Gwyn --
Like most of us, last week left me
frustrated and concerned with what I saw taking place around our
country. I struggle with how I'll explain the events of last week --
the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the horrific
murder of five police officers in Dallas, Texas -- to my young
daughter. But I realize I'll have to, and most importantly, I must
work to prevent it from happening again.
At home, we also had
many other issues to work on last week. On Tuesday, I joined parents
and neighbors from all over the city to march from Lincoln Park to the US Capitol to call
for action on gun violence and to protect DC's gun laws. On Wednesday,
I joined an important hearing on DC Public Schools' proposed contract
with Sodexo to provide school meals for our students. After a lengthy
hearing, I still had a lot of concerns and I'm not yet convinced this
is the best way forward. What and how our kids eat are critical
questions that deserve good answers.
Ward 6 Day at the National Building Museum's
ICEBERGS Exhibit
 The National Building
Museum invites Ward 6 to its popular ICEBERGS installation with FREE ADMISSION on
Tuesday, July 19, 9:00 am until 11:00 am, as part of their second
annual Summer Block Party. ICEBERGS invites visitors to explore a
fantastical glacial sea designed by landscape architects, visit an
undersea bridge, and slide down an ice chute. Japanese
kakigori shaved ice will be provided by the restaurant
Daikaya. More information about this great FREE event is on my website
here. Hope you can join us!
Another Great Barracks Row 4th of July
Parade! Thanks to everyone who
organized, supported, and marched in this year's 15th Annual Barracks Row 4th of July Parade. This
is one of my favorite community events -- a true slice of small town
America in the big city -- and always a lot of fun. A special thanks
to Phil Guire, the parade's coordinator, for all his work to pull
things together, and to MPD, Barracks Row Main Street, and the Capitol
Hill BID for keeping the route clean and safe.
FY2017 Budget Receives Final Approval From DC
Council Recently, the DC
Council gave final approval to the city’s budget for next fiscal year.
Without question, this budget is a great investment in many of the
things you and I both care about. To fight for a more equitable city
that helps make sure everyone can call DC home, there are significant
investments in affordable housing, the Homeward DC plan to finally
close DC General, improved access to healthcare, and more. In
addition, there are significant investments in public safety, WMATA,
public transit, local schools, neighborhood parks, and small business
supports. While there is always more to do, I’m proud to have worked
together with my Council colleagues on a FY17 budget for the District
of Columbia that funds important Ward 6 priorities. I wanted to share
a few specifics that I thought you might be interested in. This budget
will: Public Safety
- Fund MPD for 300 new recruits, 60 experienced
officers, and will civilianize 16 positions, putting more police
officers back on the street.
- Add $5.3 million to assist those impacted by violence and crime in
the District.
Education
- Add $600,000 annually to DC Public Library to
continue growing the successful Books From
Birth program. The Council also restored cuts to DCPL’s
collections fund, staffing, and maintenance budgets, as well as
funding open day collections at newly modernized libraries across the
District.
- Provide $4 million to Capitol Hill Montessori at
Logan in FY17 for much-needed repairs and facilities
improvements.
- Modernize Jefferson Middle School with a budget
of $73 million, including an additional $1,000,000 for immediate
repairs.
- Invest $86 million to modernize Eliot-Hine Middle
School, beginning in FY18.
- Provide an additional $11.6 million to address overcrowding
at Maury Elementary.
- Accelerate the modernization planning process at
the Southeast Library to coordinate with the
renovation of the Eastern Market Metro Plaza.
- Keep the planned $18 million for the Southwest
Library modernization on track, with work beginning in
FY17.
- Sustain the Office of the State Superintendent for
Education’s Environmental Literacy Leadership Cadres,
a fund that supports school garden programs at Ludlow-Taylor ES, Maury
ES, Peabody ES, SWS @ Goding ES, Seaton ES, Tyler ES, Van Ness ES, and
Watkins ES in Ward 6.
- Provide for the immediate implementation of the Access to
Emergency Epinephrine in Schools Act, making undesignated
EpiPens available for emergency use in every DC public school starting
in school year 2016-2017.
Housing
- Add 5 new positions in Customer Service, Inspections and
Permitting at DCRA to help address many of residents’
concerns and help the agency keep up with the growing demand of
housing and commercial inspections.
- Invests $100 million in the Housing Production Trust
Fund to increase the supply of affordable housing
- Fund a pilot program to assist low and moderate-income tenants
through the process of buying their homes using the Tenant
Opportunity to Purchase Act.
Small & Local Business Development
- Fully fund the Made In DC program through the
District Department of Small, Local Business Development to support
local makers and grow the market for DC-made products.
- Fund a new Eastern Market Main Street program, a
community-supported organization that will be accredited following
open applications through the Department of Small & Local Business
Development to support the retail corridors on 7th Street,
SE and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE near Eastern Market.
Transportation & Environment
- Implement the Tree Canopy Protection Act, helping
save the District’s oldest and largest “heritage” trees and increasing
tree planting on District-owned property.
- Restore cuts to DDOT’s Urban Forestry
Administration funding to plant and maintain trees across the
District.
- Provide $200,000 for the District Department of Energy &
Environment to conduct a planning study for an environmental education
center on Kingman Island.
- Create a citywide Department of Public Works Composting
Pilot Program with weekly compost collection from one site
per ward.
Parks & Community
- Sustain programming at Randall Recreation
Center in Southwest by adding $250,000 in ongoing operating
funds.
- Add $235,000 for programming at Fort Dupont Ice
Arena, including the popular Kids On Ice program.
- Provide $25,000 to create an ANC Sign-Language
Interpreters Fund pilot program to increase ease of access
and funds for ASL interpreters to facilitate participation of Deaf
constituents in ANC proceedings.
- Fund 38 new full-time employees at the Department of Parks
& Recreation to serve as front-lines customer service
representatives to improve the public’s experience at DPR sites.
- Allocate $500,000 to Department of Parks & Rec to build
a spray park at Watkins Rec in FY17.
- Invest $500,000 at Lansburgh Park in Southwest
for park improvements such as lighting, seating, water fountains,
sidewalks, and other infrastructure improvements.
Health & Human Services
- Reallocate $105 million within the FY17 budget to fund the land
acquisition and construction of the seven District-owned family
shelters proposed in the Homeward DC plan to close
the DC General family shelter.
- Restore cuts to the Produce Plus, Healthy
Corner Stores, and Joyful Markets programs
to increase access to fresh, local food across the District.
- Fund the Healthy Tots Act, providing $1,00,000 in
local subsidies to support child development facilities that serve
nutritious meals and provide high-quality wellness programming.
- Extend Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) benefits through FY17 for thousands of
District families facing cut-offs due to federal time limits.
The budget also gives permanent status to an existing temporary bill,
the Classroom Animals for Educational Purposes Act,
which allows schools to have animals in the classroom for educational
and instructional purposes. I've heard from many parents and teachers
over the years we've been working on this bill and know that animals
are a valued part of many classrooms, helping children learn academic
lessons as well as responsibility, compassion, respect, and connection
with the natural world.
My Ballot Access Modernization Act was also passed as
part of this budget package. The Board of Elections will now modernize
the ballot access signature process and allow for the collection of
electronic signatures for candidate nominations, referenda, ballot
initiatives, and recalls (in addition to maintaining the traditional
paper process). They will develop a mobile app for use beginning with
the November 2018 general elections, helping streamline the collection
of signatures while also improving the accuracy of the process.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, July 13, 10am: DC Council hearing on DCRA Oversight
Thursday,
July 14, 6:30pm: Future of Buzzard Point Park Planning
Meeting
Friday, July 15, 8am-9:30am: Ward 6 Community Office Hours in Hill East
(Pretzel Bakery)
Tuesday, July 19, 9am-11am: Ward 6 Day at the National Building Museum ICEBERGS
Exhibit
Thursday, August 11, 10am-3pm: Congresswoman Norton's DC Job Fair
As
always, thank you for your support and please let me know if there’s
anything I or my staff can do to help you or your
neighborhood.
Charles Allen
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Councilmember Charles Allen · 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW,
Suite 406, Washington, DC 20004, United States
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