MAYOR WILLIAMS COMES TO THE PALISADES

At the PCA November general meeting, pictured left, Mayor Anthony A. Williams acquitted himself so well in a wide-ranging discussion that he received a long, standing ovation.
On some of the issues raised, he:
- expressed a “commitment” to smaller community schools.
- and to the re-opening of Pennsylvania Avenue;
- remarked that a college cannot build new housing and then “backfill” with more students; and
- said he wanted to create a “sense of urgency” and “accountability.”
He will be sending out non-partisan, volunteer “testers” to judge the performance of DC agencies, but asks us to keep in mind that the city is starting from “a low base.”
Right now, he said, “less than half of all calls are being responded to, and less than half, of those that are, are properly acted on.” His analogy: sometimes it’s like he is “in a restaurant that serves hamburger and you’re asking for fine French food. Right now it’s hamburger.”
Things he is working on:
- speeding up the repair of the Q Street bridge;
- developing a new planning process (“Some places have long processes where everyone feels satisfied because everyone has been heard. Other places have short processes where things are just rammed through. We, however, have an incredibly long process leaving no one happy.”);
- a new transportation plan—“no one’s been home” in the transportation area for quite awhile; and
- coordinating street repairs.
The Mayor expressed his, and his family’s, appreciation for the Palisades’ longtime support.
—P. McG.