[gpga-news] PrsRls: LaMarche Vigils at Cheney Mansion

[Hugh Esco]

THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

For immediate release:
Saturday, September 25, 2004

Contact:
	Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 
		202-518-5624, cell 202-487-0693, scottmclarty@yahoo.com
	Marnie Glickman, LaMarche campaign media contact,
		503-313-7919, glickman@lclark.edu
	Blair Bobier, Cobb/LaMarche campaign media director,
		541.929.5755, 414.364.1596, b2@bobierlaw.com

GREEN V.P. CANDIDATE'S VIGIL AT CHENEY'S MANSION IN
D.C. WILL HIGHLIGHT LOCAL HEALTH CARE, HOUSING ISSUES

Statehood Greens cite closing of Randall Shelter,
demand for restoration of D.C. General Hospital, 
waste of D.C. money on proposed baseball stadium.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Members and candidates of the D.C.
Statehood Green Party will join Green vice presidential
candidate Pat LaMarche at her vigil outside of Vice President
Dick Cheney's mansion, from 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September
25 until 6:00 a.m., Sunday, September 26.

The vigil will take place outside of Vice President
Cheney's mansion, which is on the grounds of the Washington
Naval Observatory, located on Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
The event is part of Ms. LaMarche's two week 'Left Out
Tour' to 14 cities across the U.S. to call attention
to homelessness, lack of jobs, and lack of health care
<http://www.gp.org/press/pr_09_20_04.html>.

Statehood Greens and Ms. LaMarche will call attention to local
crises in health care and housing:

==> D.C. city government plans to sell the 170-bed Randall
Shelter for the homeless by October 31; Mayor Williams has
still not designated a replacement shelter in the Southwest
D.C. waterfront area for the coming winter.  Randall Shelter
residents, the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations,
and their supporters are urging the mayor to keep Randall open
until he finds a replacement building in Southwest D.C.

==> Statehood Greens are urging D.C. Council to strengthen
rent control, to enact rental rollbacks to remedy rents that
have already skyrocketed beyond tenants' ability to pay, and to
repeal legislation that gives landlord's loopholes that prevent
tenants from exercising their right of first refusal to purchase
a building.  The party also supports strengthening Section 8,
which is now under threat of elimination, and replacement of
affordable housing units on a one-to-one basis.

==> Statehood Greens have led the demand for restoration of
a full-service public hospital in the District, after Mayor
Williams dismantled and privatized D.C. General Hospital three
years ago.  The Mayor's action precipitated a health care crisis
in D.C., with crowded and unprepared emergency rooms in other
hospitals and many residents unable to receive treatment.

"We desperately need more money for health programs, especially
for the urgent care that D.C. General used to provide,
outpatient mental health care, and substance abuse treatment,"
said Jay Marx, Statehood Green candidate for D.C. Council,
Ward 2.  "D.C. still has an infant mortality rate far above
the national average, and a life expectancy for male African
Americans lower than for males in any nation in the western
hemisphere, except for Haiti, according to the most recently
available statistics."

Statehood Greens argue that D.C. has the tax base to cover a
new hospital, as well as other health care and housing needs;
see <http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/testimony/2004/Budget.php>,
<http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/pr/2004/pr042204.php>.

==> While the health care and housing needs have gone unmet,
the city has disclosed plans for a publicly financed baseball
stadium to cost more than $400 million, in a bid to lure
the Montreal Expos to D.C.  Statehood Greens have called the
proposed ballpark a misappropriation of taxpayers' money that
will drain the local economy, divert funds from social needs,
and offer only low-paying jobs to local residents.

Statehood Greens cite the economic damage that publicly funded
stadiums have inflicted on cities across the U.S.; for more
information visit <http://www.fieldofschemes.com>.

==> Statehood Greens, noting that D.C.'s fiscal policies
are subject to Congress's rule and approval, have called for
statehood and self-governance for the District.  Party members
note that the destruction of D.C. General Hospital was ordered
by Congress and the congressionally appointed Financial Control
Board, and that Republicans in Congress have tried to impose
school vouchers and gut local gun control laws.

Ms. LaMarche, members of the Statehood Green Party, and area
homeless activists will collect blankets, towels, toiletries,
and other nonperishable items for the shelters during the vigil.
Ms. LaMarche is also promoting participation in the National
Homeless and Low Income Voter Registration week, September 26
through October 2.

Pat LaMarche is running with Green presidential nominee David
Cobb in the 2004 election.  To schedule an interview with
Pat LaMarche or for more information, call Marnie Glickman
at 503-313-7919.  Ms. LaMarche will also be available for
interview during the vigil.

MORE INFORMATION

The D.C. Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

David Cobb/Pat LaMarche campaign
http://www.votecobb.org

~ END ~

Paid for by the Cobb/LaMarche Committee 
and the D.C. Statehood Green Party