BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - After a successful petitioning campaign, Socialist Workers Party candidate Mary Martin has won a place on the ballot for the July 22 D.C. Council Chair election. The only other candidate to file petitions for the July 22 special election was Democratic Councilwoman Linda Cropp, who has been appointed to fill the position until the election.

In a statement issued to the media the day of filing the nominating petitions, Martin said, "My campaign puts forward a program aimed at uniting working people to fight against the drive of the ruling rich to solve their social and economic crisis off our backs.

"I strongly condemn the legislation proposed by D.C. Delegate to the House of Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton that would give 30 federal police agencies authority to stop, interrogate, and arrest workers throughout the city. This move will lead to increased harassment, intimidation, and acts of brutality against working people, especially young workers.

"Delegate Norton's legislation fits hand in glove with Mayor Marion Barry's proposal that calls for use of the death penalty for those convicted of killing a cop," Martin noted.

Martin and her supporters attended a town hall meeting May 15 called by Norton to discuss her tax proposals. The D.C. delegate calls for restructuring the city's tax system to impose a 15 percent flat tax on district residents and eliminate the capital gains tax for those who invest in the city.

The socialist candidate received a warm response in her discussions with participants at the meeting. "I call for taxing the rich, not working people," she said. "This should be done by instituting a steeply progressive income tax with no loopholes or tax shelters for the rich."

The socialist campaign comes in the context of a deepening crisis in Washington. D.C. officials signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House May 16 for a plan to allow the federal government to take over much of the administration of the city. The scheme, which has been dubbed the "Clinton Plan," is the most significant effort to overhaul the city's structure since 1973.

Under the Clinton plan, the federal government would take over collecting income tax, funding transportation projects, and overseeing the pension plan for city employees. The federal government would also take over the court and prison system, require the city to adopt federal sentencing guidelines, and end parole for prisoners.

As part of the Clinton plan, the city administration would make "unspecified management reforms and balance its budget by next year" according to a May 17 Washington Times article. The city would also forfeit the $660 million it receives annually to compensate for all of the nonprofit and government property that cannot be taxed. The plan must still be voted on in Congress.  
 
 
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