Report from Santa Fe; Anthony Williams

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... ... ... ... ... ... Felt it for that Washington D.C. Unlike New York, which went into bankruptcy about 1974, Philadelphia was early 90s, I guess it was the early 90s, Everendell faced that, Cleveland with their now Senator Voinavitch. All these cities when they went into insolvency, they were able to get out of it, not only through some tough choices that all of them made as leaders, and I applaud them for it, but they also financed that accumulated deficit. The city of Washington D.C., unlike, for example, down the road in California, right? We didn't take a massive accumulated deficit, I mentioned about $500 million, and finance that out into eternity. We paid that down, very, very difficult. And that's very, very difficult to do, and it's up to the city in very, very good shape.

Another thing I've done is I've been very, very conservative with expenditures, very, very conservative with estimating revenue, and the council of my city has gone from being a dormant for the mayor to being a front and center top level oversight entity under Chairman Linda Crop, and I applaud her for that. I see that we're going to leave the league of cities for a minute, because I want you to tell our viewers about the structure of Washington D.C., and why your government, your form of government is different from anywhere else in the country. Well, what your viewers out here in New Mexico need to understand is, like I tell everybody, I mean, this is your nation's capital. So you should have the same pride and affection for your nation's capital, that the friendship, for Paris, for Germans, for Berlin. Look at Berlin when Germany was unified. When Germany was unified, the German government, the now-unified German government, has spent billions of dollars to relocate a perfectly functioning government in Bonn in Berlin. That's why, because it was of iconic symbolic importance to have a national capital representing all the history, the good in the bad of German civilization, French civilization, or American civilization, that's the center of that, and the focus of that, symbolically and spiritually and psychologically, should be Washington D.C., not that our other cities aren't front and center in our affections, but Washington D.C. is our capital.

And what's the situation in Washington D.C., what's the situation in Washington D.C. is, Washington D.C. was created as we created our constitution. There were a lot of things that were left undone. Slavery was left undone. The whole notion of the union, and whether you had to stay in or not was left undone. What it meant to be a member of the union, federalism, strong federal government, weak federal government, all those issues that had to be resolved. And they have been roughly speaking, certainly slavery, certainly succession, and those issues have been resolved, and the federal issue was still playing out, even to this day. But one issue we have really not resolved, that was set up in the very structure of the constitution, was the city of Washington D.C. was put under Article I, under the U.S. Congress, to insulate the Congress from any local parochial influence. And that provision has done that. The problem is that it is subjected to people Washington D.C. to all the influences of individual congressmen and senators on any number of different subjects, so for example, we don't have a vote in the House or the Senate.

Even though, much in D.C., we have the second or third highest per capita income tax in the country, and we have six highest-cashody rate. If we were a state of all the states and all the wars fought by the United States, going back to the Revolution, think about that. We don't have a vote in either House. So what does that mean? It's very difficult for our Congresswoman Ellen Holmes, Norton, without a vote to hold sway up there. And what does it also mean? It also means that, for example, a congressman down in Texas decided that you'll be a good idea to name 16th Street, going up from the White House to name 16th Street Northwest for Ronald Reagan. It may or may not be a good idea to name a street for Ronald Reagan, but that ought to be a matter for local voters in Washington D.C., not for the Congress who elected them, or they don't like our gun bill. Because, like many American cities and urban areas, we have very strong gun restrictions. Now, I know that, for example, in New Mexico, there got to be different views on gun control, right? They're sure there are.

And we all have our different views of gun control, right? I happen to have a more conservative view than some of my constituents. But the fact is, my constituents, before I became mayor, quit these laws in the place, and I'm bound to uphold those laws. One, and number two, is really not the business of people who were not elected by the people of Washington D.C., to pontificate on what our gun laws are. And the superimpose, their value. Well, how what kind of progress is being made toward your having a vote? Well, I was going to say, you know, you were mentioning that Ted Turner owns a lot of matchland here in New Mexico and Buffaloes, and made me think, you know what is the like to run Washington D.C., would be like, if you and I were playing cards on a flimsy car table and some photo chairs in the middle of a Buffalo Stampede, you know, it's very difficult to do business when you've got this huge federal government just roaming around, right? Trying to keep it rained in from trampling your little car tape was very, very difficult, but we manage. And I think we've been successful. And how do you do it?

It was like I was talking to Joe Maestus in a city like Española, where he's got to deal with the counties, the tribal governments, the BLM, Bureau of Land Management, the state, you know, God knows who else. I really reminded me of my situation. I got to deal with so many people. You know, I got to have meetings in the sports arena. There's so many people I got to deal with. So, are you working toward getting at least a vote for your house in the House of Representatives? Is that a representative? Representative Tom Davis, who happens to be a Republican, which shows that this isn't a partisan issue. He's a leader in the Republican caucus as a matter of fact in the House. Representative Tom Davis has a bill that would give us a vote in exchange for an additional house seat in Utah. So, you're really saying an additional Republican vote, additional Democratic vote. And I think we ought to go with it. It's strongly supported by citizens of my city. And I'm pleased that New Mexico local officials at their meeting down in Roosevelt have voted a resolution in support of Congressman Davis' bill. Let's go back to your vision of cities. I think, and we forgot to mention your background, because you have a degree from Yale.

And then JD from Harvard and your graduate of the Kennedy School of Government. And I think he went back to Yale and you were giving a talk about that we are leaving the century of the suburbs and going into the century of the city, am I? You're on the highway, and you know, like if you go on the highway, I know an I-40 in California, when you come in the needles, there's a big sign. Last chance for gas. So, on the highway, into the future, and it says, leaving the century of suburbs, we're now entering the century of cities. I really believe that people's understanding and appreciation for cities is changing now. There's no longer the hostility. And there's no long where there really just fundamental and one difference of cities that there once was. People are willing to move back. You're already seeing in many cities across the country. Senior citizens are moving back after they've raised their children. You're seeing single couples and many instances in APG, you know, moving into cities.

What you don't see, and you have to see if cities are really going to survive in this, and it's really going to be a century of cities as we have to improve our schools. That's why you see mayors and consul people and commissioners, even if they don't have to recontrol the schools, they're really getting involved in that in some way because they recognize a future of their city. Their strongest asset is their workforce, and they recognize that people are not going to stay in the city. Those young couples are going to move out of the city if they can't afford to send their children to private schools. That's certainly the case in my city. It's a heartbreaking thing, and this isn't just a white thing. It's white, black, and everybody. All Latino. When people get to their children, get you an age where they can't educate their children, they don't have faith in the public school. They will move out. So you have to improve those schools. Then can I take it? You support no child left behind?

I do support, and a lot of my democratic friends disagree with me on this. I know, but you know, a lot of things I work closely with the president on, and on no child left behind on educational issues. You know, my attitude is I'm sure if I were a democratic mayor, the Republican governor or a Republican mayor and a Democratic governor, people understand this around the state. You have to work for the best interests of your city. So when President Bush came into town, even though I had supported Al Gore, I said, forget it. Let's do business as work together, and that's been my philosophy ever since, and we both work together, and it's worked for the benefit of my city. And I actually think for the benefit of both our administrations, and one thing where I think he has shown strong leadership is no child left behind because I think we do have to hold our schools and our workforce to accountability standards. One of the things that really frustrated me about the move by some of the members of Congress to change a gun bill in my city is because I know they're hearing from the NRA change a gun bill, change a gun bill. You know, I supported vouchers in my city. The teachers were my strongest supporters when I first ran for mayor. They were big, big part of my re-election effort, but I believe that vouchers for low-income parents in the lowest performing schools were worth a try.

And I say to all these Congress people, if I'm willing to buck one of my strongest support blocks, what are you going to do with one of your strong support blocks? Where's the leadership? Another federal issue that I'd love your opinion on the transportation bill. Did that benefit you a lot? It is. Whenever you have a bill like that, you always have issues. We can all look at it and analyze it and say that we don't agree with this and Anderson Pork here and there, but again, you know, recognize it. When you're a local official, you're bringing jobs, you're bringing investment back to your community. And I think in the by and large, it's a really good balance between making those critical investments in infrastructure across the country and doing it in a fiscally responsible way. And I applaud the Congress and the president for it. You know, you spoke to the municipal league about your early travels to New Mexico as a child and how you were raised. So tell us a little bit about how many years ago that was and what your travels in New Mexico, because in a way that always brings you back and might be brought you here.

I remember Route 66 when it was Route 66 and when you had the roadside stands and the gotty neon signs, little, you know, drive up motels and the teepee shape. There was a lot of work in a very kind of vernacular way. I guess an architect would say it was a real, there was a lot of creativity that you don't see now. And what I really felt and yet to understand that people say that well, you went to Yale and Harvard, so you must come from some fancy noble type family, you know, some black aristocracy or something. I'd say no. I don't come from a nobility of a hair of pedigree or anything, but we do come from a family that I would say is an ability of aspiration. And I mean by nobility of aspiration is that my parents, even though both my parents worked in a post office, my dad worked in a post office for 35 years.

He only took two or three days off sickly the entire time. Can you imagine that? This man was a captain in World War II. He was a combat veteran. He had two bronze stars, a couple other medals with this or that. You know, he was very, very proud of that. He came back. The only job he could get was in the post office. The German soldiers were treated better than he and his compatriots were. So one thing that really touched me is when I was at the history of a museum in New Mexico, when they were talking about the Buffalo soldiers. Well, you know, my dad's union in World War II was a descendant of these Buffalo soldiers. That was a personal thing for me. And I remember that what they tried to do for us growing up is they wanted to expose us to everything that everybody else was exposed to growing up. And the only way they could do that was to get a travel law and a Ted Williams campus. And they packed these seven or eight kids, a dog and a grandmother and the parents. And we just traveled around the country every summer.

And this first summer I was, I must have been about to, about 12 years old, 11 years old. We jumped in the car and we traveled on out Route 66 through Kingman and Williams and Flagstaff. And then we got to New Mexico. And even at a young age, you could feel, I'm not saying this to pump everybody here in New Mexico up. You could really feel the difference. First of all, I grew up in California. You could feel the difference in the North and up on the collar, what I came to know was a Colorado plateau and the Northern elevations. I'd never seen that before. And then you could also notice something different about New Mexico. I'm not sure what it was in a visit bandolier, which wasn't all fancy like it is now. And to see these Anasazi ruins was just magical for me, you know, was a young boy. And so, you know, my dad did a lot of things like that. One of the things he did I was telling the folks down in Roswell was he always took us out to the airport for cheap entertainment. And we would watch planes take off and land. And we did this over and over again. I actually ended up liking airplanes. I had to because I just watched, I felt like the airport control operator because I was, I just watched countless. We just as all we did, you know, on weekends you go and watch go to the airport. We go to the beach.

Didn't you end up in the air force? I'm sure there should be some connection to that. But anyway, I was saying that about it, oh, it's about two years ago, my wife and I were traveling back from visiting my family back to Washington, DC. And as a plane was turning the takeoff onto the runway, we passed this very spot where 45 years ago or so, you know, would stand there against the fence and watch these airplanes were my dad. And then I realized what he was saying. He didn't really communicate it. He couldn't really express it because he was a man a few words like many men of his generation. But what he was saying was, one day kids, you were going to be on that airplane. I want you to see, you know, we would watch the movie stars getting on the old constellations. I think he was saying to us, you're going to one day be able to ride on that airplane. If you do your homework and you get a job and you do all the things you're supposed to do. That was an important lesson, a powerful lesson. I had to cry almost when I saw when I reflect back on that.

When you got it, as a kid, you didn't understand. That was rebellious, you know, and I revoked a lot of the, I was a baby boomer. I think a lot of the baby boomers we were really spoiled. We didn't really know what we really had. Our parents sacrificed so much for us. You know, now we complain because we don't have the right watch. We don't, you know, we're not going on the right vacation or they didn't upgrade us. I mean, you know, give me a break, right? Well, tell us your vision for our cities in New Mexico and what you've experienced being here. I think New Mexico has got so much to offer because New Mexico has got such a tapestry or another way of looking at it as such an overlay of different cultures. It reminds me of when I visited Egypt and Cairo, you could go back to ancient times and you had all these different cultures overlaid on one another. For example, you know, you had the pharonic cultures, the ancient Egyptian cultures, and then you had the Greek, the Roman, the English, the French, the Coptic, the Turkish.

You know, I'm missing somebody on and on and on and on and on. It's the same thing with New Mexico, right? You have the original Native American, the Anasazi, the Native American tribes. We know them now, the Spanish, the Mexican dominion, the American. I mean, am I missing, you know, on and on all this rich tapestry and fabric of cultures is fantastic. And I think as New Mexico shows with, you know, Governor Richardson, the folks here show how they can make this work on a common agenda. That's a powerful lesson for the country. Well, it's all done with mirrors and you've reflected that beautifully back to us. So I want to thank you for being with us today. Thank you all and it's a pleasure to be in Santa Fe and able to talk to you. Our guest is Mayor Anthony Williams, Mayor of the City of Washington DC and President of the National League of Cities. We hope you'll come back. Thank you.

And I'd like to thank you our viewers for being with us today on report from Santa Fe. We'll see you next week. Report from Santa Fe is made possible in part by a grant from the members of the National Education Association of New Mexico. An organization of professionals who believe that investing in public education is an investment in our state's economic future. And I'd like to thank you all for being with us today on report from Santa Fe. And I'd like to thank you all for being with us today on report from Santa Fe. And I'd like to thank you all for being with us today on report from Santa Fe.