Q: How, exactly, will any of these candidates pay for their extravagant promises to WIN? A: By raising my taxes and my wife's taxes, since we're both DC residents.

I wish Adrian "Read My Lips: No New Taxes" Fenty and Linda "When Is A Bad Stadium Deal A Good Stadium Deal? When I Say So" Cropp actually had some genuine ideas for building on Mayor Williams' legacy rather than (for Fenty) looking like a child ready to throw a tantrum at these forums or (for Cropp) hanging on for dear life to the Mayor's coattails and hoping people east of the river don't notice. Is Mr. Fenty too busy or too arrogant to at least appear like he gives a damn at these forums? Is Ms. Cropp hoping that her unstated campaign slogan - It's My Turn To Be Mayor - will allow her to skate in to office? Sigh. I'm glad I'm voting for Marie Johns, though I'm disappointed to see that she, too, promised WIN the moon.

If WIN wins, do those of us who pay for the programs they demanded lose?

i will be voting for marie johns and hope she doesnt become a tool of the state democrat committee like sharon pratt dixon was.

I know exactly how all these candidates will pay for the promises they are proposing.........have you been to the DMV lately? ticket prices are sky-rocketing and they mainly focus on out of city drivers! Automated speed traps and red light cameras are a gold mine alone. Now personally I'm siding with Vincent Orange because he has the financial know how to make it all happen while maintaining fiscal responsibility. Being a Verizon employee I know the short comings of Marie Johns, besides the fact that she has no political experience. All of Marie Johns ideas are re-worded responses of other candidates; personally I don't believe she has the know how to make all of this happen. With the city currently in good financial standing, any other political candidate should be able to keep the budget in tact.

I agree with Mike from Chevy Chase DC that we need to ask the candidates how they will pay for these promises made to WIN.

Actually the candidate that promised the most to WIN in 1998 was Anthony Williams. He did have a problem keeping some of those promises but all in all he met most of them.

The skepticsm about how Adrian Fenty will keep his promise along with a promise not to raise taxes is also fair. But I think that if people listen to Fenty they will have a better understanding of how he intends to do that and with more detail than any other candidate.

Fenty has committed to not raising taxes because he understands that we can't continue to raise taxes, have poorly functioning schools, pay for things like the baseball stadium and then expect people and business to move to the District of Columbia. His whole campaign is based on changing the dynamic for busiess and residents and making the city a welcoming place for the middle class families along with those high end taxpayers and businesses.

He has proposed using the CAPStat program, successfully used in Baltimore, San Franciso, New York and other cities to manage government, root out inefficiencies and save big money. He and David Catania have found over $50 million of overspending of DC Funds in just two agencies recently by their Council oversight. Multiply that number by 10 which I believe is very conservative when you have a Mayor and managers held accountable that will conduct his and their own oversight, and you have an additional $500 million dollars. Using CAPStat as a prime management tool you have a program holding managers responsible for not only programs but their budgets.

Then you have Fenty's detailed school plan to improve education and make it a real priority for the District. One that we act on and not just talk about. One that will improve the cities bottom line because people first won't leave when their children reach school age and business will come because they understand that we have educated employees for them.

In addition Adrian Fenty has committed to an all out effort with Congresswoman Norton to fight for the reestablishment of a Federal payment to the District which has received a favorable response on the hill and will bring anywhere from $500 million to a $1 billion to ease the pressure on the DC budget.

So together these programs and efforts have a real chance at meeting the goals that Fenty is setting for his administration and meeting the promises he has made to WIN.

The public understands that with Fenty these aren't new promises but the committment of his administration to affordable housing, neighborhood redevelopment and children. These are the total committments of his campaign not just promises to WIN.

No one else running has put together a real plan for the schools, a plan for the management of the bureaucracy or a real vision for where they will lead government except Fenty. His is the only website www.fenty.06 that has more than fluff.

Skepticsm is good. But one must begin to accept the answers and the creative new ways of doing business if we are to move this city forward. Recycling the people and ideas of the past will only lead us back to the past.

Fenty is a LEADER. He can bring people along with him and no better example is the School Modernization Act.I say we give him a chance to lead.

He really represents a new generation whose time has come.

Gaze into the Crytal Ball, folks. See and hear your next mayor, Fopp or Crenty, at a press conference shortly after rolling out his/her first budget.

"Golly, I'm not able to deliver on all that grand stuff I promised because the economy has slowed down. Sorry. I made those promises in 2006; it's 2007 now -- things have changed."

OR

"I'm going to deliver on all that grand stuff I promised, BUT, I'M GOING TO RAISE TAXES AND FEES. Sorry, but the economy has slowed down. I made those promises in 2006; it's 2007 now -- things have changed, you're gonna have to pay."

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Maybe DC Voters, take a look at the only candidate who has real financial experience, real, practical business experience, not a candidate tied to various DC croonies...

The one to watch: Marie Johns.

What is Fenty's plan to save our schools? He voted against a mayoral takeover of the schools, the kind of reform necessary to save our schools from the endless bureaucracy and School Board carping we have had since Mayor Williams' plan to take over the schools failed. Instead, Councilman Fenty wants to create more bureaucracy by establishing a new Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education. More bureaucrats at the Wilson Building will not improve education at Wilson High School. Although I won't be voting for Vincent Orange, I appreciated the clarity of his view expressed at a mayoral forum that he would take over the schools.

It is very worrying when the two leading candidates, according to the polls, are a tired old gasbag with 30 years of political hacking about on the School Board and City Council and a slew of former Marion Barry political hacks to her name (Linda Cropp) and a politically inexperienced Councilman who seems more interested in criticizing Mayor Williams than moving the city forward by pushing for real change in the schools (Adrian Fenty).

Education is not your first priority if, as Fenty promised, his first action as Mayor will be to create yet another bureaucratic machine to oversee our rapidly declining school system. Nor is education your first priority if you promise the moon to groups like WIN and put your faith in getting more money from the federal government as the means for paying for these extravagant promises. What that really means is, don't look too closely at my policies but I'll be raising your taxes.