Mayor Gray Addresses District-wide and Community-level Concerns at ANC2E Meeting

Monday, the Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC2E) meeting featured a packed agenda with an address from the Mayor dominating the first half of the meeting.

The Mayor highlighted several key issues, including his commitment to education, safe communities and maintaining a strong financial standing with the bond rating agencies in New York.

On education the mayor touted the District's pre-K program and said he intends to roll out a plan for infant and toddler care services before year's end. "We are the only city in America that has universal pre-k services," said Gray.

Gray reminded residents that crime was down throughout the city. He highlighted his recent commitment to hire 300 additional police officers to make up for attrition and then some.

He also took a few moments to rally support and energize residents to fight for D.C. voting rights. The mayor proudly relayed the District's financial track record of a balanced budget for over a decade and strong ratings from New York financial institutions.

He took a few shots at Congress for meddling in District affairs. "From what I've seen, I don't feel comfortable sending our budget up there to be reviewed," said Gray. Especially when riders are added limiting the District's ability to spend its budget as it sees fit.

"It's really about citizens of the District of Columbia being able to make our own decisions about what it is that we want." Later he added, "I want the same rights as everybody else, but it's not going to happen ladies and gentlemen until we stand up and fight for ourselves."

During the question and answer session, the mayor committed to seeing through several projects of concern to neighbors.

, a sometimes Patch contributor, asked the mayor about the L and M Street cycletracks. The mayor deferred to DDOT representatives who assured Archer and residents that the project would move forward.

Former ANC Commissioner and current board member for Friends of Volta Park, John Lever, asked the mayor to help the community find additional funds to renovate the play area at . Lever told the mayor that the community had raised $30,000 of the needed funding, but that the additional funds they had been promised were cut during budget negotiations. The mayor said he would look into finding additional monies in the budget.

The campus plan process also came to the forefront. The mayor that the University and neighbors would find common ground and approve a plan acceptable to all.