New Gray slogan: One City. Zero Money. Higher Taxes. Fewer Services.

But hey - at least he support streetcars. Maybe!

by Fritz on Sep 29, 2010 9:18 am  

@Fritz

That's what happens when tax revenues plummet during a recession. DC's hardly alone in that situation.

by andrew on Sep 29, 2010 9:21 am  

@andrew: I'm intrigued to see how Gray will be able to keep all his various election promises, given the economic realities.

There's simply no way he can do it.

Either he has to raise taxes significantly (which he had said in the past that he didn't support, while at the same time bashing Fenty for raising tons of city fees) or he has to cut services significantly (which he had said he didn't support, in addition to the huge backlash he'd get from the unions).

His first test comes with closing the current $175 million budget gap. Will he take the lead role? Or will he defer to Fenty to make the tough choices and then badmouth the choices while at the same time voting to approve them?

And as soon as he takes office, his staff will start working on the FY2012 budget, which is going to be hugely painful given the ongoing revenue drops. And he has to work with Kwame Brown, who can't even balance his own checkbook.

My prediction: DC gets a "millionaires' tax" which will kick in for anyone making more than $200k. But even by taxing high earners, there's still going to be a need to cut expenditures, which means layoffs (furloughs is simply a p.r. stunt since it has such a minimal effect on the budget). Which means the unions will suddenly lose their love for Gray (which is a good thing for Kwame since he clearly has mayoral ambitions).

People voted on faith for Gray. Let's see how well that works out.

by Fritz on Sep 29, 2010 9:34 am  

I think the streetcar project is a dead man walking.

by jcm on Sep 29, 2010 9:44 am  

@Fritz-

That budget problem is likely to get a whole lot worse, too. I know a lot of young professional couples who are thinking of moving out of DC, because they think that Gray's election will slow down school reform. And once you add up property taxes and income taxes, I bet every one of those couples pays at least $20,000 a year in DC taxes. If people like that start leaving, the DC budget gets a whole lot worse in a hurry.

by Rob on Sep 29, 2010 12:54 pm  

I know a lot of young professional couples who are thinking of moving out of DC, because they think that Gray's election will slow down school reform.

This seems about as likely as the depopulation of Hollywood in the wake of George W's 2004 reelection. If folks with children currently enrolled in some of the city's decent schools see those schools begin to go downhill, those folks may leave. If folks whose children come of school age, and they can't find a decent school to put them in, they may leave.

But no one's leaving because "they think Gray's election will slow down school reform."

by oboe on Sep 29, 2010 1:07 pm  

@oboe-

Moving from DC to Bethesda is vastly easier than moving from Hollywood to Canada. And if you're a young parent, local schools are way more important to your life than anything W ever did.

I'm not saying I think these friends of mine are making good decisions. But they are seriously thinking about leaving. Michelle Rhee got them to believe that DC schools will get a lot better. They're now really worried about the schools. Will Gray make that big a difference? I don't know. I sure hope not. But people are worried that he will, and that's enough.

by Rob on Sep 29, 2010 1:29 pm  

I think, not to rehash mayoral politics, there are a few facts that residents need to understand.

- Vince Gray supported school reform when Fenty opposed it prior to the 2006 election;

- Vince Gray was a partner with Fenty to bring the Council support to the legislation that created the current school management structure. This was no easy task.

- Vince Gray felt strongly enough about Council engagement in the school reform process that he eliminated the Council committee and brought the school oversight under the "Committee of the Whole" so all Councilmembers and thus all DC residents would be involved with the process.

Does anyone honestly believe a Mayor Gray would want crappy schools or bad teachers?

by Andrew on Sep 29, 2010 1:29 pm  

It might be kind of hard to get from Tenleytown to Laughing Man Tavern in time for the Happy Hour. Assuming the Gray Town Hall goes an hour, by the time you get to Laughing Man it will probably be about 7:30 (I think most of their specials end at 8).

by Steven Yates on Sep 29, 2010 1:41 pm  

Gray's win is primarily because people are angry at Fenty. It's like the person who goes and sleeps with someone else to get back at their significant other, who's been a jerk.

Such action rarely produces positive results, and it most likely will not, in this case, yield positive results for our city.

Nonetheless, we should all attend these town halls, even if they stand as Gray's victory lap. If you attend and still don't like what you see and hear, just write Fenty in come November.

by nick on Sep 29, 2010 1:50 pm  

Does anyone honestly believe a Mayor Gray would want crappy schools or bad teachers?

Personally, no I do not. But the larger question is, will Gray have the political courage to force through tough choices?

In general, I think *everyone* wants good schools. The problem is, in particular, they just don't want to do the specific things which will make the schools good.

by oboe on Sep 29, 2010 2:19 pm  

If we see Gray immediately back off the DCPS IMPACT method for teacher evaluations and hiring back previously-fired teachers, I think that sends a pretty strong message to new DCPS parents as to what his view of "reform" means.

by Fritz on Sep 29, 2010 2:43 pm  

Yes, please go to a town hall -- or two. For one thing, it's your town and a good civics lesson. For another, the whole country is watching. If you're concerned about schools, for example, kids or not, speak up and be part of a plan that thinks that moving to a suburb is the only solution. Streetcars and other forward-looking transit ideas need not die.

by Petworth on Sep 29, 2010 3:04 pm  

Oops, above. ...be part of a plan that thinks that moving to a suburb is NOT the only solution.

by Petworth, with correction on Sep 29, 2010 3:08 pm  

Gray, Courtland, Barry...and Alpert kissed the ring. At least you have good ideas, David, but you just seem plain awkward trying to mend the have/have-not divide.

by Josh on Sep 29, 2010 5:34 pm  

I say to all of you Rheeservers, point out the specific changes she has made to date that Clifford Janey would not have made given The backing of Mayoral control, which lets not forget, was strongly pushed through by VG. You people so conveniently dance around the real fact's to support your own rhetoric and it blinds you to the fact that you're (age prejudice). The childish, mindless mistakes and mishaps that have been made by the present Mayor are so easily forgiven in lew of the present predicament we find our selves in finacially, why?,because you say that he isn't afraid to make the tough choices. Well,here is where tough immature dicisions will get you, 175 million dollar deficits and bike racks full of pretty bikes, good visuals I'll admitt, but with out proper preparation for usage, potential hazards waiting to happen. I think you give the one city theory at the very least, a chance before you so hastily condemn it, and let's get on with the business of healing this city cause it's (sick).

by another native on Sep 29, 2010 10:42 pm  

If Clifford Janey is such a genius, how come his contract wasn't renewed in Newark?

I'm entertained by the intellectual dexterity of Gray supporters who argue that everything good in this city is the result of Anthony Williams, not Fenty. Yet those same folks were harshly critical of Williams for his policies since he was clearly more concerned with attracting rich, white folks than with the poor and black residents.

It's intellectual dishonesty, to put it mildly. No doubt, if in four years' time the city is still in the same shape - or has retreated backwards - the Gray supporters will argue that it's really Fenty's fault.

by Fritz on Sep 30, 2010 9:13 am  

I'm entertained by the intellectual dexterity of Gray supporters who argue that everything good in this city is the result of Anthony Williams, not Fenty. Yet those same folks were harshly critical of Williams for his policies since he was clearly more concerned with attracting rich, white folks than with the poor and black residents.

Ding-ding! Thread win.

by oboe on Sep 30, 2010 11:42 am  

But you can only influence future Mayor Gray if you show up.

There's the problem. You don't make good policy by counting the people who show up and raise their voices the most. It seems to me that Fenty understood this and it made for better results but worse optics and (obviously) less electoral success. It's sort of a depressing truth about democracy that good government and getting elected are often at odds.

by David desJardins on Oct 2, 2010 5:47 pm  

I say "democracy" is a beautiful thing --- the "city" voted: one man, one vote. I also say, it appears to me too many people are not taking advantage of the opportunities that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr sacrificed his life for. I have lived in this city for some 21 years and all I have ever heard is how DC schools lag behind their their VA and MD counterparts. And, yes, I know there is no magic pill in school.

by Wellington, DUIAttorneyinDC on Oct 6, 2010 1:56 pm