A few months ago, the DC Water and Sewer Authority announced the results of a re-branding contest. The Authority adopted the name DC Water, with the hopes of refreshing their image. George Hawkins is the General Manager of DC Water and the former Director of the District’s Department of the Environment.
What does your Sunday routine look like?
When I’m in the District on weekends, I spend a lot of time taking long hikes across town. When you’re on foot, you get a chance to see details you’d miss in a car or on a bicycle. It’s great exercise, and if I happen to be wearing a DC Water shirt, I always look forward to hearing from our customers along the way. I run into a fair number of our Team Blue members out in the field as well.
Do you have an iPod? If so, what have you been listening to?
I do not have an iPod, but do listen to music often. When I am in a quiet mood, I like Sade, Steely Dan or Eva Cassidy. When working, I prefer classical, particularly horn, flute and piano. When I am in a dancing mood, I am partial to Parliament and James Brown, although I like a range of good dance music from Motown to hip-hop, and when I am psyching myself up for action, I like Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden.
Have you seen any good movies lately (DVD or theater)?
A member of my staff recently lent me the hilarious “In the Loop” with James Gandolfini and Mimi Kennedy. It’s a British comedy that takes place in London and the District, and it revolves around the politics and politicians in both cities. I won’t give too much away about the plot, but I will say the British have a knack for filleting each other with insults that I’ve not encountered on this side of the pond.
Mostly, though, I watch low-brow action movies as a distraction from the demands of the day. And I think I have seen every major Sci-Fi movie made, and lots of the great bad ones too.
How long have you lived in D.C. and why did you move here?
I moved to the District in 2007 to serve as the first permanent director of the District Department of the Environment, under Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. I love living here, and in fact recently relocated from Shaw to the Southeast Waterfront near the baseball stadium. But this isn’t my first tour of duty or residency here. I first lived in Chevy Chase with my parents when my dad served as counsel to the Senate Finance Committee during the Carter Administration. I worked for Senator Paul Sarbanes and Covington & Burling for the summers, and helped move C&B’s offices down to 12th and Penn (summer of 1980 I think) – the first big firm to relocate to the Pennsylvania Avenue Corridor. The only holdover from then is Harry’s. Next I worked for a private firm the District and owned a condo in Dupont West, a place I dearly wish I still owned! I came back again to serve Vice President Al Gore on the National Performance Review, helping to straighten out the environmental protection programs at U.S. EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – and lived in Kingstowne, Virginia.
This most recent trip has been the first time I have really lived and worked in the District, a city that also happens to be our nation’s capital. I love being part of a living, pulsing local population that calls this place home.
