Yale alum frontrunner in Washington mayoral race

Tony Williams's, SM '79, victory in the Washington, D.C., Democratic mayoral primary on Tues., Sept. 15 marked another remarkable feat in the former Yale student's career in public service.

Despite opponents' attempts to label the self-confessed nerd "Mr. Bow Tie," Williams won the primary in a landslide; he finished more than 20 percentage points ahead of his nearest opponent. He is likely to win the overwhelmingly Democratic city's Tues., Nov. 3 election against Republican Carol Schwartz.

It was in New Haven that Williams, who graduated magna cum laude in political science, got his start in politics. After graduation, Williams was elected to the New Haven Board of Aldermen. He challenged the political machine, attacking a funding program for African American businesses and contesting the authority of the establishment.

"Tony has a genuine interest in community development. He lived off campus and had a genuine concern for society's effects on other people," classmate Steve Green, MC '78, said.

Williams first went to Washington as the chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1995, Mayor Marion Barry selected him to be the city's chief financial officer. But Williams broke from Barry, rejecting contracts and pursuing an independent course toward fiscal responsibility, firing over 200 employees deemed incapable of working in city finance.

In a June speech announcing his candidacy, Williams advocated support for medical care, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Confronting these issues, he said, will "require a willingness to explore how we might do more with less; a willingness to ask how we can do it best, rather than accepting things the way they've always been done."

While at Yale, Williams ran a bike repair business out of Hendrie Hall, teaching skills to juvenile delinquents. Rob Traber, CC '75, who initiated the business, said that Williams's work in New Haven was a continuation of the strong political conscience and understanding of urban issues that began in Williams's Watts, Los Angeles childhood. "Beyond his remarkable intellect, he always had a social conscience and was very easy-going," Traber said. "It was always clear that he was going into politics."

New Haven Alder Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, sees Williams's candidacy as a natural progression from his time in New Haven. "In New Haven Tony had to deal with the fragmentation of power and the competitive disadvantage of a city," Gonzalez said. "His time as an alder probably gave him some experience which he carried on to the D.C. setting."

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