Beltway Area Indymedia

Earlier today, the DC City Council ruled in favor of both the Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine Bill and the Education Reform Act (School Takeover) Bill. Community members showed up to voice their opposition to the undemocratic plans being forced on the residents of the District of Columbia.

Today, Thursday, April 19th, just 2 weeks before a special election will be held to fill the council seats in Wards 4 and 7 (something the council simply could not wait for), the Committee of the Whole convened to decide the fate of both the HPV vaccine bill and the school takeover bill. Community activists have spent months opposing these undemocratic plans; organizing, lobbying, and rallying. Sadly, the efforts of the community were foiled by the city council and their pockets lined with the greed of developers and pharmaceutical companies.

The HPV Vaccination Program, introduced by the Committee on Health Chairman David Catania and Ward 3 council member Mary Cheh, will go into effect January 1, 2009. Under the bill, all girls entering the 6th grade, whose parents do not opt out of the plan, will be vaccinated, regardless of the child's wishes. The council did include opt-out language in the bill. However, the opt-out option is dependent on parents signing a waiver releasing their daughter from receiving the series of 3 shots. In the case of the HPV bill, silence on the part of parents means consent. Critics of the bill (Carol Schwartz, Harry Thomas, Kwame Brown) warned that very little research on the long and short term effects of the vaccine has been conducted on the target population (young girls). Among children that have already received the vaccine, side effects, including a case of facial paralysis, have already been seen. They went on to add, echoing concerns of community members, that subjecting district girls to medical experimentation is reckless. Advocates of the bill (who included Catania, Cheh, Barry, Evans, Wells, Mendelson, and Gray) cited countless Merck (the maker of the drug) studies, and discussions with Merck employees on the 'safety' of the vaccine. Merck stands to profit $2 billion dollars from sales of the vaccine in the next 5 years, according to Council Member Harry Thomas.

The debate lasted well into the afternoon, ultimately ending in the passage of the legislation. Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham continued to walk the middle of the road, even after offering countless amendments (some of which were accepted) and abstained from voting. Carol Schwartz was on fire, and adamantly defended the right of parents to raise their children free of potentially harmful vaccines if they so choose. Harry Thomas backed her up. David Catania looked like he was going to blow a gasket, as his face reddened during the debate. Furious that any would question his "unmatched wisdom", Council Member David Catania repeatedly insulted community members present to stand up for their children. Mary Cheh, in her pretentious, condescending manner, stood by Merck and Catania. Marion Barry appeared clueless as to what was taking place around him, often muttering unintelligibly. Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells defended Merck, citing the 8 DC deaths attributable to cervical cancer (not all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV) in 2004 as reason to force the vaccination. Kwame Brown remained quiet throughout much of the debate, but did oppose the bill. Ward 2 Council Member Jack-Ass Evans looked bored and uninterested, and, as is characteristic, moved to close debate (no doubt counting down the minutes until he could get the chance to sell off more DC property--the item on the legislative agenda following the school takeover bill was a $50 million dollar give away to Verizon Center owner Abe Pollin). Council Chairman Vincent Gray, creepy as ever, defended the bill.

Nearly 2 dozen residents sat through the entirety of the debate, booing often, and added their own unofficial public comment during the hearing. At one point, one activist stood up and spoke out against the propaganda David Catania was spewing. He highlighted another Merck product that was at one point approved by the FDA (such approval appeared to indicate to Council Members Cheh and Catania that this vaccine could not possibly be dangerous), only to be recalled when it was discovered to be deadly; Vioxx. The secretary of the Council, while this is not in his job description, roughly pushed the community member out of the hearing and into the hall. He was escorted out of the building.

After the vote was taken, members and allies of The Parents and Citizens Committee to Stop Medical Experimentation in DC booed and shamed the city council. A sea of concerned parents and residents got up and left the council chambers, turning their back on the city council for their decision that could potentially negatively affect tens of thousands of young district residents.

Immediately following the HPV vote on the legislative agenda was the School Takeover Bill; introduced into the city council by Vincent Gray (though drafted by Mayor Fenty with the help of the Parthenon Group, a private, consulting firm that favors school privatization for the District), the bill has been the source of much controversy throughout the city. The legislation changes DC's home rule charter by placing control of the schools in the hands of the council and the Mayor, taking power away from the elected, independent School Board. The bill further expands the bureaucracy of the DC Public School system as parents and teachers will now have to report to the mayor (who has no background in education and refuses to send his children to public schools) but also to his unelected Education cabinet, to the city council; the list of high paid bureaucrats goes on and on. The bill now gives the DC Council uninhibited access to the prime real estate public schools sit on. This could pose serious dangers to the existence of public schools in the not so distant future. Many residents worry that the council will sell off public school property (along with a lot of other public property already being sold) at rock bottom prices to well connected developers, a favorite pastime of Ward 2 Council Member Jack-Ass Evans.

The bill was pushed through the Council without representation in Wards 4 and 7, and without a referendum (despite the fact that changes to the DC charter necessitate such a referendum).

In contrast to the HPV debate, the debate for the school takeover bill was short. Carol Schwartz, in another moment of sweet glory, opposed the bill and questioned how the rest of the city council could possibly think that creating a new unelected bureaucracy to replace an existing elected one was a good idea. She went on to discuss the overpaid, unelected staff of Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso (many with 6 figure salaries) and questioned the Mayor's and the Council's motives. She concluded with a discussion of the politicization of education, and warned that education in the hands of non-education specialists is a dangerous path. At large Council Member Phil Mendelson defended Carol Schwartz, but appeared beat down from the first reading of the bill on April 3rd. Marion Barry murmured and stammered around a bit, then kissed Gray's ass. Wells and Evans followed Barry's lead. Graham sucked up too. Cheh supported the bill, but her constituents are preparing for a R-E-C-A-L-L, so her time on the council is limited. Kwame Brown stayed mostly quiet again. Harry Thomas was right on on the HPV vote, but chose bureaucracy over democracy in the case of the school takeover. Vincent Gray led the privatization proceedings.

Just before the council was to vote, Mayor Adrian Fenty walked into the chambers and sat down directly in front of the Save Our Schools (SOS) contingent, a group that has been organizing against the school takeover plan and against school privatization. Situated just to the right of the SOS activists were Deputy Mayor for Education Reinoso and his high paid staff. Moments before the vote and shortly after Fenty's arrival, SOS stood up and chanted "Respect the people! Referendum Now!" The group chanted uninterrupted to a confused council. After an interminable couple of minutes, council security started pushing SOS activists out the door and into the hands of DC Protective Services. The group was escorted out of the building, personae non grata for the day.

It was a sad day for District residents. An assault on children occurred in the Wilson building that will only rear its ugly head over time. It is the task of residents, parents, teachers, trade unionists, etc. to take power out of the hands of a corrupt government that does not have our best interest in mind. We must keep the pressure on because, even in the face of dire futility, we can, and must still prevail.