The Mayor Gray Report 
August 21, 2012
š Figures Show DC Unemployment Drops to Lowest Level in More than Three and a Half Years
Mayor Gray welcomed the news that the District’s unemployment rate for July dropped two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.9 percent – the lowest it has been since February of 2009. Moreover, preliminary federal estimates of July employment figures for the District show significant improvement over this time last year in parts of the city that have suffered from the highest unemployment. Since Mayor Gray took office in January 2011, the District unemployment rate has dropped 2.3 points.
“I’m thrilled that our efforts to reduce unemployment in the District continue to pay off – and especially in areas that have been hit hardest by the recent recession,” said Mayor Gray. “Having unemployment under 9 percent citywide is a huge milestone, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to put DC residents back to work.” Read more.
š Mayor Gray Establishes Task Force to Move More Power Lines Underground, Reduce Outages
Mayor Gray announced the membership and that the first meeting of the newly formed Mayor’s Task Force on Power Line Undergrounding will be held on Thursday, August 23rd at 1:00 pm. The meeting will be held in Room G-9 of the John A. Wilson Building, located at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and is open to the public.
“I called for a ‘game-changer’ after the repeated power outages caused by this summer’s severe storms and delays in restoring power to many District residents. The undergrounding task force will finally develop long-term solutions to these all-too-frequent disruptions,” said Mayor Gray. “This group will be tasked with gathering information to develop plans that will, over time, greatly reduce the impacts of severe weather on our power grid.” Read more.
š From The Washington Post: “D. C. mayor embraces his alter ego — first baseman”
“Softball for the mayor, at 69, remains what it has been for decades, a joyous excursion from the pressures of work and a source of not-inconsiderable regret.” Read more.
š Mayor Gray Re-Establishes Advisory Commission on Caribbean Community Affairs
Mayor Gray signed an order re-establishing the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Caribbean Community Affairs and appointed 10 members, including a Chair and Vice-Chair, to the panel. It will advise Mayor Gray on issues affecting the District’s large Caribbean-American community.
“The District of Columbia is home to a large number of residents from the many diverse nations, cultures and ethnic groups found around the Caribbean region,” Mayor Gray said. “The re-established Mayor’s Commission on Caribbean Community Affairs will help my staff and me keep abreast of issues important to this community and help recommend ways – such as cultural festivals – to celebrate Caribbean culture in DC so that we can continue improving the quality of life for all District residents.” Read more.
š Mayor Gray Announces Repayment of Furlough Days to District Government Employees
Mayor Gray and DC Department of Human Resources (DCHR) Director Shawn Stokes announced that nearly 22,000 DC government employees who were required to take furlough days in Fiscal Year 2011 in order to close what was anticipated to be a significant budget gap will receive repayment for their lost wages beginning August 21, 2012.
“We asked our employees to sacrifice an amount of income that was significant for many of them in order to help close what was then projected to be a budget gap,” Mayor Gray said. “Instead, efficient management of government and unanticipated tax revenues gave us a surplus – and it’s only right that we pay back our hard-working employees. I am pleased that, with the Council’s support, we are able to do so.” Read more.
š City Services Show Continued Improvement
Mayor Gray has released the second set of monthly grades – covering the entirety of July – from the pilot Grade.DC.gov program, an advanced customer-service platform designed to provide the best possible feedback on, and analysis of, service delivery and customer care by District government agencies.
The grades show either improved or steady ratings for each of the five pilot agencies, chosen because their employees and online presences interact with large segments of the District’s residents and businesses on a daily basis. They are the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the Department of Public Works (DPW).
The July grades range from a “C-minus” to a “B,” and four of the five agencies showed the most improvement. DCRA showed the most dramatic improvement, rising from a “C-minus” based on June feedback to a “B” based on July feedback. Read more.
š Mayor Gray Breaks Ground on Mixed-Use Project, Affordable Housing at Former M. M. Washington Career High School Site
On August 14th, Mayor Gray, other government officials and representatives of the project’s development team broke ground on the House of Lebanon, a mixed-use real estate project providing affordable housing for seniors, new amenities and new community space on the site of the former Margaret Murray Washington Career High School in Ward 5.
“Affordable housing can be a struggle for people of all ages, and District seniors deserve the very best,” said Mayor Gray. “This public-private collaborative reflects my administration’s commitment to ensuring every resident who wants to remain in the District has access to safe, livable, affordable housing that creates a sense of community.”
š Latest Issue of Foreign Policy Magazine Focuses on DC as a Global City of the Future
From “Postcards of the Future”:
“Fed by the spigot of federal funding, America's capital has managed to avoid the worst of the economic downturn, notching an unemployment rate far below the national average. The D.C. real estate market has also managed to avoid the worst of the housing crisis, dodging the mass foreclosures that have plagued markets elsewhere in the United States. But with prosperity has also come rapid gentrification, and with it controversy. Washington was America's first majority-black city, but in 2011 that came to an end when the percentage of blacks in the city dipped below 50 percent.” Read more.
š Mayor Gray Opens Renovated New York Avenue Recreation Center and Playground
On August 8th, Mayor Gray, District officials and community leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly renovated New York Avenue Recreation Center and Playground at 1st and N Streets NW. The center had been closed since 2009, when it was used as a Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) daycare facility. The Mayor also announced that the DPR will release an RFP for programming at the New York Avenue Recreation Center as well as Randall Recreation Center. DPR is interested in programming contractors who can bring comprehensive, outcomes-based programming to these two sites. The RFP is scheduled to be released in October 2012.
“We are investing in the District’s playgrounds and parks because every resident should have a safe and inviting place to play and be active,” said Mayor Gray. “And we will leverage the District’s resources to institute high-quality programs for our residents at this revitalized facility via the RFP process.” Read more.
The Mayor Gray Report is the weekly report to key stakeholders, community leaders, and opinion makers of the important steps the Gray Administration is taking to move the District forward. As this information frequently goes unreported by the mainstream media, feel free to share this report with others so that the progress can be more broadly known. Help spread the word! If you wish to be taken off the distribution list, would like additional people to receive it, or would like to suggest topics, projects, or initiatives to be profiled in future editions, please e-mail Sheila Bunn.
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