Anonymous wrote:Downtown is not picking up.
The tent cities aren't gone. they just moved.
metro is better because of Randy Clarke.
As a matter of fact, lets get Randy to run for mayor. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.

For all of downtown to pick up, all the excess office space by the GSA needs to be unloaded. Mayor Bowser has been pleading with Biden/the GSA to give up the office space so she can work with the developer community to convert these buildings to residential. The ultimate goal for downtown is the 15 minute city, a fun, convenient 24/7 neighborhood for residents and commuters.

Anonymous wrote:Downtown is not picking up.
The tent cities aren't gone. they just moved.
metro is better because of Randy Clarke.
As a matter of fact, lets get Randy to run for mayor. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.

I'd be willing to bet a majority of DC voters would follow you. But he has to be talked in to running first. He'd be taking a significant paycut and I can't imagine running the DC government would be much easier than running WMATA.

Downtown is not picking up.
The tent cities aren't gone. they just moved.
metro is better because of Randy Clarke.
As a matter of fact, lets get Randy to run for mayor. I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

So you will accept anything as a victory? She got lucky. Still, no vision. This is pretty basic stuff. We should be thanking Louise Lucas, not Bowser.

Pretty sad that you’d prefer the city fail than begrudge a “lucky” mayor any success.

I am very happy with the outcome, but she didn't do it She got lucky.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

So you will accept anything as a victory? She got lucky. Still, no vision. This is pretty basic stuff. We should be thanking Louise Lucas, not Bowser.

Pretty sad that you’d prefer the city fail than begrudge a “lucky” mayor any success.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

How is downtown picking up? Unless or until either WFH changes, particularly at the Federal level, or there are completed office to residential building conversions, downtown will be what it is right now, which certainly isn't close to pre-COVID levels.

The high end retail downtown at City Center is doing better post-Covid as reported in the paper. And the downtown Tattes are always filled to the brim with long lines and rarely an empty seat. This is not necessarily due to the mayor’s actions to revitalize downtown. But her successful strategy to keep Monumental sports at Gallery Place will certainly help to keep downtown viable overall for shopping, housing, working, visiting, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

How is downtown picking up? Unless or until either WFH changes, particularly at the Federal level, or there are completed office to residential building conversions, downtown will be what it is right now, which certainly isn't close to pre-COVID levels.

I go downtown every day. Mondays and Fridays are slow. Tuesdays and Wednesdays feel even more crowded than pre-COVID. Thursdays are normal.

Restaurant and store closures have stopped (unlike H St and Navy Yard) and even some new places opening.

Crime has even moved back to its natural location; 13th and NY Ave around the McDonalds.

There are still some persistent tent areas, particularly around E Street underpass and Rock Creek. But that looks like Federal property.

Sure there are a lot of vacant offices and store fronts, but that seems like a price issue. If they reduced rents then people would lease them. Probably cannot do that for financial reasons so they will probably be empty until sold to someone else at a cheaper price. Nature is healing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

How is downtown picking up? Unless or until either WFH changes, particularly at the Federal level, or there are completed office to residential building conversions, downtown will be what it is right now, which certainly isn't close to pre-COVID levels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

So you will accept anything as a victory? She got lucky. Still, no vision. This is pretty basic stuff. We should be thanking Louise Lucas, not Bowser.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

- crime bill passed
- murders down
- salvaged deal to keep Caps/Wizards
- downtown picking up
- Metro improving
- tent cities down

Anonymous wrote:Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Second wind how?

Bowser seems like she got her second wind. That doesn’t mean that she’s a good mayor. But she’s a better mayor than any current sitting Councilmember would ever be.

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of nostalgia for Bowser after Mayor Lewis-George takes office in the near, near future.

Never gonna happen.

Anonymous wrote:There will be a lot of nostalgia for Bowser after Mayor Lewis-George takes office in the near, near future.

Yup!

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Anonymous wrote:What happened to Tommy Wells? He left quietly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Wells

That's not up to date. He left DC government.

No, he didn't. He's director of the DC Department of Energy & Environment before becoming director of the Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs. He's also leading the flailing pushback against the Charles Allen recall, helping out his fellow Alabama carpetbagger.

Your info is obsolete. He left the OPLA position a couple of months ago.

The hill rag says he's the chair of dc water now. I think that's a good fit for him. I hope Bowser gets someone good in at OPLA. There are so many interagency and legislative/executive issues in DC... agencies are hamstrung by problems with HR, procurement, issuing regulations, budgeting...it makes things so much less efficient than they could be.