Among the most outspoken was Democrat Jeffrey N. Gildenhorn, a businessman, who said some people just don’t want to work.

"The papers are thick with jobs," Gildenhorn said. "I don’t want to see taxpayers’ money going out the door to people who don’t want to work."

"In two of my restaurants I have advertised for mid-level management to waiters to busboys to cooks and have had a tough time getting help," he said.

As mayor, Gildenhorn said he would make it more difficult for those who don’t want to work to receive unemployment checks unless they have a concrete reason, such as a disability, for not working.

As for better training, Gildenhorn said he would create a "hamburger university" in Wards 7 and 8 where he would build a real restaurant and train young people to manage and own their own restaurants.

"This would be something we could easily construct since the two wards lack restaurants," he said.

Democratic candidate Kevin Chavous, who represents Ward 7 on D.C. City Council, said residents do want to work but many lack even the most basic personal skills. He noted his own council office’s experience with young people working summer jobs meant devoting the first three weeks to teaching kids to get up on time, practice good hygiene, take instruction from supervisors, sit still and not stay out too late at night to get up the next day.

The city must invest not just in job training but job readiness, he said.

"The biggest problem is not the aptitude of these young people, but it’s being prepared to be trained for the job," Chavous said.

Democratic candidate Harold Brazil, an at-large councilman, said the problem lies in a skill-level gap and the weak District employment service.

"The Department of Employment Services is a place for cronies to get contracts and for their other friends to have jobs," Brazil said. Brazil said the District’s employment service is "part of the old government at its worst."

His solution is better management and focus on private industry where he believes the agency has been successful.

"There’s federal money available for restructuring employment services," Brazil said.

"We need to develop a broader business base so that it requires different skill levels."

Brazil said he is supportive of the hospitality industry, apprenticeships and vocational schools.

"You build an economy from your strength," he said. "Tourism, convention centers and hospitality is who we are."

Republican candidate Carol Schwartz, also an at-large councilwoman, spoke of the hardcore unemployed population.

"We have a very dependent, on-welfare population, but I also think a lot of it has to do with drug and alcohol abuse," said Schwartz, who emphasized the need to institute drug treatment on demand for D.C. residents who want and need such help.

Schwartz said the District attracts more than its share of major problems and loses most of its jobs. She said from 1993 to 1997, the District lost 54,000 jobs while Maryland picked up 55,000 and Virginia picked up 114,000.

"I want to match up those jobs," Schwartz said. "I could get better transportation from areas of high unemployment to areas of the city that would have a working hub in Maryland or Virginia," said Schwartz, who chairs the city council committee on local, regional and federal affairs.

But Statehood Party candidate John Gloster said the city’s next mayor should focus on creating jobs in the District instead of helping city residents get to jobs in Maryland or Virginia.

"The fact of the matter is we have wonderful jobs, careers even in the District, yet two thirds are being taken by people in the suburbs because we have not educated, trained and positioned our own," Gloster said.

Gloster, who lives in Anacostia, said he supports "life skills training" for many of D.C.’s unemployed and advocates satellite campuses of the University of the District of Columbia in Wards 7 and 8 to provide training and retraining to adults at affordable prices.

"UDC is crucial," he said. "We’re doing ourselves, our community and youth a disservice by talking about taking UDC from a four-year college with a graduate program down to a two-year training institute."

Democratic candidate Sylvia Robinson-Greene said D.C. residents have difficulty getting jobs here because a lot of work has already been contracted outside the city.

"The District also has a lot of high-technical jobs that people aren’t trained for and even the blue-collar jobs are being taken by people (who live) outside of D.C.," she said.

Robinson-Greene agreed with other candidates that poor education is a root of unemployment in the District.

Some people on public assistance need not just education but more incentives to earn a living, she said. "If you don’t go to the (job-training) program, a portion of your food stamps or welfare assistance will be deducted" under her proposal, she said.

Democratic candidate Jack Evans, who represents Ward 2 on the city council, pointed to lack of life training skills and transportation as the root of D.C.’s high jobless rate.

"A lot of people showed up on Day One to apply for jobs at the (MCI) arena and on the second day, people don’t show up," Evans said. "You almost have to do it person by person by giving them the training needed, match them up with jobs that exist and make sure they get transportation to get there."

Evans, who sits on the board of directors for Metro, said the fundamental breakdown takes place because D.C. Mayor Marion Barry has failed to develop a working relationship with other government officials in the region.

"Without the cooperation from people in places like Fairfax, its going to be hard to get our people to those jobs and back again," Evans said.

Evans said he would like to set up training academies in the city with UDC as the key component and create more vocational schools.

"I would enlist the aid of the business community," Evans said. "Businesses throughout the region should be helping us. The government alone can’t carry that burden."

Democratic candidate Anthony Williams said reducing the taxes on small businesses would attract more employers to the city.

"If we shorten time on getting licenses, reduce business costs, and of course start implementing readiness in training, we will appeal to more businesses," Williams said.

Williams said programs like school-to-work and work-to-work need improvement.

"We have to provide choices for training and transportation for our residents," Williams said. "Once we have a supply of qualified workers, then we can demand more jobs."

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator