Meet the candidates for DC mayor: Stacia Hall

Stacia Hall is a businesswoman from Ward 3 running for D.C. mayor on the Republican ticket. As the only GOP candidate for mayor on the ballot, she’ll face the Democratic winner of the June 21 primary in November, as well as independent Rodney “Red” Grant.

Hall spoke with WTOP’s Mike Murillo about the issues in this year’s race.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity.

Stacia Hall is running for D.C. mayor on the Republican ticket. She’s a Ward 3 businesswoman, singer and mother of two. (Courtesy campaign for Stacia Hall)

Who is Stacia Hall?

I am a single mom and live in Ward 3. My daughter is 17 and I have a 32-year-old.

I came from a life of struggles. I was on welfare, but it came to a point where I had to make the decision whether to stay on welfare for the rest of my life or work really hard to leave a legacy for my children. And I chose to work and conquer. Living in D.C., and loving it. And I decided that it’s time to step up, get off the sidelines, and start making a difference in our nation. So that’s why I’m here today. I’m also a business owner — Eclectic Minimalist Interior Decor and Staging. I’m also involved in the musical arts, theater, as well as politics.

Hall’s plans to combat crime

It’s real simple. As an African American woman, I was shocked, but yet unsurprised when we lost George Floyd. I’m just going to say, police brutality is nothing new; it’s been around for a while. We must stand up against police brutality, but it does not mean we let criminals run wild.

Police morale is at an all-time low, and the police numbers are down. So where am I going with this? For a better part of a year, from the start of COVID, the police academy was closed. It’s essential to have our police trained, to continue to train them, to create programs for police to be trained to work in schools, and to relate to school-aged children, and bring more police back.

They’re needed. They’re essential workers. So we’ve got to get them motivated again to come back in our communities and serve. We can’t prevent crime — we can’t deter it — without good police. The community must stand for its police and work together.

On DC police

I remember as a little girl, Officer Friendly. I remember the years of having a great relationship with the police force in the community. Those years, those days, should come back.

We’ve tried so many different tactics, and just making sure that the police and the community and the people are a happy team, they play as a team, and they’ve worked closely together to protect our children, save lives and save our communities.

And police, guaranteed, if they come from one of the eight wards in D.C., they’re going to know the place and they’re gonna know the people. Police really need support so that we can get rid of this whole locus effect that’s starting to take over this beautiful District.

Economic recovery from the pandemic

When the pandemic hit us, we were faced with a dilemma that, in our generation, we had never experienced. I saw a lot of people not being consistent. You had one thing happening in one state and another happening in another state. Now there’s a plan, I’m sure, that’s been created to handle these things.

We’ve got to keep the businesses open. Our economy depends on our businesses, our small businesses. We’ve got to keep them motivated and keep the economy in good standing.

We cannot close schools and we’ve got to change our attitude, how we see pandemics — and no more fearmongering. The economy in D.C. — this is a city of peace to me, I really see it that way — this city has got to remain open. It’s the beacon.

This city is doing worse than other cities across our nation. That will not continue under my watch. Everyone will prosper and flourish.

Affordable housing in DC

We’ve all heard the stories of people growing up here, but after several years, as time goes forward, as time goes on, they’re being housed out. They’re being cast out of the housing market here in D.C. Unacceptable.

We have got to keep our teachers, police, firefighters, nurses — we’ve got to really accommodate them. They’re essential to us. We’ve got to create workforce housing for them. Government workers are not living here. They’re living in Virginia (and) Maryland. If we can get them here, by creating workforce housing that is accessible and that is accommodating, we’re going to keep teachers on board. Teachers are talking about not returning for the contracts, going into Maryland or Virginia and being OK with the pay they receive there and being able to live there.

We can’t continue in this regard. We’ve got to fix the housing situation. Just the separation of families being here two, three and four generations, then having to be moved out. They lose their property and then we upgrade the neighborhoods. We should be able to take care of everyone.

Working with the council

For me, and there is really no other way to spell it out, I come in as an outsider. I am not a career politician. I have no connections to political or special interests. I understand that the council has been sort of an adversary to our mayor. I’ve heard of the things that have been presented to be implemented, and they were shot down.

I am a woman of faith. And I believe teamwork makes the dream work. I know I’ll be a great team player. I know I’ll work well with them. So I do not have any concerns there. It’s going to work. We’re definitely going to work well together. And we’re trying to make this a city for all, and I gotta be a mayor for all.

Infrastructure

We’re seeing it play out every day: We’re going out, getting up, going into work, construction, roads being closed.

It would have been great if there was a plan in place. When things were pretty quiet during the pandemic, it would have been good to get a lot of that stuff done then. But let’s continue trying to improve the city. That’s a part of the improvement process.

The budget, when it pertains to the infrastructure, it’s got to fix these potholes.

To me, WMATA is in trouble. And also, fare evasion, that should be made a crime. People should be paying to ride the Metro and Metrobus. The revenue for that makes sense.

And we have to take a regional approach to fixing the Metro. As mayor, I want to work with Virginia (and) Maryland to ensure Metro is made whole again.

There’s got to be a greater sense of urgency to fixing our roads. Period.

What sets Hall apart

I’ve overcome miles and miles of adversity. I have a motto: When life serves you lemons, make lemonade. There’s been so much of that in my life. And then suddenly, one day, it was turned completely around.

I do have a great story.

Our city needs a mayor, or a leader, and leaders, that don’t want to cancel God out of the nation, or cancel God out of the District. We want to pray, seek wisdom, and we want to act and do things for all.

So for me, my motivation for running: I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. I am not going to do it. I have a righteous indignation, and I want to stand for the people. I have no political, no special interest. I’m not connected to anyone. I’m not afraid to get the job done. And I know that it’s time for change.