EDITORIAL & OPINION

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The Georgetowner Endorses…

While the Ward 2 election ballot may be thin, The Georgetowner shall weigh in on the Nov. 8 General Election, with mail-in ballots already arriving. Let’s deal with the cards we are dealt — therefore:

MURIEL BOWSER, MAYOR

In a prosperous city, hit by the pandemic and White House machinations, Bowser stepped up and got the job done.

PHIL MENDELSON, COUNCIL CHAIR

Phil Mendelson is steady at the helm of the District Council, and steady wins the race.

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, D.C. DELEGATE

The District’s longtime non-voting delegate to Congress — 15 terms — Eleanor Holmes Norton keeps on working for our constituents.

BRIAN SCHWALB, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Brian Schwalb, well known in the city, is an activist in his own right and holds the classic Democratic values of fighting for the underdog.

AT-LARGE COUNCIL, ANITA BONDS AND KENYAN MCDUFFIE

For the At-large District Council race — remember you get to vote for two candidates — The Georgetowner endorses Anita Bonds and Kenyan McDuffie.

Council member Anita Bonds has been devoted to the city for decades and is a dedicated advocate for affordable housing among her efforts on behalf of public schools, violence prevention and senior citizens. Council member Kenyan McDuffie is concerned and pragmatic, aware of the needs of small businesses, while understanding that “safe and equitable” can go hand-in-hand in a reasonable society. We acknowledge an honorable mention: Graham McLaughlin.

ANC2E

For the Georgetown-Burleith-Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC2E), our local ballot will show but one contest. It’s ANC single-district 2E02 with candidates Patrick Clawson and Topher Mathews. We’re split on this one. Both can represent their neighbors well and are quite in tune with our town. For single-district ANC 2E03, we have write-in candidate Paul Maysak. Yes, please write him in.

Vote ‘No’ on Initiative 82

The last item on your ballot is Initiative Measure No. 82 which reads: “District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2021.”

“Under current law, employers of employees classified as “tipped workers” may take a credit against tipped wages received by workers to satisfy the minimum wage guaranteed to all workers by law. If enacted, the Initiative would gradually eliminate the credit, such that the mandatory base wage (currently $5.05 per hour, indexed to inflation) paid by employers shall increase until 2027, when the mandatory base wage matches the minimum wage established by District of Columbia law (currently $15.20 per hour, indexed to inflation). Tips continue as property of employees and will be in addition to the statutory minimum hourly wage.”

The choice is yes or no. The Georgetowner advises you to vote “No.”

We agree with the “No” advocates that “the tip credit guarantees that servers and bartenders receive the minimum wage but enables tipped employees to earn well above that amount — about $26 per hour, on average. Initiative 82 would eliminate the tip credit and upend this system, harming servers and bartenders across the District.” Additionally, “restaurants and bars are likely to institute a service charge and eliminate tipping, servers and bartenders would earn considerably less than they do now through an hourly wage and restaurants and bars would face major increases in labor costs and be forced to cut back employee hours and eliminate positions.”

As the Washington Post wrote, the initiative is “still a bad idea.”

Cars or Bikes: Right on Red?

Picture these scenarios. It’s 8 p.m. You’re stopped at the light at R Street and Wisconsin Avenue, heading east. No cars, bikes or pedestrians are in sight. You turn right and quickly are on your way down Wisconsin. No waiting.

It’s 3 p.m. You’re at the stop light on 29th and M Streets, headed north. You’re crammed behind two cars just inches from parked cars on the right. A large SUV turning left off M Street on the green light is jammed, stopped at the crossing, afraid to pass between parked cars on 29th and you in the lane. Traffic backs up on M Street. Drivers start honking on 29th. All because no one can turn right on the red light there.

It’s 8 a.m. You’re at the stop light on N St. and Wisconsin Avenue, headed east, jammed between the streatery barriers of Martin’s Tavern and cars turning right off M Street. You edge up a bit over the sidewalk to look north, making sure no one is coming south. So you start making your right turn on the red light. You almost hit the bicyclist and the pedestrian crossing north from Martin’s. Really a close call. Yikes!

Anytime on Georgetown’s residential streets, you come to a stop dutifully at every corner at the red stop sign. The bicyclist whom you have been forced to follow at 5 mph. by peddling in the middle of the lane (his/her right), goes through the stop sign. But, as you proceed, you’re again slowed to a crawl behind the bicycle.

Last month, the District Council passed two new laws that prohibit turning right on a red signal anywhere in the District and allow bicyclists to peddle (or more often e-motor) through red stop signs everywhere as a yield. What say you? Should cars be able to turn right on red stop lights after a full stop? Should bicyclists be required to stop at stop signs to at least let car traffic pass them?

The issues at hand are nuanced but not complicated. The Georgetowner believes drivers and bicyclists in our highly educated, aware and even woke city can handle the responsibility of proceeding prudently at red stop crossings. General prohibitions seem a bit tyrannical. People can make their own decisions — especially if they know that irresponsible decisions will be punished. Let your Ward 2 Council member know what you think. Contact Brooke Pinto at 202-724-8058 or bpinto@dccouncil.gov.

OPINION: The Coming D.C. Financial Crisis

BY JACK EVANS

Editor’s note: From time to time, The Georgetowner runs guest columns on issues of concern to our readers. We have decided to run this opinion piece by Jack Evans owing to his extensive experience with and knowledge of the District government’s budgeting and finances.

Fiscal Year 2023 for the District of Columbia starts on October 1, 2022. The D.C. Council just passed a $20 billion budget in June, the largest budget in the city’s history and several billion dollars larger than even two years ago.

During the 2020-21 pandemic, D.C. was treated like the other 50 states and was awarded $2.5 billion in federal funds to offset projected losses from tax revenue. Like most states, the projections were way off, and the city had all this additional one-time money. Like all governments, the Council spent it, mostly on reoccurring programs in education and human services.

In addition, the Council also raised taxes on individuals earning over $250,000 while cutting in half Mayor Bowser’s request for additional funding for our police force. This and other actions have left our police force with the fewest officers in several decades.

After unanimously passing the 2023 budget, the Council “celebrated” the authorized spending of all that money. But, as they say on Game of Thrones, “Winter is coming.”

The $2.5 billion is one-time federal money and is gone. Downtown D.C. has not bounced back and, if anything, is still largely deserted. The federal workforce is mostly home, and the private sector is working in-person maybe three days a week. As a result, the downtown office buildings are empty.

Without workers, small businesses are struggling. In addition, tourism is off millions of people.

All this has resulted in a reduction in our sales tax collections. But, more important, because of the empty office buildings, we are looking at a $1 billion reduction in our commercial property tax collections.

If all this comes to pass, in 2024 the Council could be looking at a budget with spending of $21 billion and revenues of $17 billion. This is a gap that cannot be closed.

The Council will be faced with raising taxes — already the highest in the region — and making cuts. The city spends more than 80 percent of its budget in four areas: Debt services (which can’t be cut); Human Services (the underserved); Education (the children); and Public Safety (the police), make up the rest. The police are already short-handed and crime is at a 10-year high. And who wants to vote to cut education or human services? The city faced just this situation in 1995, and the result was a Federal Control Board.

Unless immediate action is taken, it’s likely that the city will face a financial crisis that cannot be solved — and with a Republican Congress, it’s… GAME OVER.

Jack Evans served on the District Council from 1991 to 2021 and served as chairperson of its Finance and Revenue Committee from 2001 to 2020.