Dewayne Washington, Candidate for Mayor

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1. Term Limits Committee – please respond by March 4, 2021

Last Summer a Term Limits Advisory Committee was named and then fast-tracked recommendations to the city council within only four meetings and over 13 hours of deliberation between July 14 and July 28. Do you have an opinion about this whole situation? Do you have an opinion about the outcome? Why or why not?

When we look at the overall outcome of the committee (the passing of term limits) and we examine the ultimate response. There are two outcomes

1.) Citizens voted for it.

2.) It has created diversity of thought.  Example: There are currently 8 people running for Mayor, without term limits this would never happen.  With 8 people running, there are 8 different perspectives on what the city needs, and no matter who wins there will be a ton of ideas presented, good ideas can come from anywhere.  So for a veritable plethora of reasons, I believe terms limits are a good thing, regardless of the activity that took place to get it on the ballot.  It ensures the council will have new blood constantly. As one who has dealt with governments across the world, there is a definitely a benefit to having fresh blood on a regular basis.

 

2. Sales Tax – please respond by March 11, 2021

This past November voters passed a measure to increase the sales tax another ¼ cent to 8.25% for the funding of an Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Seemingly wild claims were made, selling voters on this. What are your thoughts on the EDC's purpose and the tax? Why?

My thoughts on this go a little deeper than the just the tax in a couple ways.  First off, cities with increasing debt seem to continue to try to find ways to increase taxes.  Arlington used to have the lowest tax rate in the area, however as our debt has increased, you have seen things such as this tax increase.

Also, this land purchased through an EDC can still wind up in the ownership of private industry, which effectively means the citizens helped purchase land for a private industry.  There isn't enough ink to articulate all the things wrong with this.

 

3. Density – please respond by March 18, 2021

How do you feel about changing commercially zoned properties to multi-family zoned properties? What if the area already contains many, many apartments such as southeast Arlington in the Hwy 360 corridor? How do you feel about RMU (Regional Mixed Use) zoning and its potential 100 units/acre? Why?

For a city that is pretty much land locked and only about 1700 acres of undeveloped land left, having some mixed use zoning seems the most viable option at the time, we also need to make sure our college graduates and our young adult children can afford to live in the areas as well (different issue, but related) - There are a lot of families delaying their empty nest experience because of rising housing prices for their children and thus they stay home.

 

4. Transportation – please respond by March 25, 2021

VIA's December 2019 contract renewal has increased the geographical coverage area to 41% (and is available to 49% of the population) of the city. Meanwhile, the contract was to be paid at a rate of 53% by Arlington taxpayers (general fund), 31% by Federal Grant, and 16% by the people taking the rides. Currently CARES funds are paying for VIA, but that will eventually stop. When things return to “normal” funding, let's assume that the Federal Grant will cover 25%. At that time, what should be the pricing structure between the general fund and riders? Why?

This is a bit more complicated than a simple pricing structure. There are a few things to consider.  We realize that we live in the largest city in America without public transportation.  That in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, after all a bus system has several issues built into it, not withstanding the fact that looking at trends of cities around us, ridership would be low and the cost to maintain it would be high.  Rail would be expensive and time consuming to build and may have the same fate as well has bring other issues.

What we need is a true point to point system (similar to an uber or lyft) As far as the VIA system and the funding for it, the mix depends on several things

1.) Ridership - Making sure that if this is viable for now, that it is being used

2.) Potential revenue partners (there are several ways to increase revenue here, example, taped radio advertising in the van)

3.) Alternative sources of funding - are there other federal or state grants that would offset the cost

There are other things to consider as well, but at the end of the day, we have to evaluate the ridership overall, the more demand we have, the less of this becomes a conversation; the less ridership we have, the more we need to look at doing something different..

 

5. Corporate Welfare – please respond by April 1, 2021

The City Council has given away millions of dollars and/or potential revenues to companies to encourage development. At what point has there been enough encouragement and the taxpayers, and lowering tax rates, should become a higher priority? Why?

My whole campaign is families over facilities, so that should tell you where my mind set is here. In general, if a developer wants to come in, buy property from a land/building owner and develop that, great! As far as the city footing the bill for such activities and leaving the citizens holding the bag, I'm not for that.

 

6. Communications – please respond by April 8, 2021

If a constituent emails you a question or comment on an issue about which you disagree and asks you for a response, will you respond to the constituent? Why or why not?

This is what I do now, and have done for decades. I run an organization that teaches young men how to become gentlemen around the world and I'm a pastor. Many people have many opinions on both and have no problem contacting me regarding them. I encourage diversity of thought, there are times when people add to my thinking and I get it and change my stance because of new information. There are times when I am able to do the opposite and add to someone else's thinking, and there are times where we have to agree to disagree agreeably, but every question and feeling is a valid feeling and deserves a response if they took the time and effort to contact you about it.

 

7. Issue – please respond by April 15, 2021

What is the most important issue the city council is currently facing? Why?

Rising Debt, hands down. When a city's debt increases and they have to service that debt it causes:

1.) City services to decrease

2.) Tax rates to increase

3.) Families begin to struggle, causing increase in personal debt

4.) Kids begin having problems in school (because of problems at home)

5.) Schools themselves begin to have issues

6.) Crime (there have been numerous studies done that show a correlation to debt and crime)

All of these we have seen in Arlington