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Taking note . . .

Observations about public affairs in the nation’s capital
by the editor of The Common Denominator

CREATIVE FINANCING: Mayor Anthony Williams, dubbed "Traveling Tony" by some critics for his frequent out-of-town trips (many at taxpayer expense), appears to have latched on to a convenient way of defraying the costs associated with visiting his in-laws in Missouri. The mayor and his wife, Diane, departed for St. Louis midday May 27 to spend most of the Memorial Day weekend visiting the city's First Lady's family.

Mrs. Williams "paid her own way," according to an e-mail message from mayoral spokeswoman Sharon Gang, responding to The Common Denominator's inquiry about the trip. But Gang said the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission paid the mayor's $346 roundtrip airfare. "There was no lodging cost as the Mayor is staying with family," Gang wrote.

During a telephone conversation, Gang justified the taxpayers footing the bill for the mayor's visit with his in-laws by calling the jaunt a "business" trip.

"He's going to visit the stadium ...They're a year away from a new stadium ...He's going to look at the old Busch Stadium," Gang said.

Gang said she doesn't know if the mayor has ever before attended a ballgame at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The mayor's public schedule for the weekend showed him planning to attend the Washington Nationals' games against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday afternoon, before returning to the District on Sunday evening.

THAT DEUTCHE BANK DEAL: D.C. taxpayers, who are looking at about a $1 billion debt — including the financing charges — to repay if the new Anacostia waterfront baseball stadium is built, might like to know that Mayor Williams has another connection with Deutsche Bank, in addition to promoting the financial institution's proposed "private financing" deal as his favorite way to fund the new ballpark.

The German bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society and the London School of Economics have included Mayor Williams among their expert panelists for a two-year, international Urban Age Conference examining the problems of cities in the 21st century. Williams, billed in a Herrhausen Society press release as "the driving force behind Washington's proactive urban regeneration programmes," participated in the kickoff event on Feb. 25 in New York City, with the conference sponsors picking up the tab.

No word yet if the mayor also plans to jet off to Shanghai, London, Johannesburg, Mexico City or Berlin when the conference holds sessions in those cities.

Copyright 2005 The Common Denominator