Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, said he sees the District much improved in the future.

"I think by 2010 we will all have gotten our act together," Evans said. "I see the District of Columbia being a thriving city in the heart of probably the most thriving metropolitan region in the country. Because things are (already) headed in that direction.

"I believe we will have fixed the school system so that all of our children who are in the D.C. public school system will be able to get a quality education. (School Superintendent Arlene) Ackerman, I think, is on the right track. She’s taken some very bold, dramatic actions recently and I hope she keeps it up."

Evans said positive change is underway in the police department also.

"I think (Police Chief Charles H.) Ramsey’s going to do that in the department. We’ve already made tremendous strides.

"I think you’re going to have a city with an excellent school system. I think you’re going to have a city where economic opportunities abound because it’s starting to take off now, in spite of everything. And I think the original economy will be more integrated which I think is going to be the key to the success here. I see a bright future for the city and this region."

Evans added one cautionary note.

"A lot depends on the economy remaining strong nationwide too, though," he said. "If that were to turn south, that could make things a little more difficult to do."

Councilman Kevin P. Chavous, D-Ward 7, envisions strong neighborhoods in the District’s future.

"My vision is that we will be viewed as a city not just of monuments but as a city of first-rate neighborhoods and neighborhood communities," he said, "so that when people think of Trinidad, they don’t think of low-income property or public housing; they think of working-class people who have worked their way out of poverty and they have good neighborhood schools.

"When they think of Georgetown, they don’t think of a trendy nightspot; they think of the people who live there who have their annual festivals and the parks there," Chavous continued.

Chavous said he wants to "change the perception of just being a federal city to a city that is an attractive livable city for people. In the year 2010, we have to have a city that is livable in terms of different socioeconomic classes.

"I’m very much concerned that we’re on the precipice," Chavous said. "If the policies and procedures of the new mayor and the new administration aren’t clearly defined, we will be heading down the road of having a city of the haves and have-nots. The low-income and poor residents will be pushed into the county and the super-rich will take over the city.

"I’d like to see the Anacostia (River) be a focus of reasonable, structured, environmentally safe development that highlights the use of the river. By 2010, we can accomplish that," he said.

"I’d like to see our neighborhood commercial corridors offer the goods and services that the citizens would like to see there.

"I’d like to see full-fledged home rule," Chavous said. "Not home rule as we knew it from 1974 to ’94, but more sovereign jurisdiction with voting representation in Congress."

D.C. Statehood candidate John Gloster agreed that the District’s neighborhoods are the key to the city’s success in the future.

"One of the things I think that we must do is take all of our eggs out of one or two baskets in the District," Gloster said. "Our economy needs to diversify. We’re entirely too reliant on the federal government and tourism. And by tourism I lump in the convention center and MCI arena and all that kind of stuff. We need to have a 10, 20-year plan right now to bring other kinds of businesses into the District.

"We have lots of skills and talents in the District and potential businesses left and right that we have to invest in and help them get started," Gloster said. "And we need to be about doing that right now.

"If we do that, we’ll find that our businesses will be scattered proportionately around the city," he said. "They won’t be focused around one area of the city. You won’t have people in Anacostia who feel cut off from jobs downtown because of transportation or other reasons.

"I see a city where our educational system works, where our youth and others have hope," Gloster said. "We’re sending messages that are counter to hope. Instead of expanding (the University of the District of Columbia), we’re cutting back on UDC. We’re willing to build a prison in Ward 8 which already has St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Blue Plains, which treats all the sewage from this entire region, and a couple of military bases.

"And these people (in Ward 8) are walking around looking for any little inkling of hope," he said. "And all they see is ‘Here’s your future and maybe if you can make it across the bridge you can get a minimum-wage job downtown working at a convention center or something like that.’

"I see a city in which everybody has a future where they see that we’re not turning them away. When they really seriously believe that we believe in them, not just a few select ones that we can pluck out and save, but that we’re actually reaching out to all of them. When we reach that level we’ll change the entire dynamic, the way we approach each other. You won’t have people afraid to travel into Anacostia," Gloster said of the neighborhood in which he lives.

Former chief financial officer Anthony Williams, a Democrat, wants the world to view the District with more respect.

"People don’t think of the District in the same breath they think of Tokyo, London, Rome, all these other major world capitals," Williams said. "They don’t think of Washington the same way. I would think that in 2010 people would think of Washington the same way. They’ll think of it as the best American city.

"Because if you look at the way New York has been brought back, Philadelphia has been brought back, Cleveland, even Detroit now," Williams said, "and you look at what they have and compare what they have with what we have, we have much more potential."

Councilwoman Carol Schwartz, R-At large, said she would like to see the District restored to its former stature.

"I see a city that has people back in it," she said. "We were a city that was over 800,000 people. We were not too crowded — it was a big, booming wonderful city. So I want to attract back 200,000 to 300,000 people.

"I want to see us have those businesses and vitality in the neighborhood where people can shop and walk and enjoy their neighborhoods and find the services they need right there.

"I want to see people sitting out on their stoops," Schwartz said. "I mean, Washington is one of those great cities and one of the things that’s most appealing is the porches and the stoops and the outdoor areas.

"I moved to Washington 33 years ago out of choice," she continued. "I didn’t follow anybody here; I came here by choice. The two things that attracted me most about this city were its beautiful greenery, just the sheer beauty of the city, and the diversity of its people. And I want to see both intact."

Schwartz stressed the importance of improving the District’s schools.

"I want to see education. I want to see kids really learning. I want to see a public school system that does what it’s supposed to do, that challenges each and every child and helps them reach their full potential.

"I believe that public schools should work and I put my own children (through public schools). They never spent one second of their lives anywhere but the D.C. public schools," Schwartz said.

Councilman Harold Brazil, D-At large, said he sees the public education system as the key to the District’s future.

"I see schools that work," he said, "that are churning out some of the best and the brightest. Some of those people are still coming out through that system now, but I want some more schools that are newer, that are smarter, that are smaller, and class sizes that are smaller. These are the various components that go into a child that is proficient at the basics."

"And then, having that in place, I want more jobs, better jobs," Brazil said. He said that would produce "more people that can provide for their family and are less dependent on society to take care of their basic needs.

"I’d like to push in the technology sector to get more of those jobs here," he said, "and more in the international area on the business side.

"It’s the productive society that excels," Brazil said. "That’s the higher bar. But I think that by 2010 we ought to be getting close to that."

Restaurant owner and businessman Jeffrey Gildenhorn said he sees the return of home rule in the District’s near future. He also dismissed the idea of the D.C. control board being part of a "plan" to strip power from elected officials in the District.

"They’d like to see us able to manage our affairs ourselves as much as we can," Gildenhorn said of the control board and Congress.

"I think (new control board Chairman) Alice Rivlin is more inclined to working with local officials than (former chairman) Andrew Brimmer," Gildenhorn said. "If we produce and put this city back on the right track, I think you’ll see the Congress slowly fade out," he said. "And we’ll again have our complete, full home rule where we can manage our affairs ourselves. I think it’s even going to be before the year 2000."

Teacher and Democrat Sylvia Robinson-Green said she wants the District to be someplace the nation and its residents can be proud of.

"I see Washington, D.C., as a showplace," she said. "We ought to be something for the rest of the nation to look at and copy."

Robinson-Green said she wants people to "look at the nation’s capital and be proud of it, not scorn it all the time.

"How do we get there? Work with the people. Have the people care about where they live."

Robinson-Green said better social services and schools would breed more respect and pride in the District in D.C. residents. She said if that is accomplished there won’t be people "just seeing what they can get out of the government."

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator