DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson delivered the following remarks at the swearing-in of the Council of the District of Columbia at the Walter E. Washington Convention center on January 2, 2025.

   Mayor Bowser, Congresswoman Norton, Judges, Colleagues, former Councilmembers, Mr. Attorney General, regional colleagues, dignitaries, and citizens of the District of Columbia:  good morning.  It is a blessing to be here.

               You are about to witness the swearing-in of half the Council.  This afternoon there will be another ceremony where the elected Board of Education, the statehood shadow delegation, and all ANC commissioners will be sworn in.

                This is the start of the 51^st year of Home Rule.  We are all anxious with the changeover in the federal government, given the anti-Home Rule rhetoric.  But we have a very good story to tell of how we have managed the past half-century.  Not only is our Home Rule government far, far more responsive to our citizens than the federal commissioners ever were, but our government is far, far better – no unfunded pension system, adequately paid teachers, a 35% drop in violent crime last year, and a leader among cities and states in the struggle to create more affordable housing and fight against homelessness.

                And if members of Congress do come after us, I’ll be the first to point out how bad they are at running governments: failing to confirm the appointment of our judges, which impacts crime, underfunding our police year after year (totaling over $83 million over the past four years), actually contributing to crime by prohibiting the regulation of recreational cannabis, failing to adopt their budgets on time, and constantly on the verge of a government shutdown.  And they think they’re better than us?

                Not that we don’t have our challenges.  Ending the year with a 31% drop in homicides is great, but 190 deaths is still too high.  Our public education system may be well-funded, and we are a leader in choice, but the achievement gap between poor black and rich white kids is embarassingly huge.  We are not alone with our affordable housing crisis, but still, tens of thousands of our citizens — individuals and families – need help that we’re not able to give.

                The Council – together, the members sitting behind me – will be ever more focused over the next two years as we work with the Mayor to tackle these challenges.  

(Collaboration is a good thing.)

                But to be successful, we will have to make choices.  Because we can’t keep adding new things to pay for, when we aren’t taking care of everything we already have.  We learned that lesson with Monumental Sports this year – that we have to take care of what we already have.  

                Citizens want a government that works.  That finds solutions.  That makes our city better.  While I am a firm believer in a strong legislature, I recognize that policies that have the support of both branches have the best chance of success.  

                Each of us was elected – some last year, some two years ago – as an act of trust by our citizens.  It is an honor to serve, but it also becomes a duty, an obligation, once we take the oath of office.  That is why we are here today: to witness the oath-taking by those most recently elected.  I thank you for your trust, and hope we individually and collectively live up to it.

                Let us now proceed.  Thank you.