Candidate Profile: Kishan Putta For Ward 2 Seat On DC Council

WASHINGTON, DC — There are 29 candidates running for the D.C. City Council in the June 2 primary. In addition, candidates will be facing off in a June 16 special election to fill the vacant Ward 2 seat.

Patch asked the candidates to describe their qualifications and visions for the District.

Kishan Putta, 46, is a Democrat running in the June 2 Primary and the June 16 Special Election for the vacant Ward 2 seat.

Family

Wife Divya and son Om

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Wife works for State Department

Education

Dartmouth College, BA; Harvard Kennedy School, MPP

Occupation

Outreach Consultant, DC Health Link - 7 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

ANC 2E01

Campaign website

kishanfordc.com

What makes you the best candidate for this office?

Why Me? What Sets Me Apart?:

TRUSTED WARD-WIDE: I am the only candidate running who has been elected on both sides of the Ward. We lived at 16th & R for over a decade and our neighbors elected me to the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and then, after moving 20 blocks west and having our first child, our neighbors elected me to the Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale ANC.

CITY-WIDE PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERIENCE: In this health crisis, I am the only candidate with DC public health experience. I’ve been endorsed by President Obama’s Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy who is a Ward 2 voter and trusts me to make the right decisions in this crisis. I worked for DC Health Link implementing President Obama’s health law at the community level - working with health clinics and leaders to help thousands of residents get covered and get health care services!

TERM LIMITS: I am the only candidate who has pledged to abide by term limits. DC voters passed a term limits initiative, but the DC Council, led by Jack Evans, overturned the will of the voters. I will put you first - above myself - and abide by your wishes for a more accountable DC Council.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER: The DC Democrats named me Chair of their Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus, where I work with fellow Democrats to engage under-represented groups in the political process.

How will you help the city recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus?

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE - further increase benefits and help those struggling to get through the system. Hire more call-center workers - waiting time goal of less than 30 minutes;

HAZARD PAY: for public-facing essential workers who put their lives on the line every day to keep our society functioning;

DC PPP-PLUS: double the DC Microgrant program and renew monthly (at least $50million/month) for 6 months - prioritize those who have lost the most sales and those who are the most public-facing. Include incentives for landlords who offer rent discounts and other incentives to lower fixed costs for small businesses;

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: expand the DC Main Streets program with DSLBD as a model for distributing technical assistance grants to help businesses continue operations during COVID;

ASSISTANCE OUTREACH: reach out to ensure eligible businesses are made aware of all assistance programs available to them, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program;

DEFER TAXES: without penalties for 6 months, including real estate, payroll, sales, as well as fines & penalties - this would also include a waiver of utility costs during the period of quarantine. Once sales are back up, consider imposing a future temporary assessment to recoup some of the grant funds from some of the businesses;

SUSPEND RENT: in Government-owned buildings and suspend rent from tenants for the duration of the crisis;

RESTAURANTS: put a cap on the amount that third-party delivery app services can charge restaurants for delivery services that restaurants remain profitable and can pay their employees. Require that 100 percent of tips from those services go to the drivers, and include provisions to make clear that it is illegal for a third-party platform to reduce driver compensation rates as a result of this action. It will be in effect until dine-in services are allowed to resume;

TRANSPARENCY: all DC assistance programs must be public with easily accessible information on recipients and amounts of assistance, including federal assistance. Federal assistance received must be considered in deciding DC assistance amounts;

SALARY CUT: as Ward 2 Councilmember, I will take a 20% salary cut until recovery, and 10% after that. The funds would go to DC’s recovery efforts and to charities serving the homeless and the neediest.

What do you see as the biggest issue besides the coronavirus recovery facing D.C.?

DC residents deserve affordable housing options; efficient transportation systems that effectively connect them to the rest of the city; and high- quality public education options.

Affordable Housing: Although it has been wonderful to see our city growing in recent years, DC must work hard to plan for its future. As Ward 2 Councilmember, I would prioritize providing housing options that people of all income levels, from all backgrounds, can afford.

Housing is one of the most critical issues to consider when thinking about the affordability and inclusivity of a city. As such, it has a direct impact on issues of racial and economic equity. A recent study explains how DC’s lack of affordable housing exacerbates the displacement of longtime low-income residents of color. As the study explains, where we live affects many other aspects of our lives: our quality of life; where our children are able to attend school; and what jobs and other opportunities are available for us as adults, as well as our children.

A recent study by the Urban Institute recommends 374,000 new units of housing region-wide by 2030. I support more money for the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) but want to provide stronger oversight to ensure it results in as much quality housing as possible.

Recent audits show that less qualified projects are getting funded over more qualified projects and that the government (DCHD) is not enforcing the requirement that at least 80% of the funds are spent on affordable housing. The result is that far fewer units have been built than should have been built - especially for the lowest-income residents. As your councilmember, I would work hard to increase transparency through more regular audits to ensure developers are upholding their commitments. I would also advocate for DCHD to engage in proper monitoring of HPTF projects. This includes making sure that site visits are executed and that sites are submitting their required annual certifications. I’ve conducted oversight as a commissioner on both sides of Ward 2 and have testified at over 20 agency oversight hearings at the DC Council! I care about agency oversight and I will be tough about pushing for the vital HPTF dollars to be used properly. I would also support many of Councilmember Silverman’s housing reform proposals - including a change to allow the Council to appoint two members of the DC Housing Authority’s board.

As a Ward 2 Council Member, I would take a holistic approach to any major changes in housing and the related community impacts—considering access to fresh food, affordable childcare, public transportation, and social services, to encourage diverse and accessible communities throughout Ward 2 and greater DC.

Public Transportation: Access to reliable, affordable transportation is vital to help residents have equal opportunities to succeed. According to DC youth advocates, the number one reason young people drop out of school is transportation challenges. That is why I have worked so hard on public transportation issues - and I have vast experience improving transportation in this city.

When I ran for ANC in 2012, I remember hearing bus riders explain that they were waiting too long for buses, and that the bus system desperately needed expansion and updates. They said that despite showing up early to the bus station and hoping to get to work on time, they’d only see full buses passing them by. I worked hard to address this—and despite being told that it would be impossible to fix this, I organized residents and advocates to rally against this and make change happen. And it did. We got the city to get more busses, longer buses, and finally, commit to implementing bus-only lanes. We made change happen—all because of our advocacy.

But my experience with transportation goes beyond improving busing. When I lived in Dupont Circle, I often biked to work on DC’s most popular bike lane, 15th Street NW, but it was bumpy and neglected. Many fellow cyclists complained—especially parents biking with their children in tow—and so I worked hard to fix it. And I succeeded. I’m proud of my efforts, but if elected councilmember, they won’t stop there.

I will make public transportation a top priority. I will aim to join the Committee on Transportation and Environment and push for both WMATA and DDOT to fall under one committee’s oversight. As a big bus advocate, I have first-hand experience having to deal with both agencies and also deal with both committees overseeing them. There is not enough communication or coordination and that’s one reason transportation progress is too often too slow. We need to do better and I will prioritize improvements.

I will conduct strong oversight of our transportation agencies to speed up progress; and push to implement more dedicated bus lanes. I will also work on signal prioritization for buses, all-door boarding, and pre-payment, following the models that other cities have set for DC. And lastly, I will push to transition to a new fleet of electric buses, a system that will be more reliable and ensure less bus breakdowns. All of these improvements should make bus trips quicker and easier, and encourage more ridership—making DC a better city to travel safely.

Education: We must work on improving the quality of education both in Ward 2, and citywide. We have worked on closing the achievement gap between children of different incomes and backgrounds, and we are making strides. But we haven’t closed it yet. We must work tirelessly towards that goal in the coming years.

While serving on the DCPS Chancellor’s Parent Cabinet, I advocated with other community leaders for the Deputy Mayor of Education to be more transparent about sexual assaults in schools - something parents are very concerned about and something that threatens to make parents wary about sending students to DC public schools. I met with the DME and two other advocates and continue to support the efforts for transparency.

Access to educational technology is a matter of racial and social equity. Tech literacy is vital for youth to be prepared for the current and future workforce and for higher education. It shouldn’t only be wealthier students who have high access to educational tech devices. That’s why I worked so hard with parents citywide to successfully advocate for $4.6 million in tech support and over 15,000 new, quality, reliable tech devices for DCPS students and teachers - they should be reaching students by December. I will continue pushing this next year with parents citywide to reach a 1:1 ratio of one device per DCPS student. Many school systems have done this or are on track to reach this. It is an important equity issue and a priority of mine.

The school-age population continues to rise in Ward 2, and as your Ward 2 Councilmember, I will make sure that we continue to provide for them. I also learned about DC education issues and school financing on the DCPS Chancellor’s Parent Cabinet. I pushed for more funding for schools and for at-risk students and pushed back against funding cuts, even hidden cuts, such as shifting security costs under individual school budgets - cuts which disproportionately hurt low- income black and brown students. Funding intended for at-risk students has been misused and is not helping those in need enough. I support efforts to require DCPS to submit an annual report to the DC Council explaining how each school spends at-risk funding. This should apply to charter schools as well.

What is your position on statehood for D.C.?

I have been actively supporting DC Statehood for years:

• I lobbied congress in-person with DC Vote;
• In 2016 I joined the New Columbia Statehood Commission - preparing for a statehood push that got sidelined by the Trump election. I spent a large part of that summer on the communications committee;
• With the Commission, I attended the 2016 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia to advocate for statehood with leaders from all the other states.

We deserve to decide how to govern for ourselves. And that includes making sure all our residents feel safe, live comfortably, and can make a life for themselves and their families. Reducing the federal government’s ability to interfere and impose their will over the local government and on DC residents is just one reason why I support DC statehood. I support D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s efforts to introduce bills that would de-federalize DC’s criminal justice system, and allow for more local control over the criminal laws that govern our own residents. This is just one reason I have actively supported DC Statehood, and I spent a large part of the summer of 2016 advocating for statehood in DC and at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.

The painful implications of the district’s federal status have never been more brutally stark as they were last week in the federal relief bill. States, no matter the size, are poised to receive over double what DC is set to receive in federal aid. This is unacceptable. D.C. residents are getting cheated and we deserve our fair share. The residents of DC are just like the residents of any state – we pay taxes, fight in the military, serve on juries – but without voting representation in the House or Senate, we will continue to be treated unfairly. Residents of DC deserve to be treated like first class citizens – equal to the citizens of every state in the country. The only way to achieve this is for D.C. to finally become a state with equal rights and equal access to resources.

Every state in the country will be receiving AT LEAST $1.25 billion while DC, which has a larger population than some states, will only receive less than $500 million. Even though D.C. currently pays the most in federal taxes per capita, we would be receiving the least amount per capita of any state in the country.

And just like surrounding states, we will be responsible for paying our taxes, despite the destruction that the virus has caused to our economy. Not only have hotel businesses and restaurants suffered significant losses that would cripple them any time of the year – they are experiencing these losses during one of their busiest times of the year, cherry blossom season, which regularly attracts tourists from all over the country and all over the world. Small businesses have been asked to shoulder the burden of shutting their businesses to prevent the spread of the virus with little help from the government. What will DC look like after the virus if we don’t help residents and businesses?

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

At Stead Park on P Street, between Dupont and Logan Circle, I have helped secure over $16 million for a beautiful field and recreation center upgrades to serve people of all ages and interests. Amenities include a splash park for kids, an all-weather field, and a jogging/walking track. The park will soon also include a modern green building with spaces for parties, meetings and fitness/hobby classes, and for a new affordable childcare coop program. To get these improvements done, I worked with the community, fellow commissioners and with Friends of Stead Park, where I serve as Vice President of the board.

I have also been a constant advocate for expanding public transportation options throughout the city. When I first ran for ANC in 2012, bus riders told me they were waiting too long with full buses passing them by and schedules made unreliable by horrible traffic. I enquired and was told it would be impossible to get Metro and DC’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to work together and address this. But I worked hard to organize residents and advocates and we succeeded in getting more buses, longer buses, better reliability and got the city to commit to implementing bus-only lanes; which just rolled out downtown and are coming to 16th Street NW in the next year because of our advocacy!

When I was first elected in November 2012, our neighborhood got the bad news that both Garrison Elementary School and Francis Stevens Elementary School were slated for closure. I strongly opposed both of these closures. I will never forget the huge rally we helped to promote and organize at Francis Stevens and all the passionate stories and speeches we heard from the community. My family was in-boundary for Garrison Elementary and over the years, I attended several PTO meetings, LSAT meetings, as well as construction planning meetings to help support the renovation and revitalization of the school. I am so proud that both schools are doing much better and look forward to supporting them and all Ward 2 schools.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

People don’t care what you know, till they know that you care.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My Deep Community Ties:

• Schools - DCPS Parents Cabinet (2019) and schools liaison for ANC 2E
• Arts - WETA (our PBS station) Community Advisory Council
• Parks - Friends of Stead Park (former VP), Jelleff Community Center, Boys & Girls Club advocate
• Culture - Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Pacific Islander Affairs
• Safety - Public Safety Chair of ANC 2B (former), MPD Citizens Engagement Academy
• Nature - Washington Canoe Club, Burleith Hiking Club, Garden Club

Read Other Ward 2 Candidate Profiles:

• Jack Evans
• John Fanning
• Jordan Grossman
• Patrick Kennedy
• Brooke Pinto
• Katherine Venice
• Yilin Zhang