25 Sep 2020

Election 2020:

ANC Candidate Statements: Alison Horn, ANC 6B09

It’s 39 days until election day and most of you have probably made up your minds about whom you will vote in the general election. However, when it comes to local elections, most people have no idea how their District, Ward or advisory neighborhood commissions are divided or affect them. Local outlets such as Greater Greater Washington do a good job of bringing hyperlocal politics news, and reasons why you should run for these nonpartisan offices. OpenANC allows you to learn more about your own single-member district, so you know the names of the people in the race. As is now a tradition, The Hill is Home is publishing candidate statements in the order in which we’ve received them, so you know a little more about the people running and don’t go into the voting booth (or mail-in ballot) blind. –Maria Helena Carey

Statement by Alison Horn, ANC 6B09

Alison Horn. Photo courtesy of the candidate.

Hi neighbors! I’m Alison Horn, and I’m running for ANC in Single Member District 6B09. I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak to voters about who I am and what I would hope to fight for as ANC. A map of the district is available on my website, alisonforANC.com.

I am a social justice advocate who has spent my career fighting for people who are too often shut out from political power and resources, first at the Public Defender Service for DC, then at Free Minds Book Club, a nonprofit organization that uses literary arts and workforce development to empower DC’s incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youth and adults. Currently, I work at Civil Rights Corps, where my work mostly focuses on ending the criminalization of poverty.

If elected ANC, I would hope to prioritize the following issues:

Affordable housing:
Housing is a human right, and DC has an affordable housing crisis. We need to expand affordable housing units, particularly at the deeply affordable level, expand rent control, and fund our chronically underfunded programs and services for our houseless neighbors.

The environment:
Climate change is an existential threat to our planet. At the ANC level we can fight for expanded use of solar energy, the River Smart Homes program, and green construction of developments in the neighborhood. We also need to promote green modes of transportation by developing designated bike and bus lanes.

Public Safety:
The issue of gun violence is personal for me. Too often, when I see news reports about people who have been shot in DC, their faces are familiar – former clients or people I’ve gotten to know through my public defense or civil rights work. That’s why it’s so important to me that we work to seek proactive solutions that’ll actually prevent crime.

It’s not a radical idea that we should have mental health professionals respond to people having mental health crises rather than police. It’s not radical to think that expanding affordable housing, job programs, recreational & educational opportunities will decrease crime. These things make sense. What doesn’t make sense is insisting that the only way to create safe communities is by increasing police budgets. I believe public safety also means creating designated bike lanes to keep bikers safe, as well as traffic calming measures to prevent auto accidents and to keep our communities safe for pedestrians.

I believe Black Lives Matter and our Black neighbors deserve better than paint on the ground and  empty promises. We need targeted budget investments to close racial gaps in economic opportunity, educational attainment, health outcomes and more. I was pleased that ANC6B used grant funds to support Serve Your City DC and Ward 6 mutual aid, and I would hope to expand these types of granting opportunities in the future.

Transparency:

I believe DC government should be transparent and accountable to the people, not bought and paid for by moneyed special interests. I believe we should accurately report COVID data and should actually follow the metrics before reopening.


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