Mayor Vincent Gray, the 6th mayor of DC, was charismatic and cool
at the March 17th CREW lunch at the Capitol Hilton, despite the
recent press surrounding his administration. He explained that
his job is to facilitate development that translates into jobs.
His administration’s priorities are education, economic
development, public safety and fiscal stability.
In education, updating schools and libraries is still a priority.
DC will continue with the modernization of schools, but it may
slow down because of funding. The focus will be on schools east
of the river.
The mayor spent most of the time talking about economic development.
Redrawing the boundaries of Walter Reed will lead to a redevelopment
of Ward 4. The arrival of DHS on the St. E’s campus (Ward
8) means that 14,000 DHS jobs are coming in addition to 22,000
construction jobs. Gray just issued an order to his deputy mayor
to enforce the First Source program – a program that incentivizes
contractors to hire DC residents.
Related to economic development is the problem of unemployment.
While unemployment in DC in general is 9.6%, it is 30% in Ward
8. Only 30% of people who work in DC live in DC. Areas outside
the central core of DC are fertile for redevelopment, and that
will address unemployment levels, he said.
Mayor Gray is also convinced that transportation initiatives,
especially streetcars, are a priority. He says streetcars sparked
development in Portland, Oregon to the tune of $8.5B. He’d
like to see bicycles here too, but it would be “an interesting
row to hoe.”
The Mayor closed with two areas of concern – that the city
is still not able to make decisions on needle exchange or abortion,
and wondered why more people aren’t more outraged by taxation
without representation.
Click here to view
attendees.
