Rhonda Hamilton

Where Hamilton stands

Topic headings are Vote Book’s; quoted words are each candidate’s own, with the source under each one. “As reported” items are a news outlet’s description, not an exact quote.

Immigration & border

Is protecting the safety, rights and access to city services for immigrant communities the responsibility of elected officials? Why or why not?

Yes. Immigrant communities help to strengthen our local economy, and they have contributed greatly to DC. Abandoning their families would be a betrayal of the city's core values of inclusivity, compassion, and shared prosperity. Although we find ourselves at a political crossroad, we must unite and fight together. As a human-rights designated city and the nation's seat of governance, I believe that we must be the example for the rest of the country by ensuring that our municipal systems remain safe and fully accessible to all residents. We are DC! Forward we will march together.

Crime & public safety

What are four things you will do to help DC residents now in prison and those who are returning home?

As Mayor, I will assemble an executive team to partner with external oversight bodies, internal senior level officials, and ANC leadership inside the DC jail to enforce higher standards for behavioral, mental, and medical healthcare. I will push the DC Council for solutions-based legislation to address core issues raised by jailed residents, including the psychological impacts of extended solitary confinement, poor meal distribution, suspended contact visits, and infrastructure failures. Additionally, I will work to end youth mass incarceration by investing in accessible social services, workforce development, and community resources as real alternatives to imprisonment. My administration will audit the existent community level and government funded reentry programming to ensure that adequate housing, healthcare, jobs, and resource allocation are properly managed to avert recidivism.

Do you have further thoughts on the Justice System?

The local DC justice system is plagued by its inability to appoint its own judges, lack of expanded local prosecutorial power, failed oversight of its crime lab, a severely aging & unsafe DC jail facility, understaffed correctional personnel, lack of "Home Rule", congressional overreach, as well as failed strategies for addressing youth & juvenile rehabilitation. Fixing the problems within our local justice system will require fixing the leadership in DC's local government & putting an end to the federal & congressional overreach into DC's local affairs. The public safety & well-being of DC's residents' rests with electing a new leader that is committed to fighting to move DC forward not offering more of the same. Vote Hamilton 4 DC Mayor!

Jobs, wages & cost of living

How will you use this job to protect our rights and keep Congress and the President out of our local government business?

While continuing to support the lobbying efforts for statehood to eradicate the Congressional and federal government's overreach, as Mayor I will protect DC citizen rights by ensuring home rule autonomy, safeguarding our local budget control, securing local command over public safety, pursuing legislative avenues to reform or amend the Home Rule Act in favor of DC government's legislative independence, as well as rescinding the executive emergency order that established local agency coordination with federal law enforcement to immediately eliminate the over policing of DC residents, harmful separation of families, and threats to the mental well-being of school-aged youth.

Elections, ethics & government

Should DC be a state? Yes or No? If yes, what are the two most important steps you would take to make statehood happen? If no, what is your plan for achieving full voting rights for DC?

Yes, DC should be a state. I would continue to support lobbying efforts to pass the "Washington, DC Admission Act". In addition, I would pursue the reframing of Statehood as a Civil Rights and Tax Equity issue and solicit the continued support of our allies and the United Nations in these efforts.

DC is required under Law 24-176 to reduce harmful gas emissions resulting from DC government activities. What are the top two measures you would take to comply with this law?

I would call for transparent and accountable oversight of DPW's expansion of government, commercial and residential composting programs. This would not only help the District to comply with this law, but it would also help to combat the District's current rodent crisis. Additionally, I will plan to review the current actionable strategies for phasing out fossil fuels in government buildings as well as review the status of the District's transition to a zero-emissions municipal fleet to assess and ensure accountable compliance with this law.

Background & priorities

What are your top 2 priorities and how will you accomplish them?

My plans are to improve DC's Public Safety, & Housing Authority systems. These systems share systemic failures in leadership, chronic understaffing as well as they ae contributing to a deteriorating public infrastructure. I will improve the operational standards of each with investments in staffing & capital repairs, as well as conduct a complete audit of each system & overall agency’s performance to identify the intersecting challenges of inadequate management, budgetary accountability, & investigatory public responses to help shape immediate reforms such as review, training or removal of senior staff, elimination of fraud, & expansion of the independent civilian oversight boards' subpoena powers to increase policing accountability.