All the News and Getting to Know the DC Council Vol 6: David Grosso and the Education Committee
Greetings and Salutations Runners,
Another week is upon us. We have several new readers this week so welcome! I wanted to get you up to speed. This newsletter is about political activism in the current climate, but with a definite focus on acting locally in the DC area. I usually write two in-depth topics per week, and often one is local to DC and the other has a more national focus. I also, right at the top, include small immediate acts of resistance you can do as a DC resident — so things other than calling your members of Congress — and political activism events in the DMV for the week.
Right now, I’m in the middle of a series where I profile the member of the DC Council and the Committees they chair, with the idea being that we need to not only know who is running our city government, but also we need to know who to call about what issues. If your issue is affordable housing, the person you should be calling is the chair of the Housing Committee (which is Anita Bonds, by the way). I’m also doing this really weird thing where I’m comparing every Councilmember to a character from Star Trek so…..that’s just me being goofy.
So far, I have profiled Charles Allen of Ward 6 who chairs the Judiciary Committee; Anita Bonds, who is an at-large member of the Council, meaning she represents all of DC and who chairs the Housing Commitee; Mary Cheh of Ward 3 who chairs the Transportation Committee; Jack Evans of Ward 2 who chairs the Finance Committee; and former Mayor of DC and current Councilmember for Ward 7 Vincent Gray, who chairs the Committee on Health. If you’d like to catch up on those at any point, or if you’re dying to see which Star Trek character everybody is, go for it!
This week I will continue the series by profiling David Grosso, also an At-Large member of the Council. But first, your small acts of resistance….
Small Immediate Acts of Resistance
That are never calling your Senator or Representative
- Make your weekly calls for Paid Family Leave and the DC Budget. Last week (and the week before that and the week before that…I am going to keep doing it!) I asked you guys to sign up to make calls alongside Jews United for Justice every Friday in May for Paid Family Leave, and every Thursday in May for other budget priorities like fair housing. Don’t forget to make your calls this week! May is drawing to a close and so is budget season, so this will be one of your last opportunities to call. They only take a minute and if you look at those JUFJ pages, they provide the script for you. This week we are calling Councilmember Elissa Silverman (At-Large) about the estate tax again. As I mentioned before, the threshold for the estate tax is set to be raised from $3 million to $5 million under the FY18 budget. This means that people inheriting $4 million estates will not have to pay any taxes on them…those poor multimillionaires. Call Councilmember Silverman and ask her to make sure priorities like the NEAR Act, Paid Family Leave, Education, and Fair Housing are funded before considering a change to the estate tax. Numbers and scripts are in the Thursday link above.
- Save the National Commission on Forensic Science. Background info from Rise Stronger: In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice created the National Commission on Forensic Science. It is comprised of scientists, judges, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, and other stakeholders who have an interest maintaining strict, professional, and quality scientific standards for forensic sciences. Jeff Sessions, Attorney Gremlin, has announced he will not be renewing the NCFS once its current term expires. You can go to the Department of Justice’s website and leave a comment telling them you do not want the NCFS disbanded. This is all part of Sessions’ attempts to undo all criminal justice reform from the past four decades: if forensic evidence isn’t held to certain standards of scientific integrity, wrongful convictions will go up, and we all know the populations who are most affected by wrongful convictions in the US criminal justice system. The same page on Rise Stronger has sample text you can use for your comment. Leave a public comment telling DOJ we want forensic science to be held to accountable standards.
Resistance Events this Week
Local to DC unless otherwise noted
May 18: ICE Accompaniment Volunteer Training, hosted by Sanctuary DMV, registration required
May 18: Rally to Save Net Neutrality, hosted by Electronic Frontier Foundation
May 18: Movement for Black Lives General Assembly, hosted by DC Movement for Black Lives Steering Committee
May 20: #NoDAPL in DC: Indigenous Art Party and Jam, hosted by Rising Hearts
May 20: March for an Independent Russia Investigation, hosted by Citizens of the United States
May 20: 2017 Capital Trans Pride Day, hosted by Capital Trans Pride
May 25: Reception with Mayor Muriel Bowser, hosted by the Women’s National Democratic Club, costs $, ticket required
Topic 1: David Grosso and the Committee on Education
David Grosso has been on the DC Council since 2013. He is somewhat distinguished among local DC politicians in that he is an Independent and not a Democrat, but my personal opinion is that he is a non-Democrat in name only. According to the Home Rule Act (the Act that gives DC an independent government), of the Chair of the DC Council and the four at-large Councilmembers, only a maximum of three of them can be affiliated with the majority party, which in DC is always the Democratic Party. When Grosso was running in 2012, there were two open At-Large seats and only one could go to a Democrat. So you may, like I have, extrapolate from that, that he ran as an Independent to get the seat, and not because he necessarily really is one. I can’t say for sure, but his politics are pretty progressive so we can let it slide either way.
I had a bit of trouble coming up with a Star Trek character for Councilmember Grosso. He seems like a pretty hardworking guy, dedicated to social justice. I don’t have too much of a sense of his personality though. I also get the sense he is at odds with the Mayor fairly often an that he’d be totally willing to lead a rebellion if necessary. So, I landed on Commander Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager. Bam. Done.
— actual real quote from Councilmember Grosso that I in no way made up
Grosso has introduced quite a bit of legislation while on on the Council. He was a co-introducer of the original Universal Paid Leave Act, which is funded by the Council will give eight weeks of paid parental leave, six weeks of paid leave to take care of a sick spouse of parent, and two weeks of paid personal medical leave. He also introduced the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act in both 2013 and 2015, citing statistics from the Washington Lawyers Committee that, despite marijuana use being relatively equal among Black and White populations, 91% of the arrests for marijuana in DC are of Black people.
One of Grosso’s top named priorities since joining the Council has been education. He has sponsored bills on reducing schools suspensions; modernizing schools and libraries; anti-bullying measures; and more. He is currently Chairperson of the Committee on Education, which is responsible for all offices relating to DC schools — public and charter — as well as the DC Public Library system. The other members of this committee are Trayon White of Ward 8, Charles Allen of Ward 6, and at-Large members Anita Bonds and Robert White.
Some issues that you might want to call Councilmember Grosso about in the last couple of weeks of budget season include:
- Teachers in the District of Columbia have been working without a contract and without a pay raise since 2012, due to negotiations between the teacher’s union and the Mayor’s Office in which the union refuses to accept a deal without back pay and the Mayor refuses to grant that (note: the linked article, written at the end of 2016, expresses hope that a contract deal would be reached in early 2017; so far that has not happened)
- Ward 7 and 8 schools are among those receiving the largest budget cuts in the Mayor’s proposal. You can use this tool that compares total and per student funding between FY17 and FY18 and filter for Ward 8 to see that most of its schools are getting a decrease in this year’s budget, with Anacostia High School getting over a 25% cut.
- Per pupil spending increases proposed by the Mayor have fallen short of the recommended amount, despite a slight increase from her original proposal
I asked Councilmember Grosso some questions about activism in DC and he kindly replied with the following:
Question 1: What, in your mind, is the issue most under threat here in DC from the current administration and why? This can be anything from a specific law you think Congress may try to overturn, to a broad topic like DC’s budget.
I think it is important to recognize that for decades, the District has repeatedly faced Congressional attempts to undermine our laws. Congressional leadership has wrongly interfered with the city’s ability to govern itself by attacking the rights of women and families to make their own reproductive health decisions, blocking the city from using local funds to legalize marijuana and, most recently, attempting to block D.C. physicians from prescribing medication to terminally ill residents.
While most attempts fail, we are faced with an unpredictable presidential administration and an emboldened Congress. The current climate requires us to be more diligent, defiant, and creative.
Secretary DeVos, working with Congress seems to be more willing to ignore and upend the progress we’ve made in our public schools by expanding vouchers. These limit student protections and sap our public school resources to send children to private schools that haven’t been proven to improve student achievement.
Additionally, moves intended to punish sanctuary cities threaten the safety and integrity of our communities. We want to make sure all feel welcome in the District of Columbia and that they feel safe as well. But forcing our local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law makes residents think twice about calling the police in an emergency, or reporting crimes if they believe their immigration status will be questioned by authorities. This hurts the safety of everyone in our city.
The vice president’s history in Indiana on needle exchange policy and the attorney general’s misguided attempt to reinvigorate the failed War on Drugs could also mean that Congress will again be willing to meddle in D.C.’s successful needle exchange program, despite the fact we’ve seen a 95 percent reduction in new HIV cases from IV drug use since we scaled up our program.
Of course there are also budgetary concerns. The cuts to the federal budget proposed by the Trump administration and the advancing repeal of Obamacare, for example, will have significant fiscal implications for the District of Columbia. I believe we need to be prepared to establish a new, non-lapsing special fund to help us continue to provide services to our residents in the event that these come to pass.
Question 2: As a member of the Council, what are your priorities for DC in the coming months? Again, these can be specific legislation or just broad goals.
Despite the efforts of the President and Congress, we can’t get distracted. As a Councilmember and Chairperson of the Committee on Education, I want to improve the lives of our residents by leading the way on major policy issues. My chief priority is and has been education. With the annual budget process underway, I want to ensure that we are fully investing in the progress made in D.C. schools over the past decade and putting every child is in the best position to succeed, no matter where they live or what school they attend.
Since I was elected, I have also been committed to improving the social dynamic of the District of Columbia to guarantee that people are treated with dignity and respect and are given every opportunity to succeed. I have pushed for restorative justice and alternatives to discipline in education that disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. I’m dedicated to reforming our criminal justice system that too often focuses on punishment rather than rehabilitation. And I’ve been a champion of working families, introducing legislation to provide paid family leave to all D.C. workers, which recently became law. More work remains to make certain it is faithfully implemented.
Question 3: If you could tell the residents of DC to do one thing — either support one cause, take one action, join one group, etc — to help advance progressive causes in DC and/or keep DC independent, what would it be? (You could actually list a couple of things here if you’d like.)
One of the problems we face is that people outside of D.C. are unaware of our unique status, and that needs to change if we hope to achieve statehood. Residents who have family all across the country should engage them on this issue. Talk to them about congressional imposition on our self-governance and urge them to bring it up with their congressional representatives.
Residents should look into established groups like the Working Families Party and join their efforts. Grassroots movements have become incredibly important in contemporary politics so they should meet those of like mind and identify ways to mobilize to spread their message. Working Families is a progressive organization that fights for an economy that works for everyone and a democracy where every voice matters.
If it’s a cause that does not yet have a voice or organization, then you should take up that mantle. Start an organization. Run for office. Get involved in the process: testify at Council hearings, send letters and call/tweet/Facebook your elected officials. We truly do consider your voices, but only if we can hear them.
Topic 2: A News Roundup
My long-time readers know that I used to do a weekly political news roundup in my letters, which I dropped in favor of the small acts of resistance. Normally, my second topic would be similar to the first: a long form explanation of a single issue. However, this week I think it would be quite impossible to pick just one issue, let along explain what the hell has been happening in any kind of coherent way. So, I will just dump a bunch of smarter peoples’ writings in your lap and let you read for yourself, if you’re so inclined:
- Those of you not living under a rock know that the entire White House has basically lit itself on fire this week. It all started on Wednesday with a New York Times expose claiming that, according to a memo from recently fired former FBI Director James Comey, Trump had asked Comey to halt the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. (You should read that piece, because it is an astounding work of investigative journalism, and it is what started all the firestorms in the last day.) If Trump did in fact ask Comey to halt a federal investigation, this could amount o obstruction of justice. Vox has an interesting article on the legal debate among scholars as to whether a sitting President can be prosecuted by anyone other than Congress if he does, in fact, obstruct justice, or breaks any other law.
- Also on Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate the Trump-Russia debacle. Reportedly, Rosenstein gave the White House only 30 minute’s notice of the plan to appoint a special counsel, signalling to many a firm “don’t fuck with me, this is happening”. I wrote about the authority of special counsels — who are still Justice Department employees — last week, mentioning that they can be fired by the President or the (in this case, since Sessions has recused himself) Deputy AG. The Times has an excellent summary piece on this as well, and at the end they ask an important question: Could Rosenstein give Mr. Mueller extra protection as special counsel so he is not as vulnerable to DOJ checks or the possibility of being fired? The short answer is Yes, but he has not done so.
- In perhaps lesser-known news, at least nationally, some ridiculous things went down in DC on Tuesday outside the Turkish Embassy. President Erdogan of Turkey was visiting the White House this week and staying on Embassy Row. A protest was being held outside, staged by US citizens, some of whom are native Kurds and others protesting Erdogan’s crackdown on dissidence since the attempted coup last summer. Video shows several men — several of them confirmed members of Erdogan’s security detail — violently beating the protesters, who were demonstrating peacefully. (Note: the link is to a Washington Post article on the incident. The article does contain the video in question, but it does not start playing automatically.) That’s right folks: US citizens, protesting legally under US law in Washington, DC, were brutally beaten by the personal security detail of a foreign leader visiting the White House. Reports are that MPD, in conjunction with the Secret Service and the State Department, are working to arrest those identified despite potentially thorny issues of diplomatic immunity. Good.
- Mere hours after the Times dropped its article about the Comey memo, a second piece from them hit the online news circuit, with headline “Trump Team Knew Flynn was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House”. Flynn himself disclosed this to the White House before he was hired, contrary to previous reports.
- Apparently, according to yet more news this week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, “joked” (??) in a private event for GOP leadership that he thought Trump was being paid by Vladimir Putin. This was a month before the November election, and there is video tape. Speaker Ryan then swore everyone present to secrecy on the comment.
- David Clarke, a “controversial” sheriff from Milwaukee, has claimed he will be appointed Assistant Secretary at DHS. I use “controversial” in quotes, because I think he’s a lot more than that. Sheriff Clarke has said that Black Lives Matter is going to join forces with ISIS and calls the group “black slime”. There are numerous news stories of people dying in his jails, including a mentally ill inmate whose water was cut off and a baby whose mother went into labor in the cell and was given no medical treatment. This is a beyond the pail appointment, even for this administration.
- Ya know, I said in the first bullet that what started everything this week was the revelation of the Comey memo, but I actually forgot that it was Monday night that we first learned that Trump had given highly classified information to the Russians that was not even known to US allies. According to the Washington Post,
The information the president relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said. The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision to do so endangers cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State.
It was revealed later that Israel was the source of the…I can’t even say “leaked” because Trump offered it freely….gifted? intelligence. The Times says:
Israel is one of the United States’ most important allies and runs one of the most active espionage networks in the Middle East. Mr. Trump’s boasting about some of Israel’s most sensitive information to the Russians could damage the relationship between the two countries and raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the region.
- And last but not least, Trump is going to….I’m not even sure I can get the words out on this, given the absurdity. He is planning to take his first overseas trip as President, and the agenda includes a speech in Saudi Arabia on………Islam and religious tolerance. I think my head just exploded. AND, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, “war crimes” meaning genocide in this case, is now reportedly attending.
Well…there ya go folks. I kind of want to hide in some bushes myself right now. Don’t forget, once you’ve gone through all your rage at all of the above, the Republican leaders are still by and large falling in line with Trump. And so is his base. According to the Times (for those of you who don’t have subscriptions to the Times or the Post’s online content, 1. what are you doing we need money to fund investigative journalism go get one!! and 2. I apologize for the abundance of links from those two publications this week, but they are crushing it), even as we speak right wing media and diehard Trump supporters are concocting alternative narratives around the scandals, including conspiracy theories, calling them fake news, and by attempting to paint Trump as a victim of sabotage. So, my best advice to you is
And use it. Your hate makes you powerful or…okay, maybe I’ve gone too far with the Star Ward comparisons. But Emperor Evil Face is right guys! Anger can be a tool. I do not recommend using anger to fuel you all the time, in any way. But I know I am angry right now, so I’m not going to tell anyone else not to be. Instead, I’m going to tell you to do something with it, and don’t take for granted that either Trump will topple on his own or that the GOP won’t continue to act with impunity with him gone: they will still control all three branches of government. Take care of yourselves, but stay in the fight.
and I like the sentiment. Deal with it!
In solidarity,
JM
You can reply to this newsletter or email me at theforerunnerletter@gmail.com with your thoughts, criticisms, or ideas. Check out my Medium page if you’d prefer a blogged version of this newsletter or would like to read any of my previous issues. Last week’s letter was on Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray and the History of Special Prosecutors.
Follow me on Twitter at @speaknojessica. And get your friends to subscribe to The ForeRunner at http://tinyletter.com/theforerunner because where else will you get someone randomly assigning the personalities of Star Trek characters to DC’s elected officials? Who will your Councilmember be? The suspense is killing you I’m sure.
Jessica, the writer, has written for Gender Avenger and been a speaker for Trybe, an organization dedicated to building community. She is the DC state captain for the national activist group Solidarity Sundays (solidaritysundays.org, look for the NE DC/Brookland group) which meets once a month to take progressive political action. She developed this newsletter in response to the 2016 election.
