Comments on: District Gets AAA Bond Rating http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/02/district-gets-aaa-bond-rating/ 68.3 Square Miles of D.C. News and Opinion Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:05:00 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: SG http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/03/02/district-gets-aaa-bond-rating/comment-page-1/#comment-484787 SG Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:02:26 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/?p=17661#comment-484787 People don't realize how fiscally healthy the District has been over the past 7 years. Far better than MD or VA, which had to slash their budgets even during the salad days. Meanwhile, the District had a $180 million surplus in fiscal 2008. The meme that the District government always sucks is getting tired and is often wrong. I can name a few departments off the top of my head that are better across the board than in other jurisdictions I've lived in (including MD, VA, and GA): DPW, OP, BZA, now DMV, and DOT. Of course, DCRA is probably the single worst department in the history of government. And the DCPS have been a debacle for years, though improving dramatically in terms of reigning in bureaucracy. And many others still suck, but it'll take a while to get rid of the Barry-era "lifers" and get some people with urgency and professionalism in there. Until then, DC gov is a work in progress, but not nearly as bad as many think (keeping in mind that most governments around the country suck). I have to admit, Arlington is extremely well-run. People don't realize how fiscally healthy the District has been over the past 7 years. Far better than MD or VA, which had to slash their budgets even during the salad days. Meanwhile, the District had a $180 million surplus in fiscal 2008. The meme that the District government always sucks is getting tired and is often wrong. I can name a few departments off the top of my head that are better across the board than in other jurisdictions I've lived in (including MD, VA, and GA):
DPW, OP, BZA, now DMV, and DOT.

Of course, DCRA is probably the single worst department in the history of government. And the DCPS have been a debacle for years, though improving dramatically in terms of reigning in bureaucracy. And many others still suck, but it'll take a while to get rid of the Barry-era "lifers" and get some people with urgency and professionalism in there. Until then, DC gov is a work in progress, but not nearly as bad as many think (keeping in mind that most governments around the country suck).

I have to admit, Arlington is extremely well-run.

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