A Petworth News Op-Ed
by Drew Schneider, editor

I first met Robert White when he ran for an open At-Large DC Council seat in 2016. I hadn't even heard of him prior to our meeting. I interviewed him as part an effort to get to know the candidates running for an office that would affect our area of DC. We met up at Culture Coffee on Kennedy Street, sat in some comfy chairs, and hung out and talked.

Robert is easy to talk to.

He's also very passionate about DC, about the people who live here and their quality of life. We talked about the escalating cost of home prices (now even higher) and the need for affordable housing, as well as the cost of childcare. We talked about supporting small, independent businesses — the backbone of Petworth and Ward 4 — and how the city made those things harder. We talked racial and socio-economic disparities and about returning citizens who have served their time in jail, and now look for new opportunities to stay out of their previous lives. We talked about the city being divided, socially and economically, and the need to find real long term solutions.

He was and since then remains the only candidate for office that Petworth News has ever endorsed.

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After White was elected in 2016, he started working on the issues that he said he would (just as he has after being re-elected for a second term). He is a vocal proponent of citizen's rights, like the right to affordable housing, to return and build a life, to be treated equally whether you live east or west of the park, for education and children's needs.

I recently had an opportunity to sit with Robert White again — this time at Moreland's Tavern off of 14th Street — and talk about his latest endeavor: running for Mayor of DC.

White is aware of the battle he's facing. Mayor Muriel Bowser is popular and has a lot of money at her disposal. She's done a relatively good job as Mayor — but she hasn't done enough, says White. Gun violence, homelessness, affordable housing, racial disparity and many dysfunctional government policies under Mayor Bowser are just some of the issues that White is looking to change.

I asked him an easy question first: Why do you want to be mayor?

"I really love this city," he said, "Having the opportunity to move this city significantly, in my lifetime and time of public service, is an opportunity that means a lot to me personally. I know what it's like to grow up here without connections or money, and to see the world moving around you and not feel like there's a real opportunity for you. We have reached a point where we have the resources to do things we couldn't have done when I was a kid, but they're not funneling to the right places. I can help shift where the focus of the government is, and to something that can take us to the next level."

He said his focus is simple: people.

"You have to have a north star, and everything revolves around that," he said. "For so long in our city our north star has been 'development.' And development is good... and really good if it revolves around people. And if it doesn't, it can discard people. What we have seen for too many years now is people being and feeling discarded."

We talked about gentrification again. How can DC help people who are being priced out?

"My views have not changed but they've matured,” White said. “And I'm more confident now than I was before my time on the Council. I'm more confident now that we can do a lot more to protect people. The mayor sets the tone, not just for the operation of government but for how this city develops. If the mayor goes to the table and says to the business community, 'Here are our goals and here are our priorities, how can you work with us?' The private sector will respond to that. But if they don't feel there is a north star for the city then they are going to operate in the best interest of their business. I think we can bring them to the table as partners in how we grow in ways that revolve around our residents, but there has to be very clear leadership from top of the city to get that done."

Robert White and his family — he makes clear they are the most important thing in his life.

With housing prices going up in Petworth, it's harder for new families to find housing, and for long-term families to afford to stay. White said it's difficult for the government to influence property values, but the city can influence density. "We have to build more housing so competition doesn't get so expensive, and increase funding to the Home Purchase Assistance Program so that it keeps pace with the increasing cost of housing. That program is a lifeline for people who make enough to pay a mortgage but not enough save up enough for a down payment, when the average price of a small house is $600,000."

White said that housing density can be increased by looking at under-utilized government buildings and converting them to affordable housing, and looking along the city's corridors like Georgia Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue and Bladensburg Road. “They could really stand for a lot more density that could support small businesses in a way that haven't been supported. We have to have a lot more vision and direction from the government, as opposed to having development happen wherever the developers want it to happen."

In each category that White and I discussed, the common thread was the people of DC. A focus on students and their education, a focus on residents and their needs. White wants to continue development and growth in DC, but with that focus on people.

He said we need to have a high expectation of how the government works, and the government needs to rise to that expectation.

“The government has to grow up. It can’t be about who you know anymore, whose campaign you donated to, whose color flag you’re flying. If we want to be a world-class city, we have to take the steps to get there. That means the government has to operate more seamlessly. Whether you’re engaging the government through an app, a website, phone or in-person, it has to work better. We’ve grown accustomed to being happy when it barely works,” he said. “We have to have a higher expectation. We’ve let it languish. Government operations are showing their age. There has to be accountability.”

White does not feel the city is coalescing around a vision that anyone can articulate. “When we look at the goals we set for the city, whether it’s closing the opportunity gap, reducing crime — across the board we have to be very clear about what our goals are, because that’s a large part of accountability. I don’t see accountability now, and we’re paying for it.”

In talking about crime, White said the increase in violent crimes, especially shootings, has been devastating. “I grew up in DC in the 1980s and 90s, and it feels a lot like the 80s and 90s, except that the weapons are stronger,” he said. “We’re seeing violence continuing to rise, and we are responding to it in the same old ways, even though we’ve seen over time that those same old ways don’t work. The city can do a lot. We have to take a holistic approach to crime. There are a small number of people committing most of our shootings — there have to be intensive resources dedicated to those people, ideally with the goal of preventing shootings. But also with the dual goal of preventing the next class of young people who are going to take up that mantle. There has to be a serious wave of interruption. Right now, what we are doing is responding in an aggressive way after people commit crimes — but at some point we have to be more aggressive about preventing crime. We haven’t done that.”

White also feels we need to start going through a path of reconciliation between police and communities. “As long as there is a tension between police and communities, such that communities are not confident that the police are on their side, people are not going to cooperate. The only folks that can make that reconciliation happen are the police. The community is not going to start the process, but it is imperative that it happen.”

In looking at how money is allocated in DC’s budget for MPD, White says it’s not about reducing budget, it’s about reducing crime, and what it takes to do that.

White points out that resources are not going to violence interruption the way they should, especially in reference to policing. “Training, benefits, home ownership and other opportunities are vastly different than what is offered to police. So we really haven’t invested in violence interrupters the way that we have with police. We have to get more serious.”

Muriel Bowser has done a good job over her two terms... but crime remains high, and while more police are needed citywide, MPD isn't the only answer to rising crime. Expanded city services, violence interrupters, mental health officers and advocates are needed. Creating a fairer economic landscape and giving people a step up, ensuring affordable housing is available, and that residents get equal opportunities as development continues should be a greater focus.

It's because of that focus on people that Petworth News is pleased to endorse Robert White for Mayor of DC in the upcoming election.

Coming out of COVID-19, coming out of years of Trump in the White House, with rising crime, rising housing costs, and a lack of real opportunity being shared across the socio-economic lines, it’s time to bring in a fresh perspective. We’re excited to see what happens.

See Robert White’s campaign website and make your own decision.