Mayor of the District of Columbia Information

The Mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of Washington, D.C. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Council of the District of Columbia. In addition, the Mayor oversees all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and the public school system within the District of Columbia.^[1] The mayor's office oversees an annual city budget of $8.8 billion.^[2]

The Executive Office of the Mayor is located in the John A. Wilson Building in downtown Washington, D.C. The Mayor appoints several officers, including the Deputy Mayors for Education and Planning & Economic Development, the City Administrator, the chancellor of the city's public schools, and the department heads of city agencies.

History

The structure of Washington, D.C.'s city government has changed several times since the City of Washington (a smaller municipality within the District of Columbia) was officially granted a formal government in 1802. From 1802 to 1812, the mayor was appointed by the President of the United States; Washington's first mayor was Robert Brent, appointed in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson.^[3] Between 1812 and 1820, the city's mayors were then selected by a city council. From 1820 to 1871 the mayor was popularly elected.

Originally, four separate municipalities were located within the District of Columbia, and each was governed separately: the City of Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria County (retroceded to the state of Virginia in 1846), and unincorporated territory known as Washington County. With the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, the District of Columbia was united under a single territorial government, whose chief executive was Governor. This office was abolished in 1874, after only two governors (Henry D. Cooke and Alexander Robey Shepherd) and replaced with a three-member Board of Commissioners appointed by the President. This system existed until 1967, when the President Lyndon B. Johnson created the office of mayor-commissioner, to be appointed by the President. This office had only one occupant in its eight years of existence: Walter E. Washington.

In 1973, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, providing for an elected mayor and 13-member legislative council, with the first elections to take place the following year.^[4] Incumbent mayor-commissioner Walter Washington was elected the first home-rule Mayor of the District of Columbia on November 5, 1974.

In 1990, with the election of its third mayor, Sharon Pratt Kelly, D.C. became the first major American city to elect an African-American woman as mayor.

Between 1995 and 2001, the mayor's office was deprived of its control over the city's budget and financial affairs by the District of Columbia Financial Control Board, created by Congress in 1995 as a response to a financial crisis in the District that resulted in the city's effective bankruptcy. The control board also depleted the mayor's power by mandating the creation of a chief financial officer and an inspector general -- offices that the mayor had the right to fill, but subject to the approval (and dismissal) of the control board. The board ceased to exist with the passage of the city's fourth consecutive balanced budget (for fiscal year 2001), restoring budgetary and financial authority to the mayor's office. However, the Chief Financial Officer and Inspector General positions remained in place.

In 2007, direct control of the city's public school system was transferred to the Mayor's Office, with executive power of the schools transferred from the Superintendent (a position that was abolished) to the new Chancellor of DC Public Schools.

Official Residence controversy

The mayor of the District of Columbia has no official residence, although the establishment of one has been proposed several times in the years since the office was established in 1974. In 2000, Mayor Anthony A. Williams appointed, with the DC Council's approval, a commission to study the possibilities of acquiring property and a building to be used as the official residence of DC's mayor.^[5] The commission examined several possibilities, including the Old Naval Hospital on Capitol Hill, the warden's house at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, and several former embassies and chanceries before issuing a final report recommending a plan proposed by the Eugene B. Casey Foundation to privately finance the construction of a residence in DC's Foxhall neighborhood and donate it to the city under the name of The Casey Mansion.

The Council approved the plan in 2001. However, residents objected to the plan on the grounds that it aggrandized and insulated the mayor from his constituents;^[6] that the location, rather than symbolizing DC's economic and ethnic diversity, would place the mayor in one of the city's whitest, wealthiest, and most exclusive communities; and, especially, that the Casey Foundation's plan required the acquisition of four acres of national park land to be used as private grounds for the mansion.^[7] After several months of delays caused by these political entanglements, the project began movement in October, 2003; that December, however, the Casey Foundation suddenly announced that it was abandoning plans for a mayoral residence and donating the land to the Salvation Army.^[8] Plans for an official residence have remained inactive ever since.

Elections

The mayor serves a four-year term and can be re-elected without term limits. Candidates must live and be registered to vote in the District of Columbia for one year prior to the date of the election. Elections take place in the same year as the midterm Congressional elections on election day in November.^[9] However, since the electorate of the District is overwhelmingly (over 80 percent) Democratic, in practice the mayor is determined in the primary election, held on the second Tuesday in September.

The mayor is sworn in on January 2 following the election,^[9] taking the following oath:

I, (mayor’s name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the laws of the United States of America and of the District of Columbia, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, which I am about to enter.^[10]

Succession

If the mayor dies in office, resigns, or is unable to carry out his/her duties and he/she did not designate an acting mayor, the Chairman of the DC Council becomes acting mayor until a special election can be held and certified by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics. At least 114 days must pass between the mayoral vacancy and the special election, which is held on the first Tuesday thereafter.^[9] As of 2010, no such vacancy has ever occurred.

Duties and powers

The mayor has the responsibility to enforce all city law; administer and coordinate city departments, including the appointment of a City Administrator and heads of the departments (subject to confirmation by the Council); to set forth policies and agendas to the Council, and prepare and submit the city budget at the end of each fiscal year. The mayor has the powers to either approve or veto bills passed by the DC Council; to submit drafts of legislation to the Council; and to propose federal legislation or action directly to the President and/or Congress of the United States. As head of the city's executive branch, the mayor has the power to draft and enact executive orders relative to the departments and officials under his jurisdiction, and to reorganize any entities within the executive branch (except in the case of formal disapproval by the Council). Additionally, the mayor reserves the right to be heard by the Council or any of its committees.^[1]

List of mayors

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "District of Columbia Home Rule Charter, Sec. 422". U.S. Congress. 1973-12-24. http://www.abfa.com/ogc/tit4.htm#422.
2. ^ "District of Columbia Approved Fiscal Year 2010 - Excecutive Summary" (PDF). Government of the District of Columbia. 2009-09-28. http://government.dc.gov/DC/Government/Data+&+Transparency/Budget+Spending/FY+2010/Approved+Fiscal+Year+2010+-+Excecutive+Summary.
3. ^ http://wyllie.lib.virginia.edu:8086/perl/toccer-new?id=JefThom.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=246&division=div2
4. ^ "District of Columbia Home Rule Act". U.S. Congress. 1973-12-24. http://www.abfa.com/ogc/hrtall.htm.
5. ^ c Mayor's Official Residence Commission, Final Report, April 24, 2001
6. ^ http://www.dcwatch.com/gary/gri010417.htm
7. ^ http://www.dcwatch.com/issues/mansion15.htm
8. ^ Nakamura, David (2003-12-13). "District's Mayoral Mansion Scuttled: Casey Foundation Donates NW Site To Salvation Army". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60277-2003Dec12?language=printer. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
9. ^ ^{a b c} "District of Columbia Home Rule Charter, Sec. 421". U.S. Congress. 1973-12-24. http://www.abfa.com/ogc/tit4.htm#421.
10. ^ D.C. Official Code, § 1-604.08.

Categories: Lists of mayors of places in the United States | Government of the District of Columbia

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