D.C. mayor joins opponents of a Ronald Reagan memorial

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The mayor of the nation's capital is cool to the idea -- backed by Republicans in Congress -- of building a monument to Ronald Reagan on the National Mall, which he called crowded enough.

Mayor Anthony A. Williams said Wednesday that what he called the nation's most hallowed real estate should be preserved to honor events of defining significance in the nation's history and people of equal significance to their eras. Without saying so, he made it clear he did not put Reagan in that category.

Monuments to Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt honor great personalities of their respective centuries, he said, adding that a monument to the nation's contributions to victory in the Second World War is also worthy. The Mall site of a World War II monument is to be dedicated by President Clinton in November.

"World War II, like the Civil War, is a defining moment," Williams said in an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors.

The city of Washington, denounced by Richard Nixon in the 1970s as the nation's "crime capital," is bouncing back, Williams said, with "zillions of people" moving in. The long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles are testament not to the city's inefficiency but to the return of people from the suburbs, he said.

As the elected Democratic mayor of the city's 528,000 residents, Williams holds a seat on the 12-member National Capital Planning Commission. He also appoints two other members of that board. The panel is one of three federal agencies that review designs and proposals for new memorials in the nation's capital.

Earlier this year, the panels banned any new memorials on the National Mall and restricted adjacent areas to "commemorative works of pre-eminent historic and national significance." All three panels recently rejected the idea of building a Reagan memorial on the Mall, citing a requirement that the honoree be deceased for at least 25 years.

But the Republican-controlled House is moving toward overriding the panels with a bill taking the first step toward locating a Reagan monument on the Mall between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.

Since Reagan, 89, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, left office in 1989, Washington's airport and a new federal building in the district have been named in his honor.

District residents recently have criticized the increasingly crowded vistas on the Mall.

In the past 20 years, Congress has authorized 21 new memorials, seven of which were built on or near the Mall. A monument to Martin Luther King Jr. awaits construction.

"The King Memorial, alongside of the FDR Memorial, seems like a great location," said Williams, adding that he would also like to see an African-American History Museum located near the site.

Williams also said the city is bouncing back from years of political dominance by former Mayor Marion Barry, whom he succeeded nearly two years ago. But Williams also said Barry, who was returned to office in 1994 despite a drug conviction, remains a political force, especially among younger city residents. Williams called Barry "very, very bright" and "very, very gifted politically" but a tragic figure.

"He still has a following," said Williams, who has expanded Barry's youth leadership program while trying to restore youth job and recreation programs and improve the schools.

Williams also touted his work to boost business development, new housing and decentralized government in a neglected corner of the city.

"By the end of my term there will be two new government centers" east of the Anacostia River, he said, noting that an estimated $500 million in new development -- including two new supermarkets -- is occurring in that area that has been economically depressed since the 1960s.

Williams is also pushing the idea of a partnership between Washington and its neighbor Baltimore, 40 miles to the north.

The mayor said Washington's best opportunities for growth could be in joint promotion of the Baltimore-Washington area as a single entity. He noted that the two are linked by contiguous suburbs; if they were placed in an area the size of Los Angeles, where he grew up, they would be neighborhoods, he said.

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