Name:Keith Forney
Occupation: Self-Employed
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Tell me a little bit about yourself. How long have you lived in DC?
I came to DC out of the military — well really, the DMV — in 1990. I bought [property] in DC in the early 2000s, and I’ve been in Northwest DC since probably mid-2010.
Why did you decide to move to DC?
I was doing business in DC. I started a general construction firm in DC, and it just made sense once I made that move. I owned a pack and ship store in Maryland, but eventually I transitioned my business from the package-ship kind of stores to becoming a general contractor in DC. Once I made that move, I needed to be living here to take full advantage of the opportunities.
What do you love most about living in DC?
In terms of business, especially when you’re doing government work — with its close proximity to the federal government, where the federal dollars emanate from — there are a lot of government-based construction opportunities, both federal and state. The DC small business rules, especially when I first started, were much more advantageous to small minority businesses than anywhere in the country. Getting started, DC gave you a leg up that you didn’t get anywhere else.
Could you talk about your own experience being disenfranchised, or in other words, what it has been like to lose the rights you had when you were living in one of the 50 states?
You’re dealing with federal institutions that are not necessarily looking out for DC folks — they have their own agenda and their concern is not the concern of a DC citizen. [Members of Congress are] concerned about maintaining rights for their localities — from wherever they’re coming from — and the things they vote for are to benefit their own jurisdiction. The federal budget is one big pie so to speak, and all of the members of Congress are busy negotiating laws and spending bills and the language therein, in such a fashion as to pull as many resources into their area as possible. Creating legislation is all about compromise and compromise occurs when two or more individuals have to reach an agreement on something. If you're not a participant in the negotiation then your concerns (voice) are just ignored, because if you have no vote (voice) then those who do get to vote have no incentive to consider [your concerns] and thereby negotiate with those who do not have the right to vote. Given the fact that DC doesn't have representation that can affect laws/spending legislation, the citizens of DC are not at the table — so if the congressional representatives from other states like Georgia or Montana, or from wherever, don’t have to negotiate with a member from DC about the contents of any legislation, they have no requirement to consider the impact the legislation being considered might have on the citizens of DC. It makes a huge difference not having the right to vote. It means you don’t have to compromise with a representative of the District of Columbia. Life is full of negotiations and compromise, and one thing is for certain: if you're not at the table when it happens, you get left out almost 100% of the time.
What does achieving statehood mean for you?
It means greater opportunities for people within this jurisdiction. I’ve been fortunate — I’ve been able to move in a way that maybe some are not. The smaller that pool of resources that are available, the fewer the number of people who will have access to, and thereby be able to take advantage of, the resource pool. If it’s a bigger pool, then where you are on the food chain is a little less impactful — you don’t have to be on the top of the food chain to get some crumbs.
For young folks who are coming up, the opportunities for them to gain independence, entrepreneurial spirit, and become less dependent on a 9-to-5 and having the ability to build something moving towards generational wealth to create independence for their families for generations to come — without DC Statehood, it means there are fewer resources that will be available to help those who start out on the lower rungs to achieve success. That doesn't mean they won't achieve success, just that it'll be harder to do so. It’s not for me personally that I am concerned, but it’s for those that are coming after me — the future generations of talented youth who, but for a little assistance, could do something, create something, change something that could make a real difference in making this planet a better place where future generations could all flourish.
What do you think needs to be done to get closer to achieving statehood?
A change in the Senate makeup [and] a change in the House of Representatives’ makeup. If folks were voting for things that are in their own interest around the country, then the make-up of both the Senate and the House would be very different, because people are voting for folks who are voting for things that are ‘not good for the masses’ —it’s good for the few, but not good for the many. We as DC citizens are going to have to take more active participation in these things. For example, the Color of Change, they have [opportunities] where you can volunteer to do phone calls for Democrats — in this case, it’s going to have to be a Democratic initiative, the Republicans are just not going to ever help, at least not in the foreseeable future. For now, whether we like it or not, we’re going to have to get more Democrats in and we’re going to have to get them in other parts of the country, because it’s only the elected officials who get to vote. We’re going to have to take an active role in participating and helping get more Democrats elected, which means phone banking and volunteering. To try to [impact] the makeup of the Senate, you’re going to at least need 54 senators that are Democrats, if not more. In the House, it’s a little easier since you need a simple majority. You’re going to need, at a minimum, 54 or 55 Democratic senators who are willing to change the filibuster rules — that’s the only way that’s going to happen; the filibuster rule is going to have to go, and then you’ll need a Democratic majority in the House. Until that happens, we’re just whistling Dixie — we can cry, we can moan, we can complain — but it’s not going to change [anything], because those folks who are there now, we’re not their concern. I’m not going to say I blame them, necessarily, but at present, the legislation that’s enacted is good for the few at the expense of the many, generally speaking. Until we get enough folks voting for things that benefit the majority, the rules are not going to change. This is a matter of change in the House, change in the Senate. But it doesn't stop there — anyone we elect who has an amnesia problem once elected must be removed swiftly. Everyone elected must know there will be consequences on reneging on the reason they were sent there in the first place. It's only this kind of pain that can ensure change for the good of all is a lasting and permanent change.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
If we’re going to be serious [about this], we can be non-partisan during the daytime, but after 5, we’re going to have to get partisan. We’re going to have to engage in this process and make the change we want to see — until we’re willing to do the thing that’s necessary to make the change, we could be waiting another 20 years. Change doesn’t happen by itself — you have to force change, you have to make change happen, unfortunately that is how life is. Until we’re willing to do that in a serious way, then we’re simply hoping somebody else gives us what we want, and you know how hope works.