Mayor-elect Muriel E. Bowser passed a major milestone in her still young career as an elected executive Monday evening: She held her first pair of giant scissors.

The shears were to cut the ribbon on her transition offices, a cozy suite on the seventh floor of the One Judiciary Square city office building downtown. But before Bowser counted down to the snip, she crowdsourced some assistance. “What should we say?” she asked the many dozens around her.

“Fresh start,” said aide John Falcicchio.

“Fresh start!” Bowser said and smiled. “One, two, three … fresh start!”

While Bowser’s campaign mantra provided a handy exclamation for her first post-election ribbon-cutting, Monday evening’s open house was a reminder of just how difficult a fresh start can be in D.C. politics. For sure, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the still-percolating federal investigation into his 2010 mayoral campaign will depart the John A. Wilson Building on Jan. 2. But left behind will be a passel of campaign promises, many supplicating supporters, and a cadre of D.C. political lifers who expect respect, attention and, in some cases, a livelihood from the new mayor.

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