ANNUAL REPORT
Councilmember Bowser and comedian Bill Cosby celebrating the Ward 4 Ali family’s 56 years of business.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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t’s been almost five years since we started the process of redeveloping the former Walter Reed Army Medical campus. In November, the District selected the Hines-Urban AtlanticTriden team to serve as the project’s master developer. Shortly thereafter, the federal government approved the community’s plans for the reuse of the campus, and together with the master developer, the District is negotiating for the transfer of the former medical hospital from the Army to the District. We hope to gain control of these 67 acres of prime Ward 4 real estate in the coming year. The first sign of progress you’ll see is the construction of a new fire station to replace the outdated Engine 22 on Georgia Avenue. To ensure the community has a formal role in this transformative project today, and for the next ten years, I introduced the creation of the Walter Reed Community Advisory Committee, including community representatives. A schedule of upcoming meetings and other information can be found by calling my office or by visiting www.walterreedlra.com. Last December, as a component of the Council-approved Upper Georgia Avenue Redevelopment Plan (which called for more retail), Walmart opened its first of two Ward 4 stores at the intersection of Georgia and Missouri Avenues. The store’s opening created 300 new jobs in Ward 4 and has proven to be very popular with Ward 4 neighbors looking for fresh food, clothing, and all manner of household goods. Fort Totten Square is a mixed-use development currently under construction in Ward 4 near the Metro station. Construction began in early 2013 and, when completed, will include convenient ground floor retail, a Walmart, a pharmacy, and 350 rental apartments. A Subway sandwich shop, coffee shop, and Carolina Kitchen restaurant are also part of the overall plan. The opening is expected in April 2015 and is a critical part of the Council-approved Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue Area Development Plan, which we continue to work hard to implement. In late June, the new Petworth Safeway held its grand opening. The new 62,000 square foot store boasts fresh
produce, organic meats, cheeses, and even a local beer selection. The District’s second-largest Safeway store offers ready-made foods, a deli counter, a salad bar, and a Starbucks coffee shop. It is Metro accessible and offers 86 parking spaces. Built above the store are 218 one and two bedroom units, including 18 affordable units. This new grocery store option in our community would not have been possible without the Council-approved alley closing legislation I introduced, allowing for a straightforward zoning approval process. Serving as an anchor to the latest Takoma Central development, Busboys & Poets will open a new restaurant in the area, creating 100 new jobs. The project will deliver 150 new homes and a walkable area, combining the Takoma Metro Station with the historic main street downtown of Takoma Park. Ground was broken on an additional 27 units of affordable housing in Ward 4 at 6925 Georgia Avenue, NW, a Mi Casa, Inc. project, as approved by the Council through a land disposition and DHCD loan. The project will target households earning between 50% and 80% of the area median income and will improve the quality and availability of housing choices in the Takoma and Upper Georgia Avenue corridor neighborhoods.
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DEAR NEIGHBORS:
Ward 4 continues to be a wonderful place to live and work both for longtime residents and our newest neighbors. We’ve accomplished much this year. Our neighborhoods – some of the most sought after in the city – continue to flourish through the preservation and creation of new affordable homes, modernization of our schools and business creation and investment in the Ward. The progress made in identifying opportunities Opening of the Raymond and funding for youth, seniors, families and those needing jobs and services in the District of Recreation Center. Columbia will help ensure our community remains strong. None of this could have been done without you. Traveling around Ward 4, attending ANC and community meetings, know that the first commitment has always been to you and listening to your concerns. Our office has responded to more than 200,000 emails and approximately 30,000 phone calls from the more than 75,000 Ward 4 residents. A number of residents have met with me in office hours and lobby days at the Wilson Building and more throughout the Ward. This year, you have brought a number of issues to my attention, and progress has been made collectively. We have helped implement and fund a number of Ward 4 priorities through the 2015 Budget and important legislation to ensure a continued focus on schools, youth and seniors in our community. This year’s Annual Report highlights some of the accomplishments. Together, we’ve come a long way over the past seven years. Each and every day, I’m reminded of how proud I am of Ward 4 and all the residents and businesses that call Ward 4 home. It has been an honor to serve you each and every day. I look forward to finding ways to encourage even more meaningful progress in the years to come. Best
COMMITMENT TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING
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ard 4, and our whole city, urgently needs more affordable housing so our most vulnerable residents have a safe place to live and an opportunity to better their lives. The introduction of the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) Baseline Funding Act will set the minimum funding level for the fund, the District’s best tool for producing and preserving affordable housing, at $100 million every year. As Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, I held a hearing on this bill and several others related to affordable housing in order to determine how to preserve and create new affordable units. The introduction of the Condominium Fee Fairness Act will help to address the problem of rapidly escalating condominium fees, especially for low-income condominium owners who purchased affordable units through governmentsubsidized programs. The bill gives unit owners access to a mediation program administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) before their associations can foreclose for unpaid condominium fees. In April, at the recommendation of my committee, the Council also passed the Condominium Amendment Act of 2014, representing the first comprehensive revision to the Condominium Act of 1976 in over 20 years. As a result, condominiums can continue to flourish as a valuable housing source and investment in the District. Reopened 5336 Colorado Ave.
OPEN AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT
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he District of Columbia government is in the customer service business, and its chief customer is you, the resident. Since June 2013, I have either introduced or cosponsored more than 155 bills and resolutions. As always, my focus has been on delivering legislative reforms that answer your needs and help build a strong, productive, and fair city for residents and businesses alike. Below are a few highlights. As experienced throughout the country, our public infrastructure needs – including roads, water systems and schools – exceed the traditional resources we have used to pay for their maintenance and modernization. Under the PublicPrivate Partnership Act, the District would be able to leverage private sector resources and share the risks of these public projects with the private sector. As the District undertakes projects like $3.5 billion for school modernizations, $1 billion for the streetcar project and $26 billion for the Metro Momentum plan, public-private partnerships, also known as P3s, can be effective tools for financing and job creation. This bill creates a clear and predictable framework for establishing these P3s, while requiring that these private sector partners create fair-wage jobs, partner with our small, minority- and women-owned businesses, and follow our environmental laws. The Council and the public will have the ability to weigh in on these projects through open meetings and reporting requirements. Maryland recently passed a similar measure, and initial estimates have found that P3s could contribute six to ten percent of the state’s $3.1 billion annual capital budget and create 4,000 jobs each year.
Civic League of North Portal Estates members.
To bring much needed transparency to the land disposition process, in which government land is sold or leased for new development, I introduced the Land Disposition Transparency Act. The bill would require the following: real estate documents to be automatically available to the public; the Mayor to explain the difference between the appraised value of the land and the sales price; an economic impact analysis of the probable benefits and detriments resulting from development projects; and the Mayor to post to his website status reports measuring whether the developer built what was required in the original document. On June 24th, the Council passed the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. In addition to components discussed elsewhere, the budget supports: $7 million for a new Ward 4 Middle School; $731,000 to expand the Kids Ride Free program during the summer for Summer Youth Employment Program participants; an additional $1.25 million for streetscape improvement and beautification efforts on Kennedy Street; $4.8 million for senior housing through the Housing Production Trust Fund; expanding the Great Streets retail priority areas to benefit more of our Georgia Avenue, Kennedy Street, 14th Street, and North Capitol Street corridors; increasing the maximum down payment loan available through the Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP) from $40,000 to $50,000; $1.5 million to continue a
Technology, Engineering, and Math Fund Establishment Act and the District of Columbia Coding Camps for Kids Act to help our students prepare for the future. Our children also need a safe place to play, so I introduced the District of Columbia Recreation Center Hours Extension Act. This bill would keep at least one recreation center in each Ward open for at least eight hours a day on weekends, giving our youth a safe and supervised place to play during the weekend. Like you, I’m closely following the current Administration’s public discussion about school boundary proposals. I am committed to ensuring that Ward 4 students and parents have quality education options in our neighborhoods. I will only support neighborhood school assignment. This means that students must have, by right, as opposed to lottery, an assignment to a school at the elementary, middle and high school levels in their area. To make sure our children are able to get to school and summer programs on public buses, I introduced legislation that would extend my Kids Ride Free program to all youth participating in the Summer Youth Employment Program. Substantial work on the modernization of Roosevelt Senior High School has been completed, and we are excited for the students’ return in fall 2015. The $120 million modernization will culminate with energy efficient designs, a reestablished historic main entrance on 13th Street, NW and an active atrium space for students to utilize. Roosevelt will also reopen with a new international relations focus to include dual-language programming, international travel for students, aligned career
FOCUS ON
A year of highlights
Rapid Re-Housing pilot program for individuals; and $500,000 for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). There are also a series of D.C. Tax Commission recommended reforms that will lower the tax bills of many of our residents, including: new lower tax brackets for incomes of $40,000 to $60,000 and $350,000 to $1,000,000; increasing the standard deduction to $5,200 for singles and $8,350 for married residents to conform with the federal levels; expanding the earned income tax credit to conform with the federal level; reducing the business franchise tax rate to 8.25%; and increasing the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $5.25 million to conform with the federal level. A new program was also approved that allows senior citizens who are 75 years or older, and who earn less than $50,000 to defer payment of property taxes, interest free.
INVESTING IN OUR YOUTH
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ecognizing that 1.4 million new jobs will be created in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields by 2020, and only 400,000 qualified individuals will be available to fill these roles, I introduced the District of Columbia Science,
and technical education offerings, and enhanced partnerships with the community and institutions of higher education. After a year of planning, the long anticipated $117 million modernization of Coolidge Senior High School will begin this fall, with construction starting in 2015. Along with the Coolidge community, I have fought for the full renovation of Coolidge over the years. A state of the art new building for the Coolidge Colts will open in 2017. The $52 million modernization of Lafayette Elementary School has commenced, which will include exterior restorations and new classrooms to help alleviate overcrowding. The phased renovation will culminate in 2016 with refurbished basketball and tennis courts, new play equipment, new lighting, and fitness areas. Powell Elementary School continues to celebrate its $42 million modernization. Last summer, building renovations included brand new windows, furnishings, and classroom upgrades. The full project will be complete in 2016 with new additions and a 21st Century learning environment that will accommodate the tremendous growth of the student population in the neighborhood. In January, I introduced the Alice Deal for All resolution based on the notion that a high quality middle school education,
on par with current offerings at Alice Deal Middle School, should be accessible to all middle school students. And the accessibility should be without regard to geography, socioeconomic status, or any other demographic characteristics in their neighborhoods. Last August, we were pleased to cut the ribbon on a state of the art playground at Hamilton Recreation Center through the Play DC initiative. Residents can take advantage of a refurbished basketball court and soccer area, new garden beds for growing vegetables, resurfaced play area, and new play equipment. We also opened the beautiful new Raymond Recreation Center and playground. The $12.5 million project includes new playground equipment, a new soccer field, landscaping, an indoor gymnasium, kitchen, computer lab, and fitness room.
that graffiti is removed, vacant properties are taxed at the highest rate, and properties with large amounts of unpaid taxes are either sold or taken over by the city for public use. I have every confidence that the renewed energy from people and businesses along this corridor will bring Kennedy Street back to the vibrancy it has been known for in the past. 14th Street, NW, from Spring Road to Kennedy Street, is a diverse mix of residential, business and recreation facilities. Since 2009, we have been working hard to revitalize the area. Over the past year, residents and businesses developed an implementation task force, forming the Community Alliance of Upper 14th Street as a non-profit organization that qualifies for city grants. My 2015 budget amendment makes this corridor
At Raymond, neighbors have taken full advantage of computer and dance lessons, fitness courses, senior programs, and cooking classes. Residents can also enjoy newly renovated playgrounds at Emery, Upshur, Takoma, and Fort Stevens through the Play DC initiative. In May, work began on the $1.5 million improvements to the Lafayette playground. Currently, in the beginning stages, the project will involve refurbishing basketball and tennis courts, adding new play equipment, fitness areas and lighting.
eligible for Great Streets grants. A new restaurant is set to open by the end of the summer at 14th, Kennedy and Colorado Avenue. A dance studio is expected, with classes and events, and we even have a fine arts gallery. In addition, many of the old and blighted buildings in the southern section are being redeveloped as housing and retail space. This commitment from the city, and mostly from the residents and businesses, is validation that hard work and dedication can bring a neighborhood back to life. The long awaited new bridge over Kalmia Road is finished. My office will continue to work with the police and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to ensure that drivers respect the speed limit along Kalmia Road. DDOT expects to award the contract this summer for repairs to the 16th Street Bridge over Military Road, NW. While under construction, 16th Street will be reduced from four to two lanes (one in each direction) for about three months. DDOT will attend community meetings and work with the ANCs to inform residents of their future plans. We added the following five new Capital Bikeshare stations: Takoma Metro Station; 14th and Upshur Streets, NW; Georgia and Emerson Streets, NW; 5th and Kennedy Streets, NE; and Fort Totten Metro. We will soon have one at Georgia and Missouri Avenues, NW. DDOT announced earlier this year that it has hired design consultants for the reconstruction of Oregon Avenue, NW. My office has worked to make sure the project will include submerging the overhead power lines. DDOT will begin the plans and consult with residents, in conjunction with my staff, to refine the design to meet the needs of the community as best as possible. DDOT has provided an 18-month timeline for completion of the design. We are pushing to expedite this process, as the residents along this street have Bikeshare at the Takoma waited far too long for these improvements. metro station.
SAFER AND MORE SECURE NEIGHBORHOODS
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orking with neighbors and our fine partners in the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to make Ward 4 a safe place to live, I’ve also moved forward legislation that will do the same for the city. In Ward 4, MPD has helped reduce the number of total violent crimes this year, as compared to last. In May, I introduced the Impaired Driving Amendment Act, along with Councilmember Mary Cheh. The bill sets forth penalties for driving with a blood alcohol level between .05 and .08. The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that all 50 states adopt this tougher standard. If passed, the District would be the first to do so. I also introduced the Used Bicycle Sales Amendment Act. This legislation makes it easier for bike shops to sell used bikes by eliminating burdensome and costly regulations. If passed, the law would give residents greater access to affordable bikes that have been safety-tested by professionals and documented as not stolen. Our work on the Kennedy Street Corridor, from Georgia Avenue, NW to North Capitol Street, has taken on more energy. We’ve made this entire corridor eligible for Great Streets grants as part of the Fiscal Year 2015 budget, bringing the total funding for this project to $7.25 million. This funding will be used for streetscape, lighting, and new trees. We must continue to ensure
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am pleased to be completing my third year serving on the Board of Directors for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which operates Metrorail and Metrobus systems throughout the Washington region, and has an annual operating and capital budget of $3 billion. As Chair of the Planning, Program and Real Estate Committee at WMATA, and a member of the Finance and Administration and Governance Committees, I have led the adoption of comprehensive revisions to joint development guidelines that promote more transparency, competition, higher quality transit-oriented development, and WMATA’s first ever affordable housing policy. Since nine people lost their lives in the 2009 Red Line accident, millions of dollars have been invested in track and signal improvements, new safety procedures have been implemented, and key recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board have been accepted by WMATA. In June 2014, I also had the honor to speak at the groundbreaking for a new memorial that honors the lives of the nine individuals to ensure their memories live on and we never repeat this kind of tragedy.
From the office of CouncilMember Muriel Bowser
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With the assistance of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, WMATA is constructing Metrorail’s new Silver Line. Phase I through Tysons Corner and Reston, Virginia #52 Metrobus headed for 14th & will open on July Colorado Avenue. 26th, with Phase II to Dulles Airport beginning construction soon after, with an opening date of 2018. Not only will District residents have better access to jobs and destinations in Virginia, but those who take the Orange and Blue Lines through the District will see more frequent service. I am working to ensure that as many District residents as possible get jobs for the construction and operation of this new rail line. I also voted for the Council approved resolution urging WMATA to actively recruit and hire more returning citizens, given the challenges they face in finding employment.
Official Business 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. STE. 110 Washington, DC 20004 www.murielbowser.com
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