a write-in candidate and went on to be re-elected in the general election. During his second term, Williams continued his record of stabilizing the finances of the District. The city was able to balance its budget for ten consecutive years between the 1997 and 2006 fiscal years; the cumulative fund balance swung from a deficit of $518 million in the 1996 fiscal year to a surplus of nearly $1.6 billion in the 2005 fiscal year. During this same period, the District's bond ratings went from "junk bond" status to "A" category by all three major rating agencies. Williams was instrumental in arranging a deal to move the financially ailing Montréal Expos, a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, to Washington, D.C. Although he faced opposition from much of the D.C. Council, Williams eventually prevailed. In late December 2004, the Council approved by one vote a financing plan for a new stadium. The new team, the Washington Nationals, began playing in April 2005, the first time since 1971 that the nation's capital had its own MLB team. While in office, Williams was elected president of the National League of Cities in December 2004. In January 2005, he was elected Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). Williams was not without detractors. His international traveling was criticized, as was his failure to purchase a home in D.C., despite his aggressive publicity campaign to convince residents to buy homes in the city. Some of his constituents and members of the D.C. Council (including his successor, Adrian M. Fenty) criticized Williams' deal with Major League Baseball for conceding too much and not providing a spending cap on the public financing of the new baseball park. Williams was the first sitting mayor of Washington since 1973 to participate in a Presidential funeral in 2004, when he spoke at Ronald Reagan's funeral, held at Washington National Cathedral. His final speech as mayor would also come at the Cathedral in 2006. On September 28, 2005, Williams announced he would not seek re-election in 2006. Williams endorsed Council Chair Linda W. Cropp as a successor; however, Cropp lost to Ward 4 Councilmember Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary. Fenty went on to win the general election. Career after politics In 2018, Williams was campaign co-chair for S. Kathryn Allen, a former insurance executive seeking an at-large seat on the Council held by Elissa Silverman. An investigation