My family came here during the Spanish Civil War. My grandfather was an education reformer who wrested control of a school in the province of Galicia from the Catholic Church. When the war broke out he was forced to flee. Later, my father would jump ship in Seattle and seek out his childhood sweetheart, marry and end up as a translator in the Kennedy White House and a diplomat in South America with the Alliance for Progress. I have been a solid Democrat my entire life.

And here I am faced with a dilemma. Even though I disagree with some of the stands Pat Mara has taken –in particular over the minimum wage- and question whether he will be as adamant in his defense of diversity –social and economic diversity- as he has been until now if elected, I will vote for Pat and support his candidacy because I believe he is the best candidate in the race and because he will be the best alternative for the city I love.

Franklin Garcia (Reproduced from the DC IReporter)

On April 10th, 2013 an immigration reform rally will take place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington DC. The Rally/March organized by a number of local and national organizations, including CARECEN, Casa de Maryland and the SEIU is another effort by pro-immigrant groups to call attention to the need to address the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Many of the organizers believe that now is the time to push for bipartisan legislation that addresses the outdated immigration laws in the U.S.

About half way through the special election period for the At-Large City Council campaign in DC, with roughly 5 weeks remaining, the contours of the competition are now visible. The seven candidates (dubbed the ‘Magnificent 7’ here) are crisscrossing the city, attending innumerable forums and meet-and-greets in an endless cycle of fundraising, phone banking and public appearances. Each candidate has established their own niche and each is searching for their comparative advantage.

Three of the seven have experience in city wide campaigns –Michael Brown, Pat Mara and Anita Bonds (as a campaign manager) and the four newcomers (Matt Frumin, Perry Redd, Elissa Silverman & Paul Zuckerberg) are all spirited, well informed and eager to show their political chops. Three candidates (Bonds, Brown & Redd) are African American and expected to do well on the eastern side of the city. Mara has the Republican Party to himself -not a great distinction in DC- and the other 3 candidates (Frumin, Silverman & Zuckerberg) are expected to do best on the west side of the city.