D.C. MAYORAL CAMPAIGN NOT A SINGLE-ISSUE RACE

CANDIDATES CITE DRUGS, CRIME, HOUSING AND JOBS

While concern about government corruption has dominated debate in the race for D.C. mayor this summer, the six mayoral candidates who will appear on ballots in the primary elections on Tuesday also are touting positions on several other issues considered critical by District residents.

In response to questions submitted recently by The Washington Post, the candidates outlined their plans to deal with five major problems: drug abuse, crime, homelessness, unemployment and the shortage of decent and affordable housing.

The six candidates who will appear on the ballots of the District's three major political parties are Democrats Calvin Gurley, Mayor Marion Barry and Mattie Taylor; Republican Carol Schwartz, an at-large D.C. Council member; and Statehood Party candidates Alvin Frost and Dennis Sobin.

To curb drug abuse, Taylor, a former police officer who later served on the school board and as a top official in the Department of Employment Services, said she would seek assistance from area universities, hospitals and professional societies to improve the city's drug education and treatment programs.

To fight crime generally, Taylor favors higher professional standards for police officers and more programs for District residents aged 18 to 25, who are at the "critical age for law-breaking."

Sobin, a publisher of sexually oriented materials, said drug abuse should be treated as a "serious public health problem" rather than as a criminal offense. To reduce crime, Sobin called for ending "covert and entrapment activities" by police and focusing police activity on crimes against persons and property.

Schwartz said she would support the presence of "uniformed and undercover police in our schools" to halt drug trafficking. She said crime could be reduced by beefing up the police presence in the streets of the District.

In addition, Schwartz supports "an adequate number" of penal facilities with mandatory education, job training and drug treatment programs for inmates.

Barry cited as examples of his antidrug program the recently announced Project OSAY and a planned 700- to 800-bed prison facility, scheduled to open in September 1989, that would provide drug treatment programs for inmates. Project OSAY, aimed at bringing city services to the city's young people, will reach 5,100 youths "through drug abuse prevention education," the mayor said.

Barry said his administration has been successful in fighting crime, citing a repeat offender program "that has nabbed 2,500 habitual criminals" and an extensive network of neighborhood watch programs.

Frost, a former senior cash management analyst for the District and a critic of the Barry administration, said the city's resources "must be more effectively utilized for detection, treatment and rehabilitation." To fight crime generally, Frost proposed to develop alternatives to incarceration, job training programs and economic development "to create viable and attractive alternatives to crime."

Gurley, who has worked as a government auditor, said he would submit to a drug test and challenged Barry to do the same. Advocating a "drug hot line," he said he opposes parole or bail for drug dealers and favors confiscation of their assets. He said his crime-fighting program would incorporate job development. "There is a direct relationship between the increase of crime and the high rate of unemployment," he said.

On homelessness, Taylor favors establishing a counseling center for the homeless to distinguish "street people" from those "who want homes." In addition to favoring care for the homeless mentally ill, she said she would provide downtown shelter for transients and provide services to help home-seekers reestablish households.

Sobin supports the appointment of a director of Shelters and Homeless Support Services and suggests homeless advocate Mitch Snyder would be a candidate for such a job. He called for diverting millions of dollars in federal funds appropriated for construction of a prison in the District to homeless and education programs.

Schwartz said in most cases the homeless are "individuals who require psychological treatment and care . . . I would make St. Elizabeths {hospital} a competent and humane facility for those who need that care."

Barry, citing the $5.8 million his administration has spent on the homeless in 1986, said the District "spends more local tax dollars helping the homeless than Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle combined."

Frost backs "shelter, job training, mental health counseling, treatment and therapy in community settings and outpatient facilities and programs."

Gurley said he supports Initiative 17, a ballot measure approved by voters in 1984 over the opposition of the mayor. The measure guarantees shelter to all who want it.

To increase employment, Taylor said she would reestablish the D.C. Skill Center, a jobs program shut down by the Barry administration, and would "expand apprenticeship training programs, hire D.C. residents in city government jobs . . . {and} attract light industry to the city."

Sobin said he would emphasize small business development aimed at helping vendors and "other entry-level entrepreneurs."

Schwartz, a supporter of workfare, proposed "mandatory job training programs in our prisons" and said she would require government contractors to train and hire the unemployed.

Barry cited his establishment of five employment service centers, a declining unemployment rate in the District and added, "The District placed citizens into 31,000 jobs in the private sector over the last three years."

Frost proposed raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18 and increasing funding for school and job training programs. In addition, he supports business tax abatements and the creation of "Neighborhood Development Corporations and Enterprise Zones."

Gurley said he would "enforce job placement after job training."

To provide housing, Taylor proposed to increase housing construction through the creation of a funding pool composed of tax dollars and private investment dollars.

Sobin said, "We have to help people get into upwardly mobile jobs or into business for themselves so they can earn their full potential and occupy the housing of their choice."

Schwartz supports giving away surplus D.C. properties to those "who commit to operate moderate-priced housing for 20 years." She said she also would require that "bidders on government-controlled development projects . . . provide a specified number of housing units."

Barry said the District "spends a larger share of its own tax dollars on housing than any other jurisdiction in the country" and the city subsidizes tenants and provides loans to assist families in buying homes.

Frost, in addition to calling for "incentives for low- and moderate-income rental housing construction," favors expansion of the city's homesteading program.

Gurley said he would accelerate renovation of vacant housing units and seek to increase the number of new housing units for low- and moderate-income families.

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.