D.C. Council needs to start getting it right

Members should support mayor’s ‘Comeback Plan’

The D.C. Council needs to start getting things right and they aren’t doing that at the moment. They should immediately get on board with asking the federal government for the 191 acres at RFK stadium. They need to wake up to reality about what is needed to bring D.C. fully back after the pandemic. That includes projects to ensure a future tax base to support all the things they claim they would like to do.

This week the Washington Commanders have said they are supporting efforts by the District of Columbia to get control of the RFK Stadium site. “A team spokesperson said Thursday that officials are communicating with stakeholders at the federal and local levels about the RFK site.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) confirmed they are lobbying to get it for the District. There are two points the mayor and many of the Council members can agree on: one is when Dan Snyder sells the team, which he is doing, the team would be welcome back in D.C. The second is D.C. will not pay for a new stadium. I agree with both points. If met, owning the site and having the team in D.C., would be a big positive. There could be new housing, including affordable housing; a great new recreation center; open spaces, and more. After all, this is 191 acres of prime land.

The intransigence of the D.C. Council on this issue is unacceptable. Unfortunately, it is how they are handling so many issues these days. They are proposing, and fighting for things, that make no sense at all and nixing projects that could help to rebuild D.C.’s downtown. The reality we face in D.C. is money is drying up. Downtown commercial buildings are empty producing no property taxes, and small businesses downtown are dying. The federal pandemic money is drying up, which adds to the problem for D.C., as it does for so many other cities. The Council keeps fighting for a ludicrous plan to make all busses in D.C. free. To subsidize, at a cost of $42 million annually, fares for Maryland and Virginia commuters, and for people like myself who can easily afford to pay for the bus. To pay for this folly they are taking money from valuable projects like the K Street Transitway project. They propose adding a $2 surcharge for downtown and the wharf on Uber rides. They want to keep people from where we really want them to go, in addition to adding a zoned fare. We finally got rid of zoned fares years ago.

Mayor Muriel Bowser was joined by Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, business leaders and community partners, at a recent press conference where they called on the Council to pass a budget that supports D.C.’s Comeback Plan. That plan includes funding the K Street Transitway, which many in the area have called a “transformational project” for the future of public transportation in downtown. When the mayor announced her ‘DC Comeback Plan’ she explained it was a three pronged approach and her budget dealt with all three prongs necessary to make it work.

The three prongs are as follows. First there is Filling the Space and the budget calls for a $10 million Vitality Fund to attract and retain businesses in targeted sectors that make commitments to locate in D.C.; Grow Penn West Equity and Innovation District; Grow University and Innovation activity footprint downtown; and provide a $1.5 million enhancement to enable the District to retain tech/innovation companies through a Creative and Open Space Modernization rebate program. The second prong is Change the Space. This includes the Housing in Downtown program implementation; a Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative with the National Capital Planning Commission; downtown public realm study and action plan; downtown housing capacity analysis; federal government real estate portfolio engagement; the K Street Transitway Project; Increasing Housing Downtown program from $6.8 million in FY27 to $41 million in FY28; and $9.8 million to design and construct an updated Farragut Square Park.

The third prong is Bringing the People. It includes a Tourism Recovery District to increase marketing for tourism by $20 million from FY24-27; $6 million DC Family Fun Destinations; $1.5 million Special Event Relief Fund for Local Outdoor events; $3 million to support large-scale non-profit events; $1.4 million Streets for People program to support public space activations; and $1.5 million Festival Fund Recovery to offset costs for community organizations hosting an event in DC.

The plan is real and exciting. The Council, instead of fighting it, should get on board. The future of the District hangs in the balance.

MAXIMILIAN SYCAMORE is a D.C.-based media producer who is originally from London.