Dear neighbors,

On September 25th, District officials and I were joined by family members, former co-workers and friends of Allen Lew, who served our city in many vital capacities, for a ceremony officially changing Mount Vernon Place to Allen Y. Lew Place. 

Sadly, we lost Allen to COVID in 2020.

Allen served as City Administrator in my mayoral administration and was instrumental in building the Convention Center, Nationals Park, Audi Field, countless other projects and modernizing our schools. In fact, Allen served three different mayors.

To say that Allen was a force of nature is an understatement. His work rebuilding our schools was done with requisite urgency: students shouldn’t be kept waiting, and Allen made sure they didn’t. The time-consuming demands of bureaucracy, and its inevitable delays, stood no chance versus Allen.

The same was true when the scope of Allen’s work expanded to the transformation of our entire city. As City Administrator, Allen delivered enormous projects in record time. In fact, it often seemed like a blink of the eye between groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings.

No matter where you are in the District, one of Allen’s achievements is nearby. Truly, I don’t go a day without seeing one of his accomplishments and, therefore, without being reminded of my dear friend, Allen Lew.

Allen was the quintessential public servant. His enduring achievements uplift, empower, enlighten and entertain people every day.

On behalf of every District resident, I say “Thank you, Allen. We were, and we are, blessed by your presence.”

‍

In service,

Vince

‍