I can't help but laugh... DC Mayor's third term as a platform for transformation

 As the Washington Post headlines a story, "Bowser asks for ‘transformational’ ideas for her third term as mayor."

She could just do the stuff I suggested before she was elected:

A Marshall Plan for East of the River

-- "Social urbanism and equity planning as a way to address crime, violence, and persistent poverty: (not in) DC" (reports on a conversation from 2013 and the process after)

and during her two terms of office:

Transformational health care

-- "A glaring illustration of the need for comprehensive health and wellness planning in DC: Providence Hospital," 2018 

Transformational traffic safety

-- "A more radical approach to "Vision Zero" is needed: reconstructing streets out of different materials to reduce speeds," 2019 (DC's failures with traffic safety initiatives)

Creating a local cultural system focused equally on arts as production not just consumption

-- "What would be a "Transformational Projects Action Plan" for DC's cultural ecosystem," 2018

Streetcars as an economic development device

-- "DC and streetcars #4: from the standpoint of stoking real estate development, the line is incredibly successful and it isn't even in service yet, and now that development is extending eastward past 15th Street," 2015 (why is DC's streetcar program so aimless and not focused on stoking improvements in lagging areas)

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Years ago, before she was elected mayor, I had a conversation with a DC City Council staffer about how Muriel Bowser didn't like to be pinned down, having to make a decision.  

 

And I "argued" with her about various legislative initiatives that at the end of the day, had no impact, because they provided no additional remedies to give citizens the power to respond to and potentially stop things they didn't like, by providing a process for review and participation.

 

Later, when she was our Councilmember, I complained that she was unable to draw out the need for structural solutions from the information stream that comprised her heralded "constituent services" (never thought they were transformational anyway).

From "Analytical myopia by politicians and the DC mayoral election" (2014):

I had intended last week to write a scathing piece about Muriel Bowser, the Democratic candidate for Mayor, about her analytical myopia, an incredibly simplistic approach to complex issues, and a belief that any sort of development is "progress" and if you express any sort of opposition, even considered and measured, "you're against progress."

But then I realized that's an affliction common to most of DC's elected officials, even her opponent David Catania (e.g., his stand on ticketing parents for a child's truancy or absence from school--see "Criminalizing truancy versus creating focused programs to address truant behavior").