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From what it took to get the Commanders’ stadium deal done to the federal law enforcement surge in D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is sharing her thoughts.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed a number of issues facing the District, from what it took to get the Commanders’ stadium deal done to the recent surge of federal law enforcement in the city, during an interview.
Speaking with political analyst Chuck Todd, in the most recent episode of the Noosphere app’s “Sunday Night with Chuck Todd,” Bowser shared a cup of coffee and a 45-minute conversation at Lauriol Plaza in Dupont Circle.
The Burgundy and Gold had to ‘get itself together’
Bowser, while discussing how she secured the multi-billion dollar deal to bring the Washington Commanders back to the RFK Stadium site with a new stadium, said before anything could begin in earnest, Washington’s NFL team had to “get itself together.”
“They went from a winning team to one who had troubled ownership and management and wasn’t winning and didn’t really have a vision for a future, to a new ownership team that likes to win. … When we had the right partner (referring to Commanders managing partner Josh Harris), we knew we were in the position to deliver the whole deal,” Bowser said.
When asked by Todd about former team owner Dan Snyder, Bowser called Snyder “a big impediment.”
She also downplayed any concerns regarding potentially negative effects for residents living nearby the RFK Stadium site, saying there’s been a football stadium there before, and “we can estimate with pretty good clarity the transportation impacts.”
Bowser said the difference between RFK Stadium and what will replace it is that it will be what she called “an entire entertainment district.”
“We’ll have better connections to the river, more park space and housing. And this was the vision for this … 180 acres. Thirty years ago, the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative that Mayor (Anthony) Williams launched envisioned that you would have a mixed use development there — with a focus on sports. And we’ve been able to deliver on that vision,” Bowser said.
She said the city has built in displacement protections in terms of property value for nearby residents: “So if you live there, your property value may go up, but your tax bill can only go up 10%. If you’re over 65, your property value may go up, but your tax bill can only go up 2%.”
Bowser added that “we expect that … there will be a lot of equity produced there, but more than that, jobs and $14 billion of economic activity.”
DC’s cooperation with the federal government
Bowser told Todd that while the president’s crime emergency declaration recently expired, she has issued her own mayor’s order that allows for D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith and the city’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Lindsey Appiah to work with their counterparts in the federal government to deploy additional federal officers when necessary.
“There is a group (U.S. Capitol Police, Secret Service, DEA, ATF, FBI and U.S. Park Police) that are in the National Capital Region all the time that can be helpful for us. And they actually surged personnel with our personnel to give us more manpower and womanpower on the streets,” Bowser said, adding “that’s helpful.”
But she said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in D.C. are not.
“They’re not doing law enforcement work. They’re doing immigration enforcement work. And similarly, our out-of-state guardsmen, God bless them. They’re on orders, but they’re not really on mission either,” Bowser said.
‘The field has changed’: Bowser’s relationship with President Trump
When Todd asked Bowser why it appeared she was less confrontation with President Donald Trump during his second term versus his first term, the mayor responded with: “the field has changed.”
Bowser said there’s a difference between the president’s first and second administrations. She said whether one believes Trump should have been reelected president or not, he is the president and “we have to play the plays that work.” Acknowledging that there is “a lot out of our control.”
Regarding what Todd called “national Democrats” upset that she’s not being more confrontational with the White House, Bowser responded: “I don’t work for them. I work for the 700,000 people of Washington, D.C.”
And when it comes to her constituents, Bowser said: “D.C. residents trust my judgment. I feel very confident about that. … I go into rooms that they don’t go into, they don’t want to go into, and they don’t have to go into, because I go into those rooms. … They know what my north star is, and that is protecting Home Rule at every step.”
She added, “What’s going to happen in six months? I can’t tell you. I know where we are today is that we control our budget. We control our service delivery, and our council is making the laws that govern how we live in the city. We have to continue to fight for expansion of home rule … not diminishing home rule.”
Bowser said, “Those things are important to where we are.”
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Matt Small
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