffing company I started in 1992. Historically, Twilight primarily services D.C. area law firm clients.

ARE YOU AN INCUMBENT? No

WEBSITE: http://steptoe4ward5.blogspot.com

EMAIL ADDRESS: csteptoe@verizon.net

CAMPAIGN HQ ADDRESS: 1257 Lawrence Street, NE


What experiences do you have that qualify you for this position?

Most D.C. city council members are former advisory neighborhood commissioners. Since 2008, I have been elected in the last three consecutive general elections to serve as the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner of my district. As an elected ANC responsible to a 2000 person constituency, I am entrusted, under oath, to consider a range of policies and programs affecting our District neighborhoods. Some of the policies and programs include traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and the District's annual budget. As an ANC, I am the body of government with the closest official ties to the people in my neighborhood. I present positions and recommendations on issues to various District government agencies, the Executive Branch, and the Council. I also present testimony to independent agencies, boards, and commissions.

What are the three most important actions you would take if elected?

There are a myriad of important actions needed on the council but, three pressing actions I would take include: (1) Introduce legislation seeking D.C. Council to vote to repeal the 2010 D.C. Council Act 18-344, “Expanding Access to Juvenile Records Amendment Act of 2010.” (2) Introduce and push to enact three legislation: (a) Substantive voucher or subsidized housing/transitional discharge program for aged out emancipated teenage foster children (under age 21) as well as aged out foster youth (up to 25). This will help youth secure essential supports and services available to foster youth seeking to learn to live independently as adults; (b) Allocate substantive city funds to create not less than 1 emergency shelter per ward to provide services and safe haven to homeless youth; (c) Legislation and policy which creates and promotes substantive technical and vocational educational training for our youth and young adults.(3) Introduce legislation and push for D.C. council term limits

What are the key differences between you and your opponent(s) that make you the best choice?

My record of helping Ward 5 residents’ and communities is unmatched by my opponents. Whether private citizen or elected ANC, for almost 10 years, I am routinely asked by Ward 5 residents and communities to help them challenge city policy or city legislation they deem unfair or negative upon their quality of life. In spite of opposition, each time, I agreed to help. Some of the issues include: (1) Asked by Burroughs ES parents and teachers to function as key spokesperson to help stop neighborhood school closings and DCPS firings; (2) Contacted by Ivy City leaders to help fight city council efforts to dump nude strip clubs into their neighborhood; (3) Contacted by Trinidad community leaders to testify and help advocate against police checkpoints; (4) Initiated and led effort to successfully stop historic designation application proposed for Brookland; (5) Joined senior citizen property owners in their fight against a developer to protect their homes and quality of life.

Should council members have outside employment?

Council should be expressly prohibited from any outside employment unless it is as faculty or lecturer. Additionally, Council members should be expressly prohibited from simultaneously engaging in outside consultative or professional services, sitting on paid Boards or on Boards comprised largely of individuals or entities with matters pending before or doing business with the District of Columbia. Such concurrent employment is ripe for conflict of interest, influence peddling, graft, corruption, etc. The seriousness of crafting and implementing city laws, oversight of effective, thoughtful viable public policy for government agencies and legislation on behalf of citizenry, along with ongoing, proactive engagement with electorate is an all-encompassing and time-consuming responsibility. Elected public service is an honor. As such, council duties should be given the highest priority and most singular attention by elected council members.

How do you plan on creating an environment where all community members and activists can have their voices heard?

Accessible, collaborative partnerships are invaluable to create substantive dialogues and relationships. Within my first 100 days, I would convene meetings with all Ward 5 ANCs, civic associations, community groups, church leaders and business owners to begin what would remain ongoing, quarterly discussions. More importantly however would be my direct visibility and accessibility to Ward 5 residents. Residents desire an accessible and available councilmember in the community. With that, I would establish and staff a Ward 5 constituent office. This ward-based office would be centrally located in the Ward and I would work there at least one day a week. Residents would know my schedule and would have direct access to their councilmember, instead of travelling or calling downtown. Constituents believe accessibility is indicative of being heard. An unreachable, unseen ward councilmember does not engender confidence amongst residents, community members or activists.

Where do you stand on the development of the McMillan Sand Filtration site?

I attended the 2006, community meeting held by National Capital Revitalization Corporation at Catholic University. NCRC presented their plans for mixed-used redevelopment of the McMillan Filtration site. My position in 2006 was that NCRC redevelop the McMillan site in a manner that sensitively addresses the needs of Ward 5 residents, namely, that the surrounding McMillan site is a safe, open green space, accessible to all residents. I iterated then (as a 2006 Ward 5 council candidate) that Ward 5 has limited and restricted availability to open spaces and that most Ward 5 recreation facilities were neither spacious, green nor relaxing. My then-recommendation was that a substantial portion of the McMillan site, it not all of it, be maintained as a park, with bike and walking paths. Any development should be limited to low-density, low-to-moderate income housing. In 2014, my position remains the same.

What changes, if any, would you like to see to the current school boundaries and feeder patterns?

I would like to see that the current school boundaries and feeder patterns by the Chancellor do not further education inequality, perpetuate segregation of our children and manipulate our children as guinea pigs.

Do you support neighborhood preference for charter schools?

I do not support neighborhood preference for charter schools because I do not support charters. The charter school versus public school debate is flanked with questionable data and disagreement about charter performance - the majority of reports conclude charter achievement is indistinguishable from that of traditional public schools. Because charters are public funded, their autonomy, freedom to establish their own methods of operation and standards of conduct, it is not unusual that charters would not give preference to neighborhood children. Indeed, because the education outcomes of top tier charter schools results from selection bias, their idea to accept demonstratively dedicated students and families validates their existence. Charters can pick and chose who best suits their existence and survival. In the District of Columbia, many neighborhood children and their families are incompatible with this charter ideal.

Do you support campaign finance reform? If so, what reforms would you be in favor of?

Since I do not accept monetary campaign contributions from individuals or special interest groups, lest the prospect of beholden to person(s) other than those who elected me, I would wholeheartedly support DC enacted Arizona’s Clean Elections law. The Clean Elections law would provide public funding for legislative and statewide (DC) candidates who qualify and agree to forgo private fundraising. The law also contained “trigger matching funds,” which were issued to participating candidates who faced high-spending, non-participating opponents or outside groups. Such funds provided publicly funded candidates with additional grants when their opponents or third parties spent more than a threshold “trigger” amount against them. Trigger matching funds enabled states such as Arizona to provide publicly funded candidates with enough money to run in competitive races while avoiding the waste of public funds on uncompetitive races. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU is a key CFR advocate.




Paid for by Candidate Carolyn C. Steptoe, 1257 Lawrence Street, NE, 2013 Ward 5 D.C. City Council candidate (D.C. Official Code §1-1102.10). A copy of our report is filed with the Director of Campaign Finance of the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics (D.C. Official Code §1-1102.01(e)).