Johns Vows to Abolish Income Tax for Poorer Workers

D.C. mayoral candidate Marie C. Johns pledged yesterday that if elected, she would eliminate city income taxes for residents earning less than $25,000 a year.

Such a measure, she said, would provide a bit of relief to the needy and show that the city is serious about retaining a working class as rents rise and the amount of affordable housing shrinks. The tax cut would cost up to $70 million a year, she said.

"You just hear it everywhere," Johns said during a meeting with Washington Post reporters and editors. "There is a lot of fear. People feel that they're being pushed out, and there's no room for them here anymore. They can't afford a place to live. . . . This would send a strong signal that that we want to help ease their burden."

Johns, running a distant third in opinion polls, said there's a need to close the "opportunity gap" between the city's well-off and the poor. She has a three-pronged effort to improve schools by increasing early childhood programs, bolstering the University of the District of Columbia and partnering with the city schools for such things as buying books and administrative functions.

Johns contends that the District is more polarized economically and racially than it was when Anthony A. Williams (D) was elected mayor eight years ago. It was right at the time to focus on development, Johns said, because the city's finances needed a boost. But some residents, she said, responded negatively to such projects as the new $611 million baseball stadium because they didn't see the same level of "excitement and passion" elsewhere.

Johns, a former chief executive of Verizon Washington, has attracted little money compared with the leaders in the Democratic primary -- D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp and council member Adrian M. Fenty (Ward 4). Neither has she garnered support among her colleagues in the business community, with the major endorsements being split between Cropp and Fenty.

Business leaders "are notoriously feckless when it comes to first-time candidates," she said yesterday. "I knew this would happen just as it did."

What's keeping her in the race is the enthusiastic response she has received on the streets, she said. A constant refrain from residents has been, "I'd vote for you if I thought you could win."

Johns acknowledged yesterday that she is trailing Fenty and Cropp by a wide margin, though she said her appeal is more than the 8 percent of likely Democratic voters who supported her in a recent Washington Post poll. Not everyone agrees, however.

Her campaign finance committee chairman, Deborah M. Royster, recently defected to Fenty's camp after advising Johns to drop out of the Democratic primary and run in the general election as an independent. Royster's husband, D.C. Hospital Association President Robert A. Malson, also switched allegiances. Malson has declined to discuss his decision; Royster did not return a call yesterday. The couple plan to host a Sept. 5 rally for Fenty at their Ward 4 home.

Johns spokeswoman Liz Rose said Malson and Royster are the only defections. "Everyone else who was originally on Marie's team is still with the campaign," Rose said.

Johns said she is determined not to quit and wants to secure additional endorsements. She said she has no plans to bolt the party, as U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) did this month after losing in his state's Democratic primary.

Staff writer Lori Montgomery contributed to this report.