The speech was billed as Vincent C. Gray’s vision for the district he represents as a member of the D.C. Council.

But in tone and ambition, Gray’s “State of Ward 7” address Thursday had the tenor of a politician unwilling to discourage chatter that he is eyeing a rematch against Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who defeated him in 2014 in a Democratic primary.

As the audience arrived for the speech at a public school in his ward, aides distributed a glossy, 30-page brochure listing Gray’s ideas for improving education, health care, public safety and economic development.

The brochure’s cover featured two photos of the former mayor, with six more that included Gray on the inside pages.

In his remarks, Gray told the audience that since he left the office, homicides in the ward and the city have risen “to levels we have not seen in years” and reiterated his demand that the city hire more police officers.

He received his most resounding applause when he repeated a proposal he first articulated when he was mayor — replacing United Medical Center in Southeast Washington with a new hospital on the grounds of St. Elizabeths Hospital.

He ventured from his prepared remarks to ridicule the Bowser administration for not embracing his idea for the new hospital, saying that the money the mayor has set aside for the effort would not be enough “to build a hospital out of Lego blocks.”

“Some of us go for the rope-a-dope at times — I’m not one of them, all right?” Gray told the audience, to more applause.

Referring to Bowser’s proposed budget, Gray said he would “measure” whether the plan addresses his constituents’ needs with questions that include whether it provides “the level of resources needed to help people feel safe” and “the funding needed to bring more economic development amenities to Ward 7.”

“I have just begun my review of the budget,” Gray said, “but I can tell you that the answer to virtually every one of those questions is a resounding no!”

His criticism was an extension of the blistering statement he released earlier that day, in which he said that Bowser’s budget proposal “doesn’t represent D.C. values” and “falls short of adequately funding core functions of our government.”

“It is a path that leads to nowhere,” he said in the statement.

Since returning to the city’s political stage in January, Gray has embraced opportunities to needle Bowser, highlighting an increase in homicides during her mayoralty and inviting a TV reporter on a tour of what he described as “shoddy” work at a new recreation center.

[Is city hall big enough for the both of them?]

After his speech Thursday, Gray said he is focused on his council duties when a reporter asked whether he was interested in a rematch with Bowser next year. But as he mingled with the crowd, his face lit up and he cackled when Ward 7 resident Elbert Dalton approached and said, “Can’t wait for you to become mayor again.”

Accompanied by an entourage that included his son, Carlos, Gray smiled as he bantered with constituents. At one point, he leaned against a garbage can as a woman complained about the District’s failure to install what she said are appropriate deterrents to cars speeding through the neighborhood.

“Who’s on first, right?” Gray asked with a chuckle, mocking the city’s response.

Gray gave his speech at Kelly Miller Middle School, the place where he endured one of the darkest moments of his mayoralty.

It was at the Northeast Washington school where Gray, on a March night in 2014, defiantly proclaimed his innocence to an auditorium packed with supporters just after federal prosecutors implicated him in an illegal fundraising scheme three weeks before the primary he lost to Bowser.

[From the archives: Gray in annual citywide address: ‘I didn’t break the law’]

Gray made no mention of that night during his remarks Thursday. But it was evident that he remains angry about then-U.S. Attorney Ron Machen’s investigation, which ultimately resulted in no charges against him.

“That was horrific, wasn’t it?” Gray said when reminded by a reporter of the circumstances of his 2014 appearance at the school. “He cost me the election.”

He added: “I can ruminate about that all day long, but what does it get me other than put me on the road to an ulcer.”

The audience that Gray addressed Thursday was smaller and quieter than the one on that night three years ago. And the issues he broached dealt with the narrower concerns of his council district, Ward 7, a collection of neighborhoods that include Deanwood, Marshall Heights and Hillcrest.

Yet despite his diminished stature on the city’s political stage, Gray made it clear that he would make the most of his platform, at one point taking a moment to recall his disbelief over President Trump’s November victory.

“ ‘So now what?’ I thought,” he said. “This man is not qualified to be president of the United States, and what will happen to us in our beloved D.C. in all of this?”

Gray devoted most of his speech to outlining goals and describing some of the 20 bills he has introduced, including one to reduce property taxes for businesses east of the Anacostia River and another to spur the building of grocery stores in that area.

Afterward, Constance O’Brien, a retired administrative law judge, said she found his remarks “informative.” O’Brien, a Gray supporter when he ran for reelection, said Bowser is doing “a decent job.”

“Initially, I didn’t like her, I favored Gray,” she said. But her attitude toward Bowser shifted, she said, partly because of the mayor’s defense of the city and alignment “with the right people” following Trump’s election.

And would she support Gray if he ran for mayor again?

“Oh gosh,” she said. “It’s early.”