Catania, Solo at CAG Mayoral Forum, Commands Room and Issues


The Citizens Association of Georgetown invited the three major candidates running for mayor in the Nov. 4 general election to its debate and candidate forum Sept. 24. Only At-large Councilmember David Catania showed up, as Muriel Bowser declined and Carol Schwartz could not attend because of the Jewish New Year celebration.

At-large Councilmember David Catania — who entered the fray back in April right before the Democratic Primary which Bowser won going away over scandal-plagued Mayor Vincent Gray — was for one night the only mayoral candidate on the dais, as he talked and answered questions from a panel that consisted of Georgetowner editor-in-chief Robert Devaney, David Kennedy, publisher of the Current newspapers, and Topher Matthews of the Georgetown Metropolitan before a packed audience at Dumbarton House of Q Street.

Catania turned the turn of events into an opportunity to show off his ability to articulate policy matters and issues with sometimes long, but often revelatory explanations, along with some humor and warmth. Given Catania’s reputation for having a sharp temper—which never materialized—this was an experience-rich, smart, even visionary performance by a tough candidate who seemed to have the talents and strengths to run a credible campaign against Bowser.

Faced with a question on how it felt to be the only candidate to show up at the CAG event, Catania resisted the temptation to take a shot at Bowser and instead said only that these events are an important part of democratic elections that allow people to have contact with the candidates. “These debates are an obligation that we owe to the voters,” he said.

Catania showed himself to be a walking encyclopedia on issues facing a Washington, D.C., which is blessed with a booming economy, about which he was not quite so sanguine. “We can look at all the cranes on our horizon and think that we’re doing really well,” he said. “The truth is that we’re in the middle of something of a recession. Our economy is based in large parts on government jobs and government activities, and that part of the economy is shrinking. We’ve lost government jobs, and they’re very difficult to replace without the proper education and training. We have a shrinking economic component.”

“Our biggest priorities—in addition to education—are to narrow the achievement gap, to address the fact that we have an affordable housing crisis and to safeguard our economic future,” Catania said.

He then launched into a fully detailed talk about health care, new economy jobs, infrastructure, human capital. He may be, as he asserted, “a convener and a generalist,” but Catania also showed off a gift for attention to and articulation of details. All of which can be found in his campaign book “David Catania’s Vision to Security Our City’s Future,” a full-color, fully illustrated, 126-page tome.

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