D.C. mayor calls for unity in inaugural

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Vincent Gray, elected mayor of Washington on a unity theme, was sworn in Sunday before hundreds of guests.

In a speech that quoted four presidents, Gray, 68, urged residents to work with him to reform public education, lower unemployment and crime, bring transparency to city finances and achieve statehood, The Washington Post reported.

Paraphrasing President John F. Kennedy, he said, "Ask not what you city can do for you, but what you can do for your city."

He modified the motto of his predecessor Adrian Fenty, who he defeated, from "Moving Forward Faster" to "Moving Forward Together."

Council Chairman Kwame Brown and five other council members took the oath as well.

In an invocation, Catholic Cardinal Donald Wuerl said, "We are a people who come together out of multiple backgrounds, ethnic, racial and religious, cultural and social, with varying interests, occupations and manners of living," he said. "We ask that you continue to bless our community as we seek always to respect one another."

Gray started his inauguration day with a service led by the Rev. Henry Y. White of Brown Memorial AME Church and featuring Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu clergy.