Mayor Anthony Williams revealed an ambitious goal during his second inaugural address on Jan. 2, calling expansion of the city's tax base through increased homeownership in the District a "critical … part of our goal to bring 100,000 residents to the city within 10 years."

"We must lure back residents who fled the city in the past, but not at the expense of those who today call the District home," the mayor said. "We can do this. We will do this."

Population experts have since cast some doubt on whether the District can so dramatically outpace growth in similar urban areas to reach that target. The District, which once had 800,000 residents but now about 570,000, lost a third of its population to suburban flight during recent decades before the mass exodus was stanched. Two of the major problems often cited as reasons for that flight – high crime in residential neighborhoods and low student achievement in public schools – still challenge D.C. leaders' efforts to change the city's image.

And image, as Mayor Williams and other successful politicians intimately know, can sometimes be more important than reality in achieving a goal.

In that vein, Mayor Williams could set the example by following through on the pledge he made to D.C. voters during his first campaign for mayor in 1998: that, if elected, he would buy a home in the District.

During his first term, the mayor initially fended off questions about his house-hunting by claiming he was too busy to look for a home. During the past year, there have been scattered reports that the mayor and his wife were eyeing a historic but dilapidated house in LeDroit Park. But the First Couple continues to rent an apartment in Foggy Bottom.

Even though there's a plan in progress to build an official mansion for the mayor, it's a bit hypocritical for the mayor to spend tax dollars on advertisements in which he attempts to lure others to invest in the District while he hasn't done so himself.

What does it say to others about the District when after more than four years, the mayor hasn't found a suitable home to purchase here?

Mayor Williams needs to demonstrate his faith in the District by putting his own money where his mouth is.