By jonetta rose barras on Oct 30, 2026 Last updated Oct 30, 2026

“Do not get trapped in an optimism bias. Do not assume what was true last decade will be true in the next,” former DC Mayor Anthony Williams advised the DC Council earlier this month during a marathon roundtable focused on risky revenue-raising ideas — some of them offered by outgoing Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who won’t be around to be held accountable for any adverse consequences caused by her legislative proposals.

“I remember the dark days in the 1990s in the District. Most councilmembers (and the likely mayor) have only known this city when it was on an upward trajectory. Believe me, it could reverse,” Williams added in his prepared statement.

Translation: DC may be in deep doo-doo and most of the folks expected to clean it up, especially those who will hold new political offices come January 2027, don’t have a clue about what products or techniques to use, let alone how to use them efficiently and effectively.

At this moment, days before the general election, the District government is facing what Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee has characterized as a fiscal cliff. That statement might give the impression that the principal problem is money. It isn’t.

Truth be told, the DC government has massive issues: It is a bloated, poorly structured, wildly expensive municipal corporation that continues to use 20th-century methodology and technology to solve 21st-century socioeconomic challenges. Those troubles are complicated by a large and marginally skilled workforce of high-level executives, middle managers and front-line employees — all charged with implementing a plethora of public policies introduced by political leaders who have failed to accurately identify the people who need help, how to improve their lives, and how to sustain those improvements.

Those elements create the roadmap to the city’s fiscal woes, including overspending that has precipitated onerous hikes in regulatory and user fees along with tax increases.

Despite the indisputable detriments of those actions, the council is considering more of the same, while most likely providing only tweaks to some programs and expenditures.

It really is déjà vu all over again.

DC Auditor Kathy Patterson said some of the problems were addressed over the past few decades but have now “come back around.”

“The city is financially stronger. There is an awful lot of wealth and value. There is a lot to build on,” added Patterson.

Where is the blueprint?

The Nov. 3 election may end up being nothing more than a game of musical chairs, with the usual suspects winning new seats and a continuing decline in the quality of life for many residents. Disrupting the latter trajectory requires swift, thoughtful, decisive and comprehensive action — something way beyond the executive and legislative branches’ typically flawed application of Band-Aids.

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