About The Candidate

• Office Sought: City Council Ward 2
• Occupation: D.C. Council member, Ward 2.
• Web site: http://www.evans2008.org
• E-mail address: jackevans@evans2008.org

Education

BS, economics, University of Pennsylvania; JD, University of Pittsburgh.

Offices and positions held

Member, D.C. Council, Ward 2, 1991-present; chairman pro tempore, D.C. Council, 2001-present; treasurer, D.C. Democratic Party, 1988-91; advisory neighborhood commissioner, ANC 2B Dupont Circle, 1989-90.

On the Issues

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics had problems with thousands of phantom votes in the September primary, and during the Potomac Primary in February it ran out of paper ballots for voters. What would you do to help guarantee a smoother election process and protection of District voters' franchise?

The Council has appointed a special committee to investigate not only these problems, but more importantly to work to insure we have solutions by the time of the November election. It is important that all of us work very hard to insure that democracy functions well here in the District. Due to the Presidential race, I am expecting the turnout in November will be among the largest the District has seen in years so these systems absolutely must work correctly.

How do you rate Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's performance with the District schools so far, and what is one thing that you would recommend that she improve upon?

I believe Chancellor Rhee has brought much-needed energy and a fresh set of ideas to many of the challenges that face our school district. I greatly appreciate her willingness to look at issues which have long stymied reform efforts and to advocate for change and greater accountability, at all levels, within the school system. I believe communication with students and parents, teachers and other stakeholders is very important and I would recommend she continue to put both time and energy into such efforts as well.

What do you think about the Capital Gains experiment, Rhee's plan to pay some students for doing well in school?

When I think about my own upbringing, of course children from middle-class families essentially have such things already. Back in the day, if you brought home a good report card maybe your parents would get you a new toy you wanted, or take you and your friends out for pizza or any number of things which informally constitute not only a rewards system, but also a way for the parents to communicate expectations and support achievement. I think the Capital Gains program essentially seeks to create such a system of rewards and expectations, and might be worth trying. It is seeking to value education in a way my own family did as well.

Do you support Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's plan to move the homeless into permanent housing?

I do. I fully support the concept of the "Housing First" model, which has been implemented in NYC, most notably the Common Ground program there, but also here in Ward 2 at N Street Village. Change is always difficult, and a bit wrenching, but the notion that we have homeless folks living in large shelters for a period of years is a model which is both outdated and actually quite inhumane. While we will continue to need some emergency shelter facilities of course, I believe it is far better to place homeless people in permanent housing throughout our city and pair them with supportive services. Warehousing homeless folks downtown has been a tremendous failure on multiple levels -- putting people into permanent housing is a far better program.

How do you see elected officials helping residents through these difficult economic times?

The District will face multiple challenges during these tough economic times -- from the obvious financial challenges of maintaining our revenue base and keeping our budget balanced, to addressing problems which impact our residents. We will face additional demands on various social service programs -- notably health, housing, various nutrition programs, and others -- when there is an economic downturn. To help keep people working, we need to also be supportive of the private sector and help keep the engine of economic growth alive here in the District. Government programs can't solve every problem, but we need to do our part and pair with stakeholders to accomplish what we will need to get done.

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