You’re the mayor. Through both sheer fear and skilled negotiations the City Council and U.S. Congress bow to your every demand. Your city coffers are suddenly flush with millions of dollars in surplus. What do you do? What do you do?

In yesterday’s Outlook section, the Post toyed with this quasi-realistic scenario and offered a variety of Washingtonians the chance to play God with the reported $300 million budget surplus the District is set to enjoy in the coming year.

Many of the responses seemed to reflect the responder’s profession — Jose Andres, chef and co-owner of Cafe Atlantico and other chic area restaurants, would promote healthier eating, organic gardens, and more greenmarkets in poorer neighborhoods; Mimi Castaldi of the D.C. AARP would offer financial support to grandparents who care for children; and B. Stanley, Executive Director of the District of Columbia Arts Center, would put $3 million into public grants for local artists. Other respondents touched on some recurring themes — education, investments in school facilities, subsidized housing, neighborhood clean-ups and revitalizations, and improving public libraries.

DCist’s own editor Rob Goodspeed, in realizing that a $300 million grant to his staff of dedicated writers was unrealistic, proposed the following:

The city should invest in a free wireless Internet system for downtown. It would make living and working in D.C. easier and, from an economic development point of view, attract creative, tech-savvy people and businesses.

The District has already moved towards offering free wireless internet at select locations — Dupont Circle, Pershing Park, Freedom Plaza, the Supreme Court steps — but has yet to expand the system city-wide. Though free or discounted wi-fi access in cities across the U.S. is growing, any plans by the District to expand the system might run into legal challenges by telecommunications corporations, as Philadelphia has recently experienced.

So, what would you do with the $300 million?