Forums to Prioritize Mayor’s Budget


Back in the waning days of January, Mayor Muriel Bowser – after having to deal somewhat shakily with the aftermath of a L’Enfant Plaza Metro blaze that resulted in injuries and a fatality and revealed glaring communication problems between Metro and first-responders – proclaimed the following month Fresh Start February.

This might have been decided on one of those days when the sun came out and there weren’t constant dire predictions from the various local storm centers. Whether or not there was a meteorological (or astrological) trigger, the mayor announced that she and staff members would attend at least 30 events throughout the District over the course of the month. These included a successful open house and three Budget Engagement Forums, the first of which was held Feb. 19 at Woodrow Wilson High School. The scheduled Feb. 21 forum at Anacostia High School was moved to Feb. 28 due to the weather. Another meeting was held at Dunbar High School earlier this week.

The Wilson High School event was packed in spite of bitter cold, according to attendees, which says something about residents’ budget concerns. The meetings were intended to gather community input on priorities, with the comments aggregated by budget planners as part of the budgetary decision process. They seemed to be a small-scale version of the citywide community town halls initiated by Mayor Anthony Williams during his tenure.

On the face of things, the forums are a laudatory idea, though they have yet to reveal what’s really on the mayor’s mind when it comes to the budget or, for that matter, her ability to make tough calls on budget matters and on other nagging, won’t-go-away issues (such as affordable housing and homelessness, the continuing safety problems with Metro and the stop-and-go status of streetcars).

One of the decisions she did make – to drop plans to turn the former Franklin School into a contemporary art museum – has been met with anger from many cultural leaders.

We look forward to the results of the community budget meetings and applaud the effort. However, so far, the process seems to be presenting another face and version of Bowser the candidate. She’s handled weather, school closings and snow removal issues well, but when it comes to making other decisions, Mayor Bowser can stop running for the job. She already has it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *