After Will Singer graduated from Oberlin College in 2003 with a bachelor’s in politics, he served as a staff member to then-Washington, D.C., Councilmember Adrian Fenty. When Fenty became mayor in 2007, Singer, then 26, was named the city’s chief of budget execution. Singer is now leaving his job to enroll at the Northwestern School of Law this fall. The Daily spoke with Singer about D.C., the fate of cities in the recession and his decision to go to law school.
Daily: What were the main challenges during your time as budget chief?
Will Singer: The national economy has gotten much worse and has impacted many municipalities, and D.C. is no exception. It’s a real challenge for us…to find efficiencies and savings within the government in a way that doesn’t impact critical services on which citizens depend…Mayor Fenty’s been really clear that his number one priority has been to improve public education. It’s been a big challenge to balance reforming what for years has been a big, sprawling, dysfunctional bureaucracy and at the same time making sure there are adequate resources to support education where it really happens, in the schools.
D: Having worked in the D.C. government, would you support a different governmental arrangement for D.C., such as statehood?
WS: I am personally a strong supporter of statehood. I think that residents of the district deserve representation in both houses of government that all Americans enjoy. I think that the unique fiscal management and service issues that the district faces would best be addressed in the long term if D.C. was on an equal footing with other states.
D: What do you think the most vital urban initiatives threatened by the recession are? What seems like it’s ready to go in some areas, but shouldn’t?
WS: I might turn that question around a little bit. I think the changes that are happening in the economy present an opportunity for cities. A lot of the cities–at the heart of urban centers throughout the country–have particularly excellent transportation networks, and I notice the district has benefited from having a high-quality public transportation. As the real estate sector of the economy shifts from supporting development further and further out from the urban core to what I think is an emerging paradigm where cities with good transportation networks that can provide for families, including those with dislocal income and importantly include people who have less resources, I think cities are beginning to be increasingly vital and interesting places to live.
D: Why leave government at such an interesting time in our nation’s history for law school?
WS: Law school is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time as something to do for my career. As interesting as things are with the stimulus and the changing economy and what I think is a very exciting example of leadership in Mayor Fenty, I think it’s time for me personally to head to school.
D: What could you be able to do with a law degree that you can’t now?
WS: Anytime you work for a politician, you don’t necessarily have anything to fall back on. There could be an election tomorrow and the day after, you find yourself looking for a job. What I’ve really come to appreciate, working with so many lawyers in city and state government, is that they’re the people who really help work through the legal issues, the personnel issues, the preparedness issues that are too often the barriers to getting things done. I wanted to go to law school to acquire those skills that really translate into action.
