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Guest Editorial
Democracy in Action
Mayor Anthony A. Williams
Guest Editorial Archives
Friday, November 19, 2004
Democracy is a powerful idea, and the residents of the District of Columbia supported it on November 2, showing up in impressive numbers to cast ballots for new D.C. Council members, new Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, new school board members and other offices.
There are approximately 383,000 registered voters in the Nation’s Capital. On Election Day, more than 203,000 of them cast ballots — or about 53 percent. More than 4,500 of our residents cast absentee ballots, making the total return about 54 percent for the November election. At the District’s Board of Elections and Ethics, the day flowed well. Our new electronic voting machines worked well, and no other major problems were reported.
It’s my hope that turnout among our citizenry remains high and that we continue our long tradition of civic participation.
We’ve got new three new Council members, new ANCs, and new school board members. Keep in mind, we fund our public schools to the tune of $1 billion per year, 57 percent more than when I came into office. I ask that you ask the school board tough questions and hold them accountable.
Democratic candidate John F. Kerry ran away with 90 percent of the vote in the District. However, on behalf of the residents of the District, I congratulated President Bush and Vice-President Cheney on their reelection on November 4.
In the president’s new term, I want to work with him to quickly achieve three essential goals for the District:
Full voting rights: It’s time for the District to become all that America is supposed to be. I’m asking President Bush to send a bill for full voting rights to the Congress.
Budget autonomy: We’ve earned it. We need it. We must have it to serve our residents. I’m asking President Bush to resubmit our autonomy bill and help us move it through the House of Representatives.
Permanently fixing our city’s structural imbalance: The federal government created it. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) proved it. It’s time for the federal government to fix it. I’ve discussed this with the White House for four years—and now it’s time to act. I’m asking President Bush to include a permanent solution for the structural imbalance in his budget.
Now, we’ve made good progress with this White House: I cite our three-fold approach to education as a prime example.
Finally, over the next four years, I’ll work with the Bush administration on the priorities I’ve outlined and others — like continued funding increases for education, our Tuition Assistance Grant Program, the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and Combined Sewer Overflow, and support for health programs in the District.
On a personal level, I invite President Bush to spend more time with me in our city. Beyond being impressed with what we’ve done, I think he’d enjoy seeing the people, history and culture of the city that is his home until 2008. But now, we’ll focus on making the inauguration a great success. Once again, I’m committing to making the District a full partner in inauguration planning and execution. I believe that what we can do as a city symbolizes what we can do as a country. |
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