2006 SMACKDOWN
RATING THE CANDIDATES
This is a beta version a new system of rating the candidates. It is subject to change but at the moment candidates are given plus or minus 5 or 10 points or zero on an issue. There is no effort to weight the various issues and should only be considered a rough guide.
MAYORAL CANDIDATES						COUNCIL CHAIR CANDIDATES			AT LARGE COUNCIL CANDIDATES
CURRENT RATING	(4.8)	2.1	(5.8)	1.3		3.5	(0.6)		5.7	Not enough data	(10.0)
	CROPP	FENTY	ORANGE	JOHNS		PATTERSON	GRAY		MENDELSON	CATANIA	BOLDEN
GOVERNMENT
Open government	-10						-10
Supported secret meetings of city council	-10	-10	-10			-10	-10		-10
Now supports open meeting legislation	5	5	5			5	5		-10	10
Make development corporations subject to FOIA	10	10				10			10
Reckless promise not to raise taxes		-10
Introduced open meeting legislation			10			10
Would institute program monitoring system used elsewhere		5
Vote for tax increase after saying he would oppose all such		-10
Called for removal of fire chief w/o adequate evidence	-10	-10
Stops breakfast meeting when reporter records it	-10
Constiutent service		10							10
HOUSING
Housing issues		10
Opposed closing of Frankline shelter		10	10
BASEBALL
Baseball	-10	10	-10	-10		-10	-10		10	10	-10
Voted to give developer Herb Miller two lots near stadium		-5
Opposes an office of baseball	5
Would rennovate RFK instead of new stadium
EDUCATION & YOUTH
School construction		10				10
Supports conversion of school land to private use	-10
Wants technical college for DC		10		10
Supports vocational education		10		10
Would weaken school board	-10		-10	-10
More money for libraries				10
Opposes SEED charter school expanson		10					10
Vote for tax increase after saying he would oppose all such		-10
Line item veto for city council on school spending		-10	-10			10
Would place failing schools under mayor's control	-10
School buildings & contracts under mayor's control				-10
Would place schools under mayor's control			-10
Supports roving leader program							10
Served on board of charter school		-10
BUSINESS
Too close to business interests	-10	10		-10			-10				-10
POLICE & JUSTICE
DC police issues		10		-10		10			5
Opposes mandatory sentencing									10		-10
Won't say if they''ll keep Ramsey	-10	-10	-10	-10
Would replace Ramsey						10	-10
Supports zero tolerance approach to minor offenses		-10
Opposed "crime emergency" legislation	-10	10	-10			-10	-10		-10	-10
Elected attorney general										10
PERSONAL & ETHICS
Listens to people	10	-5		10		-10
Imaginative				10						10
Integrity				10
Competence				10		10			10	10
Not good as head of Human Services							-10
Good at reaching agreements	10
Lives in ward reflective of larger city							10
Upaid personal bills
Got city funds for newspaper in his ward							-5
Campaign seems to have engaged in sabotage of Johns effort	-10
Put out brochure saying Fenty "puts our safety at risk"	-10
SOCIAL  ISSUES
Civil unions	-10	10	-10	10						10
Publicly supports gay marriage	-10	-10	-10	10
TRANSPORTATION
Reverse commuter routes										10
Pedestrians		10
SELF GOVERNMENT
Strongly and openly favors DC statehood		10
Supports the deceptive Tom Davis voting rights bll		-10	-10	-10
Willing to openly support statehood on campaign trail							10
ECONOMICS
Supports Living Wage		10							10
Opposes Soldier's Home development plan		10
Opposes Convention Center hotel TIF [2]				5
ENVIRONMENT
Impressive environmental platform				10
Backed repeal of DC Environmental Policy Act											-10
Backed by Sierra Club & Friends of the Earth									10		-10
Introduced legislation requiring greener office construction	10								10
ENDORSEMENTS
Endorsed by Mayor Williams	-10
Endorsed by tenants' group TENAC							10		10
Endorsed by Sierra Club							10		10
Endorsed by Latino PAC
Endorsed by Board of Trade	-10						-10				-10
Endrosed by DC Building industry Assn	-10
Endorsed by Central Labor Councl	10								10
Endorsed by SEIU, a progressive union		10				10
Endorsed by Teachers Union							10
Endorsed by Alice Rivlin				-10
RATING	-4.8	2.1	-5.8	1.3		3.5	-0.6		5.7	Not enough data	-10.0
	CROPP	FENTY	ORANGE	JOHNS		PATTERSON	GRAY		MENDELSON	CATANIA	BOLDEN
NOTES
1. Cropp only gets five points in order not to wipe out the negative of having had all those past secret meetings.
2 TIFs are not a good practice, a type of planning mythology. Johns at least opposes its use for the CC hotel