jonetta rose barras: The impervious madame mayor

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser glided into her press room Wednesday, fresh from her general election victory. She started by thanking voters and announcing her pride at being “elected as mayor a second time.”

Then, with an often-underappreciated deftness, Bowser took command of the microphone and the message. She announced plans for “refreshing” her administration with a “second-term working group” that included her deputy chief of staff, her budget director and the acting deputy mayor for health and human services.

When pressed by me for specifics about the guidance the trio received from her, Bowser failed to provide any. She said only that they would be looking at “people, policies and processes” to help the administration “achieve our vision.”

No word yet on what that vision is, exactly.

Bowser also discussed hiring a consultant who would take a look at the government’s organizational chart. She did not mention any one agency or area of concern during the news conference. However, in a Trump-style move, she announced the next day multiple department changes, including the exodus of the director of the Department of Government Services and a switch of leadership at the Department of Parks and Recreation. I am holding out for more significant changes.

Her plan to examine the structure of the $14 billion operation should be embraced. Anyone who has interacted with the District government knows it is bloated, sluggish, ineffective and inefficient. The council’s penchant to willy-nilly add on boards and split agencies has made matters worse.

What may have been most interesting was watching Bowser as she brushed aside with aplomb repeated media questions about the loss of her favored at-large council candidate, Dionne Reeder, to incumbent Elissa Silverman. In fact, Bowser acted as if bringing down a ton of money and her political organization, known as the Green Team, on a sitting legislator was business as usual.

“In elections there are winners and losers,” said Bowser, as she switched gears to announce that she intends to introduce in January legislation that would allow the city to tax and regulate marijuana as it would any other commercial, retail product.

Unsurprisingly, she offered no insight into what that would mean; there was no discussion about whether there is sufficient support for it on the council or whether she has been assured by anyone, other than DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, that Congress would no longer serve as an impediment.

The ignore-and-distract two-step on display during the press conference was classic Bowser.

There may not be hell to pay for her unsuccessful general-election maneuver to relieve Silverman of her seat in the legislature. There were signs, however, that voters were less than pleased.

Consider that Bowser was low on the vote-gathering totem pole, despite having only token opposition. She garnered 162,199 votes, or 76.21 percent of the total 219,101 ballots counted on election night (absentee votes and provisional ballots aren’t yet in the DC Board of Elections’ figures). By comparison, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson brought in 188,362 votes, or 89.13 percent, and Attorney General Karl Racine captured a whopping 196,766 votes, or 92.81 percent of the completed ballots.

Bowser’s three opponents received a total of 41,914 votes. That does not include the nearly 9,000 write-ins or the 6,195 under votes reported by the elections board. Under votes generally reflect voters’ decision not to mark their ballots for anyone in a particular race.

Undoubtedly, Bowser isn’t getting into those political weeds. After all, she just pulled off a feat that eluded two predecessors, including Adrian M. Fenty, who some have called her mentor. That fact means she has moved out from under Fenty’s shadow — requiring people to measure Bowser only against her own actions, and permitting her to solidify her political narrative.

Creating a legacy of significance over the next four years won’t be easy, however, especially with possible animus between Bowser and certain members of the council. Silverman may have been described by some of her colleagues as an “irritant” who doesn’t play well with others, but they will circle the wagon around her if they feel the powers and influence of the legislature are in jeopardy.

Further, Silverman’s drubbing of Reeder could make securing consensus between the executive and legislative branches more difficult. Members are sure to want to flex their muscles, although there is a limit to that since DC has a strong-mayor form of government.

Silverman won 86,636 votes or 26.61 percent of the votes cast, while Reeder received 47,008 or 14.44 percent of the votes. To be fair, Reeder’s showing was not bad, given that she had little name recognition and no money before Bowser arrived, attempting to rescue her flailing campaign.

However, a measure of voters’ determination to prevent the mayor’s candidate from declaring victory can be glimpsed in the under votes in the at-large election. The law permitted voters to choose two candidates. With nearly 113,000 under votes, it’s clear many voters decided to select only one. There is a history of under votes in the at-large race, perhaps from people who don’t understand they can select two candidates — but the proportion was higher this year than it was in 2014. Moreover, bullet-voting as a way to protect Silverman and slap Bowser had been discussed in the waning days of the campaign. It appears that’s exactly what happened.

Why does any of this matter?

The members of the council’s progressive wing already have read the Silverman win as a signal they should move full-steam ahead on their agenda. Since Bowser’s politics and public policy tend to be more centrist, there’s the potential for more clashes than in the past. As a result of the mayor’s strong-arm tactics, the public may lean toward Silverman and her allies in such disputes, depriving the executive of the support it needs to advance its vision.

Bowser can take solace in the fact that Mendelson, not Silverman, is the leader of the legislature. He could help mitigate the tension and smooth relations, as he has done many times before. Unless, of course, the mayor keeps wearing her imperviousness on her sleeve, acting as if elections don’t matter and don’t have consequences.

jonetta rose barras is a DC-based freelance writer and host of The Barras Report television show. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.