Williams's Support Hits Lowest Point in His Tenure as Mayor

55 Percent Ready for New Direction

Mayor Anthony A. Williams says that despite low numbers, he is proud of the decisions he has made. (Marvin Joseph/twp - The Washington Post)

In his first term, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams basked in the rosy glow of an optimistic city where three in four residents said he was doing a good job.

Well, that honeymoon is long over. And as Williams prepares to retire in January, a new Washington Post poll suggests that a majority of District voters are ready for a change.

Support for Williams (D) has fallen to its lowest point since he was first elected in 1998. Slightly more than half of voters surveyed -- 54 percent -- say they approve of the job he is doing. But 40 percent are not satisfied, with blacks and the poor registering the highest levels of disapproval.

There are slightly more D.C. residents who say the city is on the wrong track than those who say it is on the right course, a huge change from six years ago. And more than half of District voters -- 55 percent -- say the next mayor should move the city in a new direction from the one Williams has charted.

Interviews with people who participated in the telephone survey of 1,350 adults -- most of them registered voters -- reveal complex feelings about the mayor. Most give him credit for engineering an economic revival that transformed downtown and praise him for saving the city from the embarrassment of municipal bankruptcy and record homicide rates.

At the same time, they accuse him of doing too little to improve public schools and help the poor benefit from the city's growing prosperity. They also wish he would cut the world travel and spend more time at home.

"I'd give him a C-minus," said Betty Nyangoni, 65, a semi-retired college professor from Southwest Washington. "I wouldn't give him an F, because he's done some things. It's beautiful to see all those buildings downtown."

And "I really think it's fine for him to travel. . . . He represents the city well," Nyangoni said. "But I just think it's selfish at this point. There's too many things hanging in the city for him to be traipsing off to South Africa and Japan. Take a trip. That's good. But do you have to take trip after trip after trip? That's a selfish thing. The city needs his attention."

Greg Pryor, 57, a government consultant from Ward 3, said Williams has, on balance, done a fantastic job.

"Compared to Marion Barry, he's terrific. Night and day," Pryor said. "A lot of the things that used to be horrible -- DMV, potholes, snow removal -- a lot of those services that were just abominable under Barry are better."

Robert Robinson, 70, a freelance architect from Ward 6, agrees that Williams has in many ways been "good for the city." But Robinson wishes Williams had tried harder to "reach out to people and soften up his act."

"Hey, buy your house. Get out of that apartment," Robinson said. "Or just come out to Southeast sometime and meet some folks."