Janeese Lewis George Is Listening, Ward by Ward

Before she asks the city for its vote in November, Janeese Lewis George is asking it for something else: its concerns. The Ward 4 Council member and Democratic nominee for mayor has spent September on a citywide listening tour she calls Building the People's Government, with stops planned in all eight wards and the tour wrapping Oct. 1.

The tour opened Sept. 1 at Union Temple Baptist Church in Ward 8, her home church, where nearly 500 people registered to attend. Lewis George made a point of starting east of the river, in one of the District's most historically underserved communities, and she set the tone early.

"Politicians talk too much. Tonight is about listening."

Lewis George opened the night with those words, and reporters in the room noted she spent more time listening than speaking, sitting in on breakout sessions about housing, jobs, public safety, child care and education.

Since then, the tour has visited All Souls Church Unitarian in Ward 1, Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ in Ward 4, Union Wesley AME Zion Church in Ward 5 and a church in Hillcrest in Ward 7, where organizers estimated about 300 people attended. Residents raised everything from first time homebuyer incentives and home health care to trash pickup, bike lanes and rats.

Education has emerged as a defining theme. Parents in Ward 7 have pressed for quality public schools within walking distance of their homes, including a long requested neighborhood dual language middle school. Lewis George has identified poor communication between agencies as a key barrier to equitable education, and she has described mayoral control of schools as a tool for aligning education and child welfare agencies on special education, career and technical education, chronic absenteeism and out of school time programs.

She is also using this stretch to look for quick wins that do not require major budget fights, such as easing small business permits, while bigger proposals like social housing and universal child care will take longer to build. She has expressed interest in exploring city owned grocery stores to improve food access.

The tour is also a campaign effort, with sessions ending in fundraising pushes, and Lewis George is not mayor yet. But as the presumptive favorite heading into the general election, the priorities she hears now are likely to shape the city's agenda for years.

For Black Washingtonians, especially east of the river, the choice to start in Ward 8 sends a message. The pastor who introduced her at the kickoff told the crowd that Ward 8 would not be getting leftovers this time. Now the work is turning what was heard into what gets done.