Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, credited with orchestrating a revival of the U.S. capital, says he may leave office at the end of next year with the city's ``largest unfilled mission'' hanging over him.

The man who helped lure Major League Baseball back to the city and saw its crime rate fall and credit ratings rise says the public schools have remained beyond his power to fix. The mayor failed in an attempt to take over the schools, which he says lack accountability. ``That was a real disappointment to me,'' he said in an interview yesterday.

``I believe I've gotten the city back on its feet,'' Williams, a 54-year-old Democrat, said. Still, he said, his frustration with the schools is contributing to his likely decision not to seek a third term next year. ``I am leaning that way, there's no question about it,'' he said.

The Harvard Law School graduate, who was the city's chief financial officer for three years before winning the mayor's post, may be a tough act to follow, supporters say. ``Tony Williams's legacy will be that he started this city on a revitalization,'' said Peter Rosenstein, a former Williams adviser now working for Democratic Councilman Adrian Fenty, who already has announced a bid to succeed Williams.

`People Are Proud'

The city, which ran a deficit shortly before Williams took over, posted a surplus of $1.2 billion last year, and its bond ratings have been elevated to investment grade from junk status by the major ratings companies. Fitch Investor Services Inc. in June upgraded the city's $3.8 billion in general obligation bonds to A from A-. Moody's Investors Service has an A2 rating on the district's debt while Standard & Poor's has an A.

``They've taken prompt action when there were budget problems, and corrected them and in the meantime built up the reserves to sizeable levels,'' Richard Raphael, New York-based executive managing director at Fitch, said in an interview. Williams has ``strengthened the relationships between and the confidence with the investment community as well as Congress.''

``When I talk to people they say they are proud to be from Washington,'' Williams said. ``There are a lot of things that are excited and needed and worthwhile going on.''

The schools are a different matter, he said, partly because Congress, the city council and the school board all have a hand in running them. ``You've got 15 different people with levels of responsibility, which means no one's automatically accountable.'' The city has had five school superintendents in nine years.

Projects in Progress

Money is being poured into charter schools that offer special programs while traditional schools are being neglected, Williams said. ``They're building brand new buildings over in this block, and then meanwhile you've got 10 to 15 schools with their roofs crumbling and their air conditioning not working,'' he said. ``If it sounds like I'm frustrated, I am.''

Just 36 percent of Washington's fourth-grade students were proficient in basic math in 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Education, while 31 percent had basic reading skills. In overall achievement, 64 percent of the city's fourth-graders were below national levels.

District of Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Leonie Campbell didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

Williams, who worked in government in Connecticut, St. Louis, Boston and the U.S. Agriculture Department before joining the city as chief financial officer, left open the possibility of seeking another term. ``You never say never because things can happen,'' he said. ``We've started 10 to 20 major projects that all need some major guidance.''

Stadium Plans

Williams was instrumental in luring the Montreal Expos baseball team to Washington last year, offering to build a $533 million stadium for the team, now called the Washington Nationals.

The mayor took issue with critics of the stadium, including 90 university and think-tank economists who wrote him and the city council saying that studies show new stadiums ``do not increase employment or incomes and sometimes have a modest negative effect on local economies.''

``We put a premium bid on the table, because I actually do believe it will bring economic growth,'' Williams said.

The mayor proposes building the stadium in a blighted area along the Anacostia River on the city's Southeast side, saying the move will spur development of the area by attracting offices, stores and condominiums.

The city is negotiating with Deutsche Bank AG to finance the stadium and expects to reach an agreement ``within days,'' Williams said.

Williams has fostered development elsewhere, including the Chinatown area downtown. It's now a sports and retail center anchored by the MCI Center, home of the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards.

Williams said he would do more but for limits imposed on him by Congress's role in running the city and the district's abundance of U.S. government operations, which can't be taxed by the city but employ people who use its services.

Economy Helped

``Half my tax base is off limits because of the federal government,'' Williams said. ``It's no longer a case where the roads aren't being fixed because we're sitting around watching TV. Roads aren't being fixed because that's a basic capital cost that's not being spread fairly over all the users.''

Critics don't buy that. ``For the mayor to says his hands are tied by the government is not altogether right because he has the management,'' Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said in an interview.

Schatz said the mayor, like those in many other major cities, is the ``beneficiary of some good economic fortune.''

Williams, who lives with his wife Dianne in the Foggy Bottom section of Washington, said he doesn't know what he would do if he doesn't run again. He suggested he would like something more lucrative than being mayor, which pays $145,000 a year.

``The mayor's salary is not one of the world's great salaries,'' Williams said. ``I really don't have any pension built up. I'm leading the charge with the low American savings rate. I would like to kind of reverse that.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at cschlisserma@bloomberg.net Tom Randall in Washington at Trandall3@Bloomberg.net