Economist.com Cities Guide: Washington, DC Briefing - October 2005

News this month

Final term

Anthony Williams, the Democratic mayor of Washington, DC, will not seek re-election in 2006. First elected in 1998, he has taken credit for turning around the district's finances, erasing a budget deficit of $500,000, bringing baseball back to DC, and helping to guide the city away from closer congressional control. But critics claim the mayor has done little to help the city’s poor.

The mayor's decision was widely anticipated in Washington's political circles. Five Democrats have officially thrown their hats into the ring for next year’s mayoral contest. They include three members of the city council (Vincent Orange, Adrian Fenty, and the chairwoman, Linda Cropp), Michael Brown, a lobbyist, and Marie Johns, a former telecommunications executive.

Dodgy dealings?

One of Washington's most prominent property developers was indicted by a federal grand jury in September. Douglas Jemal, his son, Norman, and one of his executives were charged with bribing city officials in order to secure key property deals. The alleged main recipient of the bribes was Michael Lorusso, the former deputy director of the district's office of property management, who was fired in 2003. Mr Jemal has been accused of plying Mr Lorusso with money and gifts, including sports tickets and cowboy boots, in return for favourable leases and property deals that would have cost the taxpayer millions of dollars.

Mr Jemal has denied any wrongdoing. The unorthodox entrepreneur, whose preferred outfit is a T-shirt and jeans, owns about 400 properties in the district, and has been credited with helping to revitalise downtown Washington.

Stirrings on campus

Benjamin Ladner, president of American University (AU), has been suspended and may lose his job following an investigation into his personal expenses. After an anonymous letter urged university officials to scrutinise the spending of Mr Ladner and his wife, an independent auditor found more than $500,000 of questionable expenses (including a trip to Paris for the Ladners' personal chef).

Mr Ladner, who has run AU since 1994 and is paid about $660,000 a year, has denied any wrongdoing. But most of the university's trustees and faculty are calling for him to step down.

Driving forward

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority plans to spend $830m over the next five years to upgrade its fleet of buses and overhaul its scheduling system. The plans were spurred by recommendations in June from a panel of bus managers from Houston, New York, and San Mateo, California, which made wide-ranging recommendations for Metro’s bus fleet.

The Metro authority's 1,460 buses serve more than 350 routes and make 442,787 trips daily. Under the new plan, Metro will spend $488m introducing 900 new buses. It will also invest in technology to help match routes to demand and allow customers to track buses’ whereabouts via cell phone or the internet. Popular bus stops would get electronic signs, with an eye towards eventually installing such signs at every bus stop. The plan also calls for a new radio system to improve communication with drivers on their routes.

Jumpy

Washington remains on edge about terrorism and security. During anti-war demonstrations on and around the Mall at the end of September, biohazard sensors detected trace amounts of tularemia, a potentially dangerous bacteria. Federal officials determined that the low levels of the bacteria did not pose a threat to the public. Soon afterwards, hundreds of Washingtonians mistook noise from a fireworks display at the John F Kennedy Centre for gunfire or exploding bombs (according to the Washington Post, the district's fire department was swamped with calls). The following day, the American Army’s annual ten-mile race was diverted when a suspect package (which later turned out to be building materials) was sighted under the 14th Street Bridge.

Catch if you can

October 2005

Masterpieces in Miniature: Italian Manuscript Illumination from the J. Paul Getty Museum

Until January 2nd 2006

Illuminated books and manuscripts were cherished art forms in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with intricate embellishments often valued more highly than the text they accompanied. Indeed, some Italian princes prized such works over frescoed rooms or chapels.

This exhibition at the National Gallery features illuminated texts from half a dozen cities and regions in Italy, starting with 12th-century pieces and ending with high-Renaissance works from the 16th century. The show displays more than 45 examples, including full volumes and individual pages (almost all are tempera and gold on parchment). Elaborate letters often dominate an entire page, while illustrations depict biblical and mythic scenes in magnificent detail, with fingernail-sized faces showing vivid expression. The informative video, which explains how the texts were made, is worth watching.

The National Gallery, on the National Mall, East Building, Mezzanine. Open: Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 11am-6pm. Entry: free. For more information, visit the museum’s website.

More from the Washington, DC cultural calendar