March 8, 1999
Mayor Williams Applauds Restoration of Management Control of the District of Columbia
Mayor Anthony A. Williams today thanked President Bill Clinton for signing into law the D.C. Management Restoration Bill of 1999. The bill returns authority to the Office of the Mayor over the District of Columbia's nine largest agencies.
The bill repealed the Faircloth attachment to the District of Columbia Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, which ceded control of the management reform of Washington, D.C.'s nine largest agencies to the Financial Authority.
"This is a new day in Washington," Mayor Williams said. "President Clinton's signature on this bill is yet another tangible demonstration in the belief that elected officials in the District of Columbia have what it takes to run the city. I am very pleased in this show of faith and pledge that all of us who work in District of Columbia government will show by our work that this confidence was well placed.
"Everyone wins in this scenario with District residents being the biggest winners. The end-result will be efficient and effective government operations and improved services to city residents."
The new act allows Mayor Williams to hire and fire senior managers in government and also returns to the City Council full authority to approve mayoral appointments without the intervention of the Financial Authority. It dissolves the divisions in local government and ensures that the new administration is accountable when the Financial Authority's mandate expires.
D.C. Delegate to Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton has been instrumental in securing Congressional support for this return to Home Rule and shepherding the bill through the legislative process. And Mayor Williams got crucial support for the conversion back to Home Rule from Financial Authority Chairman Alice Rivlin prior to his swearing-in when she signaled her support for the restoration of the Mayor's powers.
During floor consideration of the recently signed bill on February 9, 1999, Congresswoman Norton said in a statement: "The advantage of having a government that knows that it and it alone will be fully accountable cannot be underestimated in a democracy. Whatever justification some may have found for the denial of self-government has been stripped away by the growing fiscal health of the District government and its prudent management of its finances and operations. Beyond securing more revenue, city officials have shown that they know what to do with it. Their decision to use surplus revenues to pay down the city's accumulated debt demonstrates they can and will make tough financial choices. In the face of sacrifices that District residents have made, and the unanticipated surpluses that have been produced, there is no justification for delaying a return to coherent and fully accountable self-government."
