Lisa Raymond

DC should significantly increase the Housing Production Trust Fund.

Explicitly pledges to 'Invest in the Housing Production Trust Fund with strong oversight.' Also supports streamlined permitting and use of public land to increase supply across all eight wards.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

DC should expand the 'community schools' model, where schools serve as neighborhood hubs providing mental health, family support, and other services beyond education.

Supports wraparound youth services — mental health care, career pathways, safe afterschool spaces, and employer partnerships — but does not specifically endorse the community schools model by name. Her education platform focuses on teaching quality, CTE, and school infrastructure.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

Every DC public school should have a dedicated behavioral health clinician on staff.

Explicitly calls for the District to 'expand school-based mental health care, support community providers, and continue the DBH-MPD co-responder model so youth in crisis receive care and support — not criminalization.'

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

Hiring significantly more MPD officers is a priority for reducing crime in DC.

Explicitly supports 'a well-trained, adequately staffed police force' alongside transparency and oversight. Also calls for holding federal partners accountable for prosecutions and judicial appointments.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

DC should enforce a curfew for minors as a tool to reduce youth crime.

Explicitly states she 'supports targeted, temporary public safety measures, including curfews, when necessary to keep residents safe. But enforcement alone cannot be the foundation of youth policy.' One of the few At-Large candidates to explicitly endorse curfews as a tool.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

Any youth curfew must be paired with substantial investment in alternative programming — jobs, recreation centers, mental health services — for young people.

Pairs her curfew support with a comprehensive youth investment agenda: evidence-based conflict management programs, career pathways, paid apprenticeships (champions DC Young Adult Corps Act), expanded safe afterschool and late-night spaces, and school-based mental health care. 'The long-term solution is opportunity, connection, and hope.'

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

DC should build more protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes.

Supports 'pedestrian safety and a low-stress network for biking' and 'multi-modal transportation options that reduce costs and serve residents in all eight wards.' Supports 'electrified transit options.' Does not specifically call for protected bike lanes or dedicated bus lanes.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

DC should aggressively accelerate its transition to 100% renewable energy, installing solar on public buildings and investing in geothermal and other clean sources.

Supports 'robust implementation of the Carbon Free DC plan' and the Healthy Homes Act. Wants gas-free, energy-efficient affordable housing construction and tough Public Service Commission oversight to control utility costs.

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website]

DC should legalize apartments and 'missing-middle' housing (duplexes, triplexes, and small multifamily buildings) citywide by removing single-family-only zoning restrictions.

Supports increasing housing supply across all eight wards through streamlined permitting and strategic use of public land. Endorsed by DC YIMBYs, signaling a pro-supply, pro-density orientation, though her platform emphasizes process reform over an explicit end to single-family zoning. At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate she rejected the framing as 'either/or,' saying DC needs deeply affordable housing and to 'build more housing,' with partners and a streamlined process, to 'create a climate where people will actually come and build.'

Sources: [Lisa Raymond for DC Council — Campaign Website], [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should treat violence as a public health problem, investing heavily in violence interruption programs and community-based solutions.

At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate Raymond, drawing on her work at Covenant House Greater Washington, said the answer to youth offending 'starts with the basics': housing, wraparound services, and high-quality workforce development that 'meets youth where they are' and puts them on a path to independence — a prevention- and services-first approach.

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should respond to Trump administration interference in city governance with an assertive, public stance — filing lawsuits, passing protective legislation, and refusing to comply with unlawful federal directives — rather than quiet diplomacy or pragmatic deal-making.

At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate Raymond urged the Council to 'legislate boldly' for residents and 'based on what our values are, not on an administration that may or may not intervene' — i.e., not preemptively complying. She also stressed educating Democratic allies and said she would withhold support from out-of-state candidates who will not commit to DC statehood. Assertive in principle, paired with a relationship/education strategy.

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should keep police officers out of public schools and instead invest in counselors, social workers, and mental-health staff.

Reverse-coded question: keeping armed police out of schools aligns with the statement. In the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate lightning round, Raymond answered 'no' to returning armed police to all DC public high schools, saying she could support unarmed security or support services at the door but not armed officers across the board.

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should increase its funding for Metro (WMATA), even if it means cutting other city services.

At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate Raymond said she would support increasing funding 'only if it was to support services to people in a transportation desert... for fast bus service,' tying it to economic access. Conditional; recorded as mixed.

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should impose a commuter tax on people who work in the District but live in Maryland or Virginia (if federal law allowed it).

At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate Raymond said she 'like[s] the idea' of a commuter tax, noting other areas charge to enter (e.g., ~$13 for New York City) while 'people are paying nothing to come to DC,' and 'we absolutely need to consider it.'

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

When the two conflict, DC should prioritize building more housing quickly — including market-rate — over maximizing deep-affordability requirements on each project.

At the April 28, 2026 Fair Elections Program At-Large debate Raymond rejected the tradeoff — DC needs affordable and deeply affordable housing and to build more, with a streamlined process and partners 'to create a climate where people will actually come and build.' Recorded as mixed.

Sources: [DC Fair Elections Program At-Large primary debate (April 28, 2026)]

DC should act aggressively to lower residents' electricity bills — for example by contesting or rolling back Pepco rate increases through the Public Service Commission.

Raymond's Energy Affordability platform calls for tough oversight of the Public Service Commission so monopoly utilities don't leave residents with 'crushing costs,' plus the Healthy Homes Act and efficiency programs to cut low-income energy bills. Strongly supports action to lower electricity costs.

Sources: [Energy Affordability — Lisa Raymond for DC Council]