My name is Adrian Fenty and I am running for Mayor of the District of Columbia.

I stand before you today with my family, friends, supporters and volunteers at my side, at the start of our City's exciting future in front of a monument dedicated to the heroes of our past.

In choosing our next Mayor, we face a clear choice: We can stay chained to the past, or we can move boldly into the future. In the three months since I announced I am running for Mayor, I've met thousands of people in every corner of this great city who've said to me, "I want to move boldly into the future. I want my city to continue to challenge itself to do better."

Later today, I will visit every ward in the District as a statement of the kind of Mayor I will be – the kind of Mayor the District deserves – a Mayor who connects with all District residents.

Those who know me know I only know one way to campaign: I will go door-to-door, to local businesses, to city meetings, to Mayoral debates and to neighborhood gatherings in every corner of the City asking residents to join me in our journey towards the future.

I will tell our neighbors – as I am telling you now – that I envision a future:

*Where every child has a chance at a bright future – regardless of what neighborhood he or she is from.

*A future where our school system is second to none – where children have the tools they need to learn and teachers have the tools they need to teach.

*A future where a college education is guaranteed for every high school graduate in our city who wants one and a future where excellent vocational programs leading to well-paying jobs are available for those students who choose that route to success.

*A future where there is a mix of housing options, including affordable housing, and housing for our poor homeless, across our city.

*And a future where everyone including our seniors, police, fire fighters, teachers and other city workers will be able to afford to live in the city where they work.

It is a brighter future:

*Where quality health care is a right – not a privilege, and where citizens in every ward have access to primary care, and excellent hospitals.

*Where we develop partnerships between the government, the non-profit sector and our faith community to effectively battle the epidemic of HIV/AIDS that is ravaging our people.

*A future where our business leaders and environmentalists work together to build our city while protecting our environment, and where developers and community activists can find common ground to build and strengthen our neighbors and provide well-paying jobs to support our families.

It's a future:

*Where we guarantee our high bond rating on Wall Street and still provide after school programs for our children on our streets.

*Where we deliver balanced budgets that will still provide essential services to those in our city least able to fight for themselves – our children, our seniors, an our poor.

*And where we won't pass billion dollar bond issues for a baseball stadium and then tell our children we can't afford to pass one to fix their schools.

But, my vision for a brighter future doesn't end there. I also see a brighter future:

*Where we have statehood and the full voting representation in Congress we deserve.

*Where our son's and daughter's who get shipped off to war to fight for someone else's democracy, should come home to a full democracy of their own.

It's a future:

• Where the government is fair and embraces people in every corner of the city. If we have learned one thing from the travesty of Hurricane Katrina, it is that there are thousands of marginalized people in this country. As I heard Barack Obama say this week, "The story of Louisiana isn't that people's lives are so bad after the hurricane, but that many of these people's lives were bad before the hurricane." This city also has an abundance of poor people who have been left out of the prosperity of the city. The future of this city rests upon how we care for them and in how we use the diversity of our experiences, culture and heritage to make sure no one is left behind.

• During my time on the Council, I have earned a reputation for seeing that the concerns of my constituents in Ward 4 are addressed no matter how large or how small. I have focused on public safety, affordable housing, education, recreation, and the building of our neighborhoods. As Mayor, I will do the same for our entire city and I will challenge experts to build a dynamic administration, competent and ready to tackle our most pressing issues.

As Mayor I will shine a bright light on our government and demand more accountability. Where others focus is on the past, causing them to tread cautiously, afraid of disturbing the status quo, you and I look to the horizon, to a city that encourages engagement, excellence, and a government that challenges you, and itself, to do more.

In the coming months I will carry this vision for a brighter future across the City and discuss how a Fenty administration will fight to complete the renaissance we have already begun.

Today, I am here to tell you that we can make this a better city for all of us and bring hope and inspiration to our neighbors and neighborhoods that have been left behind. But to succeed, we'll have to work together. Black, white, Latino, Asian, straight, and gay, this is our city, and it is only by working together that we will complete its renaissance and make sure that Washington, DC is truly a City that Works for Everyone.

I pledge to you today, my head and my heart, my passion and my energy, and my hard work. With your help, I will use my bright new vision for DC to build a brighter future for all of us.

Thank you, God bless, and God bless the District of Columbia.

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