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VALUES
Yaida Ford’s values are grounded in service, accountability, and justice. She is working to build a city where families can thrive, neighborhoods are safe and respected, and government decisions are made with and for the people who call D.C. home.
Yaida will help strengthen DC’s workforce to meet the demands of a rapidly changing economy that has embraced AI at an alarming rate. A strong advocate for vocational trades and cognitive labor, Yaida will push for policies that support access to education and skillsets that make our local workforce strong and competitive.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
LOCAL AUTONOMY
DC residents want and deserve the rights that other states have. One of the things straining our city right now is our inability to nominate our own judges to the D.C. Superior Court and the Court of Appeals, which has created a years-long backlog that is affecting service delivery to our residents and crushing the morale of our hard-working judges and court staff. Yaida’s goal is to work with our congressional delegate and allies in Congress to make Statehood a pressing issue until every household in DC knows what it is and why it is important to our survival in an increasingly volatile political landscape.
EDUCATIONAL
EXCELLENCE
DC educators need more support. Families have few options to send their kids to quality public schools within the city. For as long as our schools have been under mayoral control, far too many of our students, including those with special needs, remain left behind. Yaida wants to explore eliminating Mayoral control of our school system and giving power back to elected state board representatives where it belongs.
ENVIRONMENT
D.C. has world-class architecture and infrastructure, but we need clean streets, parks and neighborhoods to match. One of Yaida’s priorities is to clean up streets in parts of our city that are historically disinvested and areas of concern that should be kept clean for the health, safety and welfare of our residents.
GOVERNMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY
Yaida has dedicated much of her career to holding local and federal governments accountable in the areas of protecting the constitutional rights of private citizens, defending workers and fighting for the rights of everyday citizens and business owners who find themselves in the throes of litigation over vindictive actions taken against them by private citizens or government actors or the attempted enforcement of ill-defined and unconstitutional statutes. While Yaida has done incredible work in the courtroom, she can effectuate more change through coalition building and leaders
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
Failed housing policies in D.C. have pitted landlords and tenants against one another. Small “mom and pop” landlords are frustrated by wrong-headed policies that prevent them from providing housing in a market where demand far exceeds supply. Home ownership seems impossible for the college graduate or young family who wants to live near a good school. Yaida will seek to balance the equities in the rental space for housing providers who wish to provide affordable housing to quality tenants. Yaida will also seek to advance policies that make home ownership in DC a reality once again.
COMMUNITY SAFETY + HOMELESS ENGAGEMENT
DC needs trained resource officers who will play a key role in providing outreach, building strong relationships, and problem-solving with individuals facing homelessness, as well as collaborating with community organizations. Yaida will work with stakeholders to create this department to keep homelessness from overrunning the streets of our Nation’s Capitol.
PUBLIC
SAFETY
Yaida is all-too familiar with the violence plaguing our neighborhoods, but she believes public safety is a two-way street. Our policies should address the root cause of crime and incentivize strong community engagement between local police and DC residents. The government must be transparent in its policing of communities of color and its collaboration with federal agencies so that tensions do not spiral out of control.
YOUTH
ENGAGEMENT
DC Parks and Recreation needs to incorporate activities for our teens and “tweens” that will keep them engaged and out of trouble. Yaida’s goal is to collaborate with community leaders, faith leaders, coaches and our amazing clubs to build bridges to ensure that our youth our plugged into the incredible services that many of our organizations have to offer.