The Current would like to congratulate the Woman’s National Democratic Club for kicking off the evening of Feb. 8 with what will undoubtedly be a series of forums for City Council candidates.
The moderator’s questions were predominantly about the candidates’ feelings on services that most of us would like the District government to be able to offer. Unfortunately, there were no questions about the costs or the possible effect on District employment.
As Council Chair Phil Mendelson pointed out at the forum, a key to reducing our poverty rate is substantially increasing the number of jobs available for non-college graduates.
Virginia’s taxes for businesses and high-income residents are far below the District’s. Thus, there is a temptation for Washington businesses and high-income earners to move across the Potomac.
For companies that receive a large amount of their revenue from the District government, there is a major offset in that the District gives preferences to firms located here. However, this is not the case for many of our employers.
We would urge future moderators to bring up this issue.
