UPDATED, 2:42 p.m.: The One City Summit fell short of attendance expectations, drawing a crowd of about 1,700 to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center even though organizers said they had registered 3,211 people for the daylong meeting. In an email to The Washington Examiner, mayoral spokesman Pedro Ribeiro said attendance was “1,700+,” but offered no further details. Earlier in the week, Ribeiro said America Speaks, the nonprofit that facilitated the meeting, expected 60 percent of registered participants – 1,927 people – to show up for the meeting. Saturday’s actual attendance meant that a maximum of 56 percent of registrants ultimately participated in the summit.
• Get updates on Twitter from Examiner reporter Alan Blinder.
UPDATED, 12:59 p.m.: Marion Barry said the One City Summit is the newest tactic for big city mayors to connect with residents. “Each generation of mayors ought to be generating ideas that extend us from where we started,” the former mayor and current Ward 8 councilman told The Washington Examiner. “There are no textbooks on how to be mayor.” Barry, who spent much of Saturday morning at a discussion table inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, said he thought the gathering could clear the way for more common ground within the District. “I think it’s a fine idea to bring everyone together and try to define what One City is,” Barry said. “We’ve still got barriers… that have to be broken down.” Barry’s Southeast ward comprised 10 percent of attendance at Saturday’s summit. UPDATED, 12:52 p.m.: Mayor Vincent Gray told thousands of D.C. residents on Saturday that he wants to partner with them to build a better Washington. “We must take the opportunity to seize our future and harness all of the dramatic changes that we are experiencing for the maximum benefit of our entire city,” Gray said at the One City Summit. “We are bound together in a single destiny as a city… What happens in Barry Farm and Deanwood affects what happens in Georgetown and Cleveland Park, and vice versa.” Gray said he was confident that Saturday’s gathering would help move the District forward. “The beauty of this One City Summit is that we’re here. Hundreds, thousands of us from every ward, every corner of our city, gathered under one roof with one purpose. That’s a fine way to start building One City,” Gray said. “This is real-time, grassroots democracy, D.C.-style.” In his second round of public remarks at the gathering, Gray focused on the state of D.C.’s economy and its unemployment rate, which stands at 10.4 percent. “While six of our wards have seen increases in family income, two of our wards have not,” Gray said of the city’s economic structure. “Despite all of the increasing prosperity of the city, a large segment of the District’s population still finds it very difficult to get and hold a job.” Meeting organizers expect Saturday’s summit to focus on four topics: the economy, workforce preparedness, education and “early success” for toddlers and infants. UPDATED, 11:55 a.m. Women apparently have a greater interest in molding D.C.’s future than men.A computerized survey taken at Saturday’s One City Summit revealed that 61 percent of participants are women. The District is about 53 percent female.
Some other demographic information about the gathering…
Age: Most attendees are also between the ages of 45 and 64. The same survey showed that 41 percent of participants fall into that demographic. If that group is expanded to include participants 65 and older, the figure jumps to 60 percent. Residents under the age of 24 make up only 14 percent of the crowd.
Race/Ethnicity: The gathering has a surprising number of participants of Asian origin: 8 percent. The latest U.S. Census figures show D.C. has an Asian population of less than 4 percent. Latinos are also making a big showing, representing 19 percent of the crowd when the Census says about 9 percent of the District is Hispanic.
Blacks comprise 44 percent of the One City crowd, and whites make up 22 percent. Both figures are lower than Census estimates for those demographics.
Residency: Ward 1, which includes neighborhoods like Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan, is the most represented ward at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Some 18 percent of the crowd lives in Ward 1. Ward 3, home to nearly 13 percent of the District’s population, brought up the rear on attendance with its residents making up 8 percent of the audience.
And nearly half of One City Summit participants – 47 percent – have lived in the District for at least 20 years.
• Get updates on Twitter from Examiner reporter Alan Blinder.
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray kicked off his long-awaited One City Summit on Saturday morning, promising to listen to the concerns of D.C. residents and shape his agenda accordingly.
“Today you will let us build a roadmap,” Gray told a packed convention hall. “’One City’ is far more than a slogan. It is far more than a logo.”
More than 3,000 people had registered for the gathering at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, but as the event began, precise attendance figures were unclear. Earlier this week, the mayor’s office tried to lower expectations, publicly predicting that only 60 percent of registrants would ultimately attend.
The summit, which shares a name with Gray’s campaign platform, has drawn criticism for its estimated $600,000 cost. Despite Gray’s efforts to secure private funding to offset the six-figure expense, taxpayers will likely end up paying about $550,000 for the meeting, a mayoral spokesman said Thursday.
