DC Resident Wants To Help Rebuild His Community
Friday, June 25, 2010(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Larae King-Day is a construction worker, a father, a musician
and a lifelong DC resident. He’s also been out of work for two long years.
King-Day trained as a construction worker through the GSA Building Futures
Project but has had no luck finding steady work. “I thought being a Ward 8
resident would give me preference in hiring, but it hasn’t,” says a
frustrated King-Day (r). “Its grim out there for the native Washingtonian.”
A glimmer of hope for King-Day is the “District Resident Employment &
Trade Stimulus Amendment Act of 2010,” legislation currently before the DC
City Council that would require higher standards for employing DC residents on
District- subsidized projects. “DC residents should be able to get first
priority,” says King-Day, “We live in this community. Why wouldn’t I want
to work to rebuild my community, my school, my neighborhood, my street, my
sidewalk?” King-Day will testify in support of the legislation at a hearing
next Wednesday before the DC City Council. - Essie Ablavsky,
Union Summer intern; photo by Ryan McCarty