Milligan Responds To the DC Latino Community

1. What is the most important issue in your campaign platform, and how does it benefit the Latino/immigrant communities of the District?


Education is the most important issue in my campaign platform. I think everyone benefits from a well-educated city. So I think that whether you’re Latino or an immigrant having as much education as possible will only benefit you, your family, community and the city at large. I support increased funding for adult education programs as well.


2. Access to adequate health care and services has been an issue of general public concern for quite some time. It’s an issue of even greater concern to the Latino/immigrant communities due to the lack of access to health care, medicine and bilingual services. What say you about the lack of health care access, and what do you propose to do?


My solution for healthcare is more citywide than for Ward 4. It has two parts. First is that I would like residents to have more access to nutritious foods. This primarily means more supermarkets and grocery stores in the city. Easier access to fresh fruits and vegetables greatly improve peoples’ overall health. will Most people don’t realize this but there is only one supermarket east of the river in Southeast DC. In addition, there is only one hospital east of the river and 29 private providers of healthcare. West of the river, there are 7 hospitals and more than 600 private providers. There are approximately 140,000 citizens in this area, many of them children, who do not have access to proper healthcare. There is an inequity in the delivery of healthcare in the city and it is in the best interest of the City that all residents have access to good healthcare so that they can maintain good health. I would like to make it more attractive for supermarkets and grocery stores to set up shop. This means making the neighborhoods the shops would occupy safer from crime and better maintained.


I support the legislation that Jim Graham authored which ultimately has provided health care services to all regardless of their immigration status. I also will support more funding for Mary’s Center and Clinica del Pueblo. My legislative priorities will be to work with the Mayor and city council to set a public policy that makes healthcare accessible and affordable to ALL of it residents.


3. How would you re-enforce the work of the Latino CBOs that provide essential services to our Latino/immigrant communities?

In 1991 a low-income Latino community in Oakland, California reevaluated a plan of a multi-level parking proposed by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) a regional rapid transit entity. The community argued that the construction of the facility would be both aesthetic and create physical obstacles for the economic development plans of the neighborhood. The CBO worked with BART staff and created instead a plan for a pedestrian plaza.

This is probably the primary reason why I support CBO’s and would want to re-enforce their work in the District of Columbia. Additionally, Latino CBO’s provide a one-stop source of information to their communities; they are typically involved in support of public participation in their communities which are normally under served. Latino CBO’s also are very useful in providing information to the community whose first language is normally not English. I also will support Latino CBO’s because of the vested interest of the community in ensuring the well being of themselves and future generations which naturally includes a high quality of life.

4. Do you believe the Office on Latino Affairs can do more in fulfilling its mission? What would you do to re-enforce it, and make it more accessible to the community?

I believe that in strongly supporting Latino CBO’s it makes the job of the Office of Latino Affairs a lot easier. Yes, the budget for OLA has increased with more staff and it does great work. But it can always be better and do more. As the Latino population in the District continues to expand it will need more help and it seems to me that this is best achieved on the local level.

5. What is your plan to make our city safe for its residents? Do you believe more Latino/bilingual police is part of the solution?

We need to develop new strategies for crime prevention that reflect the needs of our city. The Police Department is our first response to crime. It is only through a partnership with MPD and residents of our community that we will minimize crime and insure that our neighborhoods are safe and enjoyable places to live and work. I also support more foot patrols by police officers and want to encourage legislation as a councilmember to do so.


As Ward 4’s new councilmember, you have my commitment to make our city a safer place. Together, we will take a proactive approach versus a reactive approach to crime prevention and reduction. It is far less costly to prevent a crime than it is to solve a crime.


I think it’s just a good idea for police to have roots, cultural understanding and the ability to communicate with the community they serve. Being bilingual and understanding cultural differences where you police is of paramount importance. I will push for more Latino and bilingual officers on the force. I also agree with Chief Lanier’s program of instituting Latino language PSA meeting’s to foster a greater sense of cooperation between the police and the Latino community.


6. What is your opinion on the lack of DC voting representation in Congress, considering its residents are taxpayers, and contribute to the social and security welfare of the nation?


In that regard, we are all in the same boat. Every country in the world’s capital city allows their citizenry to vote on the federal/national level except for here. We pay some of the highest taxes in the country and have less representation than the rest of the nation. It looks as of late we could be in the process of change. We will find out very shortly.


7. What is the political relevance behind the support of the Latino community, taking under account that the majority does not vote?


The Latino community is still part of the community at large-Washington DC. I believe that most if not all will do the right thing if they have the same access to information, education and quality of life. I think more Latino’s would vote if the ballots were in Espanol as well as English and there was amnesty about the methodology of how they entered the United States.


8. Why should Latinos/immigrants believe in you?


Latinos/immigrants should believe in me because of my platform. I strongly support education which includes fixing our public school system. Further, I believe that clean and safe neighborhoods and bringing the right economic development to our city benefits everyone.


9. What is your opinion on the lack of DC voting representation of Permanent Legal Immigrant Residents of the District, considering they are taxpayers, and contribute to the social and security welfare of our city?


I agree with the case of Takoma Park, Maryland. I would support legislation authored and introduced by Jim Graham. Although it failed in 2004 I will push with my future colleague to get it passed.


The reason I used the example of Takoma Park is that immigrants vote just about on par with citizens, which turns out to roughly 20 percent. And since anyone’s vote can determine an electoral outcome I think it stands to reason that if they have to live with whoever is elected for the next 4 years, I believe Immigrants in the District of Columbia should be allowed to vote.


10. Youth violence is a public safety issue, and a symptom of an ill public schools system. What is your plan to correct this situation?


It’s easier to raise a child than to repair an adult. I think the answer is more funding for after school programs. So in essence, I think that pop culture is raising our children today and that City Government, the School Board or DCPS cannot go into parent’s homes and dictate their behavior. To possibly combat this, more alternatives in the school environment would be a start. Not necessarily in the classrooms, but maybe in the form of after school programs.


11. Please share specific major changes in addressing the needs of Latinos/immigrants, and providing better access to government and social services since the 1991 Mount Pleasant Disturbances?


Although I did not live in the District at the time I believe that the major changes that have occurred since 1991 to the Latino/immigrant population are as follows: creation of Office on Latino Affairs; Metropolitan Police Department Latino Liaison Unit; Gang Intervention Parntership (which provide teenage and young adult Latinos with alternatives); EOFULA (Latino senior citizen center); Neighbor’s Consejo, AYUDA and Clinica del Pueblo.


Again I would support studies and legislation to enable Latino CBO’s to help the city help the Latino community have better inroads to the government and social services that are required for a better quality of life.


12. What specific plans and numbers do you have to provide affordable housing and homeownership for low-income Latino/immigrant residents of the District?


I support the legislation already on the books which requires a 20 percent set aside of all new construction of units citywide. However this is not enough. I also am a supporter of community land trusts.


A community land trust is a community-based, non-profit organization that buys land on behalf of the community and holds it in trust. By taking the land out of the market and capturing the equity gain for the community, the land trust builds community wealth. Most community land trusts lease homes out to residents using a model that enables residents to gain a minority share of the equity gain, but keeping most of the gain in the trust, thereby ensuring affordability for the future members. Land trusts also serve to shield the community from both land speculators and the dislocating effects of gentrification. With a community land trust, the buyer receives a 99-year lease with a restricted deed, which requires that the buyer give the trust the option to buy the house back at a price set by a predetermined formula. The formula varies, but typically the seller gets the value of the principal payments and down payment plus 25% of the accumulated equity, while the trust retains the other 75% of the accumulated equity. As a result, the land trust can re-sell the property at a below-market price, keeping the housing affordable and stretching affordable housing dollars farther.