In November 2018, Rev. Ralph J. Chittams, Sr. ran for the office of At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia. The Council of the District of Columbia (the "Council") is the unicameral legislative body in the District of Columbia. While he did not win, he elevated the level of discourse during the campaign to address real issues.
He ran because there needs to be a dissenting voice on the Council to fight for the people against a local government run amok. Most of the issues facing Washingtonians, and Americans in general, are local issues and have nothing to do with the Federal Government: local taxes, education, crime.
The Council routinely the will of the people and currently functions as a benevolent dictator. Voter-approved Initiatives are routinely reversed simply because the Council does not agree with the outcome of a vote.
The public school system in dysfunctional. Our children are not being educated; they are being indoctrinated. Control of the school system must be wrestled away from the Mayor, and once again placed under the control of a duly-elected School Board.
The District Government has never met a tax or fee they could not or would not support. The people of DC are being taxed into oblivion. The pockets of tax-payers are not bottomless. The era of tax-and-spend must end.
The treatment of our homeless, including our veterans is shameful. Warehousing people in unsafe and unsanitary conditions is a crime against humanity.
Infrastructure in DC is crumbling. We will never be a first-class city with pothole-ridden streets and crumbling bridges.
Rev. Chittams ran as a Republican in this Democrat stronghold. He has been a Republican for 30 years. He is the first Black Republican to run for city-wide office in more than a generation. He says the era of one-Party rule must, and will, end.