On Monday, in its very first sign of political will, the city council took a knife to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s 2009 budget, cuting enough to balance the budget and whacking off an additional $46 million just in case city revenues go the way of the stock market.
This was a prudent thing to do, in light of the spending sprees that previous councils engaged in, like ones that sent the city toward bankruptcy a dozen years ago.
“I am particularly proud of the institution,” At-large council member David Catania told me. “This body is not eager to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
But in bucking the mayor for the first time in two years, is the city council asserting its power? Is it signaling that the Adrianettes will no longer play backup guitar to the mayor’s lead?
Council Chairman Vincent Gray pounded his chest in press releases telling how his method of reducing the budget was more skillful than the mayor’s. Fenty already had cut the budget by $131 million, with a series of across-the-board reductions. Gray took a more precise approach, but in the process he angered some folks. Advocates for the homeless and affordable housing programs showed up at council chambers to protest.
“No one here today is happy to be here,” Gray said.
Fenty wasn’t there, and I would assume he was quite happy to be away from the chamber. Why, pray tell, did the mayor not protest the council’s “victory?”
In pure political terms, Gray and his council gave Fenty political cover. If the pain inflicted by the council causes protests, Fenty can point to the council and say: “Ask Chairman Gray about the cuts.”
By letting Gray cut the budget, was Fenty outmaneuvered? Or was Gray outfoxed?
The council was essentially doing its job, no more, no less. Like the federal government’s process of dispensing money, in the District the mayor proposes a budget and the council disposes of the cash.
The $46 million the council set aside serves to restore the $50 million that Congress required the District to place in reserve until it lifted the requirement this year. And the council can put the $46 million back in the budget if revenue estimates in December are less dire.
These estimates are the best-kept secret in Natwar Gandhi’s Office of Tax and Revenue, but from what I can discern, D.C.’s finances are relatively healthy. The experts expect sales and real estate tax revenues to remain strong, even as revenues from income and capital gains taxes decline. The inauguration will be a windfall in revenue.
Compared with governments in Maryland and Virginia, D.C.’s coffers remain fat.
Is the council’s sudden burst of authority over the budget a harbinger of its increased clout? Will the group of 13 muscle the mayor?
No way, is the word from inside the council and in the halls of power. Fenty is still too popular and too agile. The honeymoon has become a long-term affair, with Fenty still the boss.
