D.C. voters will head to the polls Tuesday to select a new mayor for the first time in over a decade, charting a new course for the nation’s capital.
Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic nominee for mayor and Ward 4 council member, is all but assured to win in the deep-blue District, making her likely to become the latest democratic socialist to lead a major American city.
In an interview ahead of the election, she offered a preview of some of the early actions she plans to take to execute on major campaign promises, including a “comprehensive plan” on housing and steps she will take toward universal child care.
While the ambition of her goals — such as adding 72,000 housing units within five years — exhilarated voters in her decisive primary victory this summer, her platform is colliding with the difficult realities of a darkening financial picture for the city that will hamper her first budget, as well as a lack of interest from investors to build in D.C. Not to mention possible challenges with President Donald Trump, who lobbed threats to “take over” the District if she won.
Lewis George said that she has already had several productive meetings with outgoing Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), including a tour of an emergency operations center where they simulated a crisis response. Though Lewis George marks a more liberal turn for the city compared to Bowser, she said she sought the mayor’s advice “on everything,” ranging from emergencies to balancing mayoral duties with family life.
“I’m ready,” Lewis George said. “I’m feeling great going in. I want people to continue to get out the vote and let people know, this is our time.”
Lewis George — who is known more as a workers’ and tenants’ advocate than a pro-business champion — said she spent the general election season meeting with business leaders, tenants, developers, child care providers and others to hear out those who may not have voted for her and develop firmer plans to carry out promises that excited those who did.
On child care, Lewis George said she and her team drew lessons from New Mexico’s effort to fund a universal child care subsidy, which faced early child care center supply challenges. She said she does not want to make that mistake. Her team will start by focusing on how to expand the supply of child care providers in D.C., including by easing regulatory and permitting barriers to open child care centers.
Providers said they have run into delays getting centers approved and asked for a dedicated staff member within the Department of Buildings. Lewis George said she plans to move that idea forward to ease permitting headaches.
“If we need child care to happen and child care suppliers say we need dedicated DOB staff for it, we’re going to show up for them in that way,” Lewis George said.
Lewis George caused jitters in the business community after broaching a new business activity tax to fund universal child care. Former mayor Anthony Williams, who leads the Federal City Council, warned against the tax at a recent D.C. Council hearing, concerned it would only further drive away investment at time the local economy needs it most.
Lewis George said that while the tax remains on the table, she’s made the pitch to business leaders that “universal child care is economic development” and could help attract employees.
In recent months, she has also met with university presidents, hospital administrators and other business leaders about how they could anchor efforts to create jobs and diversify the city’s economy.
Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals and a major downtown business leader, said he met with Lewis George after the primary and appreciated that she was clear on her major goals. He said they looked for areas of potential collaboration versus disagreement.
“She’s been very clear in what her major deliverables are,” Leonsis said. “And we’ve all said, ‘Got it. Let’s work together to help you meet your deliverables.’ Just don’t make us evil.”
Housing is another area where Lewis George will have to work with developers and housing providers who may not have been in her corner during the primary.
Lewis George will face early tests as she seeks to balance promises to support tenants experiencing housing instability in a high-cost city, while at the same time contending with a resounding complaint from landlords and affordable housing providers over chronic problems with unpaid rent.
Housing industry experts have described the problem as requiring the most urgent attention from the new mayor if she expects to make progress on providing more housing, including affordable units. Kimberly Driggins, chief executive of the nonprofit Washington Housing Conservancy, said during a D.C. Policy Center discussion last month it is a main reason investors tell her they see D.C. as a “red flag” and don’t want to build here. At the same time, she and others say, affordable housing buildings are at risk of foreclosure.
Asked how she would address rental arrears, Lewis George said that would be part of a comprehensive housing plan still in the works. She said her first moves in office would include taking actions that would provide “signals to everyone in the housing ecosystem that their concerns have been heard.”
What will the signals be? “I can’t tell you,” she said, noting she was not yet ready to share specifics.
In general, Lewis George said that along with addressing unpaid rent, her plan would contemplate possible landlord-tenant court reforms and changes to permitting and land use laws so developers can build more quickly and in more places.
Hours later, she headed to a town hall to hear from tenants about some of the challenges they are facing in paying rent or living in poor conditions. Their feedback would inform her plan as well, she said.
“There’s going to have to be some give and take by everyone,” Lewis George said.
At the town hall, attendees most loudly called for Lewis George to focus on holding bad landlords accountable for keeping tenants in poor living conditions — what Lewis George agreed was a “true injustice in our city.” The otherwise sympathetic crowd, however, appeared to grow momentarily uneasy when she mentioned the need to work with developers and somehow address the issue of unpaid rent.
“I will be honest with you, and transparent with you and communicate with you,” Lewis George told the crowd. “The truth is, we have to work with housing providers and developers too, y’all. And I need you to work with them, too. Because we need them to build more housing to lower costs and to improve housing conditions.”
Ian Barber, who attended with members of his tenant association at a Columbia Heights apartment building, said he supported Lewis George but was still apprehensive.
Barber said he liked what he had seen from Lewis George as a council member but things would be different sitting in the mayor’s office. Now he would be watching to see how she handles the pressure from developers and other groups once she’s behind the desk.
“Will she unstick her feet,” he said, “or will she be stuck to the machinery?”
The post Janeese Lewis George, ready to step off campaign trail, faces tough D.C. realities appeared first on Washington Post.
