A Conversation with Councilwoman Silverman

By Kathleen Hoban 

Ignite, a Catholic University student organization that promotes women in politics, held an event on Monday with Councilwoman Elissa Silverman to discuss her career as a district-wide councilwoman. 

Due to a city hearing running longer than expected, the councilwoman was not able to make it to the event’s opening, and her deputy chief of staff, Ashley Fox, took over the event. 

Ashley Fox, a Nashville native and St. Louis graduate, discussed the councilwoman’s career and what life as a young political advocate is like. Fox did a popcorn style Q&A for the audience, many of whom were political science majors.

“My goal [for today] is to encourage more millennials to go into public service,” said Fox.

Fox started off the session by explaining how she got to her position within Councilwoman Silverman’s campaign. 

“You need to know what you’re good at,” said Fox. “You got to commit, you got to put in the time.” 

She emphasized that, starting from the bottom of the food chain, saying that everyone must be able to do the “grunt work.” 

After her introduction, the discussion moved forward to what the councilwoman does versus what the council does. 

Fox informed the audience that Councilwoman Silverman is a city-wide councilwoman for D.C., and that the council does things that usually would be handled at the “lower level” of states. 

Because D.C. is a city that has federal mandates, the council has more responsibilities than the average city. The council is in charge of funding for education, trash, roads, and security when the president moves from the White House. Fox said that it can be difficult to handle the burden at times. 

At this point of the discussion, Fox began answering questions from the audience. Student Meghan Lafferty asked, “What is the most important piece of legislation through the council?”

“Paid family leave,” replied Fox. “D.C. passed paid family leave for residents who don’t work for white collar jobs.” However, this excludes federal jobs in D.C. such as working on Capitol Hill. 

To many audience members’ surprise, colleges in D.C. were the main opponent to the Paid Family Leave. This was due to an employer tax the schools would have to pay for. 

Sophomore Alan Cunningham asked “How is the council’s relationship with the mayor?” 

“The administration has a pretty clear idea of what and how they want to do things,” said Fox “and there can be a clash of differences between the Mayor and the council.” 

The main area of contention is money. “A bill is a no-go if it costs money,” said Fox. “If the Mayor says no, you have to fight in order to lobby.”

Another bill the council expressed approval of was the multiple criminal reform bills. The council this year passed the “Ban the Box” bill that rules that employers can not ask for criminal history of a job candidate. One bill up for debate is the decriminalization of prostitution, which some members think will help protect women and men who go into prositution to give them autonomy. 

Senior Ben Hewwitt asked, “What are the demographics of D.C.?” This question brought on the topic of Gentrification. 

“D.C. 20 years ago was a rough area to grow up in,” said Fox. “The city wanted a 10-15 year plan that would bring in money and high-end properties.” 

However, the plan worked almost too well, according to Fox. She said that because of this plan, there is no “middle tier” between economic classes due to the lack of affordable housing.

Fox said that there was a lack of accommodations to rent controlled areas on the outskirts of D.C., forcing longtime residents to be removed from their homes due to the increasing property tax. 

By bringing realities of life in D.C. to light, Silverman is working to encourage students’ openness to combat local economic struggles.