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News Release for Immediate Release Mayor Adrian M. Fenty Announces Action Plan: 100 Days and BeyondAs his first full week as Mayor of the District of Columbia draws close, Adrian M. Fenty today announced his Administration’s 2007 Action Plan for the city, to be implemented over the next 100 days and beyond. “We’ve identified a comprehensive set of action items researched and detailed by the Transition Team. Starting today, District residents can expect a government that makes our communities cleaner and safer, brings vibrancy and inclusiveness to our neighborhoods, ensures quality, affordable healthcare for our citizens, and insists upon fiscal discipline,” said the Mayor. From e-Transition blogs, nationwide best practices trips, and Ward town hall meetings, to the 100 Day Team, the Fenty Administration has exhaustively captured valuable national and local input in an effort to build a truly effective government of the nation’s capital. In addition to detailing Fenty’s core strategy for the next 100 days, the plan also serves as a longer-term blueprint for governance. The 100 Day Plan will chart a course for a transparent, responsive, accountable and energetic District of Columbia government that produces tangible results for the city’s citizens. The plan centers around six core themes:
Although this plan kicks off the first 100 days of the Fenty Administration with specific goals and objectives, it is meant to chart a course for an active DC government for the next four years and will continue to evolve as progress is made. VisionThe Fenty Administration will leverage the District's tremendous human capital and potential to bring prosperity, hope and safety to each and every block of the nation's capital. MissionThe government of the District of Columbia must – and will – manage essential services in a continually more efficient and responsive manner, employing high-quality professionals and implementing smart policies that reflect the great potential our city possesses. Above all, starting with the Mayor, government will be held accountable to its stakeholders: The citizens of the District of Columbia. From Anacostia to Takoma to Friendship Heights and the Southwest Waterfront, in the next four years, government and citizens will cooperate to set and meet goals across a range of vital areas. Mayor Fenty challenged his transition team to formulate and engage in the most participatory transition in history to establish the administration's priorities. ProcessIn the hours following the September 12 2006, Democratic primary, in which Mayor Fenty swept the city with a historic mandate, winning all 142 precincts, his team assembled policy leaders representing all parts of the city in a broad range of pre-transition groups. The Fenty Pre-transition Team included more than 2,000 participants who took part in policy blogs, webinars and face-to-face meetings. These teams put together more than 50 reports detailing policy and leadership priorities and presented a summary to Mayor Fenty in a webinar on November 6, 2006. After capturing more than 90 percent of the popular vote in the general election on November 7, 2006, the newly elected Mayor Fenty instructed his team to engage in a multi-tiered process to take policy priorities recommended from pre-transition teams, and further refine them through the following:
100 Days and Beyond: 2007 Action Plan for the District of ColumbiaThe Honorable Adrian M. Fenty January 11, 2007 Contents
EDUCATION: EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR QUALITY LIFELONG LEARNING PUBLIC SAFETY: A SAFE CITY AND A SECURE NATION’S CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE & ENVIRONMENT: CREATING A SUSTAINABLE CITY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & AFFORDABLE HOUSING: A CITY OF OPPORTUNITY OPERATIONS: MAKING OUR GOVERNMENT RESPONSIVE, ACCOUNTABLE, TRANSPARENT AND EFFICIENT (RATE) THE ADRIAN FENTY POLICY & VISION TEAM Executive SummaryOn November 7, 2006, the residents of the District of Columbia overwhelmingly elected Adrian M. Fenty as the city’s next Mayor. Mayor Fenty promised a more transparent and responsive government with fresh energy and ideas. After one of the most active transition processes in the history of city government, Mayor Fenty and his administration have begun the task of running the District armed with recommendations from policy experts, local government officials as well as those from other cities and, most importantly, the thousands of DC residents he met as he campaigned for mayor. The plan centers around six core themes:
Although this plan kicks off the first 100 days of the Fenty Administration with specific goals and objectives, it is meant to chart a course for an active DC government for the next four years and will continue to evolve as progress is made. VisionThe Fenty Administration will leverage the District’s tremendous human capital and potential to bring prosperity, hope and safety to each and every block of the nation’s capital. MissionThe government of the District of Columbia must – and will – manage essential services in a continually more efficient and responsive manner, employing high-quality professionals and implementing smart policies that reflect the great potential our city possesses. Above all, starting with the Mayor, government will be held accountable to its stakeholders: The citizens of the District of Columbia. From Anacostia to Takoma to Friendship Heights and the Southwest Waterfront, in the next four years, government and citizens will cooperate to set and meet goals across a range of vital areas. Mayor Fenty challenged his transition team to formulate and engage in the most participatory transition in history to establish the administration’s priorities. ProcessIn the hours following the Sept. 12 2006, Democratic primary, in which Mayor Fenty swept the city with a historic mandate, winning all 142 precincts, his team assembled policy leaders representing all parts of the city in a broad range of pre-transition groups. The Fenty Pre-transition Team included more than 2,000 participants who took part in policy blogs, webinars and face-to-face meetings. These teams put together more than 50 reports detailing policy and leadership priorities and presented a summary to Mayor Fenty in a webinar on November 6, 2006. After capturing more than 90 percent of the popular vote in the general election on November 7, 2006, the newly elected Mayor Fenty instructed his team to engage in a multi-tiered process to take policy priorities recommended from pre-transition teams, and further refine them through the following:
Below are the high-level descriptions of the Fenty Administration’s approach to each of the six key issue areas. In addition, there are a number of action items that the Transition team highlighted for the first 100 days and beyond. This, by no means, is an exhaustive list, but a representative sample. We hope to accomplish these actions and much, much more. Education: Excellent Opportunities for Quality Lifelong LearningEducation is the most important promise a society makes to its citizens. A high quality education is fundamental to one’s success and well-being and is critical for effectively participating in a democratic society. In the District, the importance of education as a civil right is well-established. Yet the history of unequal educational opportunities for too many is also well-established – for far too long in the District, we have not fulfilled the promise. We envision a city where every child starts school ready to learn, where all three and four year olds will have access to high quality early childhood education programs so they can develop necessary cognitive and linguistic skills. We envision a strong, vibrant public education system in which the Mayor is fully accountable to the public for results, and where high achievement is not just an expectation, but the norm. Our public school system must be able to focus on its core mission of educating students and rely on support systems that actually support teaching and learning, not hinder them. Our children deserve to attend safe, modern educational facilities equipped with the latest technology and libraries that invite reading and academic exploration. In a city where education is valued and cultivated, principals will have the flexibility and control needed to implement the curriculum; teachers will have the tools, training and resources necessary to do their job; and parents will be engaged partners whose concerns will be responded to. We envision a District government that collaborates across agencies to serve students and to provide children and families the support they need to reach their potential. Programs and support services will be evidence-based and designed to meet families’ actual needs. Resources will be strategically managed and leveraged in order to eliminate duplication of efforts and maximize opportunities to provide high quality services. We envision a city in which our students with special needs are provided educational services that truly enable them to succeed. We must offer families of special needs children effective early intervention services so that their children can thrive as soon as possible. Long-awaited reforms that have been recommended by numerous experts and audits will be implemented deliberatively and efficiently – we must reform our special education system if we are serious about keeping our promise to all children and if we expect to see the real impact of change. We envision a city that embraces the notion that education does not end with high school. Whether a student chooses to enter the workplace directly after completing high school or chooses to attend a higher education institution, every student should be prepared for their next step. Our public education system must provide a robust program of career technical education and workforce training opportunities. We will align those offerings with career opportunities in the District and measure outcomes to ensure quality. To ensure a diversity of effective lifelong learning alternatives, we will seek to strengthen options such as adult literacy, language skills, and workforce preparation. Finally, we will fully utilize one of the District’s most significant education resources, our higher education community. We will partner with colleges and universities to increase the number of DC high school students graduating from college, to establish early college programs within high schools across the District, and to expand non-degree or associate degree workforce training programs. We will maximize the role that higher education will play in improving public education for all. 100 Days and Beyond
EDUCATION: THE PRIORITY
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
PRE-K THROUGH 12th GRADE EDUCATION
HIGHER EDUCATION/CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION/WORKFORCE TRAINING
ADULT EDUCATION Review the range and performance of existing adult education offerings in the District of Columbia to identify gaps and begin to develop a strategy for supporting and enhancing adult education options ranging from basic adult literacy and language skills to job skills training Public Safety: A Safe City and a Secure Nation’s CapitalOur citizens and the nation are entitled to a capital city that is both safe and secure. Residents, businesses and all who visit the District of Columbia must know and feel – as they walk the streets, as they enjoy their neighborhoods, as they gather in their homes – that they, their families and friends are safe. They must feel secure in their daily activities, and have confidence in the efficiency of emergency responders and in the District's plans for emergency action in the aftermath of catastrophic occurrences. We envision a capital city whose parks, museums and monuments can be enjoyed without anxiety for personal safety. We seek neighborhoods where residents can live, stroll, congregate and enjoy their leisure without uncertainty about the dangers that will greet them around the next corner. Every citizen should be able to pursue their lives and activities with a confidence that emergency requirements will be met with responsiveness from trained and dedicated professionals, organized and equipped to answer, serve, or respond in a timely and efficient manner. Here in Washington, DC the capital of the most powerful and richest nation in the world, is where the standard for law enforcement, emergency services, preparedness, and planning should be established and emulated. Law enforcement in the District of Columbia must be strengthened through an aggressive community policing strategy that focuses on collaborative relationships between police officers and citizens. Strong, efficient and effective law enforcement is the business of both police and the citizenry. Policies that make policing more effective and that empower officers to utilize creative approaches to reduce and prevent crime must be developed and implemented. New enforcement strategies must be initiated, including better and more informed methods of deployment and utilization. Training must be enhanced. Fire and emergency services must protect our citizens’ and visitors’ lives and property. One rule is paramount: An untimely response too a fire or medical emergency is no response at all. Our law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services personnel are dedicated and committed professionals. It is our responsibility to train, equip, support, and lead them so they can provide our citizens with the responsiveness that is the difference between safety and crisis that too many of our citizens have come to know first hand. Our detention practices and correctional policies must provide effective and humane confinement of pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates, and assure the highest level of safety and security for inmates, their families, those who operate our correctional systems, and the public. We must continually strive as a government and as citizens to provide successful reentry into the community for ex-offenders who have paid their debt to society, so that recidivism is reduced. None of this will happen overnight. Most of it will not be completed within the first 100 days. But it must start now with us. When will we know when we’ve been successful? When homes, neighborhoods, parks, offices, shops, and streets are secure places where citizens move and live with a sense of increased personal freedom and enhanced civic pride. 100 Days and Beyond
Public Health: A Healthy CityA new era for the District of Columbia stands before us an era of transparency and accountability. Today, we envision the evolution toward a healthy city, a capital prepared to lead our nation, to learn from proven success and to set the precedent for our residents and for our children. A healthy city reflects every facet of our lives from our personal heelth to the health of our neighbors, our communities and to our environment. In realizing a collective vision we understand that a healthy city ensures that all District residents have:
The state of our health and well being is an indicator of the general condition of our city. For our city to continue to prosper we must enable our citizens to be productive by taking a more expansive view of the term “health care.” A healthy city relies not only on what the District does for its residents, but also on what the residents do as individuals and collectively as a community to create the conditions under which people can be healthy. In an era of accountability comes the accountability of each of us as well — a responsibility to take care of ourselves, to seek preventive care, to have a medical home base and to have our voices heard as citizens to foster needed change. Together we will realize the District of Columbia as a healthy city. 100 Days and Beyond
Human Services: A Caring CityOur aim must be to end poverty in our city, and not only to end poverty, but to see that every family in the community has an income it can actually live on. Our local story draws on Charles Dickens — we are truly a tale of two cities. Nearly one in five of our people live in poverty. It takes all of the income from a DC minimum wage job ((and more than the poverty level for a family of three) to pay for a two-bedroom apartment at the federally determined Fair Market Rent for DC. We have the worst income gap of any city in America – the top fifth of District residents have average incomes over a dozen times the average income of the bottom fifth, $157,700 versus $12,770. This is not acceptable. Our strategy should be fourfold: work, opportunity, security, and community — all of which must come together to build families that not only survive, but live successfully in safe neighborhoods, with assurance that their children will have a full and fair chance to make their way in American society. To fulfill these aims, we must build not only a government that serves all of our people effectively and courteously, but harnesses all of our civic resources — business and labor, faiith-based and secular, leaders from every sector, and our people themselves — to solve our problems. Our work strategy must pursue jobs that produce a living income from all sources in combination — wages as the cornerstone, supplemented by federal and local refundable tax credits, and added to by help with health coverage, child care, housing, and college attendance. Opportunity means seeing that every child is ready for school by age five and graduating students with an education that produces readiness for college and work. It means enriching off-school hours to add to an assurance of readiness at the end of the road. It means helping parents do their job, so that what happens at home supports what is going on in school and not the opposite.. It means helping immigrant families acquire the English language literacy they need to succeed in the work place. It means ending the cradle-to-prison pipeline that enmeshes so many children and puts them on an inexorable path to incarceration and a lifetime of troubles. Specifically, a new opportunity strategy for our city means creating new pathways to success for all of our youth, and especially those at the highest risk of becoming disconnected from the larger society and those already disconnected. We must pledge not just to improve our K-12 system of education, but explore transforming our structure into a P-14 system – beginning with high-quality pre-kindergarten for all 3 and 4 year olds and continuing through two years of community college. And we should make our University of the District of Columbia into the flagship institution that it has the capacity to be. Security means physical security and economic security. It means safe neighborhoods and a safety net for tough times. It means that if you are between jobs, disabled, or in economic difficulty for any of a number of reasons, we are a humane and caring city. Work is and should be the main source of families’ income, but some workers need extra help to add to unfairly low wages and some families and individuals are not in a position to work as much as they would like or at all. Community is a special challenge in our city. We are separated by an economic chasm. Concentrated poverty has been a destructive force for decades. In recent years the renewed attractiveness of the central city has drawn people with higher incomes back into the District. This is certainly good for our tax base, but unless care is taken, it can be a destructive force at the same time. We need to commit ourselves to a course of equitable development, coupled with greater efforts to add substantially to the supply of affordable housing and maximize the number of economically diverse neighborhoods. This is a time of wonderful possibilities for our city. We must have a vision of where we want to go, and we must pursue that vision with a broad perspective that sees that everything is connected to everything else. It will do little to build our future if we improve housing without improving education, if we get employers to commit to hiring our people without helping to prepare our people for that work, if jobs are available but child care is not, and so on and on. Nor can we do what we need to if we do not continue the process of making our local government agencies work for the people. Personnel and procurement processes are still a challenge. Private agencies that contract with the government are still not consistently accountable for the quality of the service they provide and, conversely, still encounter debilitating difficulties in dealing with the District’s government. Much of the challenge ahead is not one of monetary resources, but making sure that our human capital does its work at the highest level. These are some of the elements of a caring city – of how our city can be a fully caring city – in the 21st century. 100 Days and Beyond
Infrastructure & Environment: Creating a Sustainable City for the 21st CenturyAs the nation’s capital, Washington, DC is a dynamic hub of people and ideas where native Washingtonians, workers from around the region, and visitors from across the globe interact on downtown streets. The District is home to diverse neighborhoods and businesses, and has a unique role as the seat of the federal government. We have the power to create a sustainable city of the 21st century. To be a sustainable city the District of Columbia must be a learning city, a safe city, a healthy city, a caring city, and a city of opportunity. In essence, the government of the District of Columbia must be a visionary organization able to stimulate progress while preserving our core values and natural resources. Under the leadership of the Fenty Administration, the government of the District of Columbia has the opportunity to partner with the federal government, the 110th Congress and other public and private sector partners to further transform the nation’s capital into a sustainable city. With the recent passage of the Green Building Act of 2006 by the DC Council and the creation of the District Department of the Environment (DDOE), the District of Columbia is poised to be the leader in the area of energy conservation and green building. The Fenty Administration supports the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, and believes that further national leadership is essential to reduce our carbon footprint, improve energy efficiency and repair our damaged ecology. We must continue the progress that has been made in cleaning the Potomac River, and commit to restoring the Anacostia River and the fragile ecosystem that surrounds it to ensure that residents can enjoy the splendors of its natural environment. Improving our natural environment will also improve our health and our lives. Already too many DC residents suffer the health effects of polluted air and water. Too many more suffer the additional effects of lack of exercise and access to the outdoors. We need to improve our green spaces and enhance our parks to both enrich our natural environment and improve our collective personal health. Key to a clean environment is a well-built, well maintained and sustainable infrastructure of utilities, roadways and transit. We need to recognize that our built environment directly impacts the natural environment. We can enhance our already national-level leadership in walkability, bicycle, and transit access, by providing clean transportation alternatives to more District residents and neighborhoods. At the same time, we need to find ways to reduce what we demand off our natural environment by improving our recycling and better managing our waste stream. The District of Columbia can be an international role model for sustainability and efficiency. We can reduce our impact on the earth’s ecology, while improving the quality of our citizens’ lives. 100 Days and Beyond
Economic Development & Affordable Housing: A City of OpportunityThe District of Columbia has undergone an economic and housing renaissance over the past several years. In many parts of the city formerly abandoned lots and vacant houses have given way to new or renovated housing, exciting new commercial and retail projects, and an abundance of construction cranes. While the renaissance has dramatically improved the fortunes of many, too many of the District’s long-time residents have been left behind. One thing is clear, the District of Columbia’s economic development and affordable housing strategies should ensure that policies benefit the residents of the District of Columbia, and not just the business community. Equally important, recent economic development has been concentrated in certain sections of the city. It is clear to most, if not all residents, that all corners of the city deserve to benefit from the District’s economic boom, and must do so before the District of Columbia becomes a “City of Opportunity.” The approach to economic development cannot only focus on groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings. It also needs to focus on preparing our residents for the workplace and ensuring they have the skills and opportunity to take advantage of benefit from the coming economic growth. Job training and apprenticeship programs need to build the skills for jobs that are coming to the District of Columbia. Economic development strategies need to focus on improving the operations of city agencies to encourage and incubate the creation of locally owned business. Also, economic development in the District of Columbia should, to the greatest extent possible, encourage developers to employ District of Columbia residents and use local subcontractors. Our vibrant housing market has been positive for both the District’s finances and individuals who are able to buy and sell today. Unfortunately, it's also driving out lifelong District residents, threatening our elders on fixed incomes, and discouraging critical city workers who should live in the community in which they work. It’s a housing crisis we must manage, not just leave to market forces. The average selling price of a home in the District hovers around $$462,000, a price that requires an annual income of nearly $100,000 to finance. Much of our workforce, including teachers, police officers and other civil servants, simply cannot afford to buy a home in the District. The District of Columbia’s affordable housing policy needs to encourage homeownership and needs to be robust enough that children growing up in the District today will have an opportunity to live here as adults. 100 Days and Beyond
Operations: Making our Government Responsive, Accountable, Transparent and Efficient (RATE)Our government is surely more functional than it was when it was in deep financial straits, but far more needs to be done. Stories of unresponsive government officials were frequent at the Mayor’s transition forums held around the city. Inn addition, government agencies continue to suffer from the difficulties of navigating the personnel and procurement processes. Private agencies that contract with the government present two troubling stories, of opposite kinds. Some, trying to do their job, suffer from being unable to receive payment in a timely fashion. Others take the government’s money and deliver inferior services, for which they are not held properly to account. Chief among the outcomes that the Mayor wishes to bring about is pride in the operation of the government itself. Achievement inn that realm is vital to accomplishing the goal of deserving the appellation of a caring city. The Fenty Administration will work to build on the work of the last eight years in improving government service delivery and agency accountability. The core principle of these efforts will be to build a government that will rate high in the eyes of the citizenry. Rate in the sense that goals will be set and outcomes will be tracked. Not once a year, but on a continuous basis. We will look at agency performance, both in service delivery and in financial management. We will also monitor how we rate with customers, through satisfaction surveys and testing. As customers of government services, the citizens of Washington DC rate a responsive, accountable, transparent and efficient government. 100 Days and Beyond
The Adrian Fenty Policy & Vision TeamThe vision for the Fenty Administration has been invaluably informed by the dedication, insight and hard work of many policy team leaders. In a few short weeks, our teams have researched the best practices of cities around the country and explored the best ideas in District government to determine what works right and what needs improvement. Our policy team leaders have engaged more than a thousand people in 18 different policy areas that have laid the groundwork for the priorities of the Fenty Administration. eTransition Team Leaders:
Issue Team Leaders:
Special Thanks to:
Appendix 1: MPD’s First 100 Day StrategyEven before Cathy Lanier is sworn in as police chief on January 2, 2007, she is focusing the Metropolitan Police Department on increasing police presence on the streets, and, importantly, increasing meaningful contacts with the community that will help citizens to feel connected to the department. This meaningful connection is the key to making DC’s communities feel safe even if they do not see a police officer on every corner. Forging these connections is essential to Chief Lanier’s concept of Customized Community Policing, and is a cornerstone of MPD’s First 100 Day strategy. Outlined below are examples of several initial steps that will be undertaken in the first 100 hours of the Fenty Administration to bring this policing strategy to all of DC’s residents and neighborhoods. These efforts are the result of brainstorming and strategy sessions that occurred in each police district and support unit that will serve as the symbolic first steps in the 100 Day Strategy. Encouraging the police districts and support units to create their own strategies and take ownership in the process is critical to restoring individual pride, as well as creating an environment where the community feels connected to its police officers. Chief Lanier’s overall theme for the First 100 Hours Strategy is “Reintroducing the MPD to the Community.” MPD’s goal for this effort is for every member of the MPD — sworn and civilian — to interact with a member of the community (or their unit’s constituency) during the first 100 hours of the new administration. The primary objectives of this effort are to increase police visibility and seek out new perspectives on how the MPD can improve service. This approach will not only result in an increased police presence, but also the compilation of key suggestions for future departmental improvement. Accordingly, each district and support unit commander has been asked to develop a 100 hour strategy that involves greater visibility and the provision that all members interact with a member of the community or their constituency. This interaction may involve direct conversation with residents, or discussions with a professional constituency group such as mental health organization (inside or outside of government). Later, the command staff will document the efforts and compile promising ideas generated by the community and report back to Chief Lanier. As the districts and support units reflect on their “100 Hours” strategies, they will informally evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of the strategies with the community and Chief Lanier to determine what initiatives will continue through February — while they are developing Customized Community Policing Plans for each Police Service Area (PSA) — and beyond. In addition to every member of the department interacting with a person from the community or an organization, below are some specific examples of 100 Hour activities from the police districts:
Of course, as always, the districts will be supported by other units and MPD employees in this effort. In addition to individual interaction, members of support units will focus on improvement tasks that are attainable in the short term. For example, the primary focus of the Office of the Chief Information Officer in the first 6 months of the new administration is to develop and begin implementing electronic forms, so that officers will only have to enter incident data once, allowing faster processing of arrest and incident paperwork. This enhanced efficiency will enable officers to return to the street faster, increasing visibility and productivity. Results of other support unit task improvements will also be compiled within the first 100 days of the new administration. Finally, Chief Lanier will be looking at wider deployment and resource allocation issues during this period with an emphasis on maximizing deployment to the PSA’s and increasing first line supervision. However, any significant organizational change will require planning to minimize disruption to critical patrol support functions. It will take time both to develop a sound strategy, and, more importantly, to garner buy-in. Hasty, top-down change would risk the success of long-term cultural change at MPD. Appendix 2
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