Washington, D.C. has risen from the ashes and stands again proud and tall, suggested Alice M. Rivlin, from the Brookings Institution before the Senate's Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management... and the District of Columbia on July 18.
DC has left behind the financial mess of the 1990s, when "home rule" was taken away and replaced with a Control Board that finally was dismantled on September 30, 2001.
By tightening the belt and implementing cost cutting measures, DC had a balanced budget during the past eight years of Mayor Anthony A. Williams's term in office.
Investment in the newest information technologies and hiring of knowledgeable and experienced staff stopped complaints of lost and missing financial and other records. Audits of the city's finances were clean.
Yes, procurement and personnel still need tweaking, but no one is perfect, according to Rivlin.
Alice M. Rivlin is a highly esteemed scholar and well-known in Washington. She was chair of the financial assistance authority in Washington, D.C., overseeing efforts to restore the city's fiscal health from 1998-2001.
To the surprise of all of DC's critics, the city's bond rating changed from "junk" status to grade A – a first in all of DC's history.
Making Washington a Place to Move to and Not Away From
People are moving back into the city. Mayor Williams said in a press release that "after a 56-year decline in population," DC experienced an increase of 30,000 people over the past few years. Williams projects that 100,000 more people will move to DC within 20 years.
Transformation of the Anacostia waterfront is well under way and brought together DC's planning, housing and economic leaders with federal agencies, the Department of Transportation and the National Park Service.
The Washington DC Navy Yard or "Quarterdeck of the Navy," Headquarters Naval District Washington, employs now 11,000 workers. Office buildings are built along M Street. Kiosks that cater to locals and tourists are opening at M and Fourth Streets. The City earmarked $611 million towards a 41,000-seat baseball stadium, to be opened in early 2008.
"Whole new neighborhoods of mixed income housing and neighborhood commercial services are [planned for] key sites around the city," said Rivlin.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) mended it ways. Driver's license renewals or license plate changes take now "minutes rather than hours." Most DMV business is on-line instead of having to deal with a slow, cantankerous person.
Drivers no longer have blown-out tires from hitting a pothole or have to hobble along a broken street. DC's Department of Transportation will fix or replace sidewalks, fill potholes or resurface streets in record time.
Most noticeably, Americans and foreigners no longer view DC as a "financially troubled, crime-ridden and unfriendly place," said Rivlin. Shops and other businesses are moving back into the city and tourists come in droves to DC.
Not All is Rosy in Washington, D.C.
The educational system is still only staggering along. It should as soon as possible serve the poor and wealthy alike, and no longer divides the haves and have-nots. "These sometimes diverse systems, which sometimes seem hostile to each other [have to be brought] into harmony and cooperation [so all] kids get a quality education," testified Rivlin.
DC needs a "high quality community college." Rivlin does not believe that the majority of jobs in DC need a four-year undergraduate degree. She proposes vocational education or something similar that moves people into lower level positions.
Many adult DC residents have limited education and have never made it through high school. Priority should be given to adult education centers to get these people on the road, on their feet and into jobs.
Chronic diseases, including asthma, cancer, diabetes and Aids are a fact of life in DC. Health services need improvement. Hospital stays have to be reduced to the minimum and programs that "provide primary care and disease management" have to be implemented.
Washingtonians Demand that Congress Listen
Rev. Doug Moore proposed 36 years ago that Washington, D.C. become the 51st state of the Union. In 1995, South Africa's ambassador told the press that DC is a prime example of a "colony" of the United States and that the call for statehood is a "struggle for liberation."
The demand for local voting rights found a strong advocate in Alice M. Rivlin.
Rivlin testified that, "Congress should find a way to give citizens of DC the right to vote for representatives in the House and Senate."
"I'm offended, Mr. Chairman, and so should you and your colleagues be, that I come before you today after almost fifty years of residing in this great city and I have not in all that time been represented in this body. It is an outrage and something must be done to change it," she said.
Congress should make up for loss of tax revenues and allocate around $1 billion in federal funds to DC. DC cannot tax real estate owned by federal agencies, nor tax income earned by non-residents. Also, DC wants the right to spend their locally earned funds as they wish, without having to get express permission by Congress.
"It adds insult to injury that we not only lack voting representation in Congress, but we are also precluded from spending our own money without first getting permission from Congress," said Rivlin.
Alice M. Rivlin was a prominent Clinton appointee as first deputy director and then director of the White House Office of Management and Budget from 1992-1996. Her past accomplishments include the establishment of the US Congressional Budget Office, where she served as a Director from 1975 to 1983.
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