Summit Offers City a Chance to Shine

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By Eric Lipton and Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 22, 1999; Page B1

A mayor who smoked crack. A sky-high homicide rate. And a dysfunctional, often-corrupt city government. These are the images of the District of Columbia that have been beamed around the globe in the last decade.

As the largest gathering ever of world leaders in Washington gets underway tomorrow for NATO's 50th anniversary, the city's new mayor, backed by a cast of thousands, is hopeful that a starkly different impression will ricochet across the planet this time.

The target of this public relations effort isn't so much NATO leaders, many of whom are frequent visitors to Washington. More than anything, it's aimed at the 3,000 journalists who cover the movers and shakers abroad.

And so, in and around the areas where NATO festivities will be held, streets and sidewalks have been scrubbed, junk cars towed and graffiti blasted away. Even the homeless are being moved out. Meanwhile, welcome signs and flags have been mounted, and special ambulance squads have been prepped.

"The opportunity is for the District to put a welcome mat out to the world, instead of a trapdoor," said D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D). "People will really see that I am not [former mayor] Marion Barry. . . . They will see that Washington, D.C., is a city on a comeback."

The Tony Williams Show will begin the moment the motorcades glide into the District, carrying the presidents, prime ministers, diplomats and other dignitaries from 42 nations. During the past week, 60 tons of trash have been collected along the major roads that lead into the city from the region's airports.

The performance will continue through Saturday night, when the mayor will be host to 1,900 guests at a "World Within a City" reception aimed at promoting the District as a cosmopolitan spot worthy of beaucoup foreign investment.

Contributing roles have been played by a broad range of characters, including the cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia, which have lent the District graffiti-scrubbing and street-sweeping equipment. The city's three business improvement districts have organized intense cleanups. Crews of inmates from city prisons and a team of recovering substance abusers have been detailed to help with the street and sidewalk cleaning.

"It is like Christmas or Thanksgiving, when you invite someone to your house for dinner; you decorate and clean up," said Baltimore Public Works Director George G. Balog.

Williams has had to do more than just put out the best china. He replaced a mayor who became known worldwide after he was caught on videotape smoking crack in 1990. That image of Barry, along with reports of the city's high homicide rate, have carved a negative image of the city in the minds of many foreigners.

"Crime, bad management and scandal," Morten Fyhn, a reporter for Aftenposten, Norway's second-largest newspaper, said when asked about the typical Norwegian's impression of the District.

Foreign diplomats who come here often know that Washington's homicide rate has come down dramatically from a few years ago and that the District has a new mayor who has won praise for his efforts to improve city finances and services.

But many foreigners "still think of Washington as Marion Barry's city, the mayor for life," said Tim Labus, president of the D.C.-based advertising firm Abramson Labus Van De Velde. "This is an opportunity for Tony Williams to show who he is and focus the attention upon the city and what he has been able to accomplish."

The showcase event for the city is Saturday night's reception in the marble-columned atrium of the National Building Museum. Ministers and other dignitaries from 25 foreign nations that are members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council have been invited. Other guests will include city officials and other notables, members of the Clinton administration, and representatives of the State Department and the NATO Host Committee.

Three of the District's best-known and most diverse neighborhoods – Adams-Morgan, Anacostia and Capitol Hill – will be represented at the reception with scenery, lighting, music and food. The Urban Nation Voices of Youth H.I.P. H.O.P. Choir will perform, along with Bossalingo, a Latin jazz band from Adams-Morgan. And the U.S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble will perform Gershwin, Porter and Ellington tunes before a backdrop of the U.S. Capitol.

"We are a federal city, an international city, but also a community of real live people with hopes and dreams and problems like anyone else," Williams said. "We want people to see that."

The heads of delegations will receive a small crystal globe on a black onyx base that is engraved with the theme of the party – "A World Within a City" – the mayor's name and "NATO 50th Anniversary."

Other attendees will receive a small acrylic paperweight. The $320,000 reception is being paid for with private funds.

But the District's pitch for a renewed world image will extend far beyond the Building Museum reception.

It's been at least a decade since the city has seen such a thorough cleanup, which began in March as part of Williams's six-month blitz to improve city services.

Special sidewalk- and street-scrubbing devices have whizzed across the city for the last week. The highway tunnels that run under the Mall have steam-cleaned. More than 50 junk cars have been towed away. Hundreds of signs – some covered with graffiti, others damaged or missing – have been replaced. Trees have been trimmed and new mulch put into tree boxes. Stickers and other markings are even being cleaned off downtown median strips, newspaper boxes and pay telephones.

"Half the guys here do not even know what NATO is, but it does not matter," said Barbara Smith, 50, part of a group of recovering substance abusers the city has been paying to help with the cleanup. "What matters is that the city is clean. This is our home, too."

Flags – of the United States, the District and the NATO summit – are going up at 260 spots along Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues and other showcase streets downtown. "Welcome to Washington, NATO 50th" signs are going up along gateways to the city.

The District also has tried to make sure it is prepared – or at least not embarrassed – if unexpected events arise. The city's emergency operations center will be open 16 hours a day starting tomorrow morning. Three city ambulances will be stationed in the Federal Triangle area during the event and will remain near the diplomats' hotels at night.

Even the staff of the city's jail has met to plan for a potential influx of inmates during the rest of this week – from protesters to terrorists. The homeless will be evicted from the Federal Triangle area by Friday morning, given references to homeless services and removed by force if necessary.