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29–511 PDF 2007

S. Hrg. 109–941

EXAMINING THE CHALLENGES THE DISTRICT WILL

FACE TODAY, TOMORROW, AND IN THE FUTURE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, 

THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE AND THE DISTRICT 

OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 18, 2006

Available via http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate

Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs

(

(II)

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chairman 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island 

ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah 

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico 

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK DAYTON, Minnesota 

FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas

MICHAEL D. BOPP, Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Minority Staff Director 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 

OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, THE FEDERAL 

WORKFORCE AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio, Chairman 

TED STEVENS, Alaska 

NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island 

ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah 

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico 

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK DAYTON, Minnesota 

FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas

ANDREW RICHARDSON, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Minority Staff Director 

NANCI E. LANGLEY, Minority Deputy Staff Director 

EMILY MARTHALER, Chief Clerk 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statements: Page 

Senator Voinovich ............................................................................................. 1

Senator Akaka .................................................................................................. 3

WITNESSES 

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2006

WITNESSES 

Hon. Anthony A. Williams, Mayor, District of Columbia ..................................... 6

Natwar M. Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer, District of Columbia ...................... 9

Clifford B. Janey, Superintendent and Chief State School Officer, District 

of Columbia Public Schools ................................................................................. 12

Alice M. Rivlin, Director, Greater Washington Research Program, The Brookings Institution ..................................................................................................... 14

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES

Gandhi, Natwar M.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 9

Prepared statement with attachments I6041 .................................................

Janey, Clifford B.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 56

Rivlin, Alice M.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 14

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 63

Williams, Hon. Anthony A.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 31

(1)

EXAMINING THE CHALLENGES THE DISTRICT 

WILL FACE TODAY, TOMORROW, AND IN 

THE FUTURE 

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2006

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT

MANAGEMENT, THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE,

AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m., in 

room SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. George V. 

Voinovich, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Voinovich and Akaka. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH 

Senator VOINOVICH. Good morning. This meeting will come to 

order. I want to thank you all for coming. Today, the Subcommittee 

on the Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia is holding a hearing entitled 

‘‘Examining the Challenges the District Will Face Today, Tomorrow, and in the Future.’’

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the overall health of 

the District of Columbia. Mayor Williams, I would like this hearing 

to explore the successes and challenges you have experienced during your terms in office. It is hard to believe that 8 years has gone 

by. I would like you and your colleagues to outline for us the challenges the next Mayor will have to confront. 

As a former Mayor of Cleveland, I understand what it is like to 

be handed a city that is in economic distress. When I became 

mayor in 1979, the city of Cleveland was in default. Through much 

hard work and unprecedented help from the private sector, we 

were able to rebuild the city’s government and restore Cleveland’s 

finances. 

Mayor Williams, I imagine you are proud of the city’s overall economic performance. Since you took office in 1999, many parts of the 

city have experienced a strong economic revival. Many neighborhoods that were once stricken with poverty and crime are now 

showing signs of new life. For example, Chinatown has undergone 

a dramatic transformation. It is now a thriving entertainment and 

retail district where residents live, work, and enjoy themselves. It 

is a model for urban renewal for other parts of the District. 

2

Another example of urban renewal is taking place on the Anacostia waterfront. Earlier this year, I was able to tour the redevelopment, which is part of an extensive public-private partnership 

among 20 local and Federal agencies called the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative. 

As many of you know, I have introduced a bill, which I hope the 

Committee will soon consider, that will transfer nearly 200 acres 

of land, mostly along the Anacostia River, from the Federal Government to the District Government. I am confident that this land 

can be better used by the District and further the economic revival 

in this area. 

These are just two examples, but I will give you another example, where I live. I have been in the Easter Market area for 8 

years. It is just amazing, the profound improvement that has been 

made in that area, particularly in public improvements that have 

been made with Eastern Market. There is just an unbelievable 

change that has occurred there in that neighborhood. 

In addition, the city’s financial/fiscal situation has dramatically 

improved over the past decade. In fact, as Dr. Gandhi notes in his 

testimony, it is the fastest financial turnaround of any comparable 

city facing similar fiscal challenges. At the same time, the GAO has 

noted that the District faces a long-term structural fiscal imbalance 

which still must be addressed. 

However, positive economic developments in the District are tempered by continuing bad news in some other areas. The District’s 

public education system continues to fail its residents. According to 

the Census Bureau, in 2003 and 2004, the per pupil spending in 

the District of Columbia was about $12,800 per pupil, which is one 

of the highest spending rates in the Nation. This high spending is 

not, however, translating into higher achievement. The student 

dropout rate is also a major challenge confronting the District and 

the Nation. I am not just picking on you, Dr. Janey. One of the 

greatest problems facing America today is the urban school system. 

We cannot keep going the way we are with half of our kids in these 

districts dropping out of school. It just is something that this Nation better wake up to, and rather fast. If it is not addressed, we 

risk social upheaval and the loss of our Nation’s greatest resource—its human capital. The greatest resource is our people, and 

we are not developing them fully so that they can make a contribution, take care of themselves, their families, and make a contribution to society. 

The city will never attract a strong middle class which would 

strengthen its tax base until the District can improve underperforming schools and provide all of its students with an excellent 

education. 

Again, I just want to say I am from Cleveland. I have told the 

Cleveland community—we were an all-American city three times. 

When I was mayor, I said we will never be an all-American city 

until we have an all-American school system. 

I am pleased to see, Superintendent, that you have developed a 

strategic plan to improve the District of Columbia Public Schools. 

I look forward to a more detailed discussion of what this plain entails and how you will measure success, and I offer whatever asVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:22 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 029511 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 C:\DOCS\29511.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
3

sistance I can. I am sure the Members of this Subcommittee will 

do the same. 

One of the most worthwhile things I have done during my time 

in the Senate was to sponsor the creation of the District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant Program. Since the program’s inception, the District has seen a 28-percent increase in college attendance, with more than half of these students being the first in their 

family to attend college. 

I am very encouraged also, Mayor Williams, to see that you have 

taken full advantage of the public-private partnerships such as the 

District of Columbia College Access Program. CAP is a nonprofit 

organization headed up by Don Graham, president and CEO of the 

Washington Post. The organization is funded by Washington area 

corporations and provides counseling and financial assistance to 

District students who might otherwise never have the opportunity 

to go to college. Programs like this are a step in the right direction. 

Finally, in recent days, we have read many stories regarding the 

spike in violent crime in the District. As reports have stated, there 

have been 15 murders in the District since July 1, and two robberies have taken place on the National Mall. If not brought under 

control, this increase in violent crime could have serious consequences for the District’s tourism industry, which is a significant 

source of revenue for the city, as well as the willingness of residents to live here long term. Mayor Williams, I am sure that we 

are going to hear some thoughts from you about how that situation 

should be taken care of. 

In short, the District and its citizens continue to face many challenges in education, public safety, and long-term finances. The new 

mayor will certainly have his or her hands full. But I would like 

to say that, from my perspective looking at what has happened in 

the District, I have seen dramatic changes. I do not want to finish 

on a negative note. You have really come a long way, Mayor. During the time that you have been mayor, you have put in a good 

team that has helped you. The citizens of the District should be 

proud of what all of you have been able to accomplish together, understanding that there are always more things that need to be 

taken care of. It is constant. 

I would now like to yield to the Ranking Member of this Subcommittee, my good friend, Senator Akaka, who has worked with 

me conscientiously to try and stay on top of what is happening in 

the District in terms of our oversight responsibilities. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding 

today’s hearing to give us an opportunity to find out what is happening in the District today and to address its future. 

Over the past decade, the District has gone through a number of 

changes. In 1995, Congress established the DC Control Board to 

oversee the District’s fiscal management because of long-standing 

budget deficits, questionable internal oversight of city funds, and a 

failure to provide residents with adequate public services. 

Management of the District was returned to local officials in the 

year 2001 after the city balanced four consecutive budgets. Since 

4

then, Congress has sought to conduct oversight over the District 

while respecting ‘‘Home Rule.’’

A key player in the District’s recovery is Mayor Williams, first 

as Chief Financial Officer, and now as Mayor. It is imperative that 

the improved financial management practices put into place by 

Mayor Williams are sustained. 

While DC governance has improved dramatically over the past 

few years, areas of concern still remain. As a former teacher and 

principal, I believe public education can help many of society’s 

problems. That is why I am concerned with low test scores and 

wasted funding in the DC Public Schools (DCPS). Moreover, this 

spring, the U.S. Department of Education named DCPS as a highrisk grantee, citing inadequate financial accountability and poor 

management of Federal funds. 

It is imperative that DCPS avoid providing fodder for the movement that is, in effect, working to abandon our public school system 

in favor of school vouchers. Just last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an expansion of the DC School Voucher 

Program. I would like to see Congress move away from school 

vouchers and renew our commitment to public schools. 

Superintendent Janey, you must help us ensure that DCPS is a 

good steward of taxpayer dollars and provides DC youth with a topnotch education, particularly for those who cannot afford to attend 

private schools without voucher assistance. 

Another serious and quite public issue facing the District is 

crime. As the Nation’s capital, DC is one of the world’s primary 

tourist destinations. Its museums and national monuments are enjoyed by millions of people every year. Guaranteeing the safety of 

visitors and residents alike must be a priority for the DC Government. I am hopeful that the renewed commitment by the Mayor 

and Police Chief Ramsey to keep the District a safe and thriving 

city will yield positive results. 

That brings me back to my push for improved educational opportunities for DC youth. Without significant resources and commitment, District youths may be denied the benefits of strong educational programs. Educational opportunities equal economic opportunities. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this hearing. I welcome our witnesses and look forward to their thoughtful testimony 

on where DC stands today and how the District can be improved 

in the future. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Akaka follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today’s hearing is a chance for the Subcommittee to 

look towards the future of the District of Columbia. 

Over the past decade, the District has gone through a number of changes. In 

1995, Congress established the DC Control Board to oversee the District’s fiscal 

management because of long-standing budget deficits, questionable internal oversight of city funds, and a failure to provide residents with adequate public services. 

Management of the District was returned to local officials in 2001 after the city balanced four consecutive budgets. Since then, Congress has sought to conduct oversight of the District while respecting Home Rule. 

5

A key player in the District’s recovery is Mayor Williams—first as Chief Financial 

Officer and now as Mayor. It is imperative that the improved financial management 

practices put in place by Mayor Williams are sustained. 

While DC governance has improved dramatically over the past few years, areas 

of concern remain. 

As a former teacher and principal, I believe public education can help many of 

society’s problems. That’s why I’m concerned with low test scores and wasted funding in the DC Public Schools (DCPS). Moreover, this Spring, the U.S. Department 

of Education named DCPS as a high-risk grantee—citing inadequate financial accountability and poor management of Federal funds. It is imperative that DCPS 

avoid providing fodder for the movement that is—in effect—working to abandon our 

public school system in favor of school vouchers. Just last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an expansion of the DC school voucher program. I 

would like to see Congress move away from school vouchers and renew our commitment to public schools. 

Superintendent Janey, you must help us ensure that DCPS is a good steward of 

taxpayer dollars and provides DC youth with a top notch education, particularly for 

those who cannot afford to attend private schools without voucher assistance. 

Another serious and quite public issue facing the District is crime. As the Nation’s 

capital, DC is one of the world’s primary tourist destinations. Its museums and national monuments are enjoyed by million of people annually. Guaranteeing the safety of these visitors and residents alike must be a priority for the DC government. 

I am hopeful that the renewed commitment by the Mayor and Police Chief Ramsey 

to keep the District a safe and thriving city will yield positive results. 

That brings me back to my push for improved educational opportunities for DC 

youth. Without significant resources and commitment, District youths may be denied the benefits of strong educational programs. Educational opportunities equal 

economic opportunities. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this timely hearing. I welcome our witnesses 

and look forward to their thoughts on where DC stands today and how the District 

can be improved in the future.

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Senator Akaka. 

We have an excellent panel joining us today. First we have 

Mayor Williams. I appreciate the relationship that we have had, 

and I recall spending a lot of time with you when you first came 

in. I apologize for not spending more time with you as you have 

gone through the years as Mayor. 

We are also very pleased to have Dr. Natwar Gandhi, the Chief 

Financial Officer of the District of Columbia. Dr. Gandhi, we are 

pleased to have you here. 

Dr. Clifford Janey, the Superintendent of the District School System. 

And, finally, we have Alice Rivlin, the Director of the Greater 

Washington Research Program at The Brookings Institution. From 

1998 to 2000, Dr. Rivlin chaired the District of Columbia Financial 

Management Assistance Authority, more commonly known as the 

‘‘Control Board.’’ She is also former Vice Chairman of the Federal 

Reserve Board and a former Director of the Office of Budget and 

Management. Dr. Rivlin, thank you for your service to our country 

and to this city. We thank you for joining us today, and I look forward to an informative discussion. 

As you know, it is the custom of this Subcommittee to swear in 

the witnesses. If you will stand, I will administer the oath. Do you 

swear that the testimony you are about to give this Subcommittee 

is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help 

you, God? 

Mayor WILLIAMS. I do. 

Mr. GANDHI. I do. 

Mr. JANEY. I do. 

Ms. RIVLIN. I do. 

6

1The prepared statement of Mayor Williams appears in the Appendix on page 29. 

Senator VOINOVICH. As is the custom in the Subcommittee, if the 

witnesses could limit their testimony to 5 minutes, I would be most 

appreciative. 

Mayor Williams, we are looking forward to your testimony. 

TESTIMONY OF HON. ANTHONY A. WILLIAMS,1 MAYOR, 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Ranking 

Member Akaka, and other distinguished Members who may join 

us. I want to thank you for inviting me and my fellow panelists to 

testify before you today. I will abbreviate my comments, Mr. Chairman, not because I believe that there are abbreviated successes in 

my administration, but because I want to honor the time. I am not 

going to talk a lot about one of our key successes, all of us working 

as a team together, and that is, financial stability and integrity, because I think that Natwar Gandhi, whom I am proud to say I first 

appointed as Deputy Chief Financial Officer during my term as 

CFO, can speak very comprehensively and eloquently on that point, 

although I would underscore his point to the Subcommittee, which 

is that I believe that the District for a number of different reasons 

has proceeded faster and farther than other similarly situated jurisdictions in financial duress. And I am very proud of that record. 

I am also proud, Mr. Chairman, of the District’s record in the 

health area and, as a matter of fact, in the human services area. 

This was a very painful effort on my part—I think I suffered substantially politically for it—the transformation of the DC General 

Hospital to the DC Alliance. This conversion put the District in a 

wonderful position. All that torment I think was for a good purpose 

because the District continues now to be the only jurisdiction in the 

United States offering health insurance coverage to all residents up 

to 200 percent of poverty. Now other jurisdictions are looking to the 

District model in order to address the needs of their uninsured population. 

Additionally, this year we are adding dental coverage within the 

Medicaid program for adults. I am expecting within a few days now 

a draft report of a task force that I have looked at on the expenditure of $200 million of securitized tobacco funds and how we can 

best use that money. Is it building a National Capital Medical Center or is it taking this money and deploying it primarily to neighborhood-based clinics? So that is something that is coming up and 

that is a major challenge for our city. 

In the human service area, I am proud to say that all five of the 

receiverships imposed by Federal and local courts that were in 

place at the beginning of my administration have been terminated. 

These included public housing, child welfare, medical and mental 

health services, a public mental health system, and educational 

services at Oak Hill. 

Having said this, there are still major challenges in this area: In 

the area of mental health to ensure that while we move our mental 

health services into the community, we maintain not only adequate 

but the optimum care for our residents in an institutional setting. 

7

We have a new Director of Mental Health from Baltimore, whom 

I believe is in an excellent position to do that for us. 

In the mental retardation MRDDA, Mental Disability and Retardation Department, we have a person that we have put in place, 

Kathy Smith, whom I believe in conjunction with the court will not 

only keep that agency out of receivership, but will allow us to advance the goals of providing quality care to patients with mental 

disabilities. 

And, finally, educational services at Oak Hill, where, in addition 

to building a new detention center that actually rehabilitates juveniles, we are actually, under Vince Schiraldi, undergoing, I think, 

a massive comprehensive effort to improve that department as 

well. But there is an enormous amount of work to be done there. 

In the basic service improvement area, I would argue that my 

successes—I am really paraphrasing here, Mr. Chairman. My remarks in total are submitted for the record. But I would say in the 

basic service area, a lot of my progress I think can be attributed 

to the fact that at the beginning of my administration—and I am 

not just saying this because you are Chairman of the Subcommittee—I talked to individuals who I thought had been good 

mayors of their cities, and I slavishly duplicated what I thought 

they had done well. I talked to you, Mr. Chairman, as you know; 

Ed Rendell, who I thought was a great Mayor of Philadelphia; Dennis Archer, the Mayor of Phoenix, who had, for example, a good call 

center in his city. 

So, for example, when I became Mayor in 1999, residents had to 

navigate a bewildering, confusing maze of offices, phone numbers, 

people, in order to make the simplest request. One of the first 

changes we made was to institute a single point of contact phone 

number. This is 727–1000. We have now had over 1,000,000 callers 

to that number. 

Another departure was to create a robust and comprehensive 

website. It is now believed that the District, if we were considered 

a State, would have more online services on our website than any 

other State in the country. And this is a website that sometimes 

receives 200,000 to 300,000 hits a day. 

An example of this basic service improvement is a substantial 

turnaround at the Department of Motor Vehicles. When your 

neighborhood organizations, who are your fiercest critics—and I am 

sure that both you and Senator Akaka can appreciate this. When 

they all sit down and vote the Department of Motor Vehicles the 

most improved government agency, you know you have made 

progress, because this is a very hard audience to convince. 

In the education area, you have talked about the Tuition Assistance Program, and I think this is a marquee Federal initiative. I 

think the Congress should be proud of its role in this initiative, 

particularly the role that the Tuition Assistance Program has 

played, as you have mentioned, Mr. Chairman, in the huge increase of college matriculation in the District, but also in the role 

that the tuition assistance plays in conjunction and in concert with 

the College Access Program. This is precisely the kind of success 

that I think you and the Congress have called for, and it is precisely the kind of public-private partnership that allows us to leverage scarce government resources for maximum public gain. 

8

In the area of economic development—or one other area in education is our effort, Mr. Chairman, to improve our library system 

for the 21st Century, and I would love to talk about that. This is 

not only about building a new central library, but using a new central library in our city as a cornerstone, one, of improving libraries 

throughout the city; and two, even more importantly and fundamentally, getting at and attacking the chronic problem of literacy in our city where 37 percent of our citizens are struggling at 

a third or fourth grade level of literacy. In the area of economic development, I am proud of the $45 billion of investment that has come to our city, but I will say that a 

challenge remains, particularly in the area of jobs and in the area 

of housing. I will talk about jobs in a second as we talk about a 

challenge in education. But in the area of housing, we have gone 

from around two or three units of housing planned or under production to over 30,000 now, and half of them are affordable. We 

have, I think, on a per capita basis one of the most robust, aggressive efforts to build new affordable housing and fund that affordable housing in the country. But I have to say, Mr. Chairman, I 

believe that for cities like mine—and they’re scattered across our 

country—the most important way to preserve affordable housing in 

our cities is to preserve the affordable housing we have. There are 

countless expiring contracts. Many of them are Section 8. Many of 

them are other arrangements under programs with HUD that are 

expiring that, without the intervention of our cities, hopefully in 

partnership with our States and the Federal Government, would be 

lost to affordable housing. 

Another big part of our affordable housing challenge is providing 

rental housing for our working families. I convened and Alice 

Rivlin chaired a housing task force. We have attempted in our most 

recent budget to fund major components of that housing task force 

in an effort to get at the need for housing for our people. 

I was most troubled, when Dr. Rivlin came to speak to me, about 

her report that many of the families who are struggling for housing 

are poor families. But they are not the stereotype of poor families 

sitting around watching TV. These are poor families who are working. They are working trying to support their families, and they 

still cannot afford a home. And as you have said, Mr. Chairman, 

our cities will never be great American cities unless they are cities 

for every income class. We cannot just have cities that are for the 

very rich and the very poor. 

Which leads me to the situation of public safety. The good news 

on public safety, Mr. Chairman, we are at a low in crime of some 

20 years. Crime has decreased substantially during my time here 

in the city, particularly my time here as Mayor. But we have had 

a recent spike in crime that, if left unattended and if left uncorrected, I believe can undo much of the work that we have done to 

improve the reputation of the District and, even more importantly, 

and substantially undergirding all that, improve the experience of 

our residents and visitors. And I have asked the chief and he has 

declared a crime emergency, not to alarm everybody but to take 

proactive measures to get more officers on the street. We are going 

to be meeting with the Council today seeking the Council’s authorization of a series of steps to not only get additional police on the 

9

1The prepared statement of Mr. Gandhi appears in the Appendix on page 39. 

2The chart referred to by Mr. Gandhi appears in the Appendix on page 52. 

street, I believe we can get another 350 police on the street by moving to a 6-day week on an emergency basis: Expanding on a selective basis the use of closed-circuit cameras in neighborhood commercial areas; creating a rebuttable assumption; allowing us to 

detain adults and juveniles who are charged with violent robbers; 

allowing us to better share information about juveniles—not juveniles who are convicted of shoplifting or doing something relatively 

minor, which many of us did as juveniles—I cannot speak for anybody else, but certainly for myself. 

I am talking about juveniles who are involved in violent activity. 

Our police should be able to have that information so that when 

we detain or arrest a juvenile, we are able to use that information. 

And certainly we’re able to use that information in some of the rehabilitative programs that we have to have in place. 

Which leads me to education. One of my biggest regrets is that 

we have not come farther in our city. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Mayor, I have given you 10 minutes. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. OK. If I could just wrap up, Mr. Chairman. I 

know I have a lot to say, and I am sorry I have taken too long. 

Voting rights is a big concern in our city, and if you and the Subcommittee can be supportive of our effort to give Congresswoman 

Norton a vote, I would certainly and my citizens would certainly 

appreciate that. 

Thank you. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Mayor, and you will have an opportunity to talk during the question period. 

Dr. Gandhi. 

TESTIMONY OF NATWAR M. GANDHI,1 CHIEF FINANCIAL 

OFFICER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Mr. 

Chairman, Senator Akaka. I am Natwar M. Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia. In my brief remarks, I will 

summarize, first, the fiscal recovery over the past decade. I will 

also address our capital spending needs. And, finally, I will address 

our ongoing commitment to remain fiscally balanced in the future, 

despite facing significant challenges. 

The chart 2 that appears as an attachment to my testimony and 

that appears here before you, sir, is a history of the remarkable fiscal comeback achieved by the District over the past decade. Our fiscal low point occurred in 1996, when the general fund balance hit 

a negative $518 million. Through the efforts of Mayor Williams, the 

District Council, and the Control Board, we were able repeatedly 

to balance the District’s budget for nine consecutive balanced years. 

The Control Board was deactivated in 2001. Between 1996 and 

2001, there was about a $1 billion increase in the fund balance to 

a positive $562 million by the end of fiscal year 2001. 

The real test for the District was the challenge of sustaining fiscal stability in the post-control period. As you can see, at the end 

of 2005, the general fund balance had risen another $1 billion, to 

$1.6 billion. Of the $2.1 billion increase in general fund balance beVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:22 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 029511 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\29511.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
10

tween 1996 and 2005, the amount of gain since the control period 

ended was about equal to the gain during the control period, demonstrating the commitment of the District’s leadership to ongoing 

fiscal restraint. 

The measure of this success is reflected in the District’s bond rating. All three rating agencies recognized the improved creditworthiness of our bonds by raising the District’s bond ratings from ‘‘junk 

bond’’ status to ‘‘A’’ status—the highest level ever achieved by the 

District. 

How did we do this? A great deal of the increase in fund balance 

was driven by the growth in local revenues, resulting from the 

strong regional economy. That was the easy part. Credit for making the difficult decisions must go to Mayor Williams, the Council, 

and the Control Board. The Congress also transferred to the Federal budget some of the functions normally provided by State governments. The Mayor and the Council demonstrated their commitment to prudent fiscal stewardship by controlling spending. 

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer, which was created in 

its current form by the Congress, was given the task of strengthening our tax administration in order to collect every dollar that 

was due to the District, and we have made significant improvement 

in that area. Over the past 10 years, we have collected an additional $1.6 billion despite declining tax rates. 

On the revenue side, the role of forecasting revenues—a difficult 

and essential part of budgeting—was also the responsibility of the 

Chief Financial Officer. In every year for the past decade, our actual revenues have met or exceeded our forecasts, demonstrating 

the careful, conservative approach that we have taken to estimate 

revenues. 

Mr. Chairman, despite efforts to fund the District’s capital 

needs—and we have profound needs—I must point out to the Subcommittee that this government continues to struggle to function 

with a structural imbalance that you have yourself noted, sir. This 

means that the District’s revenue capacity, under the national 

norms, falls far short of the cost of delivering services. The reasons 

lie in a large population in need; high regional costs for labor, land, 

and other resources; and accumulated infrastructure deficiencies. 

The District is unique in many ways. It has the economy and the 

needs of a city plus the added public responsibilities of a State, 

county, and school district. We cannot tax nonresident workers, 

who account for two-thirds of income earned in the city. Over onethird of all assessed property value in the District—about $43 billion—is exempt from taxation, and the District cannot tax its largest employer—the Federal Government. Not only that, but 10 of 

the District’s 13 largest employers are also exempt from taxation. 

So the District faces unique expenditure requirements. State-like 

services provided by the District Government to its residents 

amount to about $1.2 billion per year. 

What is the result? The accumulated unfunded needs of the past 

and present show up as real problems for residents and visitors in 

the form of: Crowded Metro cars, stalled trains, potholes in the 

street, crumbling swimming pools, libraries, and school buildings. 

The average age of school buildings is more than 60 years. And 

there are many other concerns that we have. 

11

So how do we resolve this? The District has made great strides 

in fiscal management and in providing better services, but two difficult consequences of the structural imbalance between the District’s revenue base and its spending requirements remain: One, a 

high per capita tax burden with some of the highest tax burden in 

the region and in the country; and, two, the highest per capita borrowing. The District’s tax burden on households ranks in the upper 

one-third when compared to the largest cities in the country. 

As to the borrowing, the District’s per capita borrowing reflects 

the city’s effort to sustain infrastructure generally provided by multiple jurisdictions. The District’s per capita debt burden now exceeds $8,000, the highest of any major city in the Nation, fully 20 

percent above New York City, the second highest. Furthermore, 

with additional borrowing anticipated in the next 4-year capital 

plan, it is projected to increase to over $13,000 per person. Clearly, 

we cannot borrow our way out of the structural imbalance. 

So what are our challenges, sir? Challenges that add to the structural imbalance that we already experience. First, the revenue 

challenge is made even greater in the District by Federal prohibitions against taxing incomes earned by nonresident workers and 

incomes earned by certain professional services. 

Second, the District has a large urban population that needs 

help. Like other cities, the District is accountable for greater efforts 

to help the less advantaged in the city’s population. Unlike other 

cities, however, the District does not have a State or suburbs that 

share in its overwhelming costs. 

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the leadership provided by the 

Mayor and the Council allowed the District to return to fiscal 

health. I would like to thank this Subcommittee for its diligent and 

continuous oversight work on the District’s finances during this 

sustained recovery period. We look forward to continuing to work 

with you, sir, to ensure that the Nation’s capital remains fiscally 

strong and ready to meet challenges of the future. 

Next January, the District will have a new Mayor, a new Council 

Chair, and we will have a number of new Council members. 

Though our current financial position is strong, the new leadership 

will face the need for ongoing vigilance to protect the gains that 

were hard won. Until the District’s tax base is widened, given our 

needs and the ongoing structural imbalance, we are still in a precarious position. Like many American families who are just a paycheck or two away from financial hardship, the District continues 

in a critical struggle for financial security. 

We are committed to continuing to make the hard decisions in 

order to balance our budgets. Clearly, the District needs Federal 

assistance to provide adequate infrastructure improvements to secure the safety of the city’s residents and the millions of Americans 

who visit our Nation’s capital every year. 

Thank you, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Dr. Gandhi. Dr. Janey. 

12

1The prepared statement of Mr. Janey appears in the Appendix on page 54. 

TESTIMONY OF CLIFFORD B. JANEY,1 SUPERINTENDENT AND 

CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

Mr. JANEY. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I 

am Clifford Janey, Superintendent and Chief State School Officer 

of the District of Columbia Public Schools. I am pleased to be here 

today to discuss public education in the District of Columbia, past 

and present, and to share my views on what challenges and opportunities lay ahead for a future mayoral administration. 

First, I would like to take sincerely this opportunity to acknowledge Mayor Anthony A. Williams for his leadership and support. I 

thank him greatly for his commitment to improving education and 

increasing opportunities for children and families of the District of 

Columbia. It has been a pleasure working with him, and I look forward to developing an equally respectful and productive relationship with our next mayor. 

I cannot underscore more the importance of a strong relationship 

among city leaders to the success of widespread education reform 

and the ability of that reform to be effective and sustained. As 

many of you know, not too long ago our city did not enjoy such support and cooperation among those invested with the responsibility 

and accountability for public education. 

Just a little less than a decade ago, public education in the District was characterized by instability, chaos, lack of direction, and 

other less than flattering descriptors. For example, over the last 

several years, the District grappled with the following challenges: 

Federal takeover of the city and a congressionally appointed educational board of trustees, new and untested school board structure, a revolving door of superintendents, recurring deficits, declining student enrollment, explosion of public charter schools, poor 

student performance, and the like. 

Thankfully, our work is no longer entangled in this web of worries, but I share these examples as an illustration of what unstable 

leadership and the lack of clear responsibility and accountability 

for educational decisionmaking has bred as we face changes in the 

city’s leadership at the mayor, council, and board level. We will 

have a new board president come this January. I ask all of us to 

be mindful of our past mistakes and to look to the tremendous 

progress we recently have experienced as a blueprint for moving 

forward. 

When I became superintendent almost 2 years ago, it was with 

the unqualified and unified support of the Board of Education, 

Mayor Williams, the DC Council, the city administrator, and key 

community stakeholders. This support has proven extremely crucial as we continue to tackle long-standing challenges and implement a reform agenda that is designed to transform DCPS into the 

world-class education system that the District of Columbia and its 

residents so richly deserve. 

We are making progress in creating a foundation for academic 

success in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Last fall, we implemented new and more rigorous academic standards in reading/

language arts and mathematics. Standards in science and social 

13

studies were adopted earlier this year, and we will be implementing during the upcoming year more of these standards. 

It is important to note that while many States typically take 4 

to 8 years and sometimes 4 to 6 years to develop and adopt new 

learning standards, we successfully adopted in four different subject areas in less than 2 years. 

It is worth noting some other indicators of progress. The number 

of schools meeting, adequate yearly progress (AYP), in both reading 

and mathematics at the District level, using the Stanford 9, increased from 63 schools to 72 in school year 2004–05. Student attendance also increased from 85 to 89 percent District-wide. Additionally, English language learners dramatically improved their 

proficiency in both reading and mathematics, rising from 30.8 percent to 50.4 percent in reading, and from 50.8 percent to 56.4 percent in mathematics. We have a number of our schools that have 

been recently identified as high-performing, some 20. They partner 

with schools that are doing less than acceptable performance. 

We are also taking note of the work that we have done at the 

national level with respect to NAEP. We have made some progress 

there. We certainly have a long way to go. 

We are continuing to work with our students in terms of postsecondary experience. The number of students taking advanced placement courses has increased, and certainly the number of students 

earning scores of 3, 4, or 5 have also increased. Additionally, the 

number of students who are males, their performance has increased, scoring 3, 4, or 5. 

To support the academic progress, in the past year we have been 

fortifying our business systems. Recently, DCPS became the first 

school district in the country to partner with a municipality—and 

they sit right next to me on my right—in operating a state-of-theart procurement system. It is now automated. We went live on 

March 24 and April 27. This means from the initial requisition to 

the approval to the receipt of goods takes within a week. It used 

to be 3 to 4 months. So schools and departments can order goods 

now electronically. We know where all the accountability steps are. 

In fact, if it is sitting on someone’s desk, there is an escalator provision that kicks it up to the next approval level so that we are not 

interrupting services in terms of academic performance. 

We are mindful of the need to have an efficient business system, 

given the fiscal realities we face, and because of those fiscal realities, we have successfully sought and continue to participate in 

some effective partnerships that will help us reach our goals. 

I want to summarize the last couple of pages, and, of course, my 

testimony is before you, and it has been entered into the record. 

But let me just highlight some things that have happened in the 

last couple of years. 

We are encouraged by another recent partnership. The Wallace 

Foundation took a look at a number of municipalities throughout 

the country and selected three—Boston, Chicago, and Washington, 

DC—for consideration of a major investment in our city through 

our youth. We will be in receipt of $8 million over the next 3 years 

targeting out-of-school time for our middle-school students, so what 

happens after school, what happens during recess breaks, what 

happens during our summer periods. We are aligning our work toVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:22 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 029511 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\29511.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
14

1The prepared statement of Ms. Rivlin appears in the Appendix on page 61. 

gether so that what we do within the school district with respect 

to the new rigorous learning standards will also be part of the work 

of CBOs who are involved with our after-school programs for youth. 

We are about at the national average in terms of our graduation 

rate, but as you know so well, it is not so much what the percentage is; it is also about who is graduating in terms of race and ethnicity and whether or not those students are college and work 

ready, because there is a gap between the graduation rate and 

those who are college and work ready, and that is why it is significant to have very formidable, rigorous learning standards in all of 

our subject areas and an assessment to go along with that. 

I would finally add that with respect to some of the expectations 

for a relationship with the new mayor, new council chair, and certainly our new board president coming in, let me just cite the following as I conclude: Congress has passed a new fiscal year for 

DCPS. We look to collaborate with you and others to make that one 

that is most successful. We would like consideration of having a 

multi-year budgeting process that would align our work with the 

3-year plans that we are obligated to do under No Child Left Behind. 

Dr. Gandhi have been in discussion about realigning the reporting structure currently for the school district CFO and the work 

that he does. I would like to see that happen in terms of 

benchmarking our performance over the next 2 or 3 years so that 

we will be in a position of readiness to assume that responsibility, 

given some of the progress points we have made, particularly balancing our budget in the last couple of years and having a fund 

balance in 2005 of about $12,000. 

We are moving forward to more clearly delineate our State and 

local functions. I am sure you have become conversant with that 

particular point, given some of the reporting in the local media. 

So I stand before you committed to make this change. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. Dr. Rivlin. 

TESTIMONY OF ALICE M. RIVLIN,1 DIRECTOR, GREATER 

WASHINGTON RESEARCH PROGRAM, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION 

Ms. RIVLIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will summarize my 

statement very briefly and hope that the entire statement can appear in the record. 

Senator VOINOVICH. It will be. 

Ms. RIVLIN. I think my claim to being on this panel is that I 

chaired the now infamous Control Board, which is no more, and 

which made a considerable contribution to the financial and managerial turnaround that has been alluded to. 

I want to mention that one legacy of the Control Board era is the 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer itself, ably led by Dr. Gandhi. 

I believe that the contribution to fiscal discipline that can be made 

by a strong, independent CFO has been amply demonstrated by the 

District’s fiscal turnaround. The Congress and the District Government should ensure that the role of the independent CFO continues 

in the years ahead. 

15

I will not discuss the fiscal transformation of the District, which 

has been ably discussed and which is impressive. 

Let me mention that the turnaround in budgeting and accounting systems, a less glamorous and dramatic subject, has also been 

impressive. The city did not used to even be able to close its books 

on time. Now nobody notices at the end of the closure period, and 

we get a clean audit routinely. 

The efforts on this subject have been partly the CFO, partly the 

Mayor’s office, partly the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Suzanne Peck, who has done wonders in this city to improve the systems. This is not glamorous work, creating budgeting, accounting, 

and statistical systems for the city, but it will benefit the city in 

the years to come. 

Another major turnaround has been the re-creation of the city’s 

Planning Office. When Mayor Williams took over, the Planning Office was practically nonexistent. It has been built back up into a 

nationally respected, professional organization that can help the 

city plan for years to come. And the creation of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation to lead the redevelopment of the waterfront is 

another institutional improvement which I think is extremely important. 

The Mayor has talked about economic development and its successes and also mentioned the downside of the city’s burgeoning development, which has been the rapid increase in real estate prices, 

housing, and rents all over the city. That helps with the fiscal picture, but it is very difficult for low- and moderate-income people 

and creates a problem which we must focus on. 

The management has been turned around in many but not all 

departments, as the Mayor has mentioned. Something needs to be 

done there. But the Mayor has attracted two very strong city managers, John Koskinen and Robert Bobb, who have helped turn this 

from a badly governed city to a much better one. 

Finally, an accomplishment I would like to mention is the perception of the city, nationally and internationally. The Mayor and 

the Council and others have worked very hard to make clear that 

we have turned things around here, and the result has been that 

businesses that would not look at the District of Columbia a few 

years ago are now eager to invest here, put stores here, and that 

has been a very important contribution. 

Challenges. First is Dr. Janey’s issue of education—not his issue 

alone, but clearly one that is high on the agenda for new city leaders going forward. It sometimes sounds, though, as there are no 

good schools in the District of Columbia. That is definitely not true. 

My granddaughter goes to one of them, and it is terrific. And 

Banneker School Without Walls and other public schools are doing 

extremely well, as are many of the charter schools which serve lowincome and disadvantaged young people and are scoring, many of 

them, extremely well. 

We have an arsenal of tools here in the District that ought to be 

working together. The traditional public schools, the vibrant charter school movement, and the voucher system—those can all be 

part of improving the quality of the District of Columbia’s publicly 

supported education. 

16

I believe we also need a high-quality community college in the 

District of Columbia. We do not have one. It should either be part 

of the University of the District of Columbia or be set up separately. But it is an urgent need, as is improvement of the city’s 

adult education and job training programs. 

The Mayor mentioned, in connection with affordable housing, the 

task force that I co-chaired recommending that the city redouble its 

effort. The city has done a lot, but we are fighting a losing battle 

because rents and prices are going up so fast. And I have been very 

gratified with the Mayor’s and the Council’s response. 

I agree with the Mayor that the decision that we all participated 

in that was so painful, to close DC General Hospital and create the 

Health Alliance, was the right one. We do not need another hospital now. We have lots of hospital beds. We need to devote increased resources to primary care and disease management, substance abuse treatment, and the detection and treatment of HIV/

AIDS in the city. 

This is a city starkly divided by race and income, as many cities 

are. But we have an opportunity in this city to reduce the starkness of that divide if we work with all of the tools available bringing the two sides of the city together. 

Another challenge on which some progress has been made, but 

more needs to be done, is reform and coordination of the city’s programs, collocation of city services in the same building, and other 

evidences of good management of the city’s resources. And we need 

to cooperate better with the whole region. 

Finally, very briefly, Mr. Chairman, what can the Congress do? 

What can you and your colleagues do? I think four things. 

First, you should find a way to give the citizens of the District 

of Columbia the right to vote for a representative in the House and 

the Senate, and I mean a voting representative not just delegate 

status. 

Second, the Congress can and should approve legislation that 

would provide enough Federal compensation to the district to close 

the $1 billion or so structural deficit that the Government Accountability Office and others have identified in the District’s fiscal 

structure. Congresswoman Norton has introduced a bill that would 

make a compensatory contribution to the District. I believe this legislation should be enacted. 

Third, the Congress should permit the locally funded portion of 

the city’s annual budget, our own money, once it is approved by the 

mayor and the mouncil, to go into effect at the start of the fiscal 

year without needing congressional approval. 

And, finally, Mr. Chairman, the Congress should actively support 

regional efforts to improve transportation, air and water quality, 

access to affordable housing, and other things on which this vibrant region and the District of Columbia must cooperate. 

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity. Thank you very 

much. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you very much. 

Senator Akaka, most of our witnesses have spoken for 10 minutes, but I thought that it was very worthwhile to get their best 

presentations. 

17

I would like to again thank you all for being here. Mayor, you 

have done a good job. You should feel very proud. I hope that this 

is not the last time that we will see you before this Subcommittee. 

Maybe some other role that you may take on may cause you to be 

invited back to the Subcommittee. 

I think of the schools, Dr. Janey, and as you know, I have been 

close to the DC TAG and the DC CAP programs. The District’s 

school system should be the best in the country. The District’s 

school system should be a model for the country. It should be a 

school system that is worthy of the Shining City on the Hill. Perhaps it is time that we joined the resources of the public and private sectors to try and really look at a District that has the problems that you have. You have about 60,000 students today. You 

have charter schools and you have your good schools. There has to 

be something done pretty quick to look at and dissect what it is 

and what needs to be done and how we can make it possible that 

we can improve our urban districts. I would like to talk to your 

more about that. 

Mayor, you seem to know a lot about health care. I have been 

working with The Brookings Institute and with The Heritage Foundation now for a couple of years on the Health Partnership Act. 

Hank Aaron at The Brookings Institute has been working with 

Stuart Butler at The Heritage Foundation, and they have come up 

with some suggestions. I have introduced legislation to move forward with a State initiative that would try out different systems 

around the country. I would like to send some of that information 

to you. I would be interested from your perspective on whether you 

think it makes sense. 

You have made some really good progress in many areas in the 

District, and I am sure you have identified areas where you need 

to make more progress. Mayor Williams, I would like your comments on if you think you have institutionalized the transformation. Dr. Rivlin, one thing that always bothers me is that we 

have an administration that comes in, they get the job done. But 

when people leave all of their hard work goes with them. Does the 

city have the workforce and the core competencies that are necessary? Do they have the trained workforce? In the Federal Government a lot of folks are retiring or taking an early retirement. 

I wonder if the District has addressed this issue? I feel strongly 

that you are only as good as your team, Mayor Williams? 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Well, I would speak to a couple of things on 

that, one kind of internal, Mr. Chairman, and the other external. 

On the internal point, a couple of things. One is I have made it 

a point as Mayor to appoint the very best people. I know this 

sounds like Mom and apple pie, but I really have tried to do this, 

to appoint the very best people regardless of politics. A great example is when John Koskinen left, who I thought had been a great 

city administrator, I was talking with him about the appointment 

of the successor we appointed. In consultation with him, I agreed 

that my best appointment would be Robert Bobb. I did not know 

Mr. Bobb from Adam, had never met Mr. Bobb before. Mr. Bobb 

had kind of a MacArthur reputation or a Patton reputation, kind 

of going for the Rhine before he got orders from high command. 

But he had a reputation, more importantly, of getting the job done. 

18

I brought Mr. Bobb in. He has done a great job for us. And I 

have done that with every single manager, and I believe that they 

in turn, very importantly, have done that with their subordinates. 

There is a message from my administration that the head office is 

not interfering with your management decisions, because I believe 

that ultimately I am going to get more political credit by more getting done than by trying to micromanage whether Harry or Betty 

got hired. 

On the external point of view, Mr. Chairman, we have the beginnings—I am not saying we are there yet because there is an enormous amount left to be done. But we have tried to put in the beginnings of a performance system. I got this from the time I was CFO 

in the Department of Agriculture and working with people like Dr. 

Rivlin and the Federal Government, to put results management 

into the District, performance measurements around outcomes. 

There is still an enormous amount left to be done, but at least 

there is a vocabulary now in our city about outcomes of our government agencies. 

And, very importantly, I mentioned the call center. One of the 

things that we do with the call center is when you call 727–1000, 

you get a tracking number, and then someone calls you randomly 

to ask you how was the service you received. Was your e-mail answered? Was your phone call answered? How was it answered? And 

then there is a feedback mechanism into the personnel system to 

see that people comply. I am not saying that this is a perfect system, but, again, the initial steps have been put into the institution 

to see that results happen. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Does anyone want to comment on the issue 

of retirement? What does the situation look like? 

Mr. GANDHI. Mr. Chairman, if I may comment on the financial 

cluster, I am basically quite confident that the second tier that is 

emerging in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer is big and as 

much competence in terms of accomplishing the results, balancing 

the budget, assuring financial viability of the city to the Hill and 

to the citizens. I am very confident of their ability to do that. And 

your point about a retiring Federal Government, indeed, when I became the head of the Office of Tax and Revenue under then-Chief 

Financial Officer Anthony Williams, I went to the IRS and asked 

for a list of the people that I can borrow from them. And there 

were many retiring superb IRS administrators. I hired 15 of them, 

and they really transformed our tax administration. As I pointed 

out, we collected $1.6 billion more over the last few years with declining tax rates. 

And just to cite one example, the returns and the refunds. It 

used to take months and tons of calls to get your refund from the 

District Government. Today, if you file on the Web—and we were 

the first city in the country to have Web filing. You can go to the 

Mayor’s website and file your tax return. If you file on the Web, 

you get your refund in 1 week. If you file on paper, you get it in 

2 weeks. That is a remarkable change in our tax administration. 

Why? Because we hired very able retired IRS tax administrators. 

Then in turn trained our own people. 

So I think I am very confident that in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer we have a group of people, some of them sitting in 

19

this room, who are very capable of carrying this message and the 

performance of financial viability, financial stability, and fiscal prudence. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. 

Ms. RIVLIN. Mr. Chairman, could I add something? I agree with 

the Mayor and Dr. Gandhi about the positive successes in building 

a professional corps. But it is very hard, as you know, to reach 

down to all of the agencies in the city and to turn them around. 

It is not just a question of putting the right person in at the top. 

I think we have seen that in the emergency response system, we 

have seen it in the District’s regulatory authority. It takes a long 

time to re-engineer the systems, re-educate the people, make sure 

that you have people on the front line at the bottom who know 

what their job is and are adequately trained and have the right 

leadership. There is still much to be done in this city on that score. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Is there a specific amount of money that is 

allocated for training of city workers? One of the things I did when 

I was Mayor was recognize that major corporations that are successful spend a nice percentage of their money to upgrade the skills 

of the people in their workforce. 

Mr. JANEY. May I take a stab here? 

Senator VOINOVICH. Yes. 

Mr. JANEY. Let me just retreat back first to your question about 

stability and providing a high-quality workforce, because it is a 

workforce issue. And one of the challenges that we are going to 

face, not uniquely as a school district, is recruiting and retaining 

and developing particularly teachers in some of the hard-to-recruit 

areas—mathematics and science. The pipeline is just not there. It 

is not there in special education. 

So knowing that we have to do well in the long term but do well 

in the here and now, we have contracted with a national firm that 

provides us services in terms of social workers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and special education teachers. And we 

are contracting with them to provide those services directly. 

I would further point out we are spending about 8 percent of our 

budget on employee development. That includes teachers, administrators, and support staff. Our remaining challenge, not lingering 

but a very biting challenge, is the fact that we have high out in 

particular business system areas. And it is because we do not have 

compensation comparable to other entities. We are behind the District of Columbia and behind the Federal Government which creates a lot of out for us and turnover. 

We are putting our plans together for the next couple of years 

to address that, and that is for staff that reports to——

Senator VOINOVICH. The management and so forth, that you are 

not as competitive as you should be, because in the District you 

have so many other public agencies that may be paying more than 

you are. 

Mr. JANEY. Right. For comparable work, someone could go and 

become an human resources specialist in the area of retirement 

somewhere else, and it has nothing to do with performance, nothing to do with accountability. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Mr. Chairman, there is a cohort moving 

through the system where you are going to have a lot of retireVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:22 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 029511 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\29511.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
20

ments. I know, for example, that with teachers you have a large 

cohort of teachers that are going to be retiring in a few years, and 

this has radiated out throughout the other departments. And I 

would be happy to share with you the exact numbers. Generally, 

that is a problem in our government and governments across the 

country. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, Senator Akaka and I are trying to 

make sure that it does not drown the Federal Government. 

Senator Akaka, I have taken more than enough time. We will 

have 10-minute rounds of questions since I violated my own rule. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator AKAKA. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to commend you, Dr. Rivlin, for your summary and your 

testimony of the status of DC, which was excellent. And I want to 

commend all of you for your commitment to public service. 

Mr. Mayor, yesterday you wrote a letter to the Chairman of the 

Council asking the Council to return to deal with an anti-crime 

package that you proposed. You are moving quickly to do this, and, 

of course, the possibility is, if everything happens, that you can do 

it in 30 days. 

However, according to the ACLU, your proposals may violate 

your citizens’ privacy rights, and my question to you is: How would 

you respond to the concerns raised by the ACLU? 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Senator Akaka, I am not a practicing lawyer, 

but I think that if we argue, as many civil libertarians do, that 

malls, for example, are a public space and malls have extensive use 

of cameras, then to me it follows as a corollary that we ought to 

be able to use cameras in other public spaces. That would be one 

argument. 

Another argument is that, with the approval of the Council, we 

are going to try to tailor this to best effectuate crime reduction 

while respecting people’s legitimate rights. And I think one thing 

that I have learned by talking to other mayors in other American 

cities and other foreign cities is to have citizens empowered—or 

business groups empowered with the responsibility to retain the 

digital tape of the activities in an area. And then if there is a 

crime, the police would request specific evidence to be used in solving that crime so that you do not have the specter of the police sitting there watching everyone’s daily activities. And I think that 

would address the concerns of libertarians. 

But it has been used in other cities. For example, in Chicago, it 

has had an effect in reducing crime in that city and leveraging your 

police presence in that city. And I think facing the problems that 

we face in Washington, we ought to give our police, obviously subject to protecting everyone’s civil liberties, every tool at our disposal 

to back them up. 

Senator AKAKA. Well, I want to commend you, as you say, that 

your program may reduce crime by 50 percent if all of this passes. 

And I also understand that the Council is planning to convene for 

this purpose. So I wish you well. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Thank you. 

Senator AKAKA. Mr. Gandhi, some DC agencies have sought exemption from the CFO’s oversight. Are there any DC agencies that 

you believe should be exempt from the CFO’s authority? 

21

Mr. GANDHI. Senator, to the extent that the Chief Financial Officer is responsible for delivering a balanced budget to the Mayor, to 

the Council, to the Congress, and to the citizens at large, I think 

all District agencies must be under the purview of the Chief Financial Officer. 

As Dr. Rivlin pointed out, we need to make sure that this independent Chief Financial Officer retains the authority to basically 

control expenditure and to make sure that we provide financial 

services—I do tell my staff on a consistent basis that we are a service function. We have to make sure that we help the managers, the 

Mayor, the directors, the Superintendent to accomplish their mission. But at the end of the day, we have to balance the budget and 

secure a clean audit opinion from the auditors, external auditors, 

so that is all verifiable. 

So my answer to that is this: That, to the extent that I am responsible for balancing the budget for the city as a whole, then I 

should have control over the finances of those agencies. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Rivlin, before I call on the Mayor, would you 

comment on that question? 

Ms. RIVLIN. I think it is extremely important that the Office of 

the Chief Financial Officer be independent, as it was set up by the 

Congress, and that it have responsibility and authority over all of 

the agencies that spend city money. 

Senator AKAKA. Mayor. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. It is a general rule, I believe, Senator, and no 

one has worked harder than I have, initially as the CFO when all 

this independence was built in, it was hard—ladies and gentlemen, 

you cannot imagine how hard it was to actually in a real, concrete, 

tangible way create an independent CFO when the Mayor did not 

want one. I can tell you from experience. No one has worked harder and believes more strongly than I do in a strong CFO. 

As a matter of fact, I remember talking to Dr. Rivlin shortly 

after I had become Mayor about whether the CFO should have 

budget authority. And there is always some question in CFO land 

as to whether the administrator or the CFO should have budget 

authority. There is an overlap there and there is a blur there between program and finance. But I felt, for a lot of different reasons, 

that budget should go to the CFO. So I believe very strongly that 

the CFO should be very paramount, and very independent. 

But I do believe in the case of the Water and Sewer Authority 

(WASA), this was at the time I was CFO—we created a Memorandum of Understanding working with Congressman Davis over 

in the House, Dr. Brimmer, and the Water and Sewer Authority to 

give them a degree of autonomy and independence that the other 

District agencies did not have because while there are commingling 

of city funds over there, it really is a regional enterprise, more 

analogous to the airport, and it really is an enterprise function. So 

we gave them a degree of autonomy the other agencies did not 

have. Our Attorney General for our city, as well as Dr. Gandhi’s 

counsel, we are now seeing that the language is, at best, ambiguous and that WASA should come back under the CFO. I believe 

that it should remain autonomous. That is my own view. 

Senator AKAKA. Mr. Gandhi, in his statement Superintendent 

Janey requested that DCPS should have its own CFO that is indeVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:22 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 029511 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\29511.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
22

pendent from you and your office. I would like to ask you and Dr. 

Rivlin to share your thoughts on that specific proposal. 

Mr. GANDHI. I have been working very closely with the Superintendent on this issue, and the bottom line from my perspective, 

Senator Akaka, is that DCPS, with about $1 billion, including the 

Federal funds going there, is about 20 percent of our budget. If I 

am responsible for balancing the city’s budget in total, then I cannot let 20 percent of the budget be managed financially elsewhere. 

Further, DCPS has a chronic history of overspending. When I be- came the CFO, we had basically given $80 million, after having the 

budget formulated, and year after year we are giving them more 

money. That is fine. That is a congressional and city elected officers’ decisions, Council and the Mayor. But the bottom line still is 

that I am expected to make sure that they balance the budget, because if DCPS does balance its budget, the city will not be able to 

balance the budget. 

So I would resist a Chief Financial Officer independent of the 

District CFO over the schools because I am expected to balance the 

budget. 

But at the same time, I expect the CFO over there to work very 

closely with the Superintendent and help him achieve his mission. 

If our CFOs are no good for him, then they are no good for me. 

That is the expectation I have of all Chief Financial Officers in a 

variety of agencies—police, fire, corrections, etc. 

So the bottom line for me is that we have had substantial improvement in city schools’ finances. We have been balancing budgets. But that is because we monitor very closely month by month, 

and towards the end of the fiscal year week by week, how the 

money is spent to determine whether we will have a balanced 

budget. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Rivlin. 

Ms. RIVLIN. I believe the city and the school system have a joint 

interest in strong fiscal accountability and should work together on 

it. The important fact here is that the school system has no independent source of revenue. Many school systems do. They have an 

earmarked portion of the property tax or the like. This school system does not. Nor does it have independent borrowing authority. 

So to create an independent CFO for the school system that did 

not cooperate with the city’s CFO would seem to me to make no 

sense. It is all the same pot of revenue and the same pot of borrowing authority. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. I would like to give, before I conclude, Superintendent Janey a chance to comment. 

Mr. JANEY. A chance to rebut. Let me offer this perspective. 

First, school districts throughout the country, particularly urban, 

there are financially independent and financially dependent school 

districts throughout the country, and the proposition of still collaborating and working with the municipality, whether it is a 

straight municipality or a municipality within a county, is not uncommon. 

Second, from the point of view of we being a school district, that 

is a distinction that should be understood, and we are not a regular 

agency within the municipality. And the level of collaboration that 

we currently have in my proposal, in my conception of this, would 

23

not cease. It would mean, however, that the CFO who works on behalf of Dr. Gandhi’s office and on behalf of the school district and 

Board of Education would have a direct reporting line for accountability purposes. But the oversight would still continue, but in 

terms of being part of the senior leadership management team and 

the like, that would reside within the school district. 

This is something that Dr. Gandhi and I do not agree upon at 

this point in time, and I have, therefore, proposed a way by which 

we can demonstrate the progress that we have made recently and 

see to what extent that progress continues. And at any point in 

time we make that determination that the fit is right and the systems are right, we would go forward. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Senator Akaka. 

The issue of the increased revenues, Dr. Gandhi, would you say 

that the biggest source of your increased revenues has come from 

the property tax? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Are you at all concerned about some of the 

things that have happened around the country in terms of property 

values and overbuilding? I spent several hours down in Anacostia 

to see what was going on there. There is a lot of new housing that 

is going in. Do you have any concern that you might have so much 

of it that you start to see a sag in the property values and its impact on your revenues? 

Mr. GANDHI. We already see that, and some of that is already included in our 5-year plan. But there is one fundamental difference, 

as Dr. Rivlin pointed out, that under the Mayor’s administration 

and the delivery of services, the perception about the city has fundamentally changed. So not only are we the hottest real property 

market in the country in residential properties, commercially we 

are among the hottest in the world. People from all over the world 

want to put money here. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Yes, the cranes are flying. 

Mr. GANDHI. They are everywhere, indeed. No doubt about that. 

But your point is well taken, sir, that the growth in the real property taxes that we had experienced in the past 2 years, about 10, 

11 percent every year, I do not expect that to continue. But nor do 

I expect it to go down substantially. The growth will be moderated, 

and in our 5-year projections we do indeed have a moderate growth 

in real property. And I think we have to be very careful. We have 

a very able revenue estimation staff headed by our Chief Economist, Dr. Julia Friedman, and every quarter we sit down and look 

at this issue. We talk with the people in the real property market 

on a regular basis. We look at the surrounding jurisdiction, look at 

other economic trends. 

But as of now, we still are holding a substantial advantage compared to regional jurisdiction and compared to the country. But I 

take your point very seriously, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. As property values escalate, what do you do 

for the working poor whose options are closed down? 

Mr. GANDHI. And that is an extremely important issue, sir, and 

as the Mayor has pointed out and so has Dr. Rivlin, we do have 

a very major effort undergoing under the Mayor’s leadership in the 

24

housing production trust. We are continually concerned about funding it. Indeed, under the provision of the law, we basically are adding about $16 million every year towards that funding for affordable housing and leveraging it to generate a huge amount of——

Senator VOINOVICH. This is your own revenue that you are 

using? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. And are you taking advantage of any of the 

other Federal programs? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, we are. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Section 8 and so forth. 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely right. I think we are among the most aggressive jurisdictions to do that, and the Mayor may want to talk 

about it. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. One of the things I regret, though, Mr. Chairman, I think one of the greatest things HUD has done over the last 

couple of years is the HOPE VI program has been an enormously 

successful program. I do not understand why the President and 

Secretary Jackson really want to cut it back. I really disagree with 

them on that. And what we have tried to do in our city is, with 

the reduction in that program, we have tried to actually model it 

using local dollars. So if you hear about the Northwest One, which 

formerly was known as Sursum Corda, there we have actually seen 

a huge reduction in homicide and violent crime, buy-in of the community to create a mixed-income community there analogous to 

what we are doing next to the Forest City Development and Southeast Waterfront, the ballpark complex at Carlsberg, the same thing 

at Lincoln Heights and Berry Farms, a notorious complex, which 

we hope to work with the residents and make a model mixed-income community. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I have a question for you, Mayor. It is a little bit off the subject, but I think it is one that I am sure may be 

of concern to you and the entire community. This Subcommittee 

has held two hearings on the security of the National Capital Region. At these hearings it became evident that the region lacked a 

strategic plan, which we think is unacceptable. I would like to 

know what has your administration done to prepare for a terrorist 

attack or a natural disaster. Are you concerned with the lack of a 

plan in the National Capital Region and the coordination between 

the region? 

Mayor WILLIAMS. My perspective, Mr. Chairman, is that we have 

in the region—we have not worked as well as we should, in as 

streamlined a way as we should in the obligation and disbursement 

of Federal dollars that have come to the region. We surely, looking 

back, should have been moving more quickly to come up with a 

strategic plan, although one of the things I have done as Mayor is 

to meet regularly with the county executives. I also meet regularly 

with the two adjoining States’ governors. As a matter of fact, just 

last week there was a meeting with Governor Kaine of Virginia 

and Governor Ehrlich of Maryland. We are going to be meeting 

with the Council of Governments, which is the regional collaborative body, to actually unveil a regional emergency response plan. 

So I think that there is an effort underway to address your concern. It is overdue, but——

25

Senator VOINOVICH. You would agree that we are not where we 

should be. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Absolutely. I would agree, though, that we are 

not where we should be on both the local level and on the Federal 

level. As the Mayor of the city, I am perplexed at how Indiana can 

be more of a—and I have nothing against the Midwest, not just because you are from a Midwest State. I think, for example, people 

talk about Omaha. I can understand how Omaha has got critical 

infrastructure that has to be protected. But I cannot understand 

how the District can be on the lowest rung of areas in need of 

homeland security oversight and protection. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. 

Dr. Janey, do you have a plan to address the education issues 

facing the District? 

Mr. JANEY. Yes, there is. We made public our strategic plan in 

February of this year, and we have begun the implementation of 

such, and I would be happy to join you and your staff to brief you 

on that matter in more detail. 

Senator VOINOVICH. And you have metrics in place to measure 

success? 

Mr. JANEY. We have benchmarked all of our work on the academic side and on the business system side. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Does this include responding to the Department of Education’s declaring that you are high-risk grantee? 

Mr. JANEY. That distinct strategic action plan will be advanced 

to them July 29. They are in receipt of our draft. We are working 

that draft through a number of different organizations in addition 

to the Department of Education. But they will be in receipt of that 

document on July 29. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I would like to give all of you an opportunity 

to share with me what you think is the No. 1 challenge that the 

new mayor will face. I am sure, Mayor Williams, you are thinking 

about it. I know I tried to advise Mayor White who he followed me 

about some of the problems I thought he needed to be aware of. I 

am sure you have been thinking about that for your successor. I 

would be interested in what you think the No. 1 priority should be. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. There is no question in my mind that the No. 

1 fundamental obligation of the city should be to secure a vote for 

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to put us in the best position in order to fend our way through the Federal system. I think 

that is so important. And it is so important that in the capital of 

the country we honor fundamental voting rights. But it has got a 

practical impact as well because, I will tell you, Senator, in a practical matter this whole issue of Dr. Gandhi and Dr. Janey and 

where the CFO should be, I still believe in my heart that in a 

urban system, the best model of governance is to have the school 

system under the Mayor or you would not have this issue. And I 

tried twice to get it through our local Council. If we had a vote up 

here in the Congress, I would not have hesitated a second to come 

to the Congress and ask for that support if we had a vote up here, 

because if you look at other cities in the country—New York is a 

great example. Mayor Bloomberg went to the State legislature. But 

New York City has a vote in that legislature, which made it possible. 

26

So that is my biggest regret. I would say to Council Chair 

Cropp—who I hope will be elected, but if it is Councilman Fenty, 

so be it—to either one of them, or someone else, your No. 1 priority 

clearly is education because we are in a great position, having set 

up a situation where if a student gets an education and gets prepared, they can get a job in this city. That is not true in every city. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I would like to congratulate you on your involvement with the education system. I recall that when we were 

considering the issue of vouchers, which is very controversial. As 

a matter of fact, I lost the endorsement of the Ohio Education Association because I supported vouchers for the District. Although 

Cleveland was the first city in the country to provide vouchers to 

nonpublic schools. Your support of charter schools, and then vouchers was encouraging and most people would have backed away 

from it. But you got involved. 

But your feeling is that some consideration should be given in 

terms of the school coming into the auspices of the Mayor’s office. 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Because I think that is the best way to do a 

number of things, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I have worked—and 

Dr. Janey can tell you this. I meet with him every week. I meet 

with the school board more than probably any other elected official. 

I am willing to make this system work, but I have to tell you what 

I think. I think that if you want to coordinate all the governmental 

and nongovernmental and private sector resources around individual children, if you want to coordinate best so all the physical 

facilities that Dr. Rivlin is talking about, and if you want to move 

toward what modern technology allows us to do to start managing 

individual cases of kids, looking at all the resources, governmental 

and nongovernmental, the best way to do that is to put it under 

one point of accountability. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Now, the current situation is you elect 

school board members. Is that right? 

Mayor WILLIAMS. Yes, we elect five of them, including the president, and then the Mayor appoints four of them. I supported 

that——

Senator VOINOVICH. In other words, the board then selected you, 

Dr. Janey? 

Mr. JANEY. That is correct. 

Senator VOINOVICH. How do you feel about what the Mayor is 

talking about? 

Mr. JANEY. I think it makes some sense, depending upon the jurisdiction. I know that is true in Boston. One of the examples that 

Boston has been able to advance to the public in terms of its 

growth was the stability of not only the superintendent, its school 

board, but also the mayor. I think the Mayor there is in 13 years. 

The superintendent just retired after 11 years. And they have had 

not only stability of individuals, but continuity of their effort and 

the promulgation of their policies in terms of education. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I know how difficult that is. I had to personally jam through the State legislature a new governance for Cleveland. As the Mayor, I was very frustrated with the schools. 

Mr. JANEY. But one of the things that I would like to make sure 

the record reflects is here, unlike any other place in the country, 

we have more than one mayor. We have about 50 mayors that sign 

27

up every day to tell us how to do education. We have hundreds of 

council members and numerous board members who are not official 

in their capacity. And there is almost an invitation for that kind 

of free-for-all because the notion of public education, while it is a 

concern of everybody, it is everybody’s business, but it just comes 

down to a few people in terms of the responsibility. And for cities 

and jurisdictions that have made serious progress, people own the 

responsibility of public education outside of the school district, and 

even outside of the mayor’s office. Everybody has a bit of it, appropriately. 

It is different here. It is almost as if protest has its own reward, 

and that is what people do. That has to change culturally. We are 

changing systems. We are changing standards. We can change governance. But we also have to change the environment in which all 

of this takes place. 

Senator VOINOVICH. In the city of Cleveland, we had a panel of 

distinguished people from various universities, community colleges, 

and so forth that nominate people to the school board, and then the 

mayor then chooses from that group of nominees for the board, and 

then the board then selects the superintendent. In the first instance, the mayor was able to appoint the superintendent. But it 

is not an easy endeavor. 

Dr. Rivlin. 

Ms. RIVLIN. I think there are lots of ways to argue about the 

ideal governance of a school system in a municipality. But right 

now, we have a strong superintendent who has only been here 2 

years and who has put together an excellent master education 

plan. It would seem to me that the highest priority for everybody 

is to get that plan implemented, stop fussing about the governance 

issue, and pull together to support the superintendent and make 

sure that he stays, because the worst thing that could happen here 

would be another revolving door on the superintendency. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I think that is great. I think that what you 

are saying makes a great deal of sense. I have been in management 

for a long time over the years in the city and the State, and you 

can have the best organizational structure, but if you do not have 

the right people in it, you cannot be successful. You can have a 

lousy organizational structure but with good people and you can 

make it work. 

I think the continuity issue is really important. Dr. Janey, you 

have a very heavy responsibility. 

Mr. JANEY. My wife tells me that every day. [Laughter.] 

Senator VOINOVICH. It takes time for transformation. In general, 

it takes 5, 6, 7 years to have some real transformation that is really going to stick and be institutionalized. So I wish you good luck 

in your efforts, and I want you to know that we would like to help 

you in any way that we possibly could. 

I really appreciate all of you being here today. I would like to 

again compliment Mayor Williams. You brought a unique perspective to the Mayor’s job. You have, with the aid of your colleagues, 

but I think from my point of view your personality, you have been 

able to advance the image of the District and give people confidence in the future of the District. I can say that as a former 

Mayor and president of the National League of Cities, I had a 

28

1The chart referred to by Mr. Gandhi appears in the Appendix on page 53. 

chance to observe the DC situation. I must tell you, your leadership 

has been like sunshine in the District. Now, that is not saying everything is perfect, but certainly the image of the District is so 

much better than it ever has been. You should feel very good about 

that. 

My only advice to the citizens of this community is to recognize 

how important it is to have the right leader of the District of Columbia. It is important to the citizens of the community, but there 

is an element there that they need to look at, and that element is 

just what kind of relationship is the mayor going to have in terms 

of not only the Congress, but the country, and, quite frankly, the 

world. You have really fulfilled that role, and I hope that everyone 

is grateful to you for your years of service. 

I have enjoyed working with you, and as I said to you before, I 

hope that maybe some way you will come back in here in some 

other capacity. I do not know what you have decided to do with 

your future, but I am just so grateful, for example, that Dr. Rivlin 

has been able to come back here and visit with us and give her perspective. It is so valuable to us to have someone that understands 

it and is not in it anymore but watching what is going on to give 

us some good advice. Thank you for sharing with this Subcommittee regarding voting rights in the District, and the Federal 

compensation for the structural imbalance. 

This has been very helpful to me, and I know there are a lot of 

folks—Dr. Gandhi. 

Mr. GANDHI. Mr. Chairman, may I just take a moment to 

reitterate from my narrow financial perspective, what I see to be 

the challenge for the next leadership as I pointed out in my testimony. 

Sir, the chart1 that you see there from where we were and where 

we are today is truly a remarkable recovery, and it is all real. But 

it is quite precarious. All that shows is that we can resolve and address our day-to-day emergencies and day-to-day operations of the 

city. Unless we have a stable tax base—currently it is very narrow 

and highly restricted. Of every $100 earned in the city, we get to 

tax only $34. It is like going to a restaurant and one-third of the 

people eating there would pay, the other two-thirds will not pay, 

and everybody will complain about the service and the food. We are 

in that condition now. 

My sense here is that whoever is the next mayor and the council 

chair and the council members, I think we always want to make 

sure that our fiscal prudence and financial responsibility take a 

great priority; and that if we ever were to go back to the old ways 

of doing it, we would lose whatever limited home rule that we do 

have. I think home rule, limited democracy is very precious, and 

we should not let the finances of the city take it away from us. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Does anyone else have any last comments? 

[No response.] 

Well, we thank you very much for coming today. The meeting is 

adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:52 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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