Image from Tom Brown.

Many new projects have improved Ward 7 in recent years, but much remains to be done. Councilmember Yvette Alexander has had little to do with Ward 7’s successes and done little about its challenges. Residents of Ward 7 have looked hard for a replacement, and we support Tom Brown in the Democratic primary on April 3.

Brown stands on a solid record of accomplish­ments in education and workforce development. He is the founder and current Executive Director of Training Grounds, a workforce development non­profit. Through this, he has developed relation­ships with corporations and linked young people to jobs. A former “National Teacher of the Year,” he helped establish and taught at the KIPP KEY Academy in Ward 7.

Ward 7 is one of DC’s last frontiers for economic development. Brown is committed to implementing small area plans that the Council has approved but which are currently collecting dust on the shelves.

The incumbent, Yvette Alexander, has few accomplishments during her 5-year term as councilmember. She is touting the ward’s new libraries (Anacostia, Dorothy Irene Height/Benning, and Deanwood), the Deanwood Recreation Center, and the new H.D. Woodson High School. However, these projects were already planned and funded prior to Alexander’s tenure. Ward 7 residents struggle to identify any ways she specifically aided these projects.

Ward 7 enjoys recent transportation improvements, such as the Great Street projects on Pennsylvania Avenue, Benning Road, and Nannie Helen Boroughs Avenue; the DC Circulator; Capital Bikeshare stations; and a study for Metro’s W4 route. Alexander had very little to do with these either. In fact, transportation advocates credit other councilmembers for expediting the Circulator east of the river and ensuring the ward is an integral part of the bike sharing program.

Alexander has also been absent on education, redistricting, and more.

Brown has won endorsements from a wide range of groups that do not always agree, including the DC Chamber of Commerce PAC, the Washington Post, DC for Democracy, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Washington Metro Labor, AFL-CIO, and the Washington Examiner. We add our name to this list and encourage Ward 7 voters to chose Tom Brown during early voting or at the polls on April 3.

This is the official endorsement of Greater Greater Washington, written by one or more contributors. Active contributors and editors voted on endorsements, and any endorsement reflects a strong majority or greater in favor of endorsing the candidate.