WHY I'm Running
A MISSION GREATER THAN ME
If we expect change, we have to become the change that we need.
For 18 years, as I have practiced in SE and NW Washington, DC, I have become tuned to a city that needs and deserves better; a people who have lowered their expectations of change for the better in DC because those expectations have been consistently met with disappointment; a local government where citizens don't feel the urgency of engagement or involvement in the enactment of laws and policies that affect them.
I often sit and talk with my patients, and other constituents I serve, for hours discussing every topic from healthcare to education to public safety to housing issues to our care for the homeless, even working to help them find common sense solutions that will resolve their concerns.
The late great DC "Mayor for Life" Mayor Marion S. Barry, one of the greatest visionaries DC has ever known, envisioned a city that was not divided by politics nor the Anacostia, but united under a local government that would care equally for all of its citizens. Not only does the Anacostia serve as a geographical barrier between two areas of a city, but it has become a socioeconomic barrier that has made the divide easier to feel. I want to change us from a divided city to a united city so that no matter where we live in DC, we can be proud of a city that works for us, all of us.
As DC Councilman at Large, my goal is to serve your needs. Too often, politicians vie for office in a spirit of self-preservation and self-elevation. It's not about prestige, title, preservation, or elevation for me; it is simply about meeting the needs of each DC Citizen with the best title of all: Servant.
As I was speaking to a patient recently, helping them through some of their issues, the patient turns to me and says, "Have you ever considered running for DC Council?" She went on to say, "You certainly have the leadership skills to do it. But you have the three things many elected representatives lack: your desire to work diligently to honestly serve people without ceasing and the ability to place the concerns of others before your own. The most important thing: You listen!" After thinking about it, and praying about it, I was sure that my path had led me to this very moment. A MISSION GREATER THAN ME.
